36 minute read
Scene
Roy & Rebekah Wood, Rachel & David Wagner; First Chair Society, Signature Symphony at TCC, Tulsa Joseph Cunningham, M.D., Muscogee Nation and Oklahoma State Department of Health representatives; BCBSOK grant ceremony, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Tulsa Judy & Ronny Altman, Linda Broach; David Brooks speaking event, Tulsa Town Hall
Jim Cloud, Emily Scott, John Logan; Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma check ceremony, Autism Foundation of Oklahoma, OKC Randi Von Ellefson, Kelly Holst, Courtney Crouse, Steven Sanders, Mark McCrory; Handel’s Messiah performance, Canterbury Voices, OKC
Scarlet Henley, Chris & Tina Moody; House Party, The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tulsa Linda & David Hogan; OKCNP’s 2021 Visions Awards, Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, OKC Mason Conway, Mike Murphy; TBH Barbecue, Beers, & Cigars event, Tulsa Boys’ Home Nicole Wayne, Polly Nichols; OKCNP’s 2021 Visions Awards, Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, OKC
Bruce Heine, Dave Croteau, Steve Sumrall, Janine Burlin; UNITE Celebration, Tulsa Area United Way
New Year,
New You
Whether you’re targeting a problem area or becoming more mindful in your day-to-day, it’s easy to start out this year on the right foot with a little help. Fitness experts and healthcare professionals weigh in on molding a better you for 2022.
By Rebecca Fast
Reaching Fitness Goals
Kicking o the new year is often marked by tness and weight loss goals. O ering helpful reminders on how to lose weight and keep it o , Kathryn Reilly, MD, a family practice physician with OU Health Physicians, shares the following advice.
“For consistent weight loss it’s important to have a plan,” she says. “Understand what common portion sizes are, limit eating out, limit drinking any liquids that include calories (it has been shown that when you drink calories the body often does not recognize it as food), and carve a regular time to get exercise.”
If intermittent fasting or restricting speci c types of food appeals to you, Reilly recommends doing your research and learning how those food plans are carried out.
“If results aren’t happening, writing down everything that is eaten and drunk over several days can provide insight into what the problems are – not just the food itself but the quantity,” she says.
She also suggests mixing up your tness routine as well as watching out for hidden calories.
“ e biggest hidden calories are in drinks – fancy co ee drinks, soda with calories, sweet tea, mixed drinks and beer,” she says. “Again, portion size is critical. If one is eating cheese and crackers as a snack, look at the package and see what a portion is. Many packages that appear to be a single portion actually hold two or more portions. Eating on a salad plate, planning for half the plate to be vegetables, and avoiding high calorie sauces or salad dressings on the vegetables can all help cut calories.”
Once you’ve attained your goal weight, it’s important to weigh at least once a week to monitor any weight gain.
“Most people can lose weight but few keep it o ,” says Reilly. “If the weight is up four to ve pounds, go back to the plan for a week or two.”
Some people include a binge in their diet plan, says Reilly, either once a week or twice a month.
“One thing that can lead to failure in diet plans is getting discouraged about an unexpected binge or a week in which no exercise is done,” she says. “It’s important to get back on the plan and recognize ways to avoid such lapses in the future.”
It’s also helpful to avoid trigger foods, if possible, at home or at the o ce.
“If sweets or ice cream are a big temptation, don’t make it easy to succumb,” says Reilly. “If it’s not easily grabbed, your brain may be able accept a less caloric substitute.”
Targeting Problem Areas
John Jackson, a personal trainer and the owner of Impact Fitness in Tulsa, says targeting a speci c area of the body is still about overall tness and strength training.
“As a personal trainer, if someone is looking to spot reduce and enhance their body, we have to break down a few factors including medical history, gender, age, nutrition, hormonal status and physical activity,” he says. “Each person has a speci c body composition and it has to be taken into consideration when planning an exercise program that will complement their tness goals.”
For general tness or spot reduction, Jackson suggests multi-joint movements.
