Siouxland Life Magazine - July 2012

There’s more to bait shops than just bait

Lifeguards don’t just watch and wait at area pools

The First Lady of Okoboji: Marilyn Maye returns to lakes

a guide for living in siouxland

Go! Okoboji

Iowa’s Resort community heats up for the summer

COPING WITH HEAT

Don’t let summer get you down

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life is on the web! Visit www.siouxcityjournal.com/siouxlandlife Siouxland Life July 2012

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Contents July

2012

12 On the cover Boaters take advantage of warm summer days in the waters of East Lake Okoboji. This month, we head to Iowa’s favorite resort for a look at the season of fun. Photo by Tim Hynds.

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Up, up and away!

Parasailing proves popular with lakes visitors. features 4 Feature home: A summer place 8 Collection: Cutting a rare figure 10 Landscaping: Lakes lots take work 14 OKOBOJI: Church camps 16 OKOBOJI: Parasailing 18 OKOBOJI: The halo effect 20 OKOBOJI: 20 Questions 22 OKOBOJI: Arnolds Park 25 OKOBOJI: Dive and rescue 28 OKOBOJI: Bait shops

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That Boji pull Broadway star returns to summer theater for season run.

30 OKOBOJI: Summer theater 33 OKOBOJI: What’s in a name 34 OKOBOJI: Unique worship 36 OKOBOJI: Classic places 38 OKOBOJI: Lakes emergencies 41 HEALTH: Coping with heat 43 HEALTH: Sun exposure 45 Doc, I’ve Got a Question 47 Parting Shot

Publisher Steve Griffith Editor Bruce Miller Editorial Joanne Fox, Dolly Butz, Tim Gallagher, Earl Horlyk, Nick Hytrek, John Quinlan Photography Tim Hynds, Jim Lee, Laura Wehde Presentation editor Amy Hynds DESIGN Kathryn Sesser Advertising Sales Nancy Gevik Advertising Design Stacy Pajl, Jill Bisenius ©2012 The Sioux City Journal. Siouxland Life is published monthly by The Sioux City Journal.

For advertising information, please call (712) 224-6275. For editorial information, please call (712) 293-4218.

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Classic Okoboji The lakes region has its landmarks and great people who make them flourish.

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July 2012

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HOME a

place for family

Lake house illust

family t 4

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

Text by Joanne Fox | Photographs by Tim Hynds

O

trates

ties

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OKOBOJI, Iowa | Take a stroll through their lake house and you quickly see that family was important to Rueben “Rube” and Betty Heggestad.

Pictures of all shapes and sizes show their children, grandchildren and extended family at formal and casual events.

However, 4-year-old Ebba Bjornstad wisely pointed out the house was more than just a compilation of photographs.

“This is not a picture house.

This is Grandma Diane’s cottage,” she said, referring to Diane Heggestad Bjornstad, only daughter of Rube and Betty.

“My parents were together for 65 years and had six kids, so family was a big thing, especially for my mom, who loved to have people over,” said Robert Heggestad, second oldest in the family.

Then, he added with a laugh, “Some days, I still don’t understand how they managed all of us.”

Heggestad speculated the original house, constructed in the 1900s, was one of several guest cottages dotting the lake front that were owned by the New Inn, located just down the street.

“I remember it being very small when they bought it in 1966, the year before I started college,” he said. “Then over the years, they just kept adding on and adding on.”

When not enjoying summer at the lakes, the Heggestads resided in Denison, Iowa. Robert recalled the family moved quite a bit before settling in Crawford County.

“My dad started out in medical school at the University of WisconsinMadison and met mom there,” he said.

“When they married, Dad decided medical school was too expensive, so he got into the meat packing industry.”

Rube spent his career in the meat industry including Wilson & Company, Dougdale Packing Company, IBP, and

Top: The Heggestad home on the shore of West Lake Okoboji in Okoboji, Iowa, was built at the turn of the 20th century. It is currently for sale. Bottom left: A dining area is shown at the Heggestad home on the shore of West Lake Okoboji. Bottom center: Decorations are shown in the home. Bottom right: An upstairs bath is shown in the turn of the 20th century home. This page: Robert Heggestad estimated this photo of his parents, Rueben “Rube” and Betty Heggestad, was taken at sunset, shortly after the couple purchased the Okoboji lake home.

Spencer Packing Company. Later he formed his own meat brokerage business, Heggestad Brokerage, and ran it with help from Betty.

“My folks kept the house in Denison, and ran the business from their lake house and the house they wintered in Scottsdale, Ariz.,” Robert recalled.

The memories of Okoboji summers washed over Robert like the blue lake water on the shore.

“I would bring my fraternity brothers to the lake and we’d have great fun skiing and sailing,” he said. “I remember once we went to the Roof Garden to see the Everly Brothers.”

Robert characterized his parents as “fun people.”

“They loved the lake and they loved to entertain. I remember tons of parties,” he said. “Because they lived all over the Midwest, they had friends and family who would come to the lake to visit.”

Both Rube and Betty were also accomplished chefs in their galley-style kitchen.

“My mother made these dinner rolls in bowls of ice and kneaded the dough and they were fabulous,” he said. “She also had a terrific cheesecake recipe that she got from a restaurant in Kansas City.”

The home also reflects Betty’s interest in antiques. Silver, crystal and a collection of Lalique glassware accent the heavier pieces of furniture in a room which has at its centerpiece, a white fireplace.

The home pulls the lush greenery of the outside inside with a light green

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July 2012

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Top: A screened outdoor living area is shown at the Heggestad home on the shore of West Lake Okoboji in Okoboji, Iowa. Left: The Heggestad family is shown in this family photo hanging in a stairway at the home on the shore of West Lake Okoboji in Okoboji, Iowa.

The Home Builders Association of Greater Siouxland promotes the professionalism of the building industry through educational programs and activities for the membership and the communities we serve.

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JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

carpet and green wallpaper that travels up the wall and across the ceiling. A quirky band of grasshoppers plays their instruments on a side table.

Decks and open and enclosed porches allow a spectacular view of the lake.

White wicker furniture and rusty wooden chairs and picnic tables accent the green and blue motifs.

An open stairway leads up to the second floor where a master bedroom, complete with a canopied bed, has an Lshaped deck on which to take in a bird’s eye view of the lake. A diminutive bathroom has the original claw-foot bathtub with a modern marble sink.

When the weather was inclement, an indoor heated swimming pool, right off a bedroom was an option, despite the Enter At Your Own risk sign.

“For a college kid who was bringing friends up to the lake,” Heggestad, now 65, mused. “It was like a paradise.”

Rueben Heggestad died Jan. 1, 2008.

Betty Heggestad died Jan. 24, 2011, residing in the Okoboji home she loved, which is now listed for sale.

“It’s hard for me to return to Okoboji and harder to maintain the house from this distance,” said Robert, who has lived on the East Coast for 40 years. “I miss my parents a lot and the house, with its charm, was a connection to my family.”

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July 2012

7

COLLECTIONS constant

reminders

Collection illustrates

Yesterdays’

Child Text by Joanne Fox Photographs by Tim Hynds

S

X

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa | Darla Hardersen’s collection isn’t extensive.

“I just have a corner cabinet full of ‘em,” she acknowledged.

Hardersen’s collection is comprised of the delicate Yesterdays’ Child figurines, part of the Boyds Collection which began in 1979 in Maryland with its production of whimsical teddy bears.

As the company grew, it expanded its giftware items to include everything

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JULY 2012

from pottery to home decor to the figurines which portray youngsters – some with bears – in heartwarming situations.

Q. When did you start collecting Yesterdays’ Child figurines?

A. It must have been about 15 years ago.

Q. What’s the first piece you purchased?

A. I’m not real sure.

Q. How does one collect the figurines?

A. You buy them in the store or hope to get them for presents, which is what most of mine were. My mom always

Siouxland Life

Above: Darla Hardersen displays a Yesterdays’ Child figurine at her Sergeant Bluff home. Top left: “The Last One” remains one of Hardersen’s favorites. Top right: Another Yesterdays’ Child figurine from her collection.

wants to get me birthday or Christmas presents and those were perfect to receive. Specialty stores like Hallmark tend to carry them. You can find them online at a number of websites, like Amazon and eBay. Q. What’s the appeal of the figurines?

A. I think they’re SO cute and look quite real.

Q. What criteria do you use for choosing the figurines for your collection?

A. I don’t have a criteria. I just pick out the ones that appeal to me.

Q. What about price?

A. These are relatively inexpensive and that was part of the reason I started collecting them. They tend to run from $15 to $25.

Q. Which is your favorite piece?

A. I have several favorites. I like one that has a young girl crying, clutching her kitten. It looks like she’s been trying to give away her free kittens and doesn’t want to part with the last one, which happens to be the name of the piece: The Last One. Q. It looks like the creators had a lot of different ideas on the way to present youngsters.

A. They also do a good job with various times of the year. There are cute ones that celebrate Halloween, Easter and Christmas.

Q. The attention to detail is phenomenal.

A. Yes. Like on one piece where a young girl is in a classroom, you can read what she has written in her class book.

Q. Is it me or is it primarily girls that are the featured figurines?

A. It is mostly girls. It’s a treat when you find one with two kids doing

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Q. What’s the response of friends and/or family to the collection?

A. Everyone who’s seen it say they love it.

Q. Honestly, they are cute, but they look like figurines I could buy anywhere. How do you tell the Yesterdays’ Child collection from any other nice home accessory?

A. You tell they are the real thing because they are numbered and there’s always a paw print on the underside.

Q. Do you collect anything else?

A. I collect Santas. They have to have GOOD faces and I’ve thought about collecting head vases, but those can get very spendy because they are antiques.

Q. How did that come about?

A. I saw them in a store one day and just LOVED ‘em.

Q. Any thought to ever stopping the collecting?

A. I had to put my collection away for five years because I lived at another house where there was no place for my corner cabinet. I’ve just built this house and now I have room for the cabinet.

Getting them back out and seeing them again was almost like Christmas all over. I had forgotten all what I had and now I can go shopping for more!

One of the holiday Yesterdays’ Child figurines from Darla Hardersen’s collection.

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Siouxland Life

July 2012

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LANDSCAPING lakes

take a special touch

o

Text by Joanne Fox

Photographs by Tim Hynds

OKOBOJI, Iowa | Just because your property is adjacent to a lake does not guarantee beautiful landscaping.

BJ Ferguson with 4Evergreen Landscaping of Milford, Iowa, knows that landscaping around a lake brings several challenges normal residential landscaping generally does not have to consider.

“When we landscape lake homes, the lakeshore bank is a major concern,” he said. “The landscaping must be done so that it doesn’t compromise the stability of the lakeshore whether it is a large bank or a small one. Some of the lakeshores contain natural springs in them, while others deal with a large amount of surface water running over them. Each property is unique and must be dealt with individually.”

Most of the lakeshore on West Okoboji is stable, Ferguson acknowledged.

Lake landscaping incorporates beauty of water

“But the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) also has regulations about what a homeowner can do with the lakeshore bank,” he said. “For example you can’t tier up the bank, unless you can prove it’s absolutely necessary.”

Ferguson pointed out other lake communities may have specific rules about modifying any aspect of lakeshore land.

