Easily lifting someone from the floor

Do you have a very close family member (dad, mom, spouse, brother, sister) who needs care assistance? Does your loved one occasionally slide out of bed or out of their chair and end up on the floor? Does it happen when your loved one is being transferred or just on their own? When you try and get your loved one up from the ground, is it very difficult because it is almost like dead weight?

The answer to all these questions for me was “yes.”

My dad has vascular Parkinson’s and he was living in his home with a caregiver. I would get a call, usually at night when more transfers were occurring from his chair to eventually getting him to bed.

“David, could you come over and help get your dad off the floor so he could make it to bed?”

When they were able to reach me, I would come over and get him up. It was super difficult and my back didn’t feel the greatest when I was done, but it got my dad to bed. If they couldn’t reach me, they would call the fire department to come over and pick him up.

I’m not sure how much longer the fire department is willing to do this. Some municipalities have announced there would be charging approximately $750 for this, but not billable to insurance.

I knew there had to be a solution. The solution happened to be introduced to me just a couple months after it seemed best for my dad to be taken care of in a nursing home.

The solution, which is phenomenal is Raizer. It was introduced to me by a company named Uplift out of Denmark.

It works perfectly for a person who has fallen and cannot get up. Your loved one is raised comfortably up to a sitting or almost stand- ing position in a way that supports the entire body throughout the process. This way of lifting shows consideration for the importance of being helped up in a dignified and safe way.

Since being introduced, I have heard from and seen hundreds of people living at home, in an Assisted Living Facilities or in a Senior Care Centers use this successfully and easily.

Below are some details about the Raizer:

Ergonomic Benefits

Raizer, the state-of-theart lifting chair, is used by personnel in all categories of elderly care facilities, hospitals in many public buildings, and hotels & recreational building, as well as for ambulance services and all personnel working with lifting and moving of individuals with reduced mobility in general.

PATIENT HANDLING

Injuries are unfortunately common for caregiving staff within the healthcare indus- try and are often caused by manually lifting and transfer of patients or impaired persons. Liftup Inc. is glad to be a part of “safe patient handling,” with the lifting chair, Raizer. It is safe equipment which is used rather than people to transfer, move, and reposition patients in all health care facilities to reduce workplace injuries.

Easy To Transport

Raizer is to be disassembled after use and thus easily transported and used anywhere and in any situation. This innovative aid for lifting and moving allows the assistant to help a fallen person to sit or stand in a few minutes (including the assembly) from arrival on site.

SIMPLE HANDLING

Raizer is carried disassembled to the place where it is to be used and is battery operated via a remote control.

EXCLUSIVE DESIGN

Liftup has cooperated with a partner in design and innovation during the development process to achieve the exclusive expression of the Raizer. All the materials are carefully selected with focus on stability and durability and in consideration of both the helper and the fallen person.

Pricing and features available in Nebraska and Iowa:

RAIZER II

• Battery operated

• Remote control

• Easy to assemble: 4 identical legs, 2 identical headrests – correct assembly every time

• Intuitive sound and LED indicators for correct assembly

• Carry bag and trolly

• New surface materials makes it possible to disinfect the Raizer II

• New position of seatbelt and it can be removed to wash

RAIZER M

• All-manual, lifting chair.

• Protect your independent living lifestyle and never need caretaking from outside sources.

(David Kohll of Kohll’s RX)

any career waiting for me, just that I was a musical person and therefore someone who had a reason to pursue music. She really instilled a love of piano and vocal music in me. She set me on my journey and I am so grateful for that.”

That “spark” convinced him he owed it to himself to develop whatever talent he possessed.

“Because I was such a late starter I enjoyed making fast progress. It made me feel hopeful. In a very short time I eclipsed the program I was in at the University of Vermont. I applied to other schools. I went to Northwestern, then to the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado). I had a teacher out in Los Angeles. It was ridiculously late for me to be a concert pianist. Then I got thrown into playing The Magic Flute at an opera house in Aspen. Something about not being in a practice room all by myself but playing in a room filled with people was very exciting to me.”

The exposure took France to Lincoln Center. “Within a year I was working with all these incredible people. I just sort of followed it through.”

The conducting path began with an invitation to attend Juilliard School of Music.

Along the way, he married opera singer Sylvia McNair. The couple later divorced.

Opera became his niche, though of late he’s explored musical theater, a genre that’s long “fascinated” him.