“ ese movements incorporate more than one joint of activation per exercise,” he says. “Overhead press, squats and lunges with a bicep curl are a few multi-joint movements that are bene cial for overall tness and conditioning. As it pertains to strength days versus cardio days, it depends on the person and their physical tness needs. For example, a triathlete will need to work more on endurance training and strength training to help stabilize endurance for competition. Conversely, for a person that just wants to maintain tone and be in reasonable shape, you would look at a more balanced training regimen of weights two to three times a week and cardio every other day for body maintenance.”
However, despite one’s e orts through diet and exercise, there can still be those hard-to-budge spots. One alternative to reach those areas is a new, noninvasive fatfreezing system, CoolSculpting Elite.
“ is revolutionary new fat-freezing system is FDA-cleared to treat nine di erent areas of the body, including under the chin and jawline, upper arms, abdomen, love handles and thighs,” says Melody Hawkins, chief nancial o cer with BA Med Spa and Weight Loss Center in Broken Arrow. “It has been reimagined with dual applicators to treat two places at once, giving it the power to treat twice the fat in half the time.”
Hawkins says CoolSculpting Elite is a great option for any adult and ts into even the busiest of lifestyles.
“You can come in and have your treatments done, drive yourself home, continue on with your complete normal routine, and begin seeing results in three weeks,” she says. “One treatment will permanently eliminate 20 to 25 percent of fat in the targeted area.”
Personal trainer John Jackson says overall fitness is still crucial in targeting problem areas of the body.
Photo courtesy John Jackson
Abs are Made in the Kitchen
This common phrase can be hard to hear after you’ve sweated out 100 crunches. But there’s truth in the saying and others like it. Ever heard ‘you are what you eat?’ The underlying premise is that it’s easier to cut calories than burn them off through exercise.
Supporting this thought, Reilly says it’s generally easier to lose weight by dietary restriction than exercise because even the most vigorous exercise is limited by time for most people.
She says there’s evidence that decreasing calorie intake by 500 calories per day (or some combination of exercise and decreased intake) can lead to about one pound per week of weight loss—which led to the statement and common belief that approximately 3,400 calories equals one pound of weight. However, Reilly says that subsequent studies have found that although this works initially for most patients, the rate of weight loss goes down over time.
But there’s no need to despair – she says if you’re wanting to lose weight there’s far more possibility in change through the diet.
“Portion control is extremely important,” she says. “People have become accustomed to eating larger quantities than our parents or grandparents would have on a regular basis. Restaurant sized portions (especially in lower cost restaurants) are much larger than most people need at a meal. For example, a portion size of rice or pasta is a half cup. Few of us see that as an adequate pile on our plate – so becoming aware of standard portion sizes and sticking to that can be helpful in weight loss.”
There’s also increasing evidence of the benefits of fasting.
“Whether it is intermittent fasting (in which a person does not take in calories for 12-16 hours per day) or limiting intake of carbohydrates (like the keto type diets), these are eff ective in promoting weight loss and are easy for most healthy people to stick to over the long term,” she says.
However, exercise should still be a part of any health plan. Reilly says the general recommendations are 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week, weight lifting twice a week and some balance exercises – yoga or tai chi for those with balance problems or over the age of 65.
Workout Apps vs. Group Classes
If you’re in the mood for a new fitness routine, you’ve got choices.
“The benefits of having options is at its highest rate in the fitness industry,” says Jackson. Individuals have easy access to a variety of fitness apps, mirror workouts, group training classes and one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer. With each off ering its own advantages, the main decision is choosing what works best for you.
“I suggest getting an assessment with a personal trainer or therapist and building a foundation before venturing out on these other options,” says Jackson. “Making sure your body is healthy and strong enough to take on diff erent types of exercise is very important for the longevity and goal attaining that will come with working out.”
When considering group fitness, he says the social aspect and peer engagement involved can help energize workouts.
“These characteristics can boost adrenaline through competitive interaction often not found when training on your own or one-on-one,” says Jackson.
He also encourages individuals to not overlook the benefits of low-impact exercises.
What is Mindfulness?