“Some won’t let you do a thing,” he said. “They are adamant about keeping the lakeshore as natural as possible.”

Landscaping lake property, not adjacent to the water, might include a carefully manicured lawn with flora and fauna.

That’s a second challenge.

“So many properties have large canopies of trees that it is hard to find the sunlight needed for many plants to grow,” he said. “The plants that we use are carefully selected to grow well in the soil and sunlight conditions available, as well as provide strength to the landscape project.

We work with each customer to provide a carefully selected variety of plants that will be pleasing to them and suitable for their home and landscape.”

Check out HGTV and you’ll see that cobblestone patios with oversized rocks are popular for lakeside living, Ferguson 10

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

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pointed out.

“Bigger boulders are better,” he said.

“I think the largest one we installed was 1,800 pounds. It makes quite a statement.”

Designing the hardscapes can be a formidable task, Ferguson noted.

“Water may be beautiful, but water can cause lots of problems,” he said. “You have to be aware that surface water will drain down from the street onto your property.

If you don’t take care of that surface water with your landscaping, it could cause major erosion problems.”

Ferguson will take a number of things into consideration when landscaping to incorporate the beauty of the lake with the home.

“Many of the homes built today have their own unique characteristics and with the wide variety of hardscape materials available, we are able to design many custom, outdoor living spaces that complement a home’s exterior,” he said. “Customers today have many different colors and textures of landscape stone to choose from that will work well with almost all finishes on the exterior of today’s homes.”

Not everyone will employ a professional landscaper to help with their beautification projects. Ferguson offered the Do-it-yourselfers this advice.

“Landscaping is more than just stacking blocks or laying brick pavers,” he cautioned.

“Today’s landscape materials will last much longer than materials of the past so you should make sure you take the necessary steps to properly install the material so you can get the most for your money.”

On the off-season, Ferguson attends seminars and takes classes to learn about the many different materials available to landscaping.

“Remember, sometimes cheaper isn’t better,” he stressed. “Landscaping is a lot of hard work so anything you choose to do yourself, make sure it will last.”

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GO! Okoboji

N

Need a quick summer getaway? Head to Iowa’s Great Lakes where you can fish, swim, sail and – best of all – relax.

Siouxland’s home away from home, the lakes region offers a rich history of tradition. This month, we take another trek to Okoboji where we learn the secrets behind some landmarks, discover what makes the area tick and how important the summer is to residents.

We meet legend Marilyn Maye, visit Arnolds Park and find out what inspired the Rev. Robert Schuller to create his popular ministry.

The summer fun? It’s about to begin in this month’s special edition of Siouxland Life.

Siouxland Life

July 2012

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GO! Okoboji church camps thrive

Siren call of church camp

brings back the next generation to Okobo Text by John Quinlan Photographs by Tim Hynds

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Okoboji wouldn’t be the same without them.

The Lutherans have three of them, the Methodists and Presbyterians one each, and the YMCA has the oldest of the bunch – them being the six major church camps which greet thousands of happy campers each year to the Iowa Great Lakes.

At all of the camps, family attendance can be traced back several generations.

“I can’t tell you the amount of stories we hear from folks who generations ago would have come here,” said Keith Shew, camp director of Lake Obokoji United Methodist Camp, located on the north end of West Lake Okoboji. “But now their children or grandchildren or even greatgrandchildren are attending camp now.

And they happily share stories of what it was like to come to camp. And they’re always pleased to know that many of those things we still do.

“We still obviously swim together and eat together and share in daily

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Siouxland Life

Left: Camp co-director Carolyn Fritsch is shown at a campfire circle on the grounds of the Lakeside Lutheran Camp. Above: Jerry and Carolyn Fritsch are directors at the camp. Right: Camp counselors practice praise songs during training for the upcoming season at Lakeside Lutheran Camp.

responsibilities. We still watch the sun come up together and go down together down at the lake. A lot of those sort of timeless activities, we’re still doing.

“The real essence of the camp hasn’t changed over all these years. It’s still folks coming together and sharing in daily responsibilities, growing in faith and leaving renewed and with a sense that they’re part of something much bigger.”

Lake Okoboji UMC is the second oldest of the six church camps, opening in 1915, just three years after Camp Foster, the YMCA camp which is celebrating its centennial this year.

A relative newcomer to the group is Lakeside Lutheran Camp, which was established in 1959 on the west shore of East Lake Okoboji, just across from Camp Foster.

“We have a half mile of shore line and 123 acres here,” said Jerry Fritsch, co-director of the Lakeside camp for the past seven years with his wife Carolyn.

And like all of the church camps in the Iowa Great Lakes, this ELCA camp makes the most of its location on a great lake.

“Sailing is our specialty because we have staff that are well skilled in teaching and safety,” Fritsch said, noting the camp carries five different classes of sailboats. “We have a 40-foot tower with a zip line.

We’ve got an indoor climbing wall, low ropes, roller skating.

But one of our primary objectives is sailing.

“Sometimes, we use Elinor Bedell State Park which

f p

oji

is across the lake and around Camp Foster. They have a wonderful youth camp, and sometimes we’ll have the kids do canoe overnight to the youth camp at Bedell. Or sometimes we’ll even use Camp Foster, and Camp Foster comes over here and they’ll camp out at our site.”

There is clearly no rivalry with the other church camps, all of which have their own constituencies, both directors noted.

The Methodist camp is also offering an intensive, new sailing camp this summer, in partnership with the Okoboji Yacht Club, Shew said.

“There’s definitely no rivalry,” he said. “I think we regularly meet together for fellowship and the sharing of resources. In fact, we just had a pretty intensive time working with the Dickinson County Emergency Management, all six sites coming up with some common emergency procedures.”

Lutheran Lakeside as a statewide camp is even copacetic with the other Lutheran camps which have more regional constituencies, Fritsch said.

Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp, located on West Lake Okoboji in the Miller’s Bay area (and associated with the Ingham Lake Bible Camp at Wallingford, Iowa), is another ELCA camp. And Camp Okoboji, a onetime YMCA camp on West Lake Okoboji, is a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod camp.

The sixth camp is the Presbyterian Camp on Okoboji, also on the shores of West Lake Okoboji.

“We’re an ELCA camp,”

Fritsch said. “We have four weeks of confirmation (camps).

Emphasis here has been for the last 63 years, faith formation and Christian education. We’re an extension of the 120 congregations that support the camp, in Christian education with them.”

But you don’t have to be a Lutheran to go to Lakeside Lutheran.

“No, we have more kids from St. Mary’s up here in Spirit Lake than we’ve ever had,” Fritsch said of the local Catholic church. “Denomination, it doesn’t matter. We get a lot of inner-city kids from Des Moines and Council Bluffs and Sioux City.”

And like the other camps, Lakeside offers year-round activities for children and adults.

At family camp, he has noticed that grandparents often bring their grandchildren to camp because the parents are often too busy working to get away with their kids.

They even play Quidditch at camp, though it’s more earthbound than the traditional Harry Potter sport, more of a capture-the-flag contest with Quidditch goals.

And God bless the location of these camps, they say.

“I think it’s an advantage to folks looking at camping options when we can use the name Okoboji,” Shew said. “I mean people know the name Okoboji and associate that with summer fun and vacation and the good life, and that works hand in hand with camp because camps are a lot of those things, too.”

Siouxland Life

SIX CAMPS CAMP FOSTER YMCA: East Lake Okoboji. Dates to 1912. 214 acres.

(800) 456-9622 LAKE OKOBOJI UNITED METHODIST CAMP: West Lake Okoboji. Dates to 1915. 100 acres.

(866) 856-9862 OKOBOJI LUTHERAN BIBLE CAMP: West Lake Okoboji. Dates to 1924. Houses 300 nightly. (712) 8674170 PRESBYTERIAN CAMP ON OKOBOJI: West Lake Okoboji.

Dates to 1954.

More than 50 acres. (712) 3373313 LUTHERAN LAKESIDE CAMP: East Lake Okoboji. Dates to 1959. 133 acres.

(712) 336-2109 CAMP OKOBOJI, LUTHERAN CHURCHMISSOURI SYNOD: West Lake Okoboji.

Dates to 1960. 29 acres. (712) 3373325

JULY 2012

15

GO! Okoboji parasailing adventure

Extreme Watersports’ Captain Tim Marler has been sending parasail-minded passengers 600 feet above Lake Okoboji since 1994.

Up, up and away Okoboji 600 feet above the waves

O

Text by Earl Horlyk

OKOBOJI, Iowa | Ever wanted to have a bird’s eye of Lake Okoboji ... literally?

According to Capt. Tim Marler, the best place to see the sites isn’t by land nor by water.

Instead, the owner of Extreme Watersports recommends experiencing Okoboji 600 feet in the sky.

Located lakeside at Arnolds Park in West Lake Okoboji, Marler has been taking thrill-seeking tourists parasailing for nearly 18 summers.

What’s parasailing, you ask?

Think of it as being inside a kite designed for human travel. A harness connects up to three participants to the parasail, which is connected to a commercial water sports parasail boat by a tow rope.

When the boat drives off, the parasail (and the parascenders or passengers) become as airborne as a bird.

“You become one with the elements when you’re floating in space,” Marler said. “It’s actually very Zen,” But isn’t it like ... um, very dangerous?

Not at all, said Marler.

“Nope,” he insisted. “Anyone can fly.

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JULY 2012

Flying high in Okoboji What: Parasailing at Lake Okoboji When: Approximately 10 a.m. to sunset, weather permitting, all summer long Where: Extreme Watersports, Arnolds Park Amusement, West Lake Okoboji, Iowa Cost: $75 per person and a liability waiver must be signed Contact: For information on parasailing pricing as well as boat, water ski and wakeboard rental, call (712) 332-5406.

There’s no age limit or skills required. We do the driving and you do the flying.”

Marler must know what he’s doing.

In fact, he’s had passengers as young as 3 and as old as 90.

“You don’t need to be a daredevil to go parasailing,” Marler said. “You won’t even get wet, well, most of the time, at least.”

By that he means that he’ll allow people to skim their feet into the water on especially hot days.

“That’s incredibly refreshing,” Marler said.

And your airborne-adverse friends can also have the experience of seeing you sky-high.

“Even people who aren’t parasailing

Siouxland Life

might enjoy a ride in an offshore racing hull,” Marler said. “For a nominal fee, they can watch as you fly.”

But it’s more fun to experience parasailing than it is watching it.

That’s why some of Marler’s favorite parasailing passengers have been special needs children.

“Not every one will ever have the thrill of power boating, hot air ballooning, hang gliding and parachuting,” he said. “In parasailing, you’re experiencing all of those sensations pretty much simultaneously.”

This is why Marler has regular passengers who come back every summer.

“That’s the fun part,” he said, “knowing that people consider parasailing an annual part of their Okoboji experience.”

And over time, these passengers have become friends of the longtime West Okoboji resident.

“People always ask where’s the best place to be at Okoboji in the summertime,” Marler said. “I tell ‘em, it has to be about 600 feet above ground, looking down upon the lake.”

“Seeing Okoboji on the wing of a parasail is simply an experience you will never forget,” he said as a group of passengers make their way to his parasail boat. “It’s fun to fly.”

