New Horizons Newspaper by Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

April 2013 VOL. 38 â&#x20AC;˘ NO. 4

ENOA 4223 Center Street Omaha, NE 68105-2431

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389

New Horizons ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Leo Adam Biga interviews Dr. Eileen Wirth, chair of the Department of Journalism, Media, and Computing at Creighton University, about her new book, From Society Page to Front Page. The book, which details the contributions Nebraska women have made in journalism, will be available on May 1. See page 10.

SOUSA CONCERT SUNDAY Robert E. Foster, a Kansas University music professor, will portray John Philip Sousa as the Nebraska Wind Symphony offers a Sousa band concert on April 21. See page 15.

SOKOL

Elaine McMullin and Dr. Ed Furtak are among the men and women who enjoy dancing at the Sokol Auditorium to the Big Band sounds of the Jimmy B Orchestra. See page 18.

Tips to improve your weatherworn lawn By Melinda Myers

T Quality Care & Treatment -

Pain & Symptom Management Personal Care Services Grief Support Services Equipment, Supplies & Oxygen

www.progressivecare.com / Call

us 402-933-5836

he extreme heat and drought of 2012 was hard on lawns and gardens. Many gardeners are facing a blank slate of bare soil, masses of dead patches that were once lawn, or a bit of grass interspersed in a sea of weeds. Start this spring to renovate or improve your weatherworn lawn. Remember that water is critical to get newly seeded and sodded lawns to survive. So be prepared to help nature along with your lawn’s recovery. Evaluate the damage. Then use the checklist below to guide you to the best course of action to aid your ailing lawn. If your lawn is more than 60 percent weeds or bare soil you may want to start over. Use this opportunity to create a great foundation for growing a healthy lawn. Kill off the existing vegetation, add several inches of organic matter such as compost or peat moss, and a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer into the top six to eight inches of soil, and rake smooth. Select more drought tolerant grasses like rhizomatous (turf-type) tall fescues, buffalo grass, and native lawn mix. Make sure the grass is suited to your climate and plant according to the label. Then sow the seeds, lightly rake, and mulch or lay sod. Water often enough to keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout or the sod roots into the soil below. Then water thoroughly when the top few inches of soil are crumbly, but slightly moist to encourage deep roots. Fertilize new, existing, and stressed lawns with a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer. It won’t harm stressed lawns, young seedlings, or newly laid sod. It HorizonAD-2010:HorizonAD-08 will encourage slow steady

If your lawn is more than 60 percent weeds or bare soil you may want to start over. growth. Fertilize around Memorial Day. If 2013 turns into another hot dry summer, it won’t burn the lawn. Mow high to encourage deeply rooted grass that is more drought tolerant and pest resistant. Mow often, removing only a third of the total height. Leave these short clippings on the lawn. They return moisture, nutrients, and organic matter to the soil. Repair small dead and bare patches as needed. Use a lawn patch kit, grass seed, and mulch or make your own. For small spots, loosen the soil surface, sprinkle grass seed, and lightly rake. Or mix a handful of grass seed in a bucket of topsoil. Sprinkle the mix over the soil surface. Do a bit more soil preparation when renovating larger dead areas in the lawn. Remove or kill any weeds that have filled in these areas. Till two inches of compost, peat moss, or other organic matter into the top six inches of soil. Sow seed, rake, and mulch or lay sod. Overseed thin and sparse lawn. First, core aerate the lawn to improve soil condi2/4/10 8:00 AM Page 1 tions and increase seed-to-

soil contact. Spread grass seed over the aerated lawn and water as needed. Rent a slit seeder or hire a professional with this type of equipment. These machines slice through the soil and drop the grass seed in place, increasing the seed-to-soil contact needed for good germination. Core aerate lawns with more than one half an inch of thatch, those growing in compacted soils, or before overseeding. By removing plugs of soil you break through the thatch and create channels for water and fertilizer to reach the grass roots. Spot treat weeds on lawns that need minimal repair. Wait at least until fall to treat new and overseeded lawns. Spot treating minimizes the use of chemicals and reduces the stress on your already stressed lawn. As always read and follow label directions carefully. Proper maintenance and a bit of cooperation from nature will help transform your lawn from an eyesore to an asset in your landscape. (Myers is a nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, and author.)

Attorneys at Law William E. Seidler Jr.

www.seidler-seidler-law.com 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 525 Omaha, NE 68114-5705

402-397-3801

Delivering quality legal services since 1957.

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April 2013

Hours holding mobile devices can lead to ‘text neck’

n today’s technologythirsty society, it’s rare to not see someone with their head down texting on their cell phone or reading the latest status updates on Facebook. However, too much texting and tilting your head down can become a pain in the neck for some people. An excessive amount of leaning your head forward and down, while looking at a phone or other mobile device could result in what some people call “text neck.” “People get so focused on these devices that they end up holding their neck and upper back in abnormal positions for a long period of time; enough that other people coined the phrase ‘text neck,’ which is essentially referring to postural pain,” said Chris Cornett, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon and spine specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation.

The term, text neck, was first coined by a chiropractor in Florida. It’s defined as an overuse syndrome involving the head, neck, and shoulders, usually resulting from excessive strain on the spine from looking in a downward position at hand held devices such as cell phones, mp3 players, e-readers, and computer tablets. “When you hold your body in an abnormal position, it can increase stress on the muscles, cause fatigue, muscle spasms, and even stress headaches,” according to Dr. Cornett. “With every degree of motion to the front or side that you move your head, the stress on your neck is magnified beyond just the weight of the head.” He added what we assume, but do not necessarily know, is whether or not this is causing long term increased stress on the other structures in your neck, such as the discs and joints. Dr. Cornett has seen patients who have complained about this sort of discomfort

and has even experienced it himself. “We see it as a frequent complaint, and I would estimate that more and more people over time, as technology use continues to expand, will experience this kind of discomfort and injuries from text neck,” he said. However, Dr. Cornett suggested a few ways to help alleviate or avoid text neck becoming a pain in your neck. • Modify the position of the device: Instead of having the device in your lap or causing you to lean your head down, find a way to hold the device at a neutral, eye level. • Take breaks: Be aware that you’re using these technology devices throughout the day and force yourself to take a break and to change or alter your position. • Physical fitness: Having a strong, flexible back and neck will help you deal with abnormal stresses and reduce musculoskeletal issues.

Make a donation to help support the

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Membership includes a subscription to the New Horizons newspaper. New Horizons Club Send Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging 4223 Center Street to: Omaha, NE 68105-2431 I get the New Horizons regularly and don’t need to be put on the mailing list. I would like to start receiving the New Horizons at home. My address is below. NAME ADDRESS CITY/STATE/ZIP

Return homestead exemption applications by June 30

pplicants whose names are on file in the assessor’s office in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties should have a homestead exemption form mailed to them by early March. New applicants must contact their county assessor’s office to receive the application. The 2013 forms and a household income statement must be completed and returned to the county assessor’s office by June 30, 2013. A homestead exemption provides property tax relief by exempting all or part of the homestead’s valuation from taxation. The state of Nebraska reimburses the counties and other government subdivisions for the lost tax revenue. To qualify for a homestead exemption, a Nebraska homeowner must be age 65 by Jan. 1, 2013, the home’s owner/occupant through Aug. 15, 2013, and fall within the income guidelines shown below. Certain homeowners who have a disability and totally-disabled war veterans and their widow(er)s may also be eligible for this annual tax break. When determining household income, applicants must include Social Security

and Railroad Retirement benefits plus any income for which they receive a Form 1099. The homestead exemption amount is based on the homeowner’s marital status and income level (see below). Maximum exemptions are based on the average assessed value for residential property in each Nebraska county. The Douglas County Assessor’s office (1819 Farnam St.) is sending volunteers into the community to help older adults complete the application form. The volunteers will be located at sites throughout the county. A list of these locations will be included with your application. Assistance is also available by calling the Volunteers Assisting Seniors at 402444-6617. Douglas County residents can also have their homestead exemption questions answered by calling 402-597-6659. Here are the telephone numbers for the assessor’s offices in the counties served by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging: Douglas: 402-444-7060; Sarpy: 402593-2122; Dodge: 402-727-3916; Cass: 402-296-9310; and Washington: 402426-6800.

Household income table Over age 65 Married Income

Over age 65 Single Income

Exemption Percentage

0 - $31,000.99 $31,001 - $32,700.99 $32,701 - $34,400.99 $34,401 - $36,000.99 $36,001 - $37,700.99 $37,701 - $39,300.99 $39,301 and over

0 to $26,500.99 $26,501 - $27,900.99 $27,901 - $29,200.99 $29,201 - $30,600.99 $30,601 - $32,000.99 $32,001 - $33,400.99 $33,401 and over

100 85 70 55 40 25 0

April 2013

today!

$25

$10

$50

$15

Other _______

New Horizons New Horizons is the official publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. The paper is distributed free to people over age 60 in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Washington, and Cass counties. Those living outside the 5-county region may subscribe for $5 annually. Address all correspondence to: Jeff Reinhardt, Editor, 4223 Center Street, Omaha, NE 68105-2431. Phone 402-444-6654. FAX 402-444-3076. E-mail: jeff.reinhardt@nebraska.gov Advertisements appearing in New Horizons do not imply endorsement of the advertiser by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. However, complaints about advertisers will be reviewed and, if warranted, their advertising discontinued. Display and insert advertising rates available on request. Open rates are commissionable, with discounts for extended runs. Circulation is 20,000 through direct mail and freehand distribution.

Editor..............................................Jeff Reinhardt Ad Mgr................Mitch Laudenback, 402-444-4148 Contributing Writers......Nick Schinker, Leo Biga, Barc Wade, & Lois Friedman Fremont Delivery.........................Dick Longstein ENOA Board of Governors: Mary Ann Borgeson, Douglas County, chairperson; Jim Warren, Sarpy County, vice-chairperson; Jerry Kruse, Washington County, secretary; Gary Osborn, Dodge County, & Jim Peterson, Cass County. The New Horizons and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging provide services without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, or age.

