2 I June 2020 PRIME
A note from the editor Do you know a senior who should be featured in a future edition of Prime? Email your suggestions to Hannah Stiff at hstiff@dailychronicle.com. From chaos to comfort......................................................................2 Old Guys, Dogs and Cats.. ..................................................................5 A JOURNEY WITHIN.............................................................................6 From Rubbermaid to Old Clunker.. .................................................8 VICTORY GARDENS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK.. ..........................9 Bozeman Senior Menu.. .................................................................. 10 Proper Diversification Can Ease Retirement Income Worries.. ........................................................ 11
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FROM CHAOS TO COMFORT
By Hannah Stiff
One couple’s legacy of restoration
C
oronavirus may have postponed the retirement festivities, but Ben and Gail Yanker are in good spirits. The Buffalo Restoration founders and owners handed over the proverbial keys to the kingdom this January and greeted retirement with a cruise.
After forty-something years in painting and restoration, the Yankers decided it was time to step away from business as usual and get into the business of traveling, pursuing dormant hobbies, and finding new ones. “The only thing that concerns me these days is that I’m not concerned,” Ben says. While the world feels uncertain, the Yankers say the business doesn’t worry them. As it shouldn’t. The couple spent years creating a succession plan for when they retired. “We started planning our exit five years ago,” Ben says. “We talked to our employees. We called it our 2020 vision. We had to put all the pieces in place to leave. It took five years to put together a leadership team, the finances, community
partnerships and get all pieces lined up. You don’t just walk in and quit one day.” Ben and Gail’s son Christopher Yanker is now at the helm of Buffalo Restoration. Working with Christopher is a team of more than 30 technicians, supervisors, and support staff that Ben and Gail sing praises about. The employees that have put in years – decades in some cases – of hard work, will stay on and continue the Buffalo Restoration legacy of quality service. Building that legacy started in 1976, when Ben was enrolled at Montana State University and hired Gail, his girlfriend at the time, to help him run his company – Buffalo Painting – during summer breaks. In 1981, the now