Siouxland Life

July 2012

17

GO! Okoboji the halo effect

Above: Candy Fredericksen of the Homespun Quilt Shop in Estherville, Iowa, is shown working. Top inset: Estherville pottery is a popular gift item found at the Homespun Quilt Shop. Bottom inset: The Homespun Quilt Shop has occupied this space at 202 Central Avenue in Estherville, Iowa, for the past 11 years. Much of the shop’s business comes from Iowa Great Lakes residents and visitors. The structure was once an ice cream parlor.

Okoboji’s ‘halo effect’ seen on nearby towns

E

Text and photos by Tim Gallagher

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa | Candy Fredericksen doesn’t mince words when summing up the effect the Iowa Great Lakes has on her Homespun Quilt Shop on Central Avenue in Estherville.

“I love the people at the Lakes,” she says. “I need the people at the Lakes.”

Lucy Matthiesen, manager at Silver Lake Country Club at Lake Park, Iowa, gets right to the point, too.

“We maybe get one-third of our green fee people from the Lakes,” she says. “Without them, I might be out of a job.”

Yes, a 33-percent hit to the bottom line would likely have most people looking for work.

Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who find their way to the Iowa Great Lakes each year, finding the right work in and around Dickinson County is possible – and profitable

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Siouxland Life

– for all sorts of trades. Call it the “Halo Effect” – the benefits one gets from the Iowa Great Lakes; while not being right in Iowa’s Great Lakes.

Estherville and Lake Park, after all, are both 10- to 15-minute drives from Spirit Lake and the Okobojis.

While at quilting trade shows across the country, Fredericksen is often asked where her shop is located.

The 11-year shop owner quickly mentions Okoboji, Iowa. And just as quickly, she gets an affirmative response.

“I could be in Houston (Texas) or Cincinnati, Ohio, or Paducah (Ky.) at a show and someone will have visited, gone through or stayed at Okoboji,” she says. “I let people know that I’m 15 minutes away. A LOT of people know Okoboji.”

Fredericksen says the name recognition isn’t simply the result of the lakes and the summertime recreation

those cool blue bodies of water offer.

The Okoboji name itself is unique, one that sticks with people. University of Okoboji apparel, made famous by The Three Sons in Milford, has been seen all over the world. That brand helps tell the story of a place where fun is priority one.

Fun. That’s what Matthiesen offers at the well-manicured 9-hole golf layout in little Lake Park, a Dickinson County burg of just over 1,000 people.

Golf enthusiasts from the Iowa Great Lakes each day make the short drive west on Iowa Highway 9 to test their skill on the lengthy par 4s.

“They come because it’s less expensive, and it can be hard to get tee times in the Lakes,” Matthiesen says. “This is my third year here and, for some reason, last year many of the Lakes golfers here commented on what a well-kept secret we are.”

The conversations led to talk about

Lake Park itself, a community boasting a new K-12 school facility and community library, a bustling downtown sector and two active campground sites just off the shores of Silver Lake.

“People end up asking about the town and the lake,” she says. “They want to know how deep the lake is (it’s just under 10 feet at its deepest points in a lake that measures 1,066 acres) and what kind of fish are caught there (perch, walleye, channel catfish, black bullheads).”

Matthiesen says the proximity to the Iowa Great Lakes also means towns like Lake Park are best served working with the Okobojis. While Smith’s Bay attracts tens of thousands of people for its annual fireworks show on July 4, there are thousands who see similar shows right around that date in Spirit Lake and Lake Park.

Okoboji selects the date for its fireworks show. Spirit Lake always gets the second choice, and Lake Park follows by selecting third. That’s OK, according to Matthiesen, who helps direct fundraising efforts for the fireworks at Lake Park.

“The people in and around Lake Park are great about donating each year for the fireworks show,” she says. “It’s good for our town and the area. You’d be amazed at how many people watch all three shows.”

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Siouxland Life

July 2012

19

GO! Okoboji

profile Q&A

20 questions

20

“Okoboji is very cosmopolitan. The people are very astute and they know entertainment. They’re all my friends there.

I know the audience. It’s just a big party when I’m there.”

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

SUBMITTED PHOTO

20 questions with singer and Okoboji legend

Marilyn Maye Text by Nick Hytrek

Nobody sings the praises of the lakes region better than Marilyn Maye. Returning each year to perform, the award-winning singer takes time to answer 20 Questions with Nick Hytrek.

1. How did you get your start in singing and performing?

8. What’s your favorite place to perform?

My mother decided when I was born.

Mother decided she’d have a girl and name her Marilyn after (Broadway star) Marilyn Miller and I would sing.

There isn’t one. The audiences are wonderful and they love what we do and I love what I do.

2. Where does the talent come from? Were your parents good singers?

My mother was a pianist. Some of it’s God-given, and over your life you hone your talent.

3. How many shows do you do a year?

I’m just continually working. Work is not just the shows. When you’re not performing, you’re preparing for the shows.

4. How did you land your first show at Okoboji?

Okoboji came to me when they were remodeling The Inn in 1956. I and my trio were booked.

5. This will be your 56th year performing in Okoboji. What’s kept you coming back?

9. Do you have favorite songs to perform?

I always do “It’s Today.” That’s my mantra in my life. It’s that you live every day to the utmost you can.

10. Did you ever imagine you’d have a career this long?

I didn’t think about it. I just went about it day by day. I’ve been blessed with good health and energy.

11. What’s been the secret to keeping that energy at such a high level?

He loved music and he was very musical himself. It was a joy doing the show.

The band was sensational. They would always ask me if I wanted to sing one song and visit or sing two songs. I always told them two songs.

My health and the passion for the business and the talent. I was blessed with talent.

12. How have you been able to keep your voice so strong?

18. You teach private lessons as well? Who do you teach?

Continual work. You keep it oiled – water and using it.

13. How long do you plan to continue performing?

6. What do you like best about performing in Okoboji?

14. So no plans to retire soon?

7. Is there anything new people attending one of this year’s shows can look forward to?

It’s always a different show. It’s called “The Happiest Sound in Town.”

I don’t plan on it. It’s what I do. It’s a daily thing. We’re booking next year.

No. No. Retirement is not in my vocabulary. People say “Don’t you want to retire?” Well, what would I do?

15. With all the awards and accolades you’ve received, what keeps you motivated?

He came to me for their campaign song. I recorded a song called “Step to the Rear and Let a Winner Lead the Way.” They bought the rights to that song and we did a parody “Step to the Rear and Let a Leader Lead the Way.” We still are very dear friends. I just did a show in Des Moines at the Performing Arts Center and he was there opening night.

17. You appeared on the “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson 76 times. What would people be surprised to learn about him?

A contract (laughing). It’s that simple.

A perk of that is that the people are really entertained and they like us and I love them. We’ve worked with four generations. That’s rare for an entertainer.

Okoboji is very cosmopolitan. The people are very astute and they know entertainment. They’re all my friends there.

I know the audience. It’s just a big party when I’m there.

16. How did you get involved with former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray’s campaign?

The loyalty of the audiences who want to hear you. You can’t do the show without an audience. It all has to do with the passion and the fact that people come to hear you.

In New York, professional singers.

We put together an act and work on the material.

19. What do you think of shows such as “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent?” Is it easier now to get noticed than it was when you were breaking in?

No, it’s always hard, I think. I have no comment on “American Idol.” I’m an advocate of not yelling the song. I believe in singing the song.

20. What advice do you have for aspiring performers?

Perseverance. That’s about it. You have to have great perseverance and energy.

Treat it like a business, not like a hobby.

Siouxland Life

July 2012

21

GO! Okoboji Arnolds Park

The endu

Arno

If you go What: Arnolds Park Amusement Park Where: Arnolds Park, Iowa When: Open now through Sept. 9 For more information: www.arnoldspark.com

O

Text By Earl Horlyk

Submitted photos

OKOBOJI, Iowa | It’s the place “where good, clean fun never grew up” and the location of many fond memories for Di Lorenzen.

“I grew up going to Arnolds Park Amusement Park with my sister and our friends,” she remembered.

“And my daughters have also grown up, coming here.”

Lorenzen, communications director for Historic Arnolds Park Inc. (HAPI), the nonprofit organization responsible for not only Arnolds Park but also the Raceway, Queen II, MajesHistoric Arnolds Park tic Pavillion and the Iowa Inc.’s communications Great Lakes Maritime Mumanager Di Lorenzen seum, said her story isn’t said the amusement unusual. park has left an “There isn’t a day that impression of several generations of families. goes by when I don’t hear an Arnolds Park story,” she said. “Sometimes, it’s parents taking children on the same rides they enjoyed as kids and sometimes, it’s the grandparents doing the honors.”

“Considering the park’s been around for 123 years,” Lorenzen added, “we’ve seen countless generations of families walk through our gates.”

According to Lorenzen, this sense of nostalgia is a large part of Arnolds Park’s appeal.

Chief among the park’s oldest attractions are the Legend Roller Coaster (built in 1927, it is the 13th oldest wooden roller coaster in the country), an iconic 65-foot ferris wheel (where park-goers can see the breathtaking views of the lake) and a twisty-turny Tilt-A-Whirl (when every spin you take promises to Built in 1927, Arnolds Park’s be unique).

The Legend Roller Coaster History can also be relived on the is the 13th oldest wooden roller coaster in the country.

Queen II Excursion Boat, the Maritime 22

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

uring appeal of

olds Park Day or night, Arnolds Park ferris wheel offers an incredible view of Lake Okoboji from up above.

Museum and the “Okoboji Store,” a store in the spirit of Arnolds Park’s earlier days.

In the past, the park’s fabled Roof Garden brought some of the biggest names in the big band era to Lake Okoboji. In addition, many legends from the early rock and roll era played in Arnolds Park.

The music may have changed but the spirit remains the same as more than 25 live shows – ranging from Smashmouth, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to Los Lonely Boys – will be playing Preservation Plaza and the Roof Garden this summer.

Another incentive for budget-minded guests is Arnolds Park’s affordable single and two-day passes, packages, even season memberships.

You can also buy tickets for individual rides, which range from $3 - $7.

New to Arnolds Park this summer, said Lorenzen, is its point-of-sale system.

“We will offer Park Bucks rechargeable cards that you can use for park rides, games, gift shops and food vendors within the park,” she said. “That’s convenient because kids won’t have to carry cash if they’re in the park without you.”

Rechargeable cards are also a way for Arnolds Park to go “green.”

“With our point-of-sale system,” Lorenzen said, “we will be able to reduce the use of paper tickets and printed coupons.”

Through grants from the Okoboji Foundation, Dickinson County Endowment Fund and Soil and Water Division, Preservation Plaza will have a new natural drainage system, rain gardens with native plants are being established and

light bulbs for many of Arnolds Park’s rides have been replaced with LED energy efficient bulbs.

“Can you imagine replacing 2,700 bulbs on the ferris wheel alone?” Lorenzen said with a laugh. “But it will reduce the kilowatt usage by more than 1,000 percent.”

Going green is one way that Arnolds Park is looking toward the future.

“We’re proud to be a part of our community,” Lorenzen said, “and we want to preserve the quality of life for many generations to come.”

Looking around the park, Lorenzen reflected for a moment.

“The real appeal of Arnolds Park is the people,” she said. “We are helping to make a lifetime of memories for families.”