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April 2013 events calendar

Dora Bingel Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Dora Bingel Senior Center, 923 N. 38th St., this month for the following: • April 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29: Al-Anon meeting @ 7 p.m. • April 2, 9, 16, 23, & 30: Grief Support Group @ 10 a.m. • April 17: Joe Taylor sings at 11:30 a.m. The Regeneration Lunch is $3. • April 18: Red Hat Club meeting @ noon. • April 19: Hard of Hearing Support Group @ 10:30 a.m. • April 24: Birthday Party Luncheon @ noon. Eat free if you have an April birthday! A nutritious lunch is served on Tuesday and Friday. A fancier lunch is offered on Wednesday. A $1 donation is suggested for the meals, other than $3 for Regeneration. Round-trip transportation is available for $3. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance for all meals. Other activities offered at the facility include a Tuesday afternoon matinee, a quilting group, a free Wednesday morning Tai Chi class, and a Wednesday afternoon Book of Romans Bible study. For more information, please call 402-898-5854.

5 Omaha Symphony: Rhapsody in Blue 8 p.m. Holland Performing Arts Center $25 to $75 402-342-3560 7 Omaha Symphony: Peter and the Wolf 2 p.m. Holland Performing Arts Center $8 to $10 402-342-3560

Heartland Family Service Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Heartland Family Service Senior Center, 2101 S. 42nd St. for the following: • April 8: Talk on Medicare’s Best Kept Secrets @ 10:45 a.m. • April 11: Birthday party with music by Physha from the Merrymakers. • April 16: Bus trip to Sarpy County @ 11:15 a.m. for Women’s Health Education Workshops with talks on stress relief. The bus will return to the center around 1 p.m. • April 18: Talk by Methodist College nursing students. • April 21: Senior Prom from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Field Club. Call Karen at 402-552-7480 for reservations. • April 23: Red Hat Society meeting at Art Chicks in Louisville. Space is limited, so sign up ASAP. • April 25: Talk on pain-free chiropractic. A nurse visits Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call Karen @ 402-453-8487 for an appointment. The Heartland Family Service Senior Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is normally served at noon. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to attend. Transportation is available within specific boundaries for 50 cents each way. Regular activities include Tai Chi classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday @ 10:15 a.m. Crafts with Patti Tuesdays @ 10:30 a.m. For reservations, call 402-552-7480 or 402-553-5300.

9 World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater 7:30 p.m. Holland Performing Arts Center $19 to $45 402-345-0606 11 Tartuffe Through April 13 Lied Education Center For the Arts @ Creighton University 7:30 p.m. $12 & $15 402-280-1448 12 Preservation Hall Jazz Band Holland Performing Arts Center 8 p.m. $19 to $49 402-345-0606 13 5 Annual Omaha Health & Wellness Conference Also April 14 Century Link Center Omaha 402-346-8003 th

14 Omaha Symphony: In the Master’s Shadow 2 p.m. Witherspoon Concert Hall @ Joslyn Art Museum $30 402-342-3560

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Wayne Brady Holland Performing Arts Center 7 p.m. $25 to $80 402-345-0606

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April 2013

18 Tartuffe Through April 21 Lied Education Center For the Arts @ Creighton University Thursday- Saturday @ 7:30 p.m. Sunday @ 2 p.m. $12 & $15 402-280-1448 19 A Night with the Family Through May 12 Omaha Community Playhouse 402-553-0800 Opera Omaha Bluebeard’s Castle Friday & Saturday @ 7:30 p.m. Sunday @ 2 p.m. 402-345-0606 The Hot Club of San Francisco 1200 Club Live at the Holland Holland Performing Arts Center 8 p.m. $25 (subject to change) 402-345-0606 The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Holland Performing Arts Center 8 p.m. $19 to $55 402-345-0606 26 A Year with Frog and Toad Through May 12 The Rose Theater Friday @ 7 p.m. Saturday @ 2 & 7 p.m. Sunday @ 2 p.m. $18 402-345-4849 27 Omaha Symphony: Disney in Concert Pirates of the Caribbean Holland Performing Arts Center 8 p.m. $20 to $65 402-345-3560 28 Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo 7:30 p.m. Orpheum Theater $19 to $55 402-345-0606

Study examines the benefits of exercise

eople who exercise on a regular basis up to the age of 80 have the same aerobic capacity as someone half their age, says a new study from Ball State University. New Records in Aerobic Power Among Octogenarian Lifelong Endurance Athletes, a Ball State research project conducted in collaboration with several Swedish researchers, found the long-time athletes in the study are enjoying vibrant and healthy lives. The study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. “In this case, 80 is the new 40,” said the study’s lead author Scott Trappe, director of Ball State’s Human Performance Laboratory (HPL). “These athletes are not who we think of when we consider 80-year-olds because they are in fantastic shape. They are simply incredible, happy people who enjoy life and are living it to the fullest. They are still actively engaged in competitive events.” Researchers examined nine endurance athletes from northern Sweden and compared them to a group of healthy men from Indiana in the same age group who only performed the activities of daily living with no

history of structured exercise. The endurance athletes were cross-country skiers, including a former Olympic champion and several national/regional champions with a history of aerobic exercise and participation in endurance events throughout their lives. The athletes exercised four to six times a week, averaging 3,700 more steps per day than the non-exercisers. Members of the two study groups rode exercise bikes as researchers measured oxygen uptake. When the participants reached total exhaustion, they had reached maximum oxygen uptake (also known as VO2 max). Skeletal muscle biopsies were then taken to measure the capacity of their mitochondria, the aerobic base of their muscle and other cells. The study also found the endurance athletes established new upper limits for aerobic power in men 80 to 91 years old, including a maximum oxygen uptake that was nearly twice that of untrained men their age. “To our knowledge, the VO2 max of the lifelong endurance athletes was the highest recorded in humans in this age group, and comparable to non-endurance-

VAS is offering classes, recruiting volunteers

he Medicare program is fraught with complicated decisions, deadlines, enrollment periods, etc. Volunteers Assisting Seniors is available to help older adults sort through their Medicare coverage. A non-profit organization, VAS is offering monthly workshops to help explain Medicare. Titled, New to Medicare, the programs can answer health insurance questions and help beneficiaries make better decisions about their health insurance options. The 6:30 to 8 p.m. workshops are held the fourth Thursday of the month at the New Cassel Retirement Center, 900 N. 90th St. Although the programs are free, registration is required due to space limitations. For more information or to reserve your space, please call VAS at 402-4446617 or log on the Internet to www.vasnebraska.com. VAS and the Senior Health Insurance Information Program are also looking for volunteers to help older adults and persons with a disability make informed health insurance decisions. The next VAS/SHIIP training classes are scheduled for May 3 and 10. For more information, please call VAS at 402-444-6617 or log on the Internet to www.vas-nebraska.com.

trained men 40 years younger,” Trappe said. “We also analyzed the aerobic capacity of their muscles by examining biopsies taken from thigh muscles, and found it was about double that of typical men. In fact, the oldest gentleman was 91 years old, but his aerobic capacity resembles that of a man 50 years younger. It was absolutely astounding.” A person’s VO2 max is a proving to be a better predictor of mortality than many better-known cardiovascular risk factors, Trappe said. Based upon the VO2max findings, the lifelong exercisers have a 50 percent lower all-cause mortality risk compared to the untrained men. Trappe said the study fills in an important knowledge gap for aerobic capacity given that individuals living beyond age 80 are the fastest expanding age demographic in our society “Since we are living longer, our research indicates lifelong exercise enhances physical capacity, has powerful anti-aging effects, and emphasizes that exercise is medicine, Trappe said. “If we can get people to embrace some sort of regular exercise routine, we can improve their lives.” April 23 at 2 & 7:30 p.m.

Film will take armchair travelers to Morocco Award-winning producer Rick Ray will present The Soul of Morocco as the final installment of the Omaha World Adventurers’ 2012-13 film series. The Soul of Morocco will be shown at 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 at the 20 Grand Cinema, 14304 W. Maple Rd.

Morocco is the land of Kasbahs and desert places, and armchair travelers will enjoy the country’s windswept mountains, camel caravans, and its artisans who create tile mosaics, brass metalwork, silk slippers, and fragrant spices. Ray will also take viewers to Morocco’s mountain villages, port cities, and forests as he introduces the nation’s history and its people. Tickets, which are available at the door, are $12. A $2 discount is available to New Horizons readers who redeem the coupon on page 17. The Omaha World Adventurers’ film series is a RJ Enterprises production. For more information, please call (toll free) 866-385-3824.

April 2013

Your home.Your care.Your pace.

Your home is best and Immanuel Pathways can help you continue living there for as long as possible. Our program provides a comprehensive system of health care. The model of service is PACE: Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. Our program includes primary, acute and long-term health care as well as day therapeutic and recreational services and transportation. Services are provided in the home, in the community and at our PACE Center. PACE participants may be fully and personally liable for the costs of unauthorized or out-of-PACE program services. Emergency services are covered. Participants may disenroll at any time.

For complete program details and benefits, please call 402-991-0330.

5755 Sorensen Parkway | Omaha, NE 68152 | www.immanuelpathways.org

WHITMORE LAW OFFICE Wills • Trusts • Probate

Ask A Lawyer: Q — Aren’t trusts just for rich folks? A — That’s one of the most common misconceptions, the “rich kid with a trust fund.” Actually a living trust is a simple way for your home, belongings, accounts, and/or investments all to seamlessly transition to your spouse, children or other person(s) of your choice upon your death, without the delay, cost, and frustration of probate. Many people assume a will does this, but they are surprised to find that it does not, and that a great deal of trouble could be avoided with a living trust. A trust is appropriate for most people who own a home, property, or have any investments. Have a question about estate planning? Give us a call!

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Senior HealtH Care questions or concerns?

Health care costs too high? Diabetic? Heart trouble? Lung issues? Need dental coverage?

rights, options, & entitlements when you turn 65 or RETIRE!

Learn facts about your

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Senior Insurance Specialist 402-968-1500 kimshulters@gmail.com

The New Horizons is brought to you each month by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging.