To understand the purpose and bene ts of mindfulness, Rebecca Brumm, MA, LPC, CEDS, the director of operations for the Laureate Eating Disorders Program at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital in Tulsa, shares a few ways in which being more mindful can enrich your life. “Mindfulness is being fully present in what you’re doing, your surroundings and what’s truly happening in the moment. It’s such an amazing tool,” she says. “It’s simple but not easy. It’s challenging because we’re so often somewhere else in our minds.” She says our brains are so good at learning processes and automating processes that we don’t use a hundred percent of our brain capacity as we live our lives.
“What happens is our brains get good at making a habit out of what we do often so we don’t have to think about it to do it – while we can be physically present in great, joyful moments ... mentally we are still experiencing the stress of a work deadline, or fear about a parent’s illness,” she says. “Mindfulness is really about being where you are.”
Mindfulness Exercises
Research has shown that practicing mindfulness for as little as ve or 10 minutes a day can be e ective. Brumm says mindfulness exercises are an opportunity to “train ourselves to reconnect to the present moment and stop the endless cycle of thought after thought. It’s when we remind ourselves to look at our child’s face or acknowledge the experience of holding a partner’s hand.” To help incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine, Brumm suggests choosing a regular activity but committing to doing it mindfully.
“For instance, brushing your teeth. When I brush my teeth I try to observe with my senses – I notice the taste of the toothpaste, the smell, the sensation of the toothbrush on my teeth, what I see …I fully absorb the experience,” she says. “For someone else it might be washing the dishes or sitting down and drinking their morning co ee. Even one minute of deep breathing will recenter you.”
The Benefi ts
“ ere are mental and physical bene ts of mindfulness,” says Brumm. “Some of the physical bene ts include reduced blood pressure and more therapeutic resting breath, which naturally leads to mental bene ts such as reduced anxiety, a deeper feeling of gratitude and contentment, and less depression.”
She says anxiety and depression causes us to live outside of the moment.
“We are thinking about our fears and about what’s to come or what has happened in the past,” she says.
She says mindfulness can help us recognize the di erent kinds of thoughts or narratives that we think about and that in uence our decisions. Mindfulness is a way to quiet those ‘voices’ and make sure that what we say to ourselves internally aligns with our values and goals.
Oklahomans
of the Year
2021 could be described as a year of rebuilding. After the pandemonium of 2020, many were left hurting – jobless, burnt out or grieving. Those honored in the 2021 Oklahomans of the Year feature contributed to the state’s restoration in one way or another, whether that was by helping people get employed, getting them the healthcare they desperately needed, or enriching their lives through entertainment and education. Sifting through the bad to find the good, these leaders did what it took to get Oklahomans back on top.
By Kimberly Burk
Joseph Harroz Jr., OU’s 15th president, has served the university in some form for 25 years. Photo by Travis Caperton courtesy OU
President – e University of Oklahoma
As one might expect, OU president Joe Harroz can rattle o all kinds of numbers about this year’s freshman class.
Largest in history with 4,582 enrolled. Highest average GPA at 3.66. Most diverse class, with 38% identifying as minorities. Percentage of rst-generation students: 25%.
“Of all the stats we have, that’s the one that just gives me goosebumps, the 25%,” he says. at’s because the 15th president of OU is, himself, the son of a rst-generation college student.
“My story, and the story of my family, is completely dependent on Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma,” he explains. “My grandfather was put on a boat from Lebanon by his parents, in an e ort for him to nd a better life, in the late 1800s. He had nine children, and my dad was the youngest and the only one to go past high school.”
His father went to undergrad and medical school at OU, then sent his children to the same school. After working on Capitol Hill and practicing law in Oklahoma City, Harroz says he was “absolutely blessed to come back and work at OU over the last 25 years.”
Prior to becoming president in May 2020, he spent a year as interim president and previously served as dean of the College of Law, as general counsel and as vice president for executive a airs.
A new strategic plan was high on his list after taking the helm.
“It’s something we did with the whole university,” he says. “It’s incredibly speci c. We distilled it to three words: ‘We change lives.’”
OU has clearly de ned its research focus areas, Harroz says, and in the past year raised a record-high $446 million in research awards. Fundraising was restructured, breaking another record at $231 million. In July, OU formalized an agreement to create OU Health.
“ e hospital had been separate from OU Physicians and OU Clinics,” says Harroz. He adds that Oklahoma’s rst comprehensive academic health system o ers a seamless patient experience with access to the latest treatments.