“I love the passionate nature of opera. I respond to it. I love the chemistry of song and words and the endless challenge about how to make a singing voice a great tool of communication for both words and emotions. I really like trying to make stories seem real to people. Musical theater is a little easier to do that with because it’s more colloquial and less complex. I like that connection that happens with people. Opera makes that connection more challenging, but it’s possible. I’ve experienced it.”

France feels that the grand expressions of these forms help get him out of his shell.

“I’m pretty introverted. Opera and musical theater are obviously quite extroverted activities. Introverts are sometimes drawn to things that give them release to be something that’s not easy on their own. Opera and musical theater became these great vehicles for me to be more visceral and outward.”

France feels he’s an example of how one’s path only becomes clear through trial and error.

“Fortunately for me, the discovery that I could use my musical skills in other ways, like playing rehearsals for opera, saved me from a big crash on the concert pianist front. I never won any competitions. I never would have succeeded in that field.”

When he gave up that pipe dream, he turned all his energies to conducting. “The lesson”, he said, is you can transform yourself and be something you don’t expect. My life has shown me you can’t necessarily do that without an awful lot of help and I was privileged in that I had a lot of family support. I had the means to be able to do all of these things. And yet I worked very hard. There was no guarantee. Hard work was a big part of it. Crazy luck is another big part of it. But it turned out to be a good thing for me. And I went as far as I went.”

His luck included having an “in” with a major music director-conductor.

“My mom was a choral singer in a regional choir whose very ambitious music director, John Nelson, took them to New York every year. Eventually they did the American premiere of Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens at Carnegie Hall. Around the time I was converting from sports to music, Nelson used to come to our house. He later became a mentor, very close friend and someone I modeled myself after. I probably am a conductor largely because of that connection.”

Once France’s conversion from jock to artist was complete, he said, “I went to being at the piano for hours a day, which made my family very happy.”

As his career blossomed, he said, “I had an unusual amount of support for doing what I chose to do.”

His three sisters all pursued creative careers.

France came to Omaha by way of the Houston Opera Company, where a mentor, John DeMain, was the artistic director there as well as at Opera Omaha.

“One year John couldn’t come up to Omaha, so he sent me,” recalled France, whose work with the company led to him being offered the AD role.

He’s guest conducted a half dozen or so works for Opera Omaha since leaving in 2005.

Development

Though not an academic by nature, France has found an artistic home at UNO, where he sees his job as creating a framework for talent to find its mark.

“You never know what makes that difference. Even the most focused people need support from others.

People develop when given an opportunity to get really passionately involved in something and realize it’s something they could be good at. That’s what we hope to do for people in our musical theater program.”

France knows from experience what it’s like “to have an experience that resonates with you in way that it leads you to your next step in life.”

“Every time you take a step out you jump into a bigger pool. If you’re really interested in doing something you love, there’s really no other way except to take those leaps into those bigger pools. Sometimes, those experiences have to happen under fire, in a pressure situation of getting a show ready. All those things have kept me going over the years. I’m really happy to pass it on to others.”

He values the sense of “community and opportunity” he feels a part of in Omaha. “It’s a very collaborative space where you can meet a lot of different people and do a lot of interesting things.”

He brings his sports experience to everything he does. “I learned a lot doing sports. It’s been very good preparation for what I went on to doing. No matter what role you play in an enterprise or production one of the essential things is really how you make other people feel and how you contribute to a group effort. And that’s teamwork. That’s also the thing that holds art together. There’s no question that spirit can take a B project and make it an A project. That’s the thing to be nurtured and that’s the thing I’ve enjoyed.

“It’s great to build things. When you’re doing art and you can be side by side with someone who’s working a two-by-four that’s a really good thing. It’s great to bring you down to earth.”

The musical theater program he’s building at UNO incorporates all those lessons as college students get a chance to grow their performing and technical skills.

He’s embraced the “very demanding” task of creating a program. “I really wasn’t that well-versed in the ways universities work. There’s some challenges there for me coming from the private, nonprofit sector to going into a big state system. But I’ve found that like anywhere you need to build spirit and a sense of belief in people. A lot of people have helped me.”

He’s “proud” of the quality musical theater projects college students and staff produce at UNO.

Meanwhile, the Academy serving high school students is a response, he said, “to what I and others have always recognized – that there’s a great amount of musical theater talent and interest in the schools, where there are some excellent programs.”

Academy students are selected “based entirely on ability and potential,” he said, “because talent is an intangible thing and not everybody is already fully formed in their high school years.”