Siouxland Life

JULY 2012

23

Home Grown & Proud to Live & Work in Siouxland

LAURA E. GIESE, DDS

BRIAN B. BURSICK, DDS

DOUGLAS A. WHEELOCK, DDS, PC

Dr. Laura Giese was born and raised in Sioux City , growing up in the Morningside Area. She attended Heelan High School and graduated in 2000. She then went on to spend the next 8 years at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, receiving her undergraduate degree in Biology in 2004 and her Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree in 2008. In July of 2008, she joined Wheelock and Bursick Dentistry as an associate.

Dr. Giese is married to her high school sweetheart, Bob Giese and has a son, Cal. Dr. Giese is committed to providing quality dental care for Siouxland.

Dr. Brian Bursick is a Sioux City native growing up in the Crescent Park area. He attended West High School and graduated in 1986. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree from the University of Nebraska Dental School in 1994. After graduation he practiced briefly in Sergeant Bluff, IA. In 1997 he joined Dr. Wheelock as an associate.

In 2004 he became a business partner.

Away from the office Dr. Bursick is busy with his family. He and his wife Kristy have three young sons.

Dr. Bursick is devoted to delivering quality comprehensive dentistry to the people of his hometown, Sioux City, IA.

Dr. Wheelock established his own dental practice in 1977. It originally was only 2 blocks from its current location at 4100 Morningside Avenue.

Dr. Wheelock was born and raised in Sioux City graduating from Sioux City Central High School in 1969.

He went on to receive his Bachelors of Science degree from Briar Cliff College in 1973. He attended dental school at the University of Iowa and earned his Doctor of Dental Science degree in 1976. After graduation Dr. Wheelock returned to Sioux City.

Dr. Wheelock is involved in his community & church. Dr. Wheelock is married to his college sweetheart, Marilyn, and has three adult sons and three daughters in law. He is the proud grandfather of five incredible grandchildren.

Dr. Wheelock is proud to call Siouxland home and enjoys providing quality dental care to the community.

Our hOme-grOwN prOfessiONals have iNsight aNd experieNce tO make aN exceptiONal cONtributiON tO Our patieNts aNd cOmmuNity

Where Quality, Comfort and Value Meet.

New patients are welcomed!

DOUGLAS A. WHEELOCK, DDS, PC BRIAN B. BURSICK, DDS LAURA E. GIESE, DDS 4100 Morningside Ave. • Sioux City, IA 51106 Phone 712-274-2038 Fax 712-274-0648 24

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

GO! Okoboji

Two members of the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Underwater Search & Rescue Team work in the waters of the Iowa Great Lakes.

Submitted photos

diving for lives

Dive team makes A

splash

A

Text By Tim Gallagher

ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa | Nearly 30 years ago, Dave Nelson put his dive gear in a city shed at Arnolds Park. And thus, the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Underwater Search & Rescue Team was born.

The team now consists of 12 certified divers and six support staff personnel, all members of the local volunteer fire department. All water bugs.

“You have to be able to dive,” says Mark Petersen, a Spirit Lake resident who is a member of the team. “All of us have a water interest. You live up here; you have a lot of water bugs.”

The local team, which is supported through taxpayer funds and private donations, searches for people, evidence,

tools and more. Members are on stand-by during the popular University of Okoboji Triathlon, the Winter Games Polar Plunge and now a Special Olympics Polar Plunge in nearby Spencer, Iowa.

The team also recovers the vehicle that falls through the ice each spring, the central element in a Kiwanis Club fundraiser.

The exercise, while benefitting the community, also serves as an annual training outing for divers.

“Safety is always first for us,” says Petersen. “Our motto is posted all over the place: Risk vs. Benefit. What you’re about to risk, you have to consider the benefit.

If there’s a chance to rescue a small child, I’ll let the risk go.”

Missing persons cases are marquee events, so to speak, for any dive and

A member of the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Underwater Search & Rescue Team works in the waters of the Iowa Great Lakes.

Siouxland Life

July 2012

25

recovery team. It’s no different in the Iowa Great Lakes where once every few years a case like that arises. Members of the team were dispatched en masse in October eight years ago when two men went missing after the 28-foot dock barge they worked on overturned in high winds on West Lake Okoboji.

One body was recovered shortly after the accident. The other body wasn’t found until the following spring, some eight months later.

“When people ask if I enjoy what we do, I say that we enjoy it, but we hate to have to do it for real,” Petersen says.

“It can be rewarding, and that feeling of helping a family out is good. Without us, closure might take longer.”

There are success stories, too. Just this spring the team received a call for a boat that ran aground and remained in gear.

At the same time, a 911 call came in for a person swimming in another part of West Lake Okoboji.

“It was the guy who fell out of a work barge, went overboard and his boat went two-and-a-half miles south,” Petersen says. “He’d fallen overboard without his life jacket.”

He was saved, crisis averted.

“Another success story came a few years ago when we got called for a swimmer who went under the surface at Terrace Park,” Petersen recalls. “As we’re

26

JULY 2012

A member of the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Underwater Search & Rescue Team works in the waters of the Iowa Great Lakes.

deploying, another diver from a team out of South Dakota was able to bring the man up from 15 feet underwater. We got him to shore and did CPR and he survived.”

The work is anything but easy. Divers wear 80 to 85 pounds of gear that consists of a dry suit, a buoyant compensator device, an air tank, gloves, boots, hood and more.

“We’re set to have six divers gear-up at once, but we generally dive one at a time,” Petersen says. “We try to rotate divers each 20 minutes.”

Divers communicate with support

Siouxland Life

personnel on the surface through rope signals and wireless communications technology.

At 136 feet, West Lake Okoboji is the deepest of the Iowa Great Lakes and likely the most active as 100,000 people converge on Dickinson County during summer months. Petersen has been to the 105-foot mark, and has been told by other divers that at 120 feet the water gets very silty.

“It’s dark and cold at that point, and really no reason to go there,” he says. “At 105 feet, it’s dark but the water is very clear.

There’s not much happening down there.”

A diver can work in 20 feet of water for 35 to 45 minutes as not as much air is burned in shallow water.

The diver recalls diving with his wife, Cheri Petersen, at the 60-foot level on West Lake near The Inn a few years ago and seeing a patio set sitting upright on the lake bottom, likely the victim of a wind storm.

The team sometimes is asked to dive for items as small as eyeglasses and diamond rings. Those cases are considered on a case-by-case basis.

“Formal requests like that are often cut off before they get to us,” says Petersen, noting the team generally works to recover missing persons, missing evidence and abandoned vehicles.

It is an honor, he adds, to be able to serve Iowa’s tourism mecca in this unique way. The team has grown mightily from that time in 1983 when Nelson placed his personal gear in a city shed.

The Lakes Area Fire & Rescue Boat, a 27foot Boston Whaler, is but one of three department-owned boats. Two personal watercraft also aid the team when necessary, thanks to Polaris.

“Most of our equipment has been purchased with donations,” says Petersen.

“Without the support of the cities and residents in our county, we couldn’t be doing this. We’re also lucky to have the volunteers who give of their time and make the commitment.”

It’s what you do when you’re an Iowa Great Lakes water bug.

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July 2012

27

GO! Okoboji bait shops

Take the bait

and enjoy fine fishing at Oko Text by

John Quinlan Photographs

by Tim Hynds

28

O

OKOBOJI, Iowa | Oh Shucks!

Charlie Shuck has been a part of the fishing world on the Iowa Great Lakes for the past 50 years. He learned the business at the Okoboji Bait Farm which his dad bought in 1961. Eventually Charlie and his wife Bev took over the business from Charlie’s dad, moving it across the highway in 1972, and Shuck’s Bait and Tackle was a fixture for the next 27 years.

It’s still a fixture, one of several popular bait shops in the Iowa Great Lakes area; but for the past 13 years, it has been owned and operated

by Steve Plueger, a longtime restaurateur who was ready to tackle

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

something different.

“This place came up for sale and I just ended up buying it because I did some fishing and hunting and stuff like that myself,” Plueger said.

“And now that I bought this place, I don’t have time.”

At least not the time he wants.

“But I go out fishing, you know, if I’m invited as a guide or something like that. But I’ve always said, if I’d wanted to go fishing, I’d have bought a golf course.”

When he bought the place along Highway 86 at Milford, Iowa, Plueger decided to kind of keep the old name, but he added an “Oh” in front of it. And Oh Shucks Bait and Tackle

on Highway 86 at Milford, Iowa, remains one of the go-to bait shops in the region.

Half of the 3,000-square-foot store is bait and tackle, the other half a convenience store. That makes it one of the bigger bait shops in the Lakes area.

“We sell live bait, all your fishing tackle and accessories. We have full service for fishermen as far as the bait goes, the tackle, the cleaning services. We have guides who work out of here. And we have the normal convenience store things, the pizza and burger and hot dogs and stuff like that.”

The live bait for sale includes the

usual suspects” night crawlers, leeches, minnows and grubs. But the plastic and artificial type baits are beginning to be more popular, he noted.

“A lot of these companies are coming up with some fantastic artificial type lures and baits,” he said.

And the best-sellers throughout the region always include “Berkley’s stuff,” Plueger noted, referring to Pure Fishing, the fish tackling business founded by legendary Spirit Lake native Berkley Bedell.

STAN’S PLACE

Stan’s Bait Shop, opened 40some years ago by Stan Reinders, has probably been around as long as Shuck’s.

Located on Okoboji Avenue at Milford, it was taken over after Stan died in 2000 by John and Tammy Wittkamp, who had worked in the shop for years. A few years ago, they moved the shop to a larger location next door, but unlike many bait shops in the region, it’s strictly

t ...

oboji

Left: Steve Plueger is shown at Oh Shucks Bait and Tackle in Milford, Iowa. Bottom left: Minnows are shown swimming in a live bait tank at Oh Shucks Bait and Tackle. Bottom right: The bait store also doubles as a convenience store.

a bait and tackle place, Tammy said.

“We’re just a bait shop,” she said. “Oh yeah, we have a lot of tackle. We’ve got a lot of all the different tackles for pan fish, walleye, bass muskies. I mean you’ve got to have a lot of room to be everything, and we are specializing in bait and tackle.”

She said they thought about expanding into other areas when they secured the new location four-and-a-half years ago, but were happy they didn’t.

“It seems like we’re busy yearround,” Tammy said. “And there isn’t really much of an in-between season thing. We have times when there’s not as many customers, but it seems like we stay pretty busy, John and I do.”

What makes Stan’s special?

“I would say my husband,” Tammy said. “He’s really good about what he does and he cares about people. He tries to get you on fish.

I think a lot of it has to do with the people that run the place.”

WHERE DO I GO?

Plueger agrees that bait shops are where people go to find out the best fishing spots.

“I mean most of the people who work here do fish,” he said. “But we

get a lot of feed off of other fishermen, which we pass on. We get like, ‘Wow, I caught these fish yesterday on this and this ... and that and that. This is where I caught them and how deep it is.’ And we sort of pass the word.”

Both agree that business tends to slow down a bit during the hottest months, primarily in midAugust.

“I’d say May and October are probably the best fishing months,” Plueger said. “But our ice fishing here is fantastic. We do a lot of ice fishing from December until midMarch.”

The live bait sells especially well during the winter months, he noted.