RSVP Retired and Senior Volunteer Program The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program is recruiting persons age 55 and older for a variety of opportunities. For more information in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties, please call 402-444-6536, ext. 229. In Dodge and Washington counties, please call 402721-7780. The following have volunteer opportunities in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties: • Mount View Elementary School wants a TeamMates mentor. • Good 360 is looking for volunteers to process donations as they arrive and to repack for charities. • Alegent Health Ber-

gan Mercy Hospital needs • The Danish American volunteers for its informaArchive and Library in tion desks and as patient and Blair needs volunteers for a family escorts. variety of assignments. • Boys Town wants volunteer mentors and a volunNature programs teer office assistant. offered monthly • The Disabled American Veterans need volun The Fontenelle Nature teer drivers. Association’s SUN (Se • The Douglas County niors Understanding NaHealth Center wants ture) program offers acvolunteers for a variety of tivities for older adults the assignments. second Tuesday of each • The Omaha Police Demonth at the Fontenelle partment needs volunteers Nature Center, 1111 Belfor general duties. levue Blvd North. • Together Inc. is look The programs, held ing for an intake assistant. from 9:45 to 11 a.m., fea The following have volunture an indoor program, teer opportunities in Dodge an optional nature walk, and Washington counties: and refreshments. • The Blair and Fremont The cost is $6 per perCar-Go Programs needs son each month. volunteer drivers. For more information, • The Fremont Friendplease call Catherine Kuship Center needs help with per at 402-731-3140, ext. its Tuesday Supper Club. 1019. • The Fremont Area • April 9: Native Plants Medical Center is looking for Wildlife. for volunteers for its infor • May 14: Flooding mation desk on weekends Impacts on Riverside & and to help out evenings at Community Forests. the A.J. Merrick Manor.

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April 2013

Laughter’s free and it makes you feel better Lewy Body Dementia support By Jen Vogt group meets Tuesday, April 16

umor is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is much more contagious than any sniffle, sneeze, or cough. Since April is National Humor Month, this is a great time to share jokes with the people in your life, not only because you’ll get a good chuckle, but also because it will bind you together and increase your happiness, trigger physical changes in your body, and reduces stress. Best of all, this priceless medicine is free! It’s easy to see how laughter can improve your mental health. After all, a good joke or funny story can add joy to any bad day. Not only that, it helps easy anxiety and fear. Humor can help you shift your perspective and put you in a positive frame of mind. Did you know laughter can also improve your physical health? Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good belly laugh can relieve tension and stress, and leave you feeling relaxed for up to 45 minutes. Laughter also boosts the immune system. It can decrease stress hormones and increase immune cells, which improves your ability to fight illness. Laughing with others is more powerful than laughing alone. Shared laughter is one of the most effective tools for keeping relationships fresh, joyful, vital, and resilient. Laughing also unites people during difficult times. Incorporating laughter into your daily routine will help improve relationships with your loved ones, co-workers, and friends. You can bring more laughter to your life by following these simple tips: • Smile: Smiling is the beginning of a laugh, and it’s just as contagious.

• Count your blessings: Literally make a list of all the good things in your life. • Move toward laughter when you hear it: More often than not, people are willing to share something they find funny because it will give them a chance to laugh again. • Spend time with fun, playful people: Their playful point of view and laughter will rub off on you. • Bring humor into conversations: Ask people, “What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you

this week?” As laughter becomes a regular part of your daily activities, you will notice improved relationships, less stress, and a brighter outlook on life. With so much power to heal and renew, the ability to laugh easily and frequently is a tremendous resource for surmounting problems, enhancing your relationships, and supporting both physical and emotional health. So go ahead and share that punch line! (Vogt is with Midwest Geriatrics, Inc. of Omaha.)

he Metro Omaha Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) Support Group will meet on Tuesday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at the Millard branch of the Omaha Public Library, 13214 Westwood Ln. LBD is a group of progressive brain diseases that are the second leading cause of degenerative dementia among older adults, affecting more than 1.3 million American families. More information about Lewy Body Dementia is available online at www. lbda.org/go/awareness. For more information about the support group, please log on to annt88@cox.net or call Ann Taylor at 402-452-3952.

Someday this button might save your life. For now, it sets you free. With Lifeline by Immanuel, you can enjoy an independent lifestyle in your own home—knowing that you can get help if you ever need it. In a fall or emergency, every second counts. Lifeline by Immanuel with AutoAlert is a medical alert pendent that can automatically call for help, even if you can’t push your button. Getting you connected to someone with access to your medical history, someone who can evaluate your situation and immediately send help. To learn more about the security and peace of mind provided by Lifeline, call (402) 829-3277 or toll-free at (800) 676-9449.

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You are invited to attend the

Intergeneration Orchestra Annual Spring of Omaha’s

Pops&Pie

New Cassel Retirement Center

CONCERT Sunday, April 14, 2013 2 p.m. Doors open at 1 p.m. pie/ice cream/beverages

Celebrating 40 Years of Caring Our Legacy Continues...

§ 24-Hour Health Services § Restaurant Style Meals § Weekly Housekeeping § Scheduled Transportation § Safe & Secure Environment

German American Society 3717 South 120th Street

§ Daily Mass & Rosary § Weekly Inter-Faith Service § Utilities / Cable § Social Activities § Gift Shop / Beauty Salon

It’s Truly a Place to Call Home! Call (402) 393-2277/ 900 North 90th Street Omaha, NE 68114 / www.newcassel.org

$7 in advance* • $8 at the door*

Tickets are available by calling Linda @ 402-333-6615 or Chris @ 402-444-6536, ext. 221

The Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha is sponsored by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. Orchestra musicians are under age 25 and age 50 and older.

Sponsored by the School Sisters of Saint Francis

April 2013

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www.igo-omaha.org

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ENOA meals April 2013

Extension office offers tips

April is the time to get your spring garden ready

Monday, April 1 Chili Dog Tuesday, April 2 Ham & Macaroni Casserole Wednesday, April 3 Parmesan Chicken Thursday, April 4 Swiss Steak Friday, April 5 BBQ Rib Patty Monday, April 8 Salisbury Steak w/Gravy Tuesday, April 9 Fiesta Chicken Leg Quarter Wednesday, April 10 Roast Beef Thursday, April 11 Spaghetti Casserole Friday, April 12 Herbed Pork Loin Monday, April 15 Crunchy Pollock Tuesday, April 16 Cheeseburger Wednesday, April 17 Grilled Pork Patty Thursday, April 18 Southwestern Chili Friday, April 19 Chicken A L’Orange Breast Monday, April 22 Chicken w/Supreme Sauce Tuesday, April 23 Italian Pork Loin Wednesday, April 24 Swedish Meatballs Thursday, April 25 Open Faced Hot Roast Beef Friday, April 26 Lasagna Casserole Monday, April 29 Meatloaf Tuesday, April 30 Polish Sausage W/Sauerkraut

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Read it & eat By Lois Friedman readitandeat@yahoo.com

By Carol McNulty

Recipes to get your Spring rolling!

It’s time for gardeners to get their green thumbs in shape. Knowing when to plant a garden can be a guessing game, but gardeners should start preparing in early April. Kathleen Cue, extension associate, says if the ground wasn’t spaded or rototilled last fall, use a spade or fork turning over soil eight to 12 inches. However, wait until the soil is dry and crumbles in the hand as spading damp soil can cause clods. Work backwards, never stepping on the newly spaded soil to avoid further compaction. Use a rake to break up clods after spading. Gardeners also can rototill the area, but must be careful not to overdo it. Cue says too much rototilling can break soil particles apart, causing a crust to form after it rains or someone waters the garden. It’s difficult for small seedlings to emerge through the crust. Gardens that yielded poorly last year need a dose of fertilizer. A light application of fertilizer – one half-pound per 1,000 square feet – will restore soil nutrients and encourage growth. Gardeners may apply additional fertilizer later in the season as plants use the initial application. Organic matter, such as compost or composted manure, may be applied prior to spading or rototilling the soil. Cue says organic material helps sandy soils hold moisture and loosens clay and loam soils so they drain better while retaining needed moisture. Nutrients are released slowly as organic matter breaks down. A combination of organic fertilizer and a light application of synthetic fertilizer usually provides the best growth stimulant. Check the soil temperature before planting. Stick a metal thermometer, available at most garden stores, two inches into the soil to get a reading. Since soil temperature fluctuates throughout the day, measure the temperature around 10 a.m. for the most accurate results. Plant cool season vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes, and peas when the soil reaches 50 to 60 degrees. Cool season plants should be able to withstand late frosts, but gardeners may cover newly emerged seedlings with floating row covers or straw for extra protection on frosty nights. Uncover the plants during the warm days so light can reach them. Warm season plants such as tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash need soil 60 to 80 degrees to germinate well. Use a heat source at the plant’s base to speed germination of indoor transplants. Warm season crops don’t tolerate frost, so Cue says to be patient and wait until the danger of frost has passed before planting. For more information visit our web site at http://douglassarpy.unl.edu. (McNulty is an educator with the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Office in Douglas and Sarpy counties.)

Let the good times roll! Check out this array of beautiful cookbooks loaded with recipes, incredible photographs, and all kinds of ideas for entertaining friends and family.

Older Nebraskans have free access to legal information Legal Aid of Nebraska operates a free telephone access line for Nebraskans age 60 and older. Information is offered to help the state’s older men and women with questions on topics like bankruptcy, homestead exemptions, collections, powers of attorney, Medicare, Medicaid, grandparent rights, and Section 8 housing. The telephone number for the Elder Access Line is 402-8275656 in Omaha and 1-800-5277249 statewide. This service is available to Nebraskans age 60 and older regardless of income, race, or ethnicity. For more information, log on the Internet to http://www.legalaidofnebraska.com/EAL.

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April 2013

Seriously Simple Parties By Diane Worthington (Chronicle, $24.95) Party prep ideas, clever cooking suggestions, seasonal menus, party basics, and more than 100 recipes for entertaining from beverages through desserts. Scrumptious Food for Family and Friends By Jane-Anne Hobbs (from Struik) Think relaxed and homey or about a lavish spread with all the bells and whistles from this South African blogger. Recipes have detailed instructions. Entertaining By Olive Hamilton Russell Organized seasonally are a year’s menus and recipes celebrating the food and region from the hostess and namesake of Capetown’s Hamilton Russell Vineyards Estate. Betty Crocker The Big Book of Weeknight Dinners (Wiley, $19.99) Think more than 200 fuss-free, hassle-free recipes with Time-Saver, Quick Variations, Healthy Twists, and menus with suggestions, tips and ideas. Supper sandwiches, soups, casseroles, and main dish salads for weeknight solutions to dinner dilemmas for friends and family. Holiday Slow Cooker By Jonnie Downing (Ulysses, $15.95) Ring in the New Year plus 15 other holidays with more than 80 recipes. Black-eyed peas, corned beef and cabbage, glazed ham, pumpkin soup, kugel, and other traditional and innovative holiday dishes to whip up in a slow cooker. The Half-Hour Hostess From Southern Living (Oxmoor, $24.95) Become the 21st century consummate hostess using these 35 menus each with several recipes, make ahead plans, party ideas, tips, invitations, and inspiration to get-it-all together in 30 minutes to invite company for dinner. Try decadent chocolate from the Fondue Fun party menu:

Mississippi Mud Fondue

Makes 4 cups Hands-on time: 18 minutes 1 cup heavy cream 1 (12-oz.) package dark chocolate morsels 1 (7 ½-oz.) jar marshmallow crème ½ tsp. vanilla extract Bring cream to a boil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer. Add chocolate morsels, and stir until melted and smooth. Stir in marshmallow crème and vanilla, stirring constantly until smooth. Transfer to a fondue pot, and keep warm. Serve with desired accompaniments such as brownies, biscotti, graham crackers, marshmallows, chopped toasted pecans, and chopped candied ginger.