“Potential is something we are able to identify and we want to support that because this is as much a becoming program as it is a having arrived program.”

Support from UNO, the Omaha Public Schools and private donors, he said, make the Academy a ”tuition free experience with an all professional staff made up of people who have a love of working with young people and developing young talent.”

“A key part of this is that community partnership. It’s so important to the university and what it’s trying to do. It’s of great interest to me.”

France brings Nebraska talent back from Broadway to work with students. Omaha native Q Smith and her husband Lawrence Stallings, both Broadway veterans, are doing a week-long residency with students this spring.

Omaha native Vincent J. Orduna, a former New York theater professional now based in Seattle, is directing the Academy’s culminating event, a production of Footloose scheduled for July.

Music director Tyler Gruttemeyer and choreographer Domanic Brown teach at South High and work across the metro.

“The work we do is the work of collaboration,” France said. “I think of theater as a very rare laboratory where people interact in ways you can’t quite describe on paper. It’s very human. The values that, make a country, a state, any community great are the same values that make a cast and a crew great. Mutual respect, ownership, commitment, responsibility.”

Grounded

The self-described workaholic admits to being “a little restless, so I have moved around a bit – I don’t necessarily stay long with each thing that I do.” He’s been in Omaha longer than any of his previous career stops. Now that he’s 70, he said he’s open to “maybe not repeating the frenetic and sometimes obsessive challenges … but to finding something a little simpler and liberated than what I’ve done in the past.”

Thanks to his relationship with Judi gaiashkibos, he sees things from a new lens.

“She’s a really strong Native American woman and a complete dynamo of human, civil rights and good things,” he said. “A lover of music and the arts. A wonderful mom and grandmother. Being part of her family has been an amazing blessing to me. My life in Nebraska has been enhanced by our partnership and is the reason I’m still here.”

Now that he has a deeper understanding of representation, France said, “I really would like to see diversity, equity, inclusion be more of the world I’ve been privileged to be in because it has a long ways to go. It has been a remarkably privileged space and by that I mean white privilege. Anything I can contribute to make it less, so I would like to. That’s one of the reasons I really like UNO because it does offer that opportunity and we try to model that here.”

Bowling continued from page 1.

Afew lanes away, is where perfect games were being bowled.

Bob Ford and Dennis Stoltenberg each added a perfect game to their lifetime bowling career as they both bowled a 300 during their time in the “Wins and Losses” bowling league this year.

“It was pretty special to be able to bowl a 300 game this year,” Stoltenberg said.

Dennis Stoltenberg, 76, who has bowled at the national level several times, said he enjoys bowling in the Tuesday and Thursday league because of competition.

“If you get an honored score then you can report it to USBC (United States Bowling Congress) and it goes on your record,” Stoltenberg said. “I also enjoy the socialization aspect.”

Bob Ford who turned 79-yearsold this year, bowled a perfect game, which is number nine in his lifetime.

“I was happy to bowl a 300 game this year,” Ford said. “It was great to see the reactions of people around me.”

While bowlers try and do their best, Ford said it’s all about the positive impact and community that they developed when it comes to the “Wins and Losses” bowling league.

“It’s all about the comradery that

Millard Senior Center

You’re invited to visit the Millard Senior Center at Montclair, 2304 S. 135th Ave., this month for the following:

• May 4: Beginners Crocheting Class @ 9:30 a.m.

• May 5: Cinco De Mayo Celebration @ 9 a.m.

• May 5: Honoring all of the ladies and mother’s who come to the senior center @ 11 a.m.

• May 8: THEOS (To Help Each Other Socially) @ 12:30 p.m.

• May 10: Board Meeting @ 9:30 a.m.

• May 10: African Dress group @ 10 a.m.

• May 16: Musician Ben Tomasello @ 10 a.m.

• May 22: Book Club: “The swimmer’s” by Julie Otsuka lead by Chris @ 1 p.m.

• May 30: Doing a craft from a key chain @ 9 a.m.

Hand-n-foot being led by Lee C Wednesdays @ 9 a.m.

MahJongg Wednesdays @ 1 p.m.

Chair Volleyball Thursdays @ 10 a.m.

Dominoes Thursdays @ 12:30 p.m.

For more information, please call 402-546-1270.

Help Sleep Research

The CAPACITY Lab in the Department of Gerontology at UNO is seeking participants for a research study. The purpose of the study is to learn about the effects of the environment on sleep.

What would you do?