And bait shops are where you hear some of the best fish stories.

Most of them even true. Mostly.

“As a matter of fact, last Sunday morning, a fellow from Ireton caught one of the tagged fish that we tagged during Walleye Weekend and he’s going to receive, I think, $2,700,” Plueger said. “If you catch one of the tagged fish between now and September, you win part of the prize money.”

And that fish story is no tall tale.

“We sell live bait, all your fishing tackle and accessories. We have full service for fishermen as far as the bait goes, the tackle, the cleaning services. We have guides who work out of here. And we have the normal convenience store things, the pizza and burger and hot dogs and stuff like that.”

Steve Plueger Oh Shuck’s Bait and Tackle

Siouxland Life

July 2012

29

GO! Okoboji

Broadway veteran

summer theater

Submitted photos

shuffles off to Okoboji

T

Top: Jana Robbins is shown as Rose and Jamie Ross is Herbie in the musical “Gypsy” at Westchester Broadway Theatre.

Bottom: Jana Robbins portrayed The Chaperone and Christopher Gurr starred as Aldolpho in “The Drowsy Chaperone” for the Human Race Theater Company, as part of the Victoria Theater’s Broadway series.

30

July 2012

Text by Joanne Fox

The mother of this year’s Okoboji Summer Theatre artistic director passed her tap dancing genes on to her daughter.

“My mother studied with Gene Kelly as a teenager growing up in Pittsburgh,” said Jana Robbins, actor, director and producer.

“She says that I came out of the womb dancing.”

Robbins began dancing lessons at the age of 4 at the Gene Kelly School of Dance, in Allentown, Pa., appearing in recitals and singing provocative solos like “Blues in the Night” by age 11. At Westmont Hilltop High School – where they luckily did a Broadway musical each spring – she was cast as Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific” her junior year and played Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady” her senior year.

“I loved expressing myself and sharing my talent and received a great deal of encouragement from my family,” she said.

“By the time I was ready to attend college, I knew that I wanted to major in theater so that I could perfect my craft, grow as a human being, and pursue my career at the Broadway level.”

Robbins chose Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., which has owned and operated the Okoboji Summer Theatre since 1957. Robbins performed at Okoboji as Rosie in “Bye Bye Birdie” and Maggie in “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” among other roles.

“My parents and especially my mother were my biggest supporters,” she said.

“They paid for me to attend Stephens and underwrote my move to New York until I landed my first job.”

Robbins’ first show on Broadway was “Good News,” starring John Payne and Alice Faye, where she played Patricia Bingham, the Sorority Queen. Other Broadway

Siouxland Life

shows followed including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Crimes of the Heart,” in which she played Lenny one year after the play won the prize.

Robbins recently played the title role in “The Drowsy Chaperone” for the Human Race Theater Company as part of the Victoria Theater’s Broadway Series.

“I have been lucky to have a number of memorable roles, so it would be hard to choose my favorite,” she admitted. “Playing Aldonza in the national company of ‘Man of La Mancha’ opposite Jose Ferrer at 21, just one year after graduating from Stephens. Playing Lenny in ‘Crimes of the Heart’ on Broadway one year after it won the Pulitzer Prize. Standing by for Tyne Daly on Broadway as Mama Rose in ‘Gypsy’ and getting to star in the show for a whole week when she took a vacation.

Those are three big ones in my mind. but I’m also looking forward to being on stage at Boji again in ‘The Last Romance.’”

“Crimes of the Heart” is one of the two plays Robbins will direct this summer.

“I LOVE directing,” she insisted. “It’s being part of the whole – not just your own role – and helping to guide others to being better than they ever imagined that they could be.”

Robbins directed “Crimes” at Stephens in 1985. Her other directorial undertaking will be the musical “Little Women,” which she produced on Broadway and directed on the Stephens campus three years ago.

“Randall Wreghitt, my late producing partner on ‘Little Women,’ who passed away a year ago much too young, is from Iowa,” she said. “I dedicate my first season as OST artistic director and this production of ‘Little Women’ in his memory.”

In 2009, Robbins was nominated for a Tony Award for producing the Broadway production of “Ragtime.” Currently Robbins is developing three new Broadway shows, including Allan Knee’s “The Jazz Age,”

Okoboji Summer Theatre season • “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” June 12-17 • “Book of Days,” June 19-24 • “Crimes of the Heart,” June 26-July 1 • “Beau Jest,” July 3-8 • “Little Women,” July 10-15 • “Ravenscroft,” July 17-22 • “The Liar,” July 24-29 • “The Last Romance,” July 31-Aug. 5 • “Chicago,” Aug. 7-12 • The Boji Bantam Children’s Theatre • “Tricksters: Tales from the Teepee,” June 20-23 • “Hansel and Gretel,” July 4-7 • “Sloppy Jo’s Story: A Musical Mess,” July • 18-21 • “Kung-Fu Kitty,” Aug. 1-4.

Call to order tickets, (712) 332-7773. a three-character play with music and dance about Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayer.

The president of Stephens College asked Robbins to be the artistic director of the theater this summer.

“I was extremely honored and leaped at the opportunity to return to my roots, to the summer theater that nurtured my dreams and my career,” she said. “I’m thrilled to be able to share the knowledge and experience I have gained in working in the regional theaters, off and on Broadway with the seniors who will be starting their careers – just as I did – when they leave ‘Boji.’”

“Our students will have the wonderful experience of working directly with a Broadway producer, director and actor,” said Beth Leonard, back for her 15th year as executive director of the theater. “As a theater grad herself, Jana went from ‘Boji’ to Broadway and in that process, she has gained much that we are looking forward to having her share with our aspiring performers.”

Robbins tells young, talented actors not to choose between “real world” employment and theatrical work.

“There are so many jobs to be held in the field of entertainment and all of them put you in creative positions around an art you love,” she explained.

“You don’t have to be ON stage,” Robbins continued. “You can direct, stage manage, company manage, design the lights, costumes, sound design, be an agent, a producer, a general manager, work in the social media, do PR, marketing. It’s endless really, the number of enjoyable careers there are within the world of entertainment and the theater. Now that I produce, teach, and direct as well as act, I encourage students who are interested in theater to look at ALL the jobs available to them in the business.”

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ask a professional Proper health and nutrition with your workout!

Summer’s coming! Slowly but surely, it’s heating up! As a follow up to our article on proper running, I wanted to touch on another important topic – proper health and nutrition with your workout! Of course everyone talks about how important working out 30 minutes a day is for our cardiovascular (and overall) health, but a frequently missed topic is eating healthy along with that workout.

The easiest way is change your eating routine is to create a meal plan for yourself – and your family – for the week.

This not only takes the guesswork out of what to make – Dr. Joel but trims down your impulse buys, which helps slim down Pistello, DC the budget. Additionally, instead of deciding your menu at the store, sit and outline specific meals, side dishes, and even healthy snacks for those mid-afternoon cravings. Don’t forget: your children and teens are now out of school and home for the summer. Having healthy options available for snacks can create healthy habits for their future!

As far as what to eat, mix it up! While it’s important to choose from all of the food groups and get all of your nutrients, it can be a difficult task to balance getting every nutrient, every meal. For every meal, plan to serve 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit. Great options to complement any meal are fresh grilled asparagus or cold, cut cucumber slices. For fruits, fresh strawberries or anti-oxidant rich blueberries are easy to prepare and easy to eat. For breakfast, don’t forget that heart-healthy oatmeal and a banana can be a quick and affordable way to start your day off right!

During the day, keep healthy fruits and vegetables handy for your cravings.

Have some apples or cold grapes ready to crush your cravings and keep you on course! Don’t forget to add in lots of water; the more, the better! Water will always help with muscle building, burning fat, and more importantly, keeping you hydrated while you exercise!

Finally, I wanted to touch on a few resources for health snack ideas and eating health recipes. We have posted a few links on our Facebook page to easy and healthy meals and snacks. Don’t forget – if you plan ahead, you can always cut out extra empty calories, eliminate unhealthy snacks, and instead take in tasty – and healthy – vitamins and nutrients!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to stop by our office and talk to one of our doctors about your running or nutrition concerns!

You can find our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MultiCare.Health.

Clinic

Call 276-4325 today for an appointment

3930 Stadium Drive. (Between Wal-Mart & Explorer Stadium)

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GO! Okoboji summer theater

‘Okoboji’ has ties to Santee Sioux

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Text by

Dolly A. Butz Photograph by

Tim Hynds

OKOBOJI, Iowa | Two lakes, a city of just over 800 people and 35 businesses bear the name “Okoboji.”

Another 10 businesses use the nickname “Boji.”

What does the strange sounding name mean?

The exact origin and meaning of the name “Okoboji” is unknown, according to Okoboji’s Maritime Museum Director Mary Kennedy.

She said Okoboji is most likely derived from the Dakota-language name “Okoboozhy,” which means “place of rest,” “reeds” or “rushes” (like cattails).

“It’s an Indian word, but that’s really all we know about it,” Kennedy said. “The (Santee Sioux), they weren’t really living here, but they are the ones who caused the Spirit Lake Massacre.”

The attack by a renegade band of Santee Sioux March 8-12 of 1857 killed 35 to 40 settlers in their scattered holdings near Okoboji and Spirit lakes.

Aubrey LaFoy, a local historian, said West Okoboji Lake was first called “Minnietonka” by the Santee Sioux, but he said the name “didn’t fly very well.”

Minnetonka was a well-known lake in Minnesota. The name was so similar in spelling that Minnietonka was re-named West Okoboji Lake.

“They originally named East Okoboji as ‘Okoboozhy,’ which means ‘rushes,’” he said. “That’s how it came about.”

A missionary woman living in South Dakota with the Santee Sioux, LaFoy said, came up with the translation, “rushes.”

“It’s about as close as we can get, I guess,” he said.

Iowa Great Lakes historian and author Aubrey LaFoy is working on a project on the history of steamships at the lakes.

LaFoy estimates that the lakes were named in the late 1850s, since Dickinson County became a county in 1857.

“Big Spirit Lake had been named many years before that, but that’s another story,” he said.

FOR THE LOVE OF IOWA GREAT LAKES HISTORY LaFoy has written 850 articles about the Iowa Great Lakes area and its people for the former Milford Mail, the Dickinson County News, and the Okobojian. He has also published five books on the topic.

The retired history teacher now lives in Arnolds Park, Iowa, but was born and raised in Milford, Iowa.

“I’ve been around the lakes all my life,” he said. “My mother’s

family, they were very early pioneers. They were into the county in 1867.”

LaFoy grew up on the lake. His family had a cottage on West Lake Okoboji from 1925 on. His grandmother, he said, sparked his interest in Iowa Great Lakes history.

“She used to tell just fascinating stories about pioneer days,” he said. “I love history. I’m never bored with history.”

LaFoy began his teaching career in Greeley, Colo., before moving to Mason City, where he taught for 25 years. LaFoy moved back to the Iowa Lakes area in 1980 and commuted to Estherville, Iowa, where he taught for eight years.

“I just couldn’t stay away from here. I had to move back,” he said.

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GO! Okoboji unique worship

SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Okoboji: Home to driv AND boat-in worship serv

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Text by Tim Gallagher

T

OKOBOJI, Iowa | In 1949, First Lutheran Church of West Okoboji started a drive-in worship service at the old Lakeland Drive-In Theater north of Milford on Iowa Highway 71.