“A great, exciting moment for me was when Gov. Stitt and the Secretary of Commerce asked me to join them in recruiting Canoo, the electric vehicle manufacturer. OU is necessary for our state’s growth, but it’s not suf cient,” he says. “We are here to work with the rest of the leadership and state.”
Additional high points for Harroz were the announcement of the move in 2025 to the SEC athletic conference, and the hiring of Brent Venables as head football coach. Moving to the SEC, he says, “was critical to OU and more broadly to the state.” As for coaches, Harroz says many are transactional. “What they want is an outcome on the eld,” he says. “Brent Venables is interested in being an interpersonal coach, where he is developing these young men. e winning is a by-product of what he does.”
Deputy Director – First Americans Museum
Sixteen years of planning, research and taking ideas from concept to reality have paid o for Shoshana Wasserman, deputy director of the First Americans Museum.
“I think what I love most is when I go into the galleries and listen to the comments when Native people come in, who have seen their cousins or uncle or aunt in an exhibit,” says Wasserman, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and lopthlocco Tribal Town. e $175 million, 175,000-square-foot museum, which tells the stories of the 39 tribes in Oklahoma, opened Sept. 18 and has been busy ever since.
“I was just completely elated on opening weekend, though there were so many concerns and details. But we had an amazing crew of volunteers for the opening,” many of which were non-Native, she says.
“ ey said they were so honored to do this and thanked us for inviting them.”
Each tribe’s material culture is represented by at least three objects, many on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
“What has been so rewarding has been going into the tribal communities and harvesting stories and photos and cultural materials,” says Wasserman. “We wanted to make sure every tribal person could go in the museum and see themselves represented.”
Wasserman is hardly resting on her laurels. e opening was followed quickly by Indigenous People’s Day and Veterans Day programming, along with the Winter Art Market. School tour groups will soon arrive.
“ e programming is what really makes the exhibits come alive,” she says.
Wasserman says she and executive director James Pepper Henry “work beautifully together,” and are busy with community partnerships, fundraisers, strategic planning and lling job openings in guest services.
“Before FAM, when people came to Oklahoma, it was di cult for them to get any meaningful information about Native history,” she says. “Visitors are looking for unique American experiences. And once the land around the museum is developed, there will be so many things to do.”
At the brand-new First Americans Museum, deputy director Shoshana Wasserman ensures all of Oklahoma’s Native American tribes are represented. Photo by Ginny Underwood
Chairman and CEO – Melton Truck Lines
Bob Peterson enjoys his morning workouts, but sometimes motivation is needed at such an early hour.
“I tell myself that all the other CEOs are in their beds sleeping and I’m going to kick their butts for the rest of the day,” he says with a laugh.
Peterson is chairman and CEO of Melton Truck Lines, a company he acquired after moving to Tulsa in 1989.
He’s a native of Minnesota who started his career in trucking by obtaining a commercial driver’s license in 1985 – which he maintains to this day. He spent six months as an over-the-road driver.
“It’s a blast,” he says. “You gain tremendous respect for the responsibility placed on the drivers and how much they have to concentrate.”
Another thing he enjoys is serving as vice chairman of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation Commission. He represents 11 counties in northeast Oklahoma’s District 8.
“It’s fun learning about roads and bridges and how much they cost,” he says. “Highways and infrastructure impact not only our business, but all of us, and I am happy to lend a hand to that process.”
He started his company with 36 employees; today, there are 1,450.
“COVID scared people into retirement and we lost a large number of truck drivers,” he says. “We could use several hundred more. e supply chain shortage is still a crisis.” e company has invested heavily in safety technology, says Peterson. About ten years ago, Melton installed cameras in its trucks that shoot forward, and also back at the driver.
“It’s saved us lots of money,” he says. “When there are collisions, believe it or not, some people b about what happened.”
Melton invests in employee wellness with a 3,500-square-foot gym and on site medical clinic. About 150 of his drivers have logged more than 1 million miles.
In his free time, Peterson likes to golf. He and his wife, Cindy, a writer, enjoy getaways to their lake home. And he stays busy – Peterson holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and is a certi ed public accountant. He also remains involved in local philanthropic e orts.