• Take a series of in-person surveys about your sleep quality and home environment. This will take about 1 hour. Do you qualify? We are looking for people who: Live in Nebraska. Are aged 60 years or older Additional qualifications apply. You may have to take a screening survey. Compensation is available.

is involved in bowling. It doesn’t bother me if I lose, as long as I enjoyed bowling with the people I bowled with or the people I bowled against,” he said. “We’ve enjoyed it and it’s been fun.”

Volunteer Connect offers a variety of opportunities

Do you have some spare time, a skill to share, and wish to contribute to your community?

Private and non-profit agencies are looking for your help.

Please contact Tia Schoenfeld with the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Volunteer Connect program at 402-444-6536, ext. 1045 for more information on the following volunteer opportunities:

• Royal Oaks Assisted Living looking for volunteers to do a variety of things book clubs, gardening, arts.

• Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity construction projects and the Homestore.

• Intercultural Center Volunteers to teach the craft of tatting.

• Intercultural Center Early English/ English teachers from 10:20 AM-11:20 AM. M-F.

• Quilters to create ‘Busy Lap Blankets’ for individuals in long-term care and assisted living facilities.

• Volunteers to write a greeting card of encouragement to residents in skilled care and assisted living facilities.

• Siena Francis House, volunteers to assist with serving breakfast and lunch.

• Tip Top Thrift Shop always needs volunteers on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 1 to 4 p.m. Tip Top is located at 5910 Maple Street in downtown Benson. The volunteers would be stocking the Shop and waiting on customers.

Affordable Connectivity Program

The Affordable Connectivity Program is an FCC program that helps connect families and households struggling to afford internet service.

The benefit provides:

• Up to $30/month discount for internet service;

• Up to $75/month discount for households on qualifying Tribal lands; and

• A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider.

A household is eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program if the household income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or if a member of the household meets at least one criteria:

• Volunteers Assisting Seniors VAS Volunteers are needed to provide nonbiased Medicare Counseling and Homestead Exemption Application Assistance through Volunteers Assisting Seniors.

• Volunteers willing to create cards of encouragement that are given to residents in skilled care and assisted living facilities, meals on wheels clients.

• Participates in any of the following assistance programs: SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, Veterans Pension or Survivor Benefits, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;

• Participates in any of the following Tribal specific programs: Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal TANF, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Tribal Head Start (income based);

• Participates in the Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;

• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or

• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating broadband provider’s existing low-income internet program.

Fremont Friendship Center

You’re invited to visit the Fremont Friendship Center, 1730 W. 16th St. (Christensen Field). The facility is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

A meal is served weekdays @ 11:30 a.m. Reservations, which are due by noon the business day prior to the meal the participant wishes to enjoy, can be made by calling 402727-2815. A $4.25 contribution is suggested for the meal.

This month’s activities will include:

• May 2: Craft Class (Small Canvas and Easel) @ 1:30 p.m.

• May 3: Special Music with The Links @ 10 a.m.

• May 4: Merry Maker’s Presents-John Worsham @ 10:30 a.m.

• May 5: Wheel of Fortune @ 10:30 a.m.

• May 9: The Big Give. Your gift gives back to the center all year. Your donations help pay for all of entertainment, programs, needed supplies and prizes.

• May 9: Blood Pressure Clinic with Angel Home Health Care @ 10 a.m.

• May 9: Craft Class (Art Journaling) @ 1:30 p.m.

• May 10: Music with Ben Tomisello @ 10:30 a.m.

• May 11: Mobile Library @ 9:30 a.m.

• May 11: Merry Maker’s Presents, John Worsham for Special Music @ 10:30 a.m.

• May 16: Craft Class (Button Bouquet) @ 1:30 p.m.

• May 17: Special Music with Pam Kragt @ 10:30 a.m.

• May 18: Older American’s Month celebration with Fremont Methodist Health. The panel will discuss medication safety, keeping the brain active, palliative care, hospice care and health directive @ 10 a.m.

• May 24: Special Music with Billy Troy @ 10 a.m.

• May 30: Craft Class (Kleenex Jars) @ 1:30 p.m.

• May 31: Special Music with Jerry Stingley @ 10:30 a.m.

Tai Chi offered every Tuesday and Friday from 9:15-10 a.m.

For meal reservations and more information, please call Laurie at 402-727-2815.

Omaha Fire Department

The Omaha Fire Department’s Public Education and Affairs Department will install free smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors inside the residences of area homeowners.

For more information, please call 402-444-3560.