The following summer, a honeymooning couple stopped by to worship.

It was the Sunday after June 15, 1950, the wedding date. The service made an impression on the new groom.

“I was recently lecturing to a group of Lutheran Pastors and mentioned that I began our church in a Drive-In Theatre,” he wrote in a letter 19 years later.

“I mentioned that part of my inspiration went back to my days when I was honeymooning with my wife in Spirit Lake, Iowa…We attended the service in the Drive-In Theatre outside of Spirit Lake. It was a rainy Sunday. There were only about 12 cars there. But the Pastor

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preached a sermon on ‘God’s Plan for Your Life.’”

God’s plan, as it were, sent the groom to California, where he was challenged to start a church.

“When I came to California to begin a new church and had no church and no money, I remembered the effectiveness of that sermon,” he continued.

“As a result, I felt if I could remember a sermon years later, that it must have been enormously helpful. So I began in a drive-in theatre.”

The letter writer? The Rev. Robert Schuller, who ended up transforming his own drive-in theater worship service into the Crystal Cathedral, one of the world’s most recognizable weekly worship gatherings.

Schuller wrote the letter to the Rev. Gordon Smedsrud, who founded the drive-in worship at Milford. It’s a service that continues to this day, now headed

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by the Rev. Bob Vaage. The Summer Outdoor Drive-In Service takes place each Sunday morning from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The service, which Vaage considers the church’s “signature ministry,” takes place on church property, near a church constructed just six years ago.

“We average about 120 to 200 cars,” he says. “If you figure two people per car, that’s 300 to 400 worshippers.”

Two large speakers mounted on poles carry the message, as does a short-range FM signal. A game at the start of service asks worshippers to honk their horns for each county listed.

There are many who come from Sioux County for this Sunday service at First Lutheran Church.

“We used to have a keyboard player and a singer, but we have a full band now,” says Vaage. “Weather is the biggest challenge. If it rains there is an

“There are people who sit in their cars, others in lawn chairs or blankets or public benches. There are boats that pull in as well. Some boats drop anchor while others pull into the public dock and tie off.”

The Rev. Sharon Rohret Calvary United Methodist Church

The Rev. Sharon Rohret is shown speaking at a boat-in, or lakeside service between East and West Lake Okoboji. The service takes place each week during the summer for Calvary United Methodist Church.

ve-in

vices

overhang so we don’t get wet.

Lightning will shut it down. You never know what you’re going to get, but that’s part of the charm.”

It’s also the charm back in Arnolds Park where the Rev. Sarah Rohret presides over the BoatIn Worship for Calvary United Methodist Church. The service takes place at Clare Wilson Park, on the bridge that separates West Lake Okoboji and East Lake Okoboji.

This service dates back to Easter 1993 when a sunrise service on the bridge proved popular for the Rev. Scott Holmes, who is now retired.

“Everyone enjoyed it and thought they’d do it once per month, but that summer it was flooded out after one month,” Rohret says. “They began doing it once per month in 1994 and then went weekly in 1995.”

The lowest attendance a year ago was 80 or so. The Boat-In event drew 138 in its first offerThe Rev. Robert Schuller wrot e this letter in 1969, indicating ing this spring. his 4,000-member congregatio in California was indebted to n a drive-in worship he attended “There are people who sit in in the Iowa Great Lakes whil honeymooning on June 15, e 1950. their cars, others in lawn chairs

The Rev. Sharon Rohret is shown preparing for communion at a boat-in, or lakeside service between East and West Lake Okoboji. The service takes place each week during the summer for Calvary United Methodist Church.

or blankets or public benches,” she says. “There are boats that pull in as well. Some boats drop anchor while others pull into the public dock and tie off.”

Rohret, now in her seventh year at Calvary United Methodist Church, has never had a Boat-In Worship Service completely washed away by rain.

“We’ve ended it a little quicker than usual because of rain coming, but we’ve never been completely rained out,” she says.

That’s not to say the pastor hasn’t been distracted. On a Sunday in May, for example, a muskrat swam in the morning’s calm waters to the delight of those who gathered to pray.

“Things like that are unexpected, part of the fun of worship there,” she says.

Rohret begins each Boat-In

Service by saying, “Welcome to God’s great cathedral!”

“I really enjoy that it’s such a different service and is so open to everyone, which I think is the real intent of Christianity, and the real intent of my faith,” she says. “People can walk by or bike by (or boat by) and say, ‘Whoa, what is this?’”

Schuller may have had the same reaction when the DriveIn Worship at First Lutheran caught his eye 60-some years ago.

“It was dedicated as an outreach to our tourist population,” Vaage says. “Back in the late 1940s, folks felt that if you didn’t don a suit and dress you weren’t acceptable in church.”

The Iowa Great Lakes broke that mold.

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GO! Okoboji classic places

Classic Oko Above: Sisters Linda Sealey, left, and Sharon London stand behind the counter at the O’Farrell Sisters restaurant.

The two manage the business, which was been in operation since 1949. Top left: The O’Farrell Sisters restaurant is shown in Okoboji, Iowa. Top center: The iconic neon sign is shown at the O’Farrell Sisters restaurant. Top right: One of the signs leading the way to the Fillenwarth Beach Resort is shown in Arnolds Park, Iowa. The resort is a long-time Okoboji business.

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Text by Dolly A. Butz | Photographs by Tim Hynds

OKOBOJI, Iowa | As the land of lakes and family fun, there is a lot to see and do in and around Okoboji.

Quaint shops, lakeside cottages, amusement parks and numerous dinning options abound.

Here are a few places that scream “classic” and are definitely not to be overlooked when visiting the Iowa Great Lakes:

O’FARRELL SISTERS Linda Sealey recalls the sweet smell of hot, buttery Cloverleaf rolls wafting in the air was she walked in the back door of O’Farrell Sisters restaurant after school.

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“My mother would have homemade cloverleaf rolls that were served with the dinners at night,” said Sealey whose mother Ferne owned the classic Okoboji eatery with sisters Edna Mae and Arlene.

“We’d get one with butter and honey on it. That was our treat coming home from school.”

This summer Sealey and her sister, Sharon London, are managing the 1950sstyle white and lime green diner marked with an iconic neon fish for current owner Leo Parks, Jr. “We’re getting it back on track, serving the original O’Farrell pie that’s been made since the 1940s,” Sealey said.

The O’Farrell Sisters Restaurant

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opened in 1947 at the bridge on Highway 71 across the street from the existing fisherman’s wharf. Edna Mae and Arlene O’Farrell bought the building, which has since been demolished, from Ike Kissinger.

“It was a lot of family involved,” said Sealey, who remembers standing on a crate as a child so she could reach the sink to wash dishes.

Arlene married and moved to Florida in 1959. That same year the restaurant relocated to its current home, 1109 Lakeshore Drive.

At the new location, Sealey, her sister and their cousins waited tables, cooked or baked pies.

After Ferne and Edna Mae died in the mid to late 1970s, Arlene sold the business to nieces Joyce Gapinski, Jo Ann Anderson, Charlotte Sarvie and Cheri Petersen. The nieces successfully ran the restaurant from 1979 to 2003.

Although there have been a few upgrades here and there, much of the original decor remains, including the chairs and counter from 1959.

Red and white booths and black and white checkered flooring transports customers back to a “Golden Age.” Vinyl records line the tops of the windows and old photographs are scattered across the walls.

The food is just as classic as the decor.

The restaurant serves its original recipes for buttermilk pancakes, vegetable beef soup and chili.

O’Farrell Sisters’ pies are sought-after, especially banana cream, butterscotch, chocolate and coconut cream, according to Sealey.

oboji places “A lot of things have not been changed, which is good,” she said.

THE PAINTED LADIES & FREDORA When you think of “classic” Okoboji cottages, the Painted Ladies Resort probably comes to mind.

The group of charming cottages, formerly dubbed Spud’s Resort, bore women’s names such as “Victoria.” They were rented out until they were individually sold in 1997.

Fredora, a cottage built in the 1880s on West Okoboji Lake, was named after its first owners, Fred and Dora Smith, according to Mary Kennedy, director of Okoboji’s Maritime Museum.

The property was purchased 1998

by Thomas Reardon and his wife, who restored the cottage, as well as an ice house and carriage house.

Kennedy said the original pine floors were refinished and new glass windows were installed in the large lakeside porch.

Although new wiring was installed, the old wire and tube electrical wires were kept to help preserve the vintage cottage look, according to Kennedy.

FILLENWARTH BEACH RESORT Ken Fillenwarth’s father, Arthur T. (A.T.) Fillenwarth, purchased the land Fillenwarth Beach Resort sits on at the shores of West Lake Okoboji in Arnolds Park, Iowa, with plans to build his family a simple cottage in 1919.

After a man came by and asked to rent the cottage for a week, A.T. decided that he needed to build more.

“He couldn’t afford not to take that

Julie Fillenwarth is at the Fillenwarth Beach Resort in Arnolds Park, Iowa. The resort, in operation since 1918, is a longtime Okoboji business.

money,” Fillenwarth said. “He came back and that happened a few more times, so he built a row of them along here.”

A.T. constructed six rental cottages and then 12 lake bank cottages below them. He also acquired other cottages. By 1930 he had 36 cottages in all.

Fillenwarth, who was born on the property in 1924, now owns and runs the resort, 87 Lakeshore Drive, with his daughter Julie.

He has fond memories of childhood summers spent at the cottages.

“I had a little sailboat,” he said. “I used to go out boating a lot. When water skis came around we went out and did that.”

Today the historic resort boasts 96 units (apartments, cottages and studios) on four areas of the property. The units are equipped with kitchens, central heating and air conditioning, pillow-top beds and daily maid service.

The property, which is within a short walking distance of Historic Arnolds Park, shops and restaurants, also has an indoor and outdoor pool.

Other highlights, Fillenwarth said, include daily complimentary cocktail cruises on two 49-foot boats, water skiing lessons, free use of paddle boats and canoes, arts and crafts for all ages, and live music on Monday nights.

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GO! Okoboji lake emergencies

They know how to h falls at Lakes hos

S

Text and photographs by John Quinlan

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa | “All Fall Down” is more than a 1962 movie starring Warren Beatty.

With all the falling-down people in the emergency room at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake, Iowa, it’s a sign that summer has come to the Iowa Great Lakes.

“In the summer, we have a whole different world than it is in the winter time because we see a lot of people visiting,” said Dr. Darrel Forslund, the hospital’s medical director and one of the busy ER docs. “And when people come and visit, they ...” “...Have fun,” said nurse Lois Hahn, director of outpatient services, when Forslund hesitated.

“Have fun, yeah, falling down,” Forslund continued. “And what else?

Crashing? Crashing and falling down.”

The one thing that surprised Forslund when he started work at the hospital was how often people fall.

“They fall on the boat. They fall off

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the docks. There’s a lot of falling, and not necessarily just drunk falling. Just falling,” he said.

“You know, you’re dealing with water.

Things are slippery – surfaces in the boat, big jet skis. It amazes me,” Hahn said.

But at this point, nothing fazes the ER crew.