“I embrace being part of such a philanthropic community as Tulsa,” he says. “I have been involved with the Tulsa Area United Way for many years, and our company rallies around our annual campaign.”
Bob Peterson of Melton Truck Lines says the supply chain shortage is still an issue following COVID-19, but Melton works hard to make the industry attractive to new truckers. Photo courtesy Melton Truck Lines
President and CEO – Oklahoma Center For Nonpro ts
It takes a special type of person to enjoy serving on a by-laws committee, but that’s Marnie Taylor. It was her rst assignment as a member of the Junior League of Oklahoma City.
“I took an interest in the governance of organizations right o the bat,” says Taylor, now in her twelfth year as president and CEO of the Oklahoma Center for Nonpro ts. “I thought Roberts Rules of Order was very interesting,” she adds.
With a membership of nearly 1,000 organizations, the OCFNP is “a nonpro t of its own. We teach, we train, we lobby for nonpro ts,” she says. AdditionalMarnie Taylor took the helm at the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits in 2011. Photo courtesy OCFNP ly, Taylor is serving a two-year term as president of the National Council for Nonpro ts.
After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, where service was part of the culture, she joined the Chicago Tribune and sold national advertising.
“Sales is a really strong place to start a career,” she says. “Getting in a car and making cold calls at age 22 really grows you up fast.”
She met lobbyist Clayton Taylor on a blind date, and shortly after they were married, he was o ered a job in his native Oklahoma. She then sold advertising for e Oklahoman, was a full-time mother to her two sons, and served on charitable boards before making the switch to nonpro ts as a career.
Taylor says she has a high energy level – quite necessary for her position now.
“I went to a board meeting the night before my rst child was born,” she mentions. “I was a competitive swimmer, then a runner, and now I do a lot of hiking. I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. I really like to be on my feet.”
When non-pro ts hold their fundraisers across the state, Taylor is usually there.
“I like to see what they’re doing, and I like them to see me,” she says. “I love numbers, I love business and marketing, but I really love community.” e COVID-19 shutdown “was exhausting, in a good way,” she says. “We bought 10 Zoom lines the rst week.
“We taught people how to ll out the applications, to be patient. I would say Oklahoma fared very well, because we have strong philanthropy, strong nonpro ts. e fact that we weathered the storm as well as we have is really satisfying to me.”
Bob Funk Sr. works to keep Oklahomans happily employed at Express Employment Professionals. Photo courtesy Express Employment Professionals
Founder, CEO and Chairman – Express Employment Professionals
Bob Funk says he was a terrible preacher.
“I often teased that there was a great awakening at the end of every service because I put them to sleep so badly,” he says with a laugh.
But Funk says he has put his master’s degree in theology to good use as president and executive chairman of the board of the Oklahoma City-based Express Employment Professionals ... and as a lay church worker.
“Human resources is a sta ng ministry,” he says. “Most people looking for jobs are discouraged. It’s up to us to give them encouragement and help them to see their potential and where they would like to be in life. Hope is one of the most important things for people looking for a job.”
Gratitude is a theme in Funk’s life, starting with appreciation for his hardworking parents and a cousin who gave him a job on his farm in Washington.
“He employed me for about 12 years so I could get through college and get my graduate degrees,” says Funk.
He then joined a human resource company in Seattle that transferred him to Oklahoma, a move he describes as “the greatest blessing in my life.”
In 1983, he and two partners founded Express Employment Professionals; it now has 860 franchises in the United States and Canada as well as some in Africa, New Zealand and Australia. e COVID-19 pandemic has made for some rough times for the company.
“Finding the right people was a severe problem and is still a problem,” he says. “It’s more di cult than it’s ever been to nd those quality people who want to work. It breaks your heart when you have these great jobs and can’t nd the people to ll them.”
Funk served on the Federal Reserve Board and as chairman of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. A former FFA member, he’s a big supporter of the Oklahoma Youth Expo.