AARP computer classes begin April 17

ARP is offering computer classes for persons age 50 and older beginning April 17. The nine-hour course (three classes each three hours long) are $15 and include computer terms, operating procedures, formatting, organizing, and typing documents, setting up files, backing up data, inserting

clip art, using spell check, cutting and pasting, deleted files, and surfing the Internet. The classes – which run through June – are taught at the Kids Can Community Center, 48th and Q streets. For more information or to sign up for a class, please call AARP’s Nebraska Information Center at 402398-9568.

Study focusing on migraine relief Of the men and women that suffer the debilitating side effects of migraine headaches, less than half get diagnosed. Most cope by isolating themselves, using over-the-counter medications, and suffering in silence. But researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Lincoln Division and Bryan Medical Center say many people could get more relief. The researchers – Nancy Waltman, Ph.D., and Catherine Parker have been studying the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce the frequency, severity, and disability from migraine headaches. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates that 28 million Americans suffer from migraines. Migraines are three times more common in women than in men. Results of the study were significant. At 12 months, study participants reported a decrease in frequency of migraines by 76 percent (from an average of two migraines a week to one); severity of pain decreased by 31 percent; and perception of disability from headaches decreased by 66 percent. “We’ve found that a lot of women remain silent and don’t get treated for their migraines,” said Dr. Walt-

man, a professor of nursing and nurse practitioner at the UNMC College of Nursing Lincoln Division. “The best treatment is a combination of dietary changes, adjustments in sleep and exercise, avoiding triggers, and preventative medications. Generally narcotics aren’t that effective and aren’t appropriate for chronic headaches.” Study participants were educated to identify and avoid migraine headache triggers, coached on dietary and lifestyle changes, and were given prescriptions for medications to prevent and treat migraines. Debilitating symptoms include head pain, nausea, light and sound sensitivity, and vomiting. These symptoms affect work and home life. Parker, a nurse manager in Employee Health Services at Bryan Medical Center, said employers can help reduce sick days for those with migraines by encouraging employees to seek treatment and follow up treatment. “Migraines are real and incapacitating,” Parker said. “It’s helpful if employers can recognize employees who suffer from migraines and make appropriate referrals for medical treatment. It’s also important if employers can provide an outlet for exercise, stress

management, and massage therapy, which are all useful for migraine headache sufferers.” Some of the lifestyle and dietary prevention techniques include decreasing caffeine and alcohol consumption, exercising, managing stress, and having regular sleep patterns. Dr. Waltman said results of the study also indicate that migraine management interventions should be tailored for each individual. Although statistically significant results were reported, Dr. Waltman said limitations of the study were its small sample size of 28 workers from one occupational setting and not having a control group. “Another reason for this study was to gauge the feasibility of studying this intervention in a larger study. Our results are promising and we are recommending a future, larger study,” she said. Besides affecting quality of life for individuals and their families, migraine headaches result in missed work and decreased productivity. American employers lose more than $13 billion each year as a result of 113 million lost workdays due to headache or migraine, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. For more information go to www.headaches.org.

Caregiver retreat set for April 24, 25

ersons caring for a loved one with special needs who sometimes feel overwhelmed or stressed by their caregiving responsibilities are invited to attend the Nebraska Respite Network 2013 Caregiver

Retreat. The retreat will be held Wednesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 25 at the Mahoney State Park Lodge near Ashland, Nebraska. Activities will include motivational speakers, massage therapy, art and music therapy, and opportunities for caregiver support and collaboration. The cost is $90 dollars. Lodging costs are also the responsibility of the registrants. For more information and to learn more about a limited number of scholarships available for family caregivers, please contact Elizabeth Chentland at (402) 996-8444 or echentland@gmail.com.

Trinity Courtyard Expansion

Announcing 40 additional, affordable apartment homes for independent seniors.

Accepting Applications Beginning April 17, 2013 at 7:30 am

Trinity Family Life Center 520 West Lincoln Street, Papillion, NE 68046

Corrigan Senior Center events calendar

You’re invited to visit the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. this month for: • Monday, April 1: A five-week WhyArts? workshop begins today from 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Join artist Stephanie Anderson every Monday in April. No experience needed. Call 731-7210 for details. Stay for a noon lunch following class. • Wednesday, April 3: Polka Day. A noon lunch followed by a Red Raven polka band practice session at 1 p.m. in the Corrigan gym. • Monday, April 8: Spring Fling Week begins with a program by Does & Divas Dairy of Iowa. Janna, an artisan cheese maker, will explain the operations of a goat and sheep farm and the process of making delicious cheese and goat’s milk soap products @ 11 a.m. Lunch @ noon and bingo @ 12:45 p.m. follow the presentation. • Monday, April 15: National Volunteer Month Celebration. Michael Walker, the vintage vocalist will entertain @ 11 a.m. Meet the Corrigan volunteers and enjoy a noon lunch with bingo following lunch. • Thursday, April 18: Ham Dinner & Mega Bingo. Join us for a delicious noon lunch of baked ham, au gratin potatoes, peas and mushrooms, lettuce salad, a wheat roll, and strawberry rhubarb pie.

Bingo will follow lunch. The reservation deadline is noon on Friday, April 12. • Monday, April 22: Birthday Party featuring music by Joe Taylor @ 11 a.m. Stay for noon lunch and bingo. The Corrigan Senior Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $3 donation is normally suggested for the meal. Reservations are normally due by noon the business day prior to the meal you wish to enjoy. We offer chair volleyball, card games, bingo, ceramics, exercise, woodcarving, and loads of fun! For meal reservations or more information, please call Lynnette at 402731-7210.

620 West Lincoln Street

Papillion, NE 68046

402-614-1900

Affilated with the Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Participants needed for a COPD Research Study IRB # 024-09-FB A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the pharmacodynamics, efficacy, and safety of 50mg Tetomilast administered as oral tablets in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease associated with emphysema. (Protocol 197-08-250) Do you have emphysema or think you may have emphysema? The University of Nebraska Medical Center is conducting a clinical trial of an experimental medication for people with emphysema. Participants must be 40 to 75 years of age and be a current or former smoker. You will receive medical testing and medication at no cost to you, and will be reimbursed for your time. If you are interested in participating in this study for people with emphysema, call Sandy at 402-559-6365 or email her at stalbott@unmc.edu.

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Eileen Wirth pens book about Nebraska’s female journalists By Leo Adam Biga Contributing Writer

omen journalists cover anything and everything today. They work in all facets of the media. But there was a time not so long ago, when women were restricted to a narrow range of reporting topics and jobs. There were always exceptions to that rule. Here and there, pioneering women journalists defied conventions and overturned stereotypes to file assignments and fill roles traditionally prescribed for men only. A new book by Eileen Wirth profiles some of the revolutionary figures among Nebraska women journalists over the past century. Wirth doesn’t seem to fit the part of a revolutionary but that’s exactly what she’s been during her three careers. Wherever she’s worked, whether as reporter, public relations practitioner, or academic, she’s broken gender barriers. As the women’s liberation movement played out from the 1960s through the 1980s, Wirth fought the good fight for equal rights, only not in the street or in the courtroom but by challenging male chauvinism, sexism, and discrimination in newsrooms, offices, and boardrooms. Her feminist predecessors fought similar battles as suffragists from the late 19th century through the immediate post-World War II era. Eileen says the struggles women endured to open new opportunities in the workplace is a story she feels deeply about, especially the stories of women in her own profession of journalism. In the course of researching her new book, From Society Page to Front Page, Nebraska Women in Journalism (published by the University of Nebaska Press), Wirth developed a deep appreciation for and kinship with maverick women who preceded her in the field she loves. She documents dozens of women of high achievement, many of whom she never previously knew about, and the obstacles they faced to work as publishers, editors, reporters, public relations professionals, and media moguls. Some ran small weekly newpapers; some made their names as columnists with local publications, others as reporters with national wire services and major metropolitan dailies. One woman featured in the book worked at the White House. Three women covered the Starkweather murder spree in great detail. Beverly Deepe became the longest serving American correspondent of the Vietnam War. Mildred Brown became one of America’s only black newspaper publishers. Cathy Hughes continues to run a media empire. “In writing the stories of these women it became a journey of self discovery,” says Wirth. “I identified so strongly with these women and with their struggles and their

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Wirth’s resume includes stints as an Omaha World-Herald reporter, in public relations for the Union Pacific Railroad, and as a Creighton University professor. achievements. Both of my sisters had national level careers and I’ve always been in Omaha, but I realized we need to redefine what we mean by female achievement. We have too often downplayed the local, the personal, the balancing act of career and family. I don’t think our society values that enough. One of the things I hope this book does is really give recognition to women who juggled both.” She also hopes the book helps get some deserving women elected into the Nebraska Journalism Hall of Fame where there are cases of men inducted whose wives are not, even though the wives were co-editors and publishers and full partners with the small weeklies. Wirth says doing the book proved both an awakening and an education for her. “What was amazing to me is that we had so many absolutely remarkable Nebraska women in journalism. Even as someone who has spent her entire life in journalism and more recently teaching journal-

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ism history, if you had asked me to name them I probably couldn’t have named five or six, until you get to the ‘50s when I knew some of these people. But even then I was finding people right and left.” The finding took considerable effort. “It took a lot of digging to find most of them,” Wirth says. “This book is nothing but a huge reporting process. I went to people and said, ‘Who do you know about, what am I missing?’ I went to sources and people would tell me stuff and I would follow up on leads.” Elia Peattie, a popular Omaha World-Herald writer from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, is a prime example of someone Wirth found. “If I were going to pick one woman in the book I fell absolutely passionately in love with it was Elia Peattie. Hardly anybody has heard of her. I resonated to her. She wrote a column that in some ways is very similar to the Mike Kelly columns of today’s Omaha World-Herald. This was before they had social or

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women’s pages. She’s kind of the World-Herald’s entree into that. “She came to Omaha in the 1880s. She had been a society girl on a Chicago paper. She got a woman’s column at the World-Herald. This was when women’s news was in its infancy. The reason women’s news was created in the first place was for advertisers. Women could not vote and the headlines were mostly about politics and crime, and if you look at the lives of women in the 1880s this just wasn’t relevant to them. They were working incredibly long days, raising large families, (and) taking in work. They had very hard lives. “Advertisers pressured the papers to do something to attract women readers because women were the primary shoppers. This was in an age when advertising was exploding. “And the Herald hired Elia Peattie to write a column about women, and apparently they put almost no restrictions on her. It was up to her --Please turn to page 11.

