Health Issue B section
River workshop Page 3A Friday
March 25, 2016 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF HARDIN COUNTY
Easter message
By Rick Patrie News Editor ELDORA – If you see the processional bearing the cross through downtown Eldora on Saturday morning, it will be the folks of Little Rock Ministries in their first ever Easter commemoration. The Ministries has worked for a number of years with residents of the Pine Crest Mobile Home Court here in Eldora, and this is the latest idea designed to reach out to the large number of children in the court and their families. You can join in too for the walk and the court’s own Easter egg hunt following. Things start at unit number 57 a home devoted to the Ministries work. Gather at 9 a.m. and leaving at 10 a.m. It is in the first row of residences in about four units down. The walk gathers up there and will head east up town around the courthouse and several other features before returning to the court for the egg hunt. Again, everyone is welcome. If you have any questions call 563-516-0127. Ask for Celeste Kruse.
Ministerial project
HARDIN COUNTY – Lent 2015 saw the Pine Lake Ministerial sponsor a home showcase here in town. A grain bin-made-house, Sukup Safe-T Home. Grain bins specifically modified by the Sukup facility in Sheffield, engineered to be low cost, easy to assemble, earthquake and hurricane proof homes can be sent to areas in the third world where natural disasters have often wiped out the housing. This year, the Good Friday ecumenical service will be held at noon on March 25 at the Steamboat Rock Baptist Church and offerings from that service will go toward the project. Anyone not a member of a Pine Lake Ministerial Association church who would like to become part of the project, and help about ten Haitian orphans, can also make a donation by sending their gift to St. Paul Lutheran Church 1105 Washington Street in Eldora, 50627 The churches of the ministerial association are helping in the sponsorship of a group of homes that will also include an orphanage house, designed for use in Haiti where the country is still recovering from an earth-quake years ago.
Newsbriefs Save the depot meeting
Anyone interested in the restoration of the Owasa Train Station and Caboose which will host a visitor center for Eldora, Pine Lake and Hardin County area are invited to attend a meeting April 2 at 2pm at Eldora Public Library. Questions can go to Tina John 641849-0932.
Pancake Breakfast at Hardin County Farm Museum
The Hardin County Farm Museum in Eldora will be holding a pancake breakfast on Saturday, April 2 from 7 to 9:30 a.m. They will be serving pancakes, sausage, fruit and drinks. Cost is by donation. Everyone is welcome! (continued on page 7A)
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Church adds chapter to Africa mission By Rick Patrie News Editor ELDORA – Fourteen boxes of medical supplies, just another installment in a now several-yearsold commitment by the United Methodist Church in Eldora to a needy sister town in southeastern Nigeria. A series of these shipments traced back to about 2011 when Pastor Vicki Reece proposed a project which would become a fraternal relationship with Salaminkala. The heart of the tie would be medical aid, but it has also come to encompass supplies for the local school. Early on it was known there was a lack of quality medical care throughout most of rural Nigeria, including the town about a days walk from the United Methodist Church’s pastoral school in Nigeria. Banyam Theological Seminary provided a great jumping off point for the relationship. And a seminary advisory committee was able to help with what soon became a construction (continued on page 2A)
Scenes from Salaminkala Nigeria where the Eldora United Methodist Church has been active for several years running, and to which it sent yet another shipment of medical supplies about two weeks ago. (A picture of the local crew dispatching supplies is on page 2A)
Rotary postpones egg hunt to April 2
The Middle School presents
ELDORA – With one eye on the weather forecast, the Eldora Rotary Club decided not to take a chance on soaking the Easter Bunny, and has postponed its long running annual Easter Egg Hunt until Saturday April 2, same time, 11:30 a.m. at the South Hardin High School Baseball diamond. Lots of eggs, candy and prizes. There are again three age groups, preschoolers, kindergarten through 2nd graders and third through 5th graders. And lunch is served by Hy-Vee, The event was original to have been this Saturday March 26 but the forecasts weren’t agreeable. So bring the kids and get there early, because the horn sounds and the scramble starts at 11:30 on the dot.
By Rick Patrie News Editor HUBBARD – Over 80 kids, South Hardin 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, have played a part in this year’s spring stage production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr. Their work will all come to fruition in a big performance at 7 p.m. in the middle school gym in Hubbard on April 1. It costs a mere $5 for adults and $3 for kids. The stage play is based on the story of the well-loved Danish writer, Hans Christian Anderson. In 1835, Andersen published his first collection of short stories: Fairy Tales, Told for Children. Two years later, the second edition featured a (continued on page 3A)
The South Hardin Middle School presents a children’s classic in the Little Mermaid-Junior – a recrafting of the original story to fit the school stage. L to r are King Triton - Percy Ackerman, Sebastian-Tayshun Sly, Prince Eric - Brayden Harris, Ariel-Kaitlyn Nicholisan, Flounder-Meghan VanDePol, Jetsam- Payton Schatz, Ursula-Gywnth Wright.
Focus on area health care providers this issue Area hospice provider under new leadership By Rick Patrie News Editor HARDIN COUNTY – The newspapers are taking their annual look at health care services in the local area, (See section B) and as it happens there’s a big staff announcement from one regional provider. Cedar Valley Hospice Board and Executive Search Committee have selected Michaela Vandersee as Cedar Valley Hospice’s new Executive Director. Vandersee has been serving as director of finance for nearly 16 years and was appointed interim executive director when Marvin Fagerlind retired from his position in January. Cedar Valley Hospice is a notfor-profit, multi-service agency,
providing comprehensive palliative and end-of-life care to terminally ill individuals, support for patients’ families and services to those who grieve. Services through Cedar Valley Hospice are available to anyone suffering from any lifelimiting illness, regardless of their age, diagnosis or ability to pay. Grief support is available to anyone in the community struggling with the death of a loved one and is offered free of charge. Cedar Valley Hospice serves Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Grundy, parts of Benton, Chickasaw, Delaware, Fayette, Hardin, Linn, Marshall and Tama counties. Vandersee says some of her earliest memories are hanging out around the hospital in Oelwein where both her parents were either
on call or working. While in college she worked with the UNI Foundation and after graduating from UNI with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, she began her professional career working at Bergan, Paulsen & Company PC and as an auditor and also got her CPA license. Her connection to hospice began soon after college, when she had a close family member on the Cedar Valley Hospice program. The hospice staff “left a lasting mark” on her. Five years later, when the director of finance position came open, she was not actively seeking a job, but “felt called to apply.” Throughout her tenure, she has worked closely with Fagerlind, the management team, finance and IT staff and has developed a strong rapport with her fellow colleagues.
“Working at Cedar Valley Hospice is not just a job, it’s a way of life, a way of thinking, a way of doing,” said Vandersee. “I have learned so many things from our staff, board members, patients, family members, volunteers and clients that have impacted the way I view life and the importance of working for an organization that serves a greater purpose.” Cedar Valley Hospice moves into its 37th year as an independent standalone not-for-profit organization. “I also plan to develop mutually beneficial relationships with healthcare providers in our service area to enhance the continuum of care for the patients in our communities,” she added. Vandersee lives in Waterloo with her husband, Greg, and three daughters.
Michaela Vandersee recently became Cedar Valley Hospice’s third full-time executive director in its 37-year history. She has worked within the organization for almost 16 years as the organization’s chief financial officer.