In his o time, he loves to attend cattle shows and sales to support the family’s purebred cattle business. It was at a show in Canada that he spied the Clydesdales that now reside at Express Clydesdales in Yukon. e animals, according to expressclydesdales.com, “meet thousands of visitors each year at home ... and they travel across North America as good-will ambassadors for Express Employment Professionals and Express Ranches.”
Foundation Director – Delta Dental Foundation
With a little help from “Captain Supertooth,” one mission of the Delta Dental Foundation is to teach children about good oral health. But director Terrisa Singleton knows that regular dental healthcare is out of reach for many Oklahoma families.
One solution is o ered by the nonpro t Delta Dental of Oklahoma insurance, which donates part of its proceeds from subscribers to the foundation, which, in turn, supports dental clinics.
“In 2021, grants were awarded to 41 free and low-cost clinics, oral health initiatives and education programs,” says Singleton. e pandemic attacked dental care on several fronts.
“In March 2020, all dental o ces were closed and people could not get care unless it was an absolute emergency,” she says. “Many went to the ER with pain and infection, where all they could do was give them antibiotics.”
When dental o ces re-opened, some patients still feared contagion. Others had lost their jobs and couldn’t a ord the trip. But o ce sta s were still busy catching up, nding it tough to make time for their shots when the vaccine became available.
Among the COVID victims was Singleton’s husband, David, an accountant and lay minister who, as an ALS patient, was high-risk. He died in September 2020. en, when the foundation was approached about helping dental professionals get vaccinated, Delta Dental CEO John Gladden o ered Singleton the job of coordinating the program.
Singleton acknowledges that some employers would have hesitated to make such a request of a grieving widow. But it was just what she needed. e former Oklahoma City headquarters of Delta Dental was turned into a vaccination station, and a clinic was opened in Tulsa.
“It’s one of the more signi cant things I think I’ve ever been honored to be a part of,” says Singleton. “Some of those dentists had tears in their eyes as they thanked us.” e foundation also created programs to steer patients away from emergency rooms and help people who had lost their jobs nd free care.
Singleton started her career in advertising. After having twins, she founded a business creating websites before working as a marketing director.
“I had the hankering to work for a nonpro t,” she says. “ is job opened up in 2009. I now happen to have the greatest job on Earth.”
Terrisa Singleton describes her position at the Delta Dental Foundation as the “greatest job on Earth.” Photo courtesy Delta Dental Stan Evans began law school at 54, and later became the first African-American to be appointed to a dean’s position at an Oklahoma law school. Photo by Hugh Scott courtesy OU
Colonel – U.S Army (retired); Assistant Dean, OU College of Law
Role models are essential, Stan Evans says, because “young people need a picture of what they can become. It’s more about understanding that if you can see the success, you can be the success.”
Evans’ grandparents, he says, helped him to envision who he might become.
“My parents would send me and my siblings to Texas to spend the summers on the farm,” he says. “My grandparents talked to us about life, about church, about land management. My grandmother set the standards for the family, and my grandfather gave us a vision.”
Evans was born in 1946. His father was a WWII veteran and part of the group that integrated the Oklahoma City Fire Department. Evans also participated with Clara Luper in civil rights sit-ins.
“Miss Luper made sure we were trained,” he says. “We knew how to keep from losing our tempers if we got cursed out [or] spit on. We would sing to get ourselves in a spiritual mood.”
Evans says he joined the Army because he unked out of college. When he entered OSU, he says, his goal had been to just get there.
“I didn’t really understand that college is a stepping stone for what you want to be and what you want to do,” he says.
He and his wife, Sandra, were married 15 days before he joined the Army. His sergeants convinced him to go to school at night, where he earned both a bachelor’s and master’s. en, he entered law school at 54, after retiring with 32 years of military service.
Evans was asked to stay on at OU before he graduated, becoming the rst African-American to be appointed to a dean’s position at an Oklahoma law school. In his position, Evans mentors students who protest over racist incidents on campus.
“ e rst question I ask students is why are they there at protests,” he says. “I tell them they need to recognize the problems, but go beyond that and make things better, to prepare themselves to be in leadership positions.”
Evans’ son, also named Stan, is a professional photographer. His daughter, Lisa, a television anchor who went by Lee Evans, was killed by a drunk driver in 1997.