Author: Writing book was an awakening and an education --Continued from page 10. to define what would interest women. Well, what she thought would interest women was apparently anything that interested her, which was everything.” Wirth admires Peattie’s range of story topics. “A professor from the University of NebraskaKearney compiled her (Peattie’s) columns in a book and I was blown away because it was reading a social history of the city in the 1880s. I mean, she has everything from this wonderful description of a young Bohemian slaughtering cows down at the Cudahy plant to a nursing sister at St. Joseph Hospital, to the people riding a streetcar, to showgirls. She did a very sympathetic portrait of the African-American community when racism was horrible. “She did some hilarious satirical columns about Omaha society people and why did they have to go back East to buy finery when they could buy anything they wanted in Omaha.” Elia’s community service involvement also appeals to Wirth, who has a strong service bent herself. “Peattie ran for the school board when that was the only office women could run for or vote for. She was also one of the founders of the Omaha Woman’s Club. It was a way of localizing the city’s upper class women to do social work stuff. Nationally the woman’s club movement got behind the needs of working women in factories.” All these activities made Peattie a popular figure. “She became a larger than life personality,” says Wirth. Another reason to like Peattie, according to Wirth, is “the work she did to bring together the handful of women journalists in the state. She documented a great deal about fellow women journalists. A lot of my best material came from work she did and recorded for history. She gathered the names of women active in journalism in the 1880s and 1890s. That was invaluable.” Peattie has become something of a hero to Wirth. “One of the other reasons I resonated to Elia Peattie is that while she was writing this column her husband got very ill and it was up to her to support the family. She was writing everything right and left to make money to keep the family going. As a former working mother raising two children I just totally identified with her. “If she was alive today she’d be running half the city, she’d be writing a blog.” Peattie might be publishing her own newspaper or magazine, ala Arianna Huffington.

Eileen Wirth was raised on a farm near Nebraska City.

Wirth also writes about the one certifiable superstar among Nebraska-bred women reporters named Bess Furman (Armstrong). “If you were going to pick a single woman that was our state’s most distinguished contribution to journalism it would probably be Bess Furman,” says Wirth. “She was remarkable and she spanned a lot of eras. She was once referred to as a flapper journalist for her work in Omaha in the ‘20s. She was what we would now call a liberated young woman writing rather risqué satirical stuff about Omaha. She covered bootleggers and weird crimes down in Little Italy. She wrote this saucy column about Omaha’s most eligible bachelors.” Furman was a product of her post-Victorian emancipated times. “The ‘20s were a wonderful period for women,” notes Wirth. “They had gotten the vote, (and) there were more economic and education opportunities. She loved Omaha and she probably would have stayed except she worked for the Omaha Bee. When William Randolph Hearst purchased it, she wanted out, and when the opportunity came to leave, she did. “With women having the vote, the Bee needed somebody to write the women’s angle to politics. When Al Smith came to give a speech in Omaha in his 1928 campaign she got assigned to cover

Wirth says she can identify with the struggles faced by the women journalists she wrote about in her new book. brother deliver what turned out to be twins. “She brought with her a baby blanket Eleanor knitted her. That got reported and went nationwide. Postmaster General (James) Farley sent her $10 worth of flowers. That was such a big order they had to send a special train.” Later, Furman did war information work during World War II and then joined the New York Times as one of its first female political reporters. “She ended her career as the public information officer for the Department of Health Education and Welfare under (John F.) Kennedy. Bess Furman may have gone to Washington but she was very deeply a Nebraska person and remained so for her whole life,” says Wirth.

B Courtesy Creighton University

Eileen Wirth has taught at Omaha’s Creighton University since 1991. it. She wrote such a good story that she won a major journalism award for it and the head of the Associated Press – who was in town with Al Smith – offered her a job in Washington (DC) and she took it. Timing is everything.” Furman made an immediate impression on Capitol Hill. Wirth says, “She was one of the first women to be allowed on the floor of the House of Representatives. She was assigned to cover First Lady Lou Hoover, who absolutely hated journalists. One time in order to write a story about what the Hoovers were doing for Christmas, she (Furman) dressed up like a Girl Scout and infiltrated a troop visiting the White house. The ruse worked, too. “When Hoover got beaten by FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt started holding women’s only press conferences in order to force papers to give jobs to women,” says Wirth. “She (Furman) and Eleanor Roosevelt hit it off wonderfully. Furman and her husband hit it off so well with the Roosevelts that they took home movies of the Roosevelts. “When Bess (Furman) became pregnant she decided she wanted her child to have a Nebraska birth certificate, so she drove back here in the middle of the Dust Bowl to have her physician

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ringing to light women of distinction she feels connected to is satisfying to Wirth. “Oh yeah, these are my people. We’re out of the same background, the same occupation. Yeah, I felt a very strong affinity with these women. I really found myself as I was writing about them feeling like I knew them and wishing I could actually have known them. I guess I felt especially this way with the women who wrote books. You got a real feel for them, you weren’t just getting them second hand; you were getting their own take on the world. “Their struggles were things I could totally identify with. You don’t have to be a journalist to feel this way about these women. Their humanity, their humor, the way they overcame obstacles with grace, courage, dignity, and their persistence. To have careers like theirs was pretty daunting but they did it. I identified with the fact they juggled the personal and the professional and probably never lost sight of either one. “Culturally, anyone who has Nebraska roots would identify with their style. Most of them let their work speak for them, which is what a journalist usually does.” Another female Nebraskan journalist Wirth got to know well is Mary McGrath, who preceded her at the World-Herald and labored in club news for 12 years before becoming a highly respected health and medicine reporter. McGrath helped the green female reporters like Wirth negotiate the male-dominated newsroom. “Mary McGrath was really the pioneer in city news at the World-Herald,” says Wirth. “She made a huge difference.” Wirth recalls McGrath organizing potlucks for the paper’s women journalists and how these occasions became vital airing out and strategizing forums. --Please turn to page 12.

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Wirth helped eliminate barriers between newspaper sections --Continued from page 11. “It was a support system and an expression of solidarity. It was a safe place to bounce off ideas. If we would have said we were having a consciousness-raising session the older women wouldn’t have gone. But to throw a potluck, how more Midwestern could you get? “Mary knew the young women on staff were increasingly militant. She knew how smart and talented they were and she knew they were not writing about who was having who to coffee because they wanted to. She broke down the barrier between the two sections (city news and women’s news) by having those potlucks. “The guys never had a clue what was going on,” Eileen adds. Wirth says the Omaha Press Club served the same function for women in journalism across different media. “It was a great way to get to know other women journalists. You realized you were not alone. A sociologist at Iowa State (University) told me if you’re going to get social change made you have to have a cohort. In a sense you could look at the potlucks or the friendship ties that women journalists formed through the Press Club is how we had a cohort. “There were enough of us who felt the same way to make a difference and it really made me feel for women of earlier eras who were one of a kind, out there on their own, whereas I could go cry on Mary’s shoulder or vice versa.” Each pioneering woman journalist in her own way contributed to the women’s rights cause and helped move their peers a little further along than before. “There was a movement afoot. That was how this revolution was waged – one tiny step at a time.” All those steps taken together made big changes, which is why Wirth was so offended when a feminist of high stature, former First Lady Hillary Clinton, was subjected to sexist coverage during her 2008 presidential campaign bid. The way Clinton was dismissed felt to Wirth like a slap in the face and a setback given how far women have come and what they’ve endured to get there. “It was very disrespectful to women of our era,” says Wirth. It was like; don’t they realize what we went through? Most of the Baby Boomers fought very quietly to infiltrate, to get a seat at the table, and nobody knew what it had taken to integrate the American workplace. That was my inspiration for writing the book. “The women involved have kept silent about what they did because that’s how they were able to do it. We were a minority. The women were mostly just asking to practice the field they loved and were good at. They weren’t asking for special treatment.” Much like the civil rights movement, the women’s movement

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gained its biggest victories through mass protests, the passage of new laws, and court decisions, but there were many smaller, no less important victories won every day by ordinary women asserting their rights. “When you look at coverage of the women’s movement it all focuses on things like lawsuits and militant demonstrations and you couldn’t do that in a city like Omaha if you intended to go on working in journalism. It wasn’t like you had a union that would protect you or a vast choice of employers, and for

glass ceiling that still limits women from advancing the way men do. “But it’s sure better than what it was in 1970, and those changes were made nationwide by unsung young women quietly sticking their necks out on relatively small things over and over again.” Wirth says, “It kind of boggles the mind” of her students to realize that as late as the 1970s women were still marginalized in journalism. “When you tell this to girls today they’re like, ‘What?’ They can’t believe it, which I guess shows that

Published by the University of Nebraska Press, Eileen Wirth’s new book, From Society Page to Front Page, Nebraska Women in Journalism will be available on May 1. most of us that wasn’t our style anyway,” says Wirth. Big, loud, public displays, she says, “weren’t the only way women made progress.” Most of the change, she says, was the result of “the stealth revolution.” She says, “KETV News Director Rose Ann Shannon said it very well when she told me, ‘I always felt I was dealing with reasonable people and we could work problems out.’ “I too found that if you could have a reasonable conversation with somebody you could make progress. You were not going to change things overnight.” Wirth says there’s still work to be done, such as closing the pay gap between the sexes and shattering the

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we succeeded. They take it for granted.”

irth grew up in a large, high-achieving Nebraska City farm family whose parents set high academic standards and expectations for their children. Eileen loved reading and showed a knack for writing early in life. She intended on being a history major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln until her father insisted she take a journalism course. “What really made me into a journalist besides Dad ordering me to take the class was working on the Daily Nebraskan (student newspaper). It was so much fun. I fell in love with journalism people. The