“We have 24/7 emergency room coverage by the ER doctors, and we see whoever comes into the ER who needs to be seen right away,” Forslund said in late May as he was preparing for a busy summer. “We always have a few fish hooks. I had my first fish hook of the season last Saturday, The lady came from India with her family and it was her first time fishing ever. Her little niece caught her with a fish hook in her left thumb.”

BIG SLIVERS

Walking on the wooden docks can lead to more than falls. Big slivers are an annual concern, along with sprained ankles and broken bones.

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“And those slivers, they’re not like little slivers that you think of ‘cause my son had two of them and they have been like literally almost doing surgery on the bottom of the foot. They’re huge,” said Jennifer Gustafson, the hospital’s vice president of administrative services.

Every year, it seems, they have to deal with at least one accidental drowning, Hahn noted.

“Use common sense,” Forslund tells visitors. “Wear life jackets and observe safe boating practices. One wrong move and boats collide. It’s much better to prevent it than have to treat it. We’d rather do that. Have fun and don’t come to see us ... well, unless you have to.”

One ailment they particularly don’t want to see in the ER is swimmer’s itch, a common malady that doesn’t require a trip to the hospital.

Swimmer’s itch is caused by snail larvae. Snail larvae are hatched in the lake every year, and though humans

Left: Dr. Darrel Forslund, medical director, and ER doctor, and nurse Lois Hahn, director of outpatient services at Lakes Regional Healthcare, Spirit Lake, Iowa, discuss emergency medicine. Right: Jennifer Gustafson, vice president of administrative services at Lakes Regional Healthcare, Spirit Lake, Iowa (behind her), says more than 90 percent of its patients are extremely satisfied with the care they received.

even busier, there are two doctors working the ER.

FAST TURNAROUND

handle

spital

are not the host, it invades the skin, the larvae die and this causes an allergic, itchy reaction, Forslund said. A lot of panicky people come in each year with this, but about all you can do is put on some cortisone cream and Benadryl and wait it out.

“Actually, the best thing is prevention, making sure you get out of the water,” Hahn said. “Take a shower and dry off and rub your skin to get any of the larva. You don’t see them but they’re there.”

The Iowa Great Lakes draw people from coast to coast and even overseas, which is why Lakes Regional Healthcare beefs up its nursing staff every summer.

“Our census in the off-season usually runs about 400 to 450 a month,” Hahn said. “Last July, we saw over a thousand.

So our census doubled in the summer.

We have seven rooms in our ER, and so it makes it an interesting staffing mix to make it all flow in the summertime.”

And on holidays, when things get

The ER staffers are happy at the start of the summer season, happy to meet the visitors to the area ... and equally happy for the end of the season to be here, hence the TAB and TAG parties that come each season. TAB and TAG mean Tourists Are Back and Tourists Are Gone, Hahn noted.

And even though Iowa Great Lakes is much smaller than many of the medical centers the big-city summer visitors are used to, it doesn’t take a back seat in service to those facilities.

“Definitely over 90 percent of our patients are extremely satisfied with the care they received, and we do our best to try to get people in as quickly as possible,” Gustafson said.

“Our turnaround times often surprise people,” Hahn said. “You get these compliments from people that are on the East and West coasts that are very surprised about the care that they receive here. But we have the same standards that everybody else has to meet as far as quality measures. We have to be sure that they get their EKG within 10 minutes, if they come into the ER with chest pain. I have to make sure you get your baby aspirin. All of these different things I have to do, it doesn’t matter that I’m little Iowa or big town New York, I still have to do those. And so we do very well on those quality measures and take a lot of pride in that.”

Visitors from both coasts have told Hahn when their ER visits was done that had they been back home in their bigcity hospital, they’d probably still be sitting in the waiting room.

Augmenting the staff are the paramedic specialists who work in the ER, triaging patients and helping with patient care when they aren’t making ambulance runs. There are always two on staff, two on backup. Unlike many other health care centers, the paramedics are employed by the hospital. This is what enables them to work regularly in the ER, to help out as needed.

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Tele-Medicine One improvement initiated at Lakes Regional Healthcare on June 27, 2011, an Electronic Emergency Room (EER), has helped make the patient turnaround even quicker.

A flat-screen TV set up in two ER rooms gives the hospital staff instant, twoway access to emergency room personnel at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, Jennifer Gustafson said.

“They have a sort of command center where there’s an ER doctor and an ER nurse, and they can come into two of our rooms by camera and actually start the care on patients,” Dr. Darrel Forslund said. “Maybe I’m sewing a patient up. So for 20-30 minutes I’m tied up.

Let’s say somebody comes in.

They fell and broke their arm.

So it’s easy. Avera McKennan can come on the camera and look at them. The nurse can describe the injury and they can determine whether the patient needs an X-ray. They can order an X-ray. They can order a pain medicine, get that done. And then when I finish the laceration, that’s already taken care of and accomplished. Then I can come in and finish it up. There needs to be a physician here on site before they leave. But it speeds it up.”

The folks at Avera McKennan can also arrange the transfer of patients who might need more care than be offered at Spirit Lake. They can arrange a helicopter and find a specialist, sparing the local hospital these logistical steps and letting the ER crew concentrate on the patients.

“That’s our goal, for patients who really need a high level of care, to expedite that and give it to them as quick as possible,” Forslund said.

“With things like strokes, heart attacks and trauma, time counts. So this system is helping us do things faster and take care of the patients quicker.”

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Siouxland Life

Health coping

with heat

KEEP COOL

Protect yourself this summer from heat-related illness and injury Text by Dolly A. Butz

At the emergency room, Liewer said he would try to cool a patient suffering from heat stroke down as quickly as possible by placing ice packs under their arms and legs and around their chest.

Oxygen and IV fluids, he said, may also be administered to aid them in their recovery.

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When the mercury rises this summer, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from the scorching heat, whether you are swimming at the pool, watching a baseball game or sitting inside a nonair-conditioned home.

Heat affects everyone differently, according to Dr. Joseph Liewer.

Every summer, Liewer treats a variety of heat-related illness and injuries from sunburns causing pain and blistering to severe dehydration at Mercy Medical Center’s emergency room.

Children and seniors, he said, often fall victim to the heat.

“Kids would be more likely to perhaps get sunburned or get dehydrated if they’re out playing and not paying attention to drinking enough fluids,” Liewer said.

The elderly and people with chronic illnesses, according to Liewer, could be taking medications that may dehydrate them and put them at greater risk for developing heat-related illnesses or injuries.

He said patients suffering from heat stroke, which comes on gradually, may experience weakness, tiredness and confusion about what is going on around them.

“Folks can start to feel poorly and they don’t know why, when in fact they’re starting to get too hot or hypothermic,” he said. “Especially in

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Dr. Joseph Liewer

older patients, that can lead to confusion.”

Even in a non-air-conditioned apartment or house, Liewer said the elderly are at risk for developing heat-related illnesses. Oftentimes, he said a family member or friend may not find them until after they have become disoriented.

“They can pass out and become unresponsive,” he said. “It can be very dangerous.”

During the summer, Liewer said you should be aware of the temperature, the humidity and how much time you are spending outside.

Non-alcoholic fluids should be consumed before going outside and while doing activities outside.

Kids who are playing outside and sweating, Liewer said, should drink several glasses of water in the morning and afternoon, not just when they are thirsty.

Gatorade and other sports drinks that contain electrolytes are also a good choice, according to Liewer. He encourages adults to avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, which tend to cause dehydration.

With incidents of skin cancer on the rise, Liewer said it is also important to apply sunscreen and stay covered or shaded.

“Parents have to be aware of what’s going on with their kids and be paranoid about them getting too much sun and getting sunburned,” he said. “The injuries down the road are much more serious than just a simple sunburn.”

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Health lifeguarding

Left: Alex Linden, a student at Bishop Heelan High School, guards at Riverside Pool. Right: Brooke Longtin, a student at North High School, watches over swimmers while working as a lifeguard at Riverside Pool.

Lifeguarding is a challenging job

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Working for the City of Sioux City as a lifeguard, Eric Griffith said, is one of the best jobs he has ever had.

Griffith is logging his ninth year this summer at Riverside Pool.

“It’s challenging,” he said. “Everyone thinks that we just sit in a chair all day, but if something bad does happen we are trained to help them.”

According to Sioux City Parks and Recreation supervisor Mandi Parker, 99 percent of lifeguards are high school or college students.

She said lifeguard applicants should be strong swimmers and at least 16 years of age.

Applicants must be able to swim 300 yards continuously using either the front crawl or the breaststroke and tread water for two minutes without using their arms.

They also have to throw a brick into the pool, swim to it and retrieve it from the deep end of the pool, which is 12 feet deep.

Text by Dolly A. Butz | Photographs by Jim Lee

“They have to put it on their chest and swim the length of the pool back without using their arms, so they’re floating on their back and holding the brick on their chest,” Parker said. “Once they get down to the end they have to get out of the pool. They have to have completed that within a minute and 30 seconds.”

After these prerequisites are met, applicants can then take the 26-hour American Red Cross lifeguarding class, which teaches rescue skills, CPR for the professional rescuer and first-aid.

Passing a written exam and skills tests will earn the applicant lifeguarding certification for two years, according to Parker.

“They have to demonstrate that they’re competent,” she said. “They get three final skills scenarios and then they have to perform that rescue using the right rescue technique.”

Griffith said the training he

received prepared him for the 12 rescues he made while working as a lifeguard for the city.

“Sometimes the kids are moving around quite a bit and if you grab onto them they could potentially grab onto you and you could be a victim as well,”

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Rehab

After Surgery Our program is specifically designed to help residents return home!

Come see how our facility can meet your need for a quality lifestyle.

3501 Dakota Ave. • South Sioux City, NE 402-494-4273 Midlands Clinic is pleased to announce the addition of Indy Chabra, M.D., Ph.D. to our Dermatology team.

Dr. Chabra specializes in medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology care and will be accepting new patients in July 2012 at Midlands Clinic.

Dr. Chabra comes to Midlands from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center where he completed his medical internship and residency training in Dermatology.

After receiving his medical degree with top honors at State University of New York, he completed his Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Genetics followed by his residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Chabra enjoys a special interest in the prevention, detection and treatment of skin cancer, and is committed to providing his patients with the latest advances in Dermatology.

Board eligible in dermatology, Dr. Chabra is also a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, and a member of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

For more information or appointments, please visit www.midlandsclinic.com or call (605) 217-5500

General Surgery • Endocrinology • Dermatology 605.217.5500 • www.midlandsclinic.com 705 Sioux Point Rd • Suite 100 • Dakota Dunes 44

JULY 2012

Siouxland Life

Top: Brooke Longtin, a student at North High School, watches over swimmers while working as a lifeguard at Riverside Pool. Bottom: A.J. Spake, a student at East High School, watches over swimmers while working as a lifeguard at Riverside Pool.

he said. “(The training) gives you some skills and techniques to save them properly.”

Griffith said the hardest part of training for him is re-testing every two to three years to maintain certification.

“I only work as a lifeguard during the summer, so it’s retaining the information summer after summer,” he said. “When you retest you take the test and you do the skills. They don’t go over it in class.

They give you the test.”

The city already offered two free lifeguarding classes and two additional classes at a reduced rate this season. The original cost of the American Red Cross lifeguarding class is $350.