“She was very focused on service,” he says. “Sandra and I decided to spend the rest of our lives helping other young people become great, by helping them to see the doors that are open for them.”
Evans helped found Make a Will, a partnership with churches to help people who need wills and powers of attorney. Oklahoma Lawyers for Americas Heroes, which Evans also helped to start about 12 years ago, provides legal services to soldiers both when they deploy and when they return.
Animal Animal ABCs
From insight into pet food
By Tracy LeGrand ingredients to oral hygiene
tips, veterinarians o er a wealth of knowledge to ensure you’re taking the best possible care of your furry friends.
Doggy Dentistry
While we know the requirements for human oral hygiene, rules for dogs and cats are less clear. Todd Yeagley, DVM, with Woodland West Animal Hospital in Tulsa, has some answers and tips.
“If you take on brushing [your animal’s teeth] yourself, it helps if you start early, when they’re young,” he says. “If you do it, use dog-speci c or cat-speci c toothpaste, as it’s di erent than for humans. e gold standard is to brush their teeth every day because plaque builds up. But even with a sta of 60 here, I don’t know anyone who does it.
“Instead, we focus on sedation dentistry as the most realistic way to provide your pet with oral hygiene, along with dental treats that are coated with an enzyme to break down the tartar. Look for products approved by the VOHC – the Veterinary Oral Health Counsel – as these have demonstrated some e cacy of the product in dental hygiene. ere are also water additives [to improve dental health] for dogs. But nothing will take the place of yearly dental cleanings, just like us, to maintain oral health. Everything is supplemental to the yearly visit.”
Warnings signs for dental care issues are bad breath and visible tartar – but animals may not indicate that something’s wrong, says Yeagley.
“Dogs and cats will still eat when they have an abscess or periodontal disease, so that’s why it’s so important to get them checked yearly by a veterinarian in case there are issues,” he says.
When it comes to feeding your pet, major considerations should be quality, cost and ingredients.
“Some vets have absolute opinions on brands and ingredients; I’m not that speci c,” says Yeagley. “I go about it in a di erent way. With ingredients, make sure what you choose is not grain free. Studies link grain-free pet foods to heart diseases in dogs, as the legumes in there interfere with the amino acid needs for their heart – and so many vets will tell you ‘no grain free diet.’”
Veterinarians are a great source for pet food advice. Yeagley says commercial foods include the ingredients that will contain all the nutrients and vitamins needed for your pet. Often the higher quality, higher cost brands will be more digestible than cheaper brands, meaning you can give less to your animal at a time.
“We can make a broad recommendation,” says Yeagley. “Buy foods that aren’t grocery store brands, go to pet-speci c stores or to a veterinarian o ces to nd high quality pet foods.”
Woodland West Animal Hospital handles a variety of services including behavioral consultation, laser therapy and vaccinations. Photo courtesy Woodland West
Handling Cost
Now more than ever, pet owners are dealing with the nancial concerns of veterinary medicine, as vets have the ability to do a lot these days and medical care is costly. Solutions exist, says Yeagley.
“Some of these pet insurance companies are pretty good, and the way insurance works is they reimburse the owners who pay the bills for their pets’ care,” he says. “We’ve seen people who have that insurance really bene t, because these surgeries and hospitalized treatments can get very expensive.”
Heed the Signs
Furry, four-legged friends can’t verbally tell their owners they’re not feeling well. WebMD o ers some warning signs to look for if you suspect your animal might be sick: • Changes in eating habits • Elimination changes • Skin and coat changes or itchy skin • Energy changes • Coughing • Sti ness or di cult rising
Keeping Kiddos Safe
Sherrie Hodgson, DVM, of OKC’s Neel Veterinary Hospital, says that there are proper protocols to follow with animals being around small children and newborns.
“If your pet has a history of aggression with children, do not ever allow it to be close to your baby or child unless you can guarantee a positive outcome for both,” she says. “ ere are some behavior modi cations you can work on, which includes behavior changes for both the owner and the pet.”
A responsible adult should always directly supervise children when pets are around them, says Hodgson.