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women were strong, funny, delightful, intelligent people and the guys wouldn’t have had us be any other way. I had found myself.” When Wirth went to work for the Omaha World-Herald in 1969 she became one of the paper’s few female news reporters and right up to leaving its employ in 1980 she and women colleagues there, along with women at countless other workplaces, waged that “quiet revolution” to bring about change. “When women said, ‘No, I’m not going to get you coffee, that’s not part of my job description,’ they were part of this revolution,” she says. So was Wirth when she brought to the attention of an editor the fact some young male colleagues hired the same time she was had received new section assignments while she was still in the religion beat she began in three years before. “I’m a contemporary of Steve Jordon and Mike Kelly and both of them had had a couple of assignment changes, and I thought I was as talented as they were, and I certainly worked as hard as they did. I told my editor, ‘If you’re doing this for the guys then you should treat the two groups the same. There shouldn’t be a difference. You should give young women the same opportunities as young men.’” Wirth got the assignment change she desired. At a time when female journalists were confined to covering only certain subjects such as religion, society news, or women’s news, her work made the case that women were capable of covering anything. “There was a lot of hesitancy about assigning women to cover cops, which was fine with me because I hated it, but I covered them every Saturday for years simply because I wanted to show that a woman could do it. “There was a lot of talk that women couldn’t cover politics because they couldn’t get stories in bars and nonsense like that. There was real hesitancy about sending women to certain places. The ironical thing is that my religion beat in the early ‘70s was at a time when the churches were heavily involved in the civil rights movement. So under the guise of covering religion I was actually doing a tremendous amount of civil rights coverage. “I never regretting spending those three years on religion but I felt like I wanted to grow, to expand, to try new things.” Wirth also had the opportunity to take on occasional stories that struck a blow for women’s rights by shining a light on gender inequities. “Quite a few of the stories I did were aimed at showing this inequality.” Take the time that former University of Nebraska at Omaha women’s coach and athletic director Connie Claussen called to say she was fed up with the unfair and unequal --Please turn to page 13.

Eileen enjoys making a difference in her students’ lives

Columnist Elia Peattie came to the Omaha World-Herald in the 1880s.

Mildred Brown was one of first black newspaper publishers in the United States.

Bess Furman worked at the Omaha Bee before heading to Washington, DC.

--Continued from page 12. treatment she experienced at the beginning of her career at UNO. Claussen, whom Wirth describes as “a force of nature, a great lady,” was an equal rights champion who served on the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women. Claussen eventually built a much envied women’s athletic department at UNO featuring championship programs, but that legacy almost ended before it started because of how frustrated Connie was with the short end of the stick offered her and her student-athletes. Before Title IX was passed women’s athletics were separate and unequal in every way. Wirth recalls, “Connie called one Saturday and said, ‘I’ve had it, I’m not going to do it anymore, I’m not going to teach a full load of physical education classes and coach two or three sports for nothing extra.’” Wirth was sympathetic. “No male would ever coach a (college) sport for free. Women’s athletics were housed (at UNO) in a Quonset hut with no showers. I thought, well this is a sports story and I went over to the UNO beat reporter and he yelled at me,” Eileen says. “Women sports are a joke, there’s no story here,” shouted the male reporter. “He practically threw me out of the sports department. So I went over to the city desk and they said, ‘Oh yeah, great story.’ I wrote it and they put it on page one of the Sunday paper. It stirred up enough indignation and attention that Connie ran with it and she got the support she needed to build an outstanding program. “And I think that was one of the major things we did as women journalists – we were approachable, we were interested in the problems.” Another major story for Eileen resulted when Doris Royal, a farm wife from Springfield, Neb., called Wirth and in her gravely voice asked, “Are you interested in stories on women?” “She told me a lot of farm women were losing the family farm operation because of inheritance taxes. The IRS said farms belong to the husband. The only way a woman could escape paying inheritance taxes on a family farm or family small business if she became a widow was if she had worked in town, so she could show she made an economic contribution or if she had brought family inheritance into it. “A lot of women on farms had worked side by side (with their husbands), they’d driven the tractor and milked the cows, they’d done all the farm work, plus kept the books, and of course that doesn’t account for all their work in the home.

But the IRS in effect said, ‘You have made no contribution.’ Well, that was driving women off the farm because they couldn’t afford it. “Land prices had gone up. So Doris started a petition drive and she wanted me to cover a story on it, so I did, I looked into all this stuff. I grew up on a farm and I was horrified, I was shocked, I had no idea. I wrote the story and Doris leveraged my story in the World-Herald to get the Farm Journal, which is the nation’s largest farm magazine, to take up the crusade. “Doris got petition signatures from every state, she testified before Congress. This woman’s amazing, and they got the law changed.” Wirth did an entire series on inequitable credit practices that devalued and punished women. “If a woman got married and changed her name she immediately lost all of her credit history,” says Wirth. “Banks assumed the credit rating belonged to the husband even if the women worked full time and could document it.”

at Creighton University, where in addition to her professor’s role she later became that Jesuit institution’s first female chair of the Department of Journalism (now called the Department of Journalism, Media, and Computing). Teaching college is something Wirth always knew was in her future and making a difference in the lives of her students is what most satisfies her about academia. She’s glad her book, From Society Page to Front Page, Nebraska Women in Journalism, gives students an appreciation for who came before them. “I think it is very important for my students, especially my female students. You want to give them a sense of what went before so when they invariably face some challenges they will do so with grace and with confidence knowing that women like themselves have conquered similar challenges.” (Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.wordpress.com.)

ith stories like these to file, Wirth’s work was fulfilling enough but when she and her then-husband Ron Psota decided to start a family she knew the demands of her work and the inflexibility of her employer would make motherhood and reporting incompatible. Besides, she was ready for a change. “It was still the era when women were fired if they got pregnant. My ex-husband and I had been approved to adopt a child and at the World Herald at that time there was no way you could be a reporter and a mother. You had to work 12 and 15 hour days at the drop of a hat if some story broke.” Making it easier to leave, she says, was the fact that, “After 11 years I was burned out on reporting. It was time.” When hired as the first woman outside of secretaries or receptionists to work in the Union Pacific Railroad public relations department, Eileen broke down the doors of what had been an exclusive boys-only club. She didn’t appreciate it when one of the old gang complained that she was a token hire to conform to Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action policies. “A crusty old guy who didn’t begin to have my educational credentials and who couldn’t write protested that they had had to hire a woman.” The bosses set him straight, she says by stating, ‘We hired someone who could write.’ Period. End of story. Then in 1991 Wirth joined the teaching staff

Eileen says it’s important for today’s female college journalism students to appreciate the challenges conquered by their predecessors.

April 2013

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ENOA’s SeniorHelp Program

he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s SeniorHelp Program has a variety of volunteer opportunities available for persons of all ages that provide services to help older adults in ways that support dignity and independence in their daily lives. For more information, please call Karen Kelly at 402-561-2238 or send an e-mail to karen.kelly@ nebraska.gov. • Companionship: Volunteers are needed to visit clients in the Omaha and Bellevue areas. • Transportation: Drivers are being asked to take older adults grocery shopping, to medical appointments as needed, etc. in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties. • Handyman/Home Maintenance: Volunteers

are needed to provide home repairs in Omaha and the surrounding areas. • Household assistance: Volunteers are being recruited to provide housekeeping, sorting and/or organizing, do laundry, and to help carry groceries from the car into the home for

older adults in the Omaha and Bellevue areas. • Meals delivery: Drivers are needed to deliver midday meals in 68114 and 68144. • Yard work: Volunteers are being recruited to rake leaves, clean gutters, and clean flowerbeds in several areas.

Diabetes presentations on tap for April 13 The Diabetes Education Center of the Midlands is conducting its 29th annual education seminar on Saturday, April 13 at the Ramada Plaza Omaha Hotel and Convention Center, 3321 S. 72nd St. Thriving with Diabetes: Yes You Can! runs from 8:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Helping Your Patients Thrive With Diabetes is offered from 7:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Also on April 13, the DECM is presenting a free event titled Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat! featuring the book’s author Dr. Michelle May. The free event – which runs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. – will also be held at the Ramada Plaza Omaha Hotel and Convention Center, 3321 S. 72nd St. Seating to Dr. May’s presentation is limited to 300 guests. Registration begins that morning at 8:30 a.m. For more information, please call 402-399-0777.

Retired federal employee chapters meet at the Amazing Pizza Machine

he National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Chapter 144 meets the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S Plz. For more information, please call 402-333-

6460. The National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Aksarben Chapter 1370 meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S Plz. For more information, please call 402-392-0624.

Series of bone health programs continues Wednesday, April 10 The Omaha Area Bone Health Group is hosting a series of free meetings during 2013. The sessions are held at the Creighton University Medical Center, 601 N. 30th St. The Omaha Area Bone Health Group is sponsored by the Creighton University Osteoporosis Research Center and affiliated with the National Osteoporosis Foundation Support Group program. The organization is dedicated to providing information and support for persons whose lives are impacted by bone health and osteoporosis. For more information, please call Dorothy Norton at 402-493-2493 or Susan Recker at 402-280-4810. Here’s the schedule of programs: Wednesday, April 10 What’s Covered? Medicare Reimbursement For In-Home Care Services With Amanda Holst, MS 1 to 2:30 p.m. Room 5766 Wednesday, May 7 Taking Good Care of Your Feet With Dr. John Weremy 1 to 2:30 p.m. Morrison Seminar Room (lobby level)

Wednesday, Sept. 11 Bone Healthy Treats With Jennifer Meyer, RD 1 to 2:30 p.m. Room 5766 Wednesday, Oct. 9 Physical Activity & Exercise for Strong Bones With Karen Paschal, PT 1 to 2:30 p.m. Room 5766 Wednesday, Nov. 13 Enjoy Chair Massage With Beverly Riley 1 to 2:30 p.m. Room 5766

Wednesday, June 12 What You Should Know About Hip Protectors With Dr. Robert Recker 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Room 5766

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Page 14

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April 2013

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Alzheimer’s disease chapter offering series of free classes

John Philip Sousa’s music to be featured at April 21 concert

The Alzheimer Association’s Midlands Chapter in partnership with a Place At Home is offering a free educational series on Tuesdays from April 2 through May 7. The 5 to 6:30 p.m. programs are being held at Marquis Place, 20800 W. Maple Rd. For reservations, please call 402-502-4301 or 800272-3900. Here’s the schedule:

ver wish you could enjoy one of those stirring concerts by John Philip Sousa, America’s March King? Wish no more. The Nebraska Wind Symphony, Omaha’s 80-piece community concert band, will hold a John Philip Sousa Band Concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 21 at Omaha Benson High School, 52nd and Maple streets.

