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MAGAZINE

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Spring 2016

Westwood’s newest trainer goes above and beyond

Sterling war hero recounts his experiences

P.O. Box 498 Sterling, IL 61081

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Sterling-Rock Falls

MAGAZINE

Publisher Sam R Fisher

COVER • STORY

FROGGY’S

Advertising Director Jennifer Heintzelman Editor Jeff Rogers Magazine Editor Kacie Klinge Kathleen Schultz Page Design Breanne Hunter Published by

Sauk Valley Media 3200 E. Lincolnway Sterling, IL 61081 815-625-3600 Articles and advertisements are the property of Sauk Valley Media. No portion of Sterling-Rock Falls Living Magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of Sauk Valley Media. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, Sauk Valley Media cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. Sauk Valley Media cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.

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Contents 5

5 – Hatten’s Kennels Rock Falls couple has a reputation for producing winners.

8 – Anthony Nielsen Westwood’s newest personal trainer is paving a promising path.

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15

11

11 – Line Dancing Jared Wetzell shows country girls, and boys, how to shake it.

15 – Quilt Supplies 4 U Linda Bushman patches her heart into charity.

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17 – Don Haag Sterling man reflects on his love of flight.

20 – Froggy’s

17

Expansion and renovation bring a fresh, new feel to Rock Falls bar.

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33

25 – YMCA It’s more than a gym – YMCA steps up to keep kids on the right track.

33 – YWCA

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Organization strives to eliminate racism and empower women.

37 – NIHMS New location allows for a larger inventory.

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STORY BY LONNIE C. MILLER PHOTOS BY ALEX T. PASCHAL SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

Chase, Jim and Kim Hatten’s show dog.

A nose for

Champions

Continued on page 6

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Continued from page 5

Rock Falls couple breed, show award-winning giant schnauzers

T

hey’re champions among the giants.

Jim and Kim Hatten have shown and raised award-winning giant schnauzers for more than 10 years from Hatten’s Kennel, their home at 1712 Angle St. They’ve been breeders since 1983.

It’s a time-consuming passion: These beautiful pedigreed dogs require lots of time for grooming and careful selection of breeding partners – and new owners.

Schnauzers get their name from their distinctive, mustachioed snout – schnauzer is German for nose, or mustache.

They originated in Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are hypoallergenic and don’t shed, which makes them tolerable for many people who are allergic to dogs. They are energetic, exuberant, and fun-loving, and the protective breed also makes good family dogs.

Jim and Kim raise their dogs in their home – not in outdoor kennels – which they say helps the dogs become social from an early age, and develop an easy-going temperament.

Jim is extremely particular about who buys his dogs. He requires any buyer to sign a contract agreeing that the potential owners have researched the breed and are sure it’s the right dog for them; that, if for any reason, the new owner no longer can keep the dog, they will contact the Hattens “so we can together find a suitable alternative home;” and that the dog will not be bred until it has won at least three championships, which “protects the bloodline,” Kim said.

It’s a bloodline worth guarding: The Hattens’ dogs have won more than 300 titles, and have shown at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show several times.

“We’re not a big kennel, but our numbers for winners are high. We have only about three litters per year. The dogs come from all over the world, and are carefully selected,” she said.

It takes a lot of time and money to find champions to add to the kennel’s breeding pool, but it’s worth the effort.

“We have the litters to get the show-quality dogs.

Other puppies are sold as pets. Some of our pet-quality dogs have gone on to be therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, or agility and endurance dogs,” Jim said.

It takes relatively minimal training to show – the dogs must work on a leash and stand on command.

But they may be required to stand for up to two hours at a show.

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Halle, Kim and Jim Hatten’s newest addition, hails from the Czech Republic.

“

We’re not a big kennel, but our numbers for winners are high.

KIM HATTEN

Above: Jim Hatten throws a toy for Chase.

Chase runs around the snow playing with a toy.

“

Both Hattens show and share grooming chores, which can take up to three or four hours per dog.

“It gives us some together-time,” said Jim, who manages sales and does all the scissor-work and clipping. Kim helps with bathing, drying and cleanup.

Both are involved in birthing puppies.

They have raised more than 300 dogs with the help of their son, Andy, and grandson, Hunter, who has been learning to show dogs since he was three.

Their oldest dog, Manny, is nine; he’s taken many AKC, United Kennel Club, national and international titles.

Chase, one and a half, came from Italy to enhance the kennel’s line, while

Lucas, who’s earned a best of breed title, is featured on the Hattens’ business card. Halle, the newest addition to the kennel, is from the Czech Republic.

Giant schnauzers aren’t the kennel’s only stars.

Blue, a pretty and personable but tiny 15-inch beagle who prances at the sound of her name, has earned her own share of ribbons, although Kim says there are no immediate plans to breed her.

“It would take about 12 hours of travel to meet with a championship mate, then would likely require a C-section birth because of the dog’s size. It’s an expensive venture.” s

Photos Submitted Top: Alpenglow’s Rhythm n Blues (Blue) wins best in show last year.

Bottom: Jim Hatten and his giant schnauzer, Loukas V. Hatten, pose in the winner’s circle at an international show where Lou took best in show and grand sieger awards at the International All Breed Canine Association Show in June 2012. Sieger is German for champion.

Learn more about the breed

Go to www.hattensgiantschnauzers.com or call Hatten’s Kennel at 815-626-8673 to learn more about the breed, or about obtaining one of the Hattens’ championship giant schnauzers.

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Anthony Nielsen,

STORY BY SHELBY KUEPKER | PHOTOS BY PHILIP MARRUFFO SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

TRIPLE THREAT

Anthony Nielsen, 24, of Tampico, is Westwood Fitness & Sports Center’s newest personal trainer. Beyond helping clients lose