“Never assume the interactions will be positive. Many behaviors of small children mimic those of prey animals, which can trigger a dog’s prey drive, so do not allow dogs to chase children or bark at them when they are playing. If this occurs, move the dog to an area where it cannot see the children. Your dog should be trained to respond to basic commands, including ‘settle.’”
When it comes to babies, prepare your pet for a newborn’s presence with time to spare.
“It is best to help the pet adjust to a new baby by starting a few months ahead of the anticipated arrival; change the pet’s schedule to what you expect after baby comes, including pet feeding times, decreasing the amount of time you spend with the pet, and starting to use baby gates to keep the pet out of certain areas of the home,” she says. “Bringing baby products and furniture into the home ahead of time will help the pet get used to some of the smells associated with baby. If your pet is exhibiting concerning behaviors after baby arrives, contact your veterinarian or a trainer that uses positive reinforcement to discuss a plan.”
Animal Commitment
Caring for a pet can be a great learning activity for children, as they become responsible for the animal they asked to become their ‘furever’ friend. But how can parents go about teaching these lessons in an intentional way?
“I have children age 11 to newborn so this question is on my mind,” says Yeagley. “It’s common for people to get pets for their kids, and the parents need to demonstrate the care of the animals. Once they see the kid can do it, the child can help out with the chores. After a while, give them parts of that care to do on their own, see that they can do it and then increase the responsibility.
“Please don’t just give them the pet and say it’s their job. Instead, give them guidance and demonstrate it. It’s going to be more empowering; they need to see it done so they can gure out how to do it and take an interest in it. If their parents aren’t interested, will they be?”
Taming Behaviors
When a dog is aggressive toward other animals, it shouldn’t yet be socializing at a dog park or be walking on a leash with other pets around, says Hodgson.
“ is behavior is very di cult to modify, but with the combination of a veterinarian with an interest in behavior, and a trainer who uses positive reinforcement, it is possible to lessen the dog’s response to triggers,” she says. “Never trust an aggressive dog with other pets or with children, even if it is ‘ ne’ with the children in your family; it may not extend that courtesy to your children’s friends. Most dog bites and attacks are preventable, but only if the owner is wiser than the dog. When walking your dog, it should be leashed at all times. Use a six or eight foot long leash rather than a retractable leash, which o ers you very little control over an unexpected situation.”
TASTE
FOOD, DRINK AND OTHER PLEASURES
The Next Great Adventure
Sami and Brian Cooper work to give their customers “ten minutes of joy” with homemade ice cream and other sweet treats.
The Carmella Sundae comes with salted caramel and brown butter ganache ice cream, whipped cream, waff le chips and a cherry. Photos by Stephanie Phillips Three o’clock on a bright, late autumn afternoon and all the shops on Sand Springs’ Main Street are deserted – except for one. e narrow corridor around the cheery, white-tiled counter of Big Dipper Creamery is packed with a horde of giggling school kids. Behind the counter, scooping out ice cream and wearing the happiest smile of them all, is Sami Cooper. ere’s a break in the crowd, so let’s follow her now to the tiny room in back where all the ice cream is carefully, lovingly made from scratch every day. Surprisingly, the rst thing you see is an oven. Alongside is a woman carefully breaking eggs in a bowl. at’s Macy Hightower, their full time baker. She bakes all the cakes, dinner rolls and candies used in the ice cream. ere’s a spice rack nearby, though almost all the avor ingredients are made in that room from local produce. For honeycomb lavender (“ e rst avor I made where I knew I was really onto something,” recalls Sami), she steeps locally grown lavender buds into cream. en Macy makes a honeycomb to ee from Sand Springs honey. ose eggs? at’s for the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, an ice cream made with a real cake – a very rich and gooey cake – which is drenched in butterscotch icing, cut into little pieces, and mixed into cream cheese ice cream.
“And over there is Cosmo. He’s the heartbeat of the entire shop,” says Sami, pointing to a cute little batch freezer standing quietly in the corner. e dairy base, which is 14% butterfat (it’s the fat that gives it the rich, creamy taste), is mixed with the avors and inclusions, then whipped and, afterwards, frozen to make sure big crystals don’t form and ruin the avor.
“Super frozen!” adds a bearded man hauling pots to the sink.