Of this year’s 122 applicants, Parker said only four had previously received certification. She encourages those who are interested in lifeguarding to start preparing for next summer.

East High School offers the lifeguarding class as a physical education credit. The last day of the class, Parker said she will be present to hand out job applications.

For more information about becoming a lifeguard, contact Sioux City Parks and Recreation at 712-279-6126.

advice Medical

Answers

‘Doc, i’ve got a question …’ answers to your medical questions

My son counts things, repeatedly. Is this the sign of something?

Or should I just ignore it?

The act of counting objects alone may not be a distressing sign. However, there are several conditions which are manifested by repetitive actions. I would highly suggest discussing your concerns at the child’s next physical.

The physician has access to screening tests to differentiate between disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), autism, anxiety and other persistent behavior disorders. It may help the physician if you document the number of times that the child counts things and also note any other behaviors that you see. Other questions that your doctor may have: How long has this behavior been occurring? Some disorders are not able to be diagnosed unless they have occurred for some time. Does the action bother your child? Often anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviors are distressing to the person suffering from them. Does the child interact well socially with other children? Often, children with autism and autism-like disorders have a problem with social responsiveness and communication.

Early detection is key to treatment success, so I would recommend against ignoring these behaviors.

How do you treat hemorrhoids?

What causes them?

Hemorrhoids...what a pain in the butt. At least they can be. Hemorrhoids are like a varicose vein of the blood vessels of the anal canal. They can be caused by prolonged sitting, pregnancy, straining with defecation. All of these things cause increased pressure in the abdomen. According to several studies, about 4 percent of the population report having hemorrhoids. Men and women are equally affected. And the average age for developing hemorrhoids is around 45 to 65 years old. They can cause itching, pain and bleeding after a

bowel movement.

Treatment of hemorrhoids can be started at home. Preventative treatment includes increasing fiber in the diet.

This includes eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grain breads or adding fiber powder or pills. Fiber intake should be 20-35 grams per day. Stool bulking laxatives containing psyllium seed are helpful at increasing the number of stools per day. Over-the-counter creams or ointments can be used to help with the symptoms of pain and itching. Sitting in 2-3 inches of bath water for 10 minutes 2-3 times per day can be done. But do not use soaps or bubble baths as this can cause further irritation. If home treatments are not helping and symptoms persist, visit your physician for further evaluation.

METROCREATIVE

About Dr. Bechtold Dr. Nick Bechtold is a family medicine resident at Family Medicine Center. He grew up in Sioux City, graduating from Bishop Heelan Catholic High School and Briar Cliff University.

Before pursuing his career as a physician he spent a couple of years in Omaha and Iowa City working at research labs and a biotech company. He graduated from Des Moines University and returned to his favorite corner of Iowa with his wife Karla.

A friend scratched my hand while we were playing a game and it drew quite a bit of blood. Is that anything to worry about? I cleaned it and put a bandage on, but I wondered if I should have done something more?

I would recommend finding a different game. My guess is you were two hours into a game of Monopoly when things started to turn violent. Sorry, bad memories. Where were we? It sounds like you performed the right amount of first aid for your injury. The most important immediate steps in wound care are cleaning and dressing the injured site.

Thoroughly cleaning a wound with soap and water greatly reduces the number of bacteria that will enter the broken skin. Bandaging the site acts as a barrier to prevent other bacteria from entering the broken skin. Antibiotics are not routinely needed for minor injuries to the skin. Make sure to continue to keep the wound clean. Signs of infection include redness, pain, swelling and warmth around the site injury. Wounds that are deep or involve animal or human bites should be evaluated by a medical professional because of the potential for infection. On a prevention note, be sure to wear protective gear next time you are Extreme Board Gaming.

What kiNds of health questions do you have?

Submit your questions and they may be used in this monthly feature. Write to Siouxland Life at 515 Pavonia St., Sioux City, Iowa 51102.

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Is there one question doctors would Be honest if you are unable to do the like their patients to ask? recommended therapy. There may be an I really had to think about this one! alternative recommendation that works So often we are asked specific quesjust as well. tions concerning disease prognosis, test Questions that were runners-up: results, surgery procedure and recovery “Wanna golf?” time, what side effects does this drug “Are you loshave, etc. I spoke with several of my ing weight?” colleagues at my clinic and around the “Would you hospitals to help answer this question like some of with a question. What I came up with these towas “Doc, how can I take ownership matoes?” and get control of my illness?” Sounds and incredibly simple. But, the truth is, it is “Want to YOUR illness. As healthcare providers, hear a we have all sorts of medications, tests joke?” and procedures at our reasonable disposal. We are able to counsel a patient on their diabetes, their dependence on nicotine, their hemorrhoids, their progressive cancer, but we do not live with the ailment. Taking ownership of your illness sets instant priority on management. It helps to create a mindset that “If something is MINE then I should take care of it.” I should state that, before asking this question, you are prepared to work with your healthcare provider and negotiate what works METROCREATIVE reasonably in your life.

We are able to counsel a patient on their diabetes, their dependence on nicotine, their hemorrhoids, their progressive cancer, but we do not live with the ailment. Taking ownership of your illness sets instant priority on management.

Keep Unwanted SUmmer GUeStS away Summer is a great time to entertain visiting friends and family. There are some guests, however, that you shouldn’t allow into your home — pests such as ants, roaches, rats, and termites.

Pest infestations are more than a nuisance.

It is important to protect your family from disease due to food contamination and allergens and your property from wood and foundation damage caused by ants, mice and termites.

The cost for a home owner to treat an existing pest problem averages more than $1,000 — which doesn’t include the cost to correct the damage that has already been done. Termites alone have been estimated to cause $5 billion worth of damage in the U.S. every year, according to the National Pest Management Association.

Here are some steps you can take now to help keep your home pest-free for years to come.

Inside Your Home The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends a few things you can do inside your house to control future infestations: Starve them out — keep a tight lid on the trash and empty it often. Clean up spills immediately and store food such as cereal, 46

JULY 2012

flour and sugar in plastic containers rather than in their original packaging.

Dry them out — some pests, such as cockroaches, can survive a long time without food, but need water more often to survive.

To shut off their supply, be sure to fix leaky faucets, radiators, dishwashers, and washing machines immediately and empty flower pots and plant stands of excess water.

Keep them out — seal cracks and openings along baseboards, behind sinks, and around pipes and windows. Repair holes in door and window screens.

Outside Your Home Pests enter your home from the outside, so you will also need to prepare the exterior of your house to keep pests out: Look for cracks and holes on the outside of your home and seal them up. Be sure to include points where utility lines enter the house. Also address damage to the basement foundation and windows.

Check your landscaping. Rake mulch away from the base of your home and keep it to a minimum to allow for adequate drainage.

Trim back tree branches and bushes so they do not make contact with the house. Remove tree stumps from your yard.

Keep firewood piles stacked outside of your home neat, away from the house and

Siouxland Life

off the ground.

Make sure basements and attics are well ventilated and dry.

Head up to the roof to look for any rotted or decaying shingles.

When you’re looking at your roof, also check that your gutters are free of debris.

These simple steps now can save you a lot of headache and money down the road from these unwanted visitors.

You can find more information about pestfree protection on EPA’s website at www.epa. org/pesticides.

For more home maintenance tips, visit the National Association of Home Builders online at www.nahb.org.

Bob Wilcke President Bob Wilcke Construction

712-255-3852 www.hbags.com

parting shot By

Bruce Miller

Flying can be a trial I lost a package the last time I flew.

I swear it happened while I was tied up in the X-ray machine, praying to God the security attendant wouldn’t look at my body and say, “Ma’am, step over there.”

Because you practically have to strip to get through security, you have to send your most valuable possessions in five or six plastic bins like some presidential advance team. By the time you actually reach those bins, someone ahead of you could have made off with the contents of at least three of them.

Worst of all, you’re a sitting target when you have to try to scoop everything up AND put your shoes back on.

The shoe thing – that’s got to stop.

One nut carries something in his shoes and now we’ve all got to take them off, walk on the dirty floor and somehow regroup after being groped.

It’s insane.

The carry-on luggage thing has gotten out of hand as well. (I’ve gotten an inch in an overhead compartment because someone couldn’t check steamer trunks and pay the $25. I’ve carried one lousy shopping bag on a plane and been treated like I just toted a cadaver.)

While others are trying to cram every suitcase they own over my head, invariably some part of it will fall onto me. No apology, just more cramming.

The flight attendants don’t come

to my rescue. Apparently since their time clock doesn’t start ticking until the door is closed, they don’t have to be helpful.

So, they’ll grouse while all this is going on until they get the signal, then march through the aisle like Stormtroopers slamming the overhead compartment doors so they’re sure no one is asleep.

Once airborne, one of them teases about the beverages that are about to arrive and, an hour later, the cart comes clanking down the aisle like something from Hogwarts.

Apparently, flight attendants hate Diet Coke (it takes longer to fill a glass packed with ice) and will roll their eyes whenever you request it. They’ve also gotten stingy with snacks. If the flight is less than two hours in duration, they don’t have to crack the lid on anything that isn’t carbonated.

So that lovely menu created by some four-star chef in Seattle is actually a mirage. If you’re flying to Hawaii, you might get a chance to buy Pringles or a hunk of bread with the chef’s signature spread, but don’t expect it on one leg of a cross-country trip.

Even worse? They won’t take cash.

Now, you’ve got to have a credit card in order to buy the Pringles, should you get so lucky to be on one of those flights. And, yes, the dinky little can costs more than a dozen at Sam’s Club.

Because that Diet Coke is slowing those flight attendants, it’s likely you’re not going to get to use the restroom, either, until every last person has gotten a cup with a splash of soft drink.

That means, for the better part of two hours, you’re held hostage until the “beverage service” is done. The minute you see the cart disappear, run.

The plane is about to land and bathroom time will be cut off.

If you don’t put your seat in the full, locked, upright position, a flight attendant will – even if you’re sleeping. Never mind that you gave up on the beverage.

Once you land, the guy behind you will start grabbing at the top of your seat in order to get out before everyone else. He’s got two or three trunks, too, and he’s got to get them out of the overhead compartments before you even unfasten your seatbelt.

The minute you start gathering your “belongings,” the woman who needed early boarding because she had a leg ailment has practically sprinted through the aisle.

Confused, you realize something’s missing. But what?

And that is why I didn’t have the gift I said I had gotten you.

It’s somewhere. But I’m not sure where.

It could still be on the plane. Or it’s back at security, tucked next to someone’s shoes.

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Lornell Hansen II, MD, Medical Director and owner of LazaDerm, is a leading expert in our region for laser technology and minimally invasive procedures with beautiful, safe results that will have you putting your best face forward. His impressive credentials include:

» Board Certified in Family Medicine » Fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice » Member of the American Society of Laser Medicine » Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery » Board Certified in Phlebology » Member of the American College of Phlebology » Leader in Botox® cosmetics and filler injections Dr. Hansen and his staff are dedicated to providing you with a positive patient experience. You’ll notice the difference the minute you walk through our doors. Call or visit us at lazaderm.com to schedule a visit.

605 235 1630 In Dakota Dunes: 383 West Steamboat Drive, Suite 103 | www.lazaderm.com 48

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