April 23 Current Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementia With Dr. Erin Cooper from Fremont Family Care

April 2 Memory Loss, Dementia, and Alzheimer’s Disease: The Basics With Rosalie Shepherd from the Alzheimer’s Association

April 30 Communications and Behavior: A Caregiver’s Tool With Karen Anderson, MS

April 9 Financial Issues and Alzheimer’s Disease With Clayton Freeman from the Alzheimer’s Association

May 7 Senior Care Options: What You Don’t Know Will Cost You With Marlene Lund, CLTC, CSA

April 16 Legal Issues and Alzheimer’s Disease With attorney Christina Boydston

Florence AARP group meets third Tuesday of month at noon Individuals age 50 and older are invited to attend the meeting of AARP’s Florence chapter the third Monday of each month. The gatherings are held at Olive Crest United Methodist Church, 7180 N. 60th St. at noon. The sessions include friendly people, a meal for $7, a short meeting, and programs on a variety of topics. For more information or to arrange for a ride, please call Ann Van Hoff at 402-556-3576, Marjorie Willard at 402-8401, or Ruth Kruse at 402-453-4825. Here’s the schedule for the rest of 2013: August 19 Hospice for Seniors With Kate Peppin

April 15 A Gallup Viewpoint With Luke Sutton

September 16 Picnic

May 20 Songs with Heart With Michael Trenhaile

October 21 Transylvania & Unitarians With Janet West

June 17 Alzheimer’s Caregiving With Pat Callone

November 18 Aprons With Judy Meyers

July 15 Respite Care With Elizabeth Chentland

December 10 Christmas Music

Soothing Touch Massage

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We want to hear from

you!

com.

• Do you gave questions about the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, its programs or services? • Do you have a comment about the agency and how it serves older adults in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties? • Maybe you have a story idea for the New Horizons.

Send your questions,comments, story ideas, etc. to

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ousa will be portrayed, uniform and all, by Robert E. Foster, professor of music at Kansas University and president of the John Philip Sousa Foundation. Omaha World-Herald columnist Mike Kelly will emcee the event. From The Thunderer to Stars & Stripes Forever, the band will recreate the concerts that made band music an American institution. Sousa toured the country with his top-flight musicians, presenting vocal and instrumental soloists as well as the marches he composed during his 12 years as director of the U.S. Marine Corps Band and later his own touring band. The program will include many of Sousa’s classic marches, including The Washington Post March, Semper Fidelis, El Capitan, and The Gallant Seventh. Sousa’s concerts also brought culture to his audiences, and the Omaha event will follow his lead. Soprano Shelby VanNordstrand, chair of the vocal department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will sing Musetta’s Waltz by Puccini’s from La Boheme and The Laughing Song from Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Tickets for the concert, available at the door, are $10 for adults, or $5 for seniors and students. Children under age 12 will be admitted at no charge. For more information, call 402-216-0325 or see nebraskawindsymphony.

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New Horizons

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Old-time cookware may be safer, better than non-stick pots, pans

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Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy. For more information about our tours, please call Ward or Kathy Kinney at Fontenelle Tours at the number listed above.

2013 Motorcoach Buddy Holly at the New Theater. July 6. $119. Take a Saturday trip to Kansas City and rock in your seat to the Golden Oldies in the “Buddy Holly Story” while you enjoy a wonderful lunch buffet at the New Theater. Nebraska Junk Jaunt. September 27-28. $260. Come along on our fifth annual “Junk Jaunt” covering more than 220 miles in central Nebraska. Participating towns have city-wide garage, yard, and bake sales. Two full days of treasure hunting! Daniel O’Donnell in Branson. November 4-7. $689. See Daniel O’Donnell, Mel Tillis, Red Hot...& Blue!, Dinner with Yakov, The Haygoods, and your choice of either the Miracle of Christmas or the Legends in Concert.

In Partnership with Collette Vacations (Let us help you find a Collette Vacation to your special destination when YOU want to go. Collette offers trips to numerous destinations both within the United States and throughout the world. Each trip is offered on many different dates throughout the year. Call us for further information.)

Discover Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria. September 11 – 20, 2013. Fly to the beautiful countryside of Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria with four-night stays in two cities: Bern, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria. With your Collette Vacations tour guide, you’ll explore the city of Bern, travel the shores of Lake Geneva to the medieval Chateau de Chillon. Enjoy a panoramic train ride through the Swiss Alps to an Alpine ski resort. Visit Lucerne, the “Swiss Paradise on the Lake.” In Salzburg see the Mirabell Gardens (from the “Sound of Music”) and Mozart’s birthplace, visit Oberammergau, see a Tyrolean folklore show, and dine in a 1,200-year-old restaurant owned by Monks. Early booking saves $250 per person. Call for more information.)

The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, Ombudsman Advocate Program, and Senior Medicare Patrol Program are recruiting older adults to become volunteers. Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions must be age 55 or older, meet income guidelines, have a government issued identification card or a driver’s license, able to volunteer at least 15 hours a week, and must complete several background and reference checks.

Laughlin in June (by air). June 7-10. $250. Includes non-stop, round-trip airfare to Laughlin, Nevada, three nights lodging at the Riverside Resort and Casino on the banks of the Colorado River, and shuttle transportation to and from the airport. Watch New Horizons and our website www.fontenelletours.com for our 2013 trip schedule. Our new address is: 2008 W. Broadway #329, Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501

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New Horizons

break down into PFOA can damage the thyroid gland. Of course, the risk of exposure is much lower for a person frying an egg at home than for a factory worker manufacturing PFOA. In 2007, Consumer Reports tested non-stick pans from several manufacturers and found the harmful airborne emissions of PFOA to be minimal. “The highest level was about 100 times lower than levels animal studies suggest are of concern for ongoing exposure to PFOA,” reported Consumer Reports. “With the aged pans, emissions were barely measurable.” Regardless, most new non-stick cookware available today is not made using PFOA. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency called on companies making non-stick coatings to voluntarily phase out their use of PFOA in cookware applications by 2015. Teflon and other non-stick pan brands will continue to be available, but consumers can rest assured they are made with safer, less environmentally persistent processing agents than PFOA. Meanwhile, other manu-

facturers are working on alternative forms of non-stick cookware using ceramic or silicone coatings. A 2009 survey of eight such alternatives by Cook’s Illustrated, however, did not give any of the new choices especially high marks. “Not a single one of these ‘green’ pans was without flaws,” said the magazine article. “In some, delicate eggs burned, thin fish fillets stuck, and steak charred on the outside while remaining raw within. Others stained or transferred heat inconsistently.” Some pans accumulated the browned bits known as fond when steak was seared, indicating unwanted sticking power. For those people who would rather avoid non-stick pots and pans altogether, tried and true cookware like cast iron, aluminum, copper, and stainless steel each get high marks for even heat distribution and for holding up well at high temperatures and frequent use. (EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine.)

ENOA is recruiting volunteers

Laughlin

Page 16

on-stick cookware has been around since the 1960s when the first Teflon-coated “Happy Pan” appeared on store shelves. Cooks and dishwashers have loved the pans ever since, given how easily they clean up since no food residues can stick to the slippery surface coating. The issue with non-stick cookware emerged when people began to worry about whether they were ingesting or breathing in trace amounts of the chemicals used in the production of the non-stick coating every time they ate a meal cooked in one of these pans. Indeed, 98 percent of Americans carry trace amounts of the main chemical of concern, PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid), around in their bloodstream every day. This synthetic “fluorosurfactant” has been used in the manufacturing process of the coating on non-stick cookware and many other products including microwave popcorn bags, GoreTex jackets, and medical implants for decades. “The EPA classifies PFOA as carcinogenic in animals, causing testicular, pancreatic, mammary, and liver tumors in rats,” reports Melissa Breyer of the website Care2. “Workers exposed to PFOA have increased risks of dying from or needing treatment for cancers of the pancreas and male reproductive tract.” She said numerous studies have shown PFOA alters reproductive hormones in the male, causing increased levels of estrogen and abnormal testosterone regulation. PFOA or chemicals that

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April 2013

Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions receive a $2.65 an hour stipend, transportation and meal reimbursement, paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, and supplemental accident insurance. Foster Grandparents work with children who have special needs while Senior Companions work to keep older adults living independently. Ombudsman advocates work to ensure residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities enjoy the best possible quality of life. Ombudsman advocates,

who must be age 18 or older, are enrolled through an application and screening process. These volunteers, who are not compensated monetarily for their time, must serve at least two hours a week. The Senior Medicare Patrol program helps Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect, and prevent health care fraud. These volunteers, who are enrolled through an application and screening process, are not compensated monetarily for their time, For more information, please call 402-444-6536.

From: Mitch @ New Horizons

Czech-Slovak

Please see the ad on page 3

New Horizons Club gains new members $25 Harold Mueller Anita Young Norma Harrow $20 Carole Yanovich $15 Lila Christensen Jacqueline Nielsen $10 Beulah Lowrey Henry Wrich Ardis Strickland Patricia Remm $5 Ronald Knoblauch Eugene Crisafulli Dawn Deschamp

he annual Czech-Slovak Festival is scheduled for Sunday, April 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sokol Hall South Omaha, 2021 U St. The event is sponsored by the Omaha Czech Cultural Club. Guests – who will be admitted for free – will enjoy Czech and Slovak folklore, music, food, a bake sale, a Queen coronation, children’s activities, a raffle, vendors, and a Czech museum. The festivities will include accordion music by Tom Sladek @ 11 a.m., the Young Czechs of Nebraska Children’s Choir @ 1 p.m., polka dancing with the Red Raven Orchestra @ 2 p.m., and a delicious Czech

Steve, This is a sixteenth page 4 x 2.5 inches. festival scheduled for April 14 Call if you have any questions, 402-444-4148. Thanks, Mitch

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dinner featuring roast pork, dumplings, sauerkraut, and kolach from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. A snack bar serving a variety of items including hot dogs and Polish sausage will also be available. For more information, please call 402-289-4806.

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Page 17

Jimmy B Orchestra ‘creating a vibe’ at Sokol Auditorium

The Jimmy B Orchestra – led by Jim Bochnicek – during a Sunday performance at Omaha’s Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13th St. By Jeff Reinhardt New Horizons Editor

s an infant being raised by his mother and button accordion playing father in Springfield, Neb., Jim Bochnicek amused himself by banging on the family’s pots and pans with a ladle. “That used to drive my Mom crazy,” Bochnicek, now age 67, said during a recent interview. By age 4, Jim had his own set of more traditional drums, a gift from his uncle. Bochnicek later joined the Platteview High School band, and at age 17, spent the summer bailing hay, shelling corn, and walking area bean fields to earn money for a new drum set.

“I enjoy entertaining people and watching them have a good time.”

A chandelier hangs high above the dance floor and the dancers at Sokol Auditorium.

Page 18

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Those new “skins” were put into action regularly from 1963 to 1965 as Bochnicek performed with the Thunderbirds, a Millard-area country music and light rock band. During the next decade, Jim – who worked 40plus years as a press operator at the Continental Can Company (later known as Crown Cork and Seal) – performed with Frankie Remar and the Polka Knights and the Eddie Janak Orchestra. Bochnicek also hosted a Sunday morning polka radio program for two years on KOTD in Plattsmouth. In 1976, he formed the Jim Bochnicek Orchestra which became popular entertaining polkaloving audiences across Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The ensemble also did three Canadian tours and recorded five albums during that stretch. --Please turn to page 20.

Eastern Nebraska a Office on Aging • 4223 Center Street • O

Millard Senior Center events calendar

Participants needed for a COPD Research Study IRB # 397-11

‘Bronte’ at Blue Barn Theatre April 4 to 7

You’re invited to visit the Millard Senior Center at illiam Luce’s Montclair, 2304 S. 135th Ave., this month for the followBronte will be on A clinical outcomes study to compare the Paid effect of with ing: stage at the Blue Fluticasone Furoate/Vilanterol Inhalation Powder 100/25-mcg money • April 1, 2, & 5: Visits by a nurse and nursing students Barn Theatre – 614 S. 11th placebo on survival in subjects with moderate chronicorder Eastern Nebraska a Office on Aging • 4223 Center Street • with Omaha, NE 68105 for free blood pressure and pulse checks. The times are St. – April 4 to 7. This oneobstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and a history of or an 2/14/13 increased risk for cardiovascular disease. 9:30 to 11 a.m. on April 1 and 2 and 10 a.m. on April 5. woman play examines the (Protocol HZC113782) • Wednesday, April 10: Basket weaving class @ 9 a.m. life of the famous English The $17 cost covers supplies. author who wrote the beDo you have COPD and a history of cardiovascular disease? If you participated in the loved classic Jane Eyre. The University of Nebraska Medical Center is conducting a Easter basket weaving class, In this powerful drama,Februaryclinical 7, 2013 trial of an investigational medication for people with you’re ready to make a bigger Charlotte Bronte is por- Lynette Burton emphysema. The study drug combines a long-acting basket. Class size is limited, trayed by Omaha actress 6615 Jill N. 64thbeta-agonist Plaza, Apt. with 21 corticosteroid in a single inhaler. so reserve your spot by calling Anderson. Omaha, NE 68152 You may be eligible if you: Susan @ 402-546-1270. Show times are 7:30 p.m. • Have a diagnosis of moderate COPD. • Wednesday, April 10: on April 4, 5, and 6, and 6 • Have a history or risk of heart disease. Lynette, Sewing dresses for little girls p.m. on April 7. Each per• Are between 40 and 80 years of age. Here’s your ad for the• Are classified section for the March issue. Please let me a current or former smoker. in Africa and making shorts formance will be followed for little boys in Africa from by a question and answerknow if this is okay, or if you have any changes, give me a call You will receive investigational drug @ 402-444-4148 or mailanyour check for study $32.00 to: or placebo, & 9 to 11:30 a.m. session. study-related medical and study procedures at no charge. Marchis 12, 2013 The Millard Senior Center open weekdays from 9 a.m. Tickets are $20 for seNewTalbott Horizons Middleton to 2 p.m. Lunch is servedMargie at 11:30. A $3 donation is sugniors and students and $25 Please call Sandy at 402-559-6365 or her at c/oemail Jeff Reinhardt, Editor gested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the busi- for adults. 1434 S. 163rd Street stalbott@unmc.edu 4223 Center Street ness day prior to the lunch you wish to enjoy. For tickets and more Omaha, NE 68130 if you are interested in participating Center activities include a walking club, Tai Chi (Moninformation, please call 402Omaha, NE 68105 in this study. days and Fridays from 10 to 10:45 a.m. for $1), chair vol345-1676. Margie, leyball (Tuesdays @ 10 Here’s a.m.), card andclassified bingo. section for the March issue. Please let me yourgames, ad for the CLASSIFIEDS • Call 402-444-4148 or 402-444-6654 to place your ad For meal reservations and more information, please call know if this is okay. If you have any changes, give me a call @ Thanks! 402-444-4148. Susan Sunderman at 402-546-1270. Mitch Laudenback Once ad is approved mail your check for $16.00 to: POOL TABLES Laughter is the best medicine I’M AVAILABLE @ New Horizons Moving, refelting, assemble, repair, Enjoy a genuine “down home New Horizons TO DO PRIVATE DUTY. tear down. Used slate tables. humorist” style of comedy tailored AARP is offering driving c/o class We pay CASH for slate pool tables. Jeff Reinhardt,Days/live-in/overnight. Editor for a variety of audiences. Call Helen For more information, call Big Red Billiards 4223 Center Street AARP is offering a four-hour course on safe driving. @ 402-341-8802 402-616-0460 402-598-5225 The class is designed to teach older drivers how to boost Omaha, NE 68105 safety awareness, refresh and improve their driving Lamplighter II A+ Heartland LEND A HAND skills, and minimize crash risks. Some of the nicest, newer 1 bedroom Concrete Const. There are no examsThanks! or tests involved. Participants Non-Medical In-Home apartments. Elevator, w & d, heated Driveways, garage floors, will receive a certificate of completion. Insurance disRespite Care for Seniors parking garage. Small complex. By bus Mitch Laudenback sidewalks, retaining walls. counts may apply. & shopping. No pets or smoking. CNA & Medication Aide Certified. An patio specialists. @ New Horizons 93rd & Maple • 402-397-6921 The class cost $12 for AARP members and $14 for affordable helping hand when needed. non-AARP members. Here’s the course schedule for this month: Saturday, April 13 1 to 5 p.m. AARP Information Center 1941 S. 42nd St. Call 402-398-9568 to register

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Page 19

Dancers enjoy Big Band music, socializing, reliving memories

Saxophonist Ken Janak --Continued from page 18. Bochnicek purchased the music library of the late Big Band leader Skippy Anderson in 1984 – learned those songs, added other arrangements to meet his own style – and began booking ballroom dances. Within five years, the newly christened Jimmy B Orchestra was packing venues like Omaha’s Stork Club. “We’d start our show at 9 p.m.,” Bochnicek recalled. “If you weren’t inside by 8:15, you couldn’t get in that night.”

ast forward to June 2012, when the Jimmy B Orchestra began its run of first Sunday of the month shows from 4 to 7 p.m. at Omaha’s legendary Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 13th St. “For ballroom dancing, the Sokol Auditorium is the most exquisite venue in the Omaha area,” Bochnicek said. “Playing there excites me. It always has!” Jim said he loves Sokol’s large curtain that opens and closes during the show, its stage, the beautiful chandelier hanging high above the dance floor, and the hall’s acoustics. Holding ballroom dances at the Sokol Audito-

Richard and Carol Browns have followed the Jimmy B Orchestra since 1992.

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Trumpeter Marcus Nunez

Vocalist Janet Staley rium is a longstanding Omaha tradition, and the current run with the Jimmy B Orchestra helps preserve the venue’s history, according to the facility’s general manager Dan Rannels.

n a recent Sunday, an estimated 100 nattily attired guests – many of whom brought their own special dancing shoes – came to the Sokol Auditorium to experience the high-energy sounds of the Jimmy B Orchestra. Having scores of men and women dancing and the 11-member orchestra jamming and singing on stage “creates a good vibe in the room,” Rannels said. “I enjoy entertaining people and watching them have a good time,” Bochnicek said. The 10 musicians and vocalist Janet Staley’s playlist includes popular Latin tunes, waltzes, polkas, fox trots, swing, and traditional Big Band favorites like String of Pearls.

he curtain rose at 4 p.m. Within seconds, the dance floor began to fill as the Jimmie B Orchestra sprang into action. Among the dancers were Richard and Carol Browns. Married for 47 years, the Browns have been following Bochnicek and company for more than 20 years. “We love the music, you can dance to it,” Richard said. He said the couple have become regulars at the Sokol events where they move to the music among a cast of friends. “This is more like a Sunday Social than a dance.” Dancing near the Browns that evening were Elaine McMullin, age 96, and her 80-year-old partner, Dr. Ed Furtak. “I love listening to the music as I dance and I love the sound of feet shuffling on the floor,” McMullin said with a bright smile on her face.

Built in 1926, Sokol Auditorium remains a South Omaha landmark.

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April 2013

Furtak said he and McMullin, both widowed, have been dance partners for four years. McMullin enjoys dancing to the sounds of the Jimmie B Orchestra, especially at a venue like the Sokol Auditorium where she and her late husband danced in the 1950s. “It brings back a lot of good memories,” she said.

n addition to vocalist Staley, and drummer/ host Bochnicek, the Jimmy B Orchestra features Ken Janak (sax and clarinet), Mark Benson (sax and clarinet), Lynette Hansen (sax and clarinet), Dave Polson (sax and clarinet), Marcus Nunez (trumpet), Ryan Vander Helm (trumpet), Ron Halvorson (trombone), Jim Schulz (bass), and Roger Anderson (piano). Among the musicians that sit in with the ensemble occasionally are Clayton Staley (bass), Noel Johnson (trombone), and Stan Harper (saxophone and clarinet). To learn more about dancing to the Big Band sounds of the Jimmy B Orchestra the first Sunday of each month at the Sokol Auditorium, please call 402-339-8625 or log on the Internet to jimmyborchestra@live.com.

Bandleader Jim Bochnicek began booking Big Band dances in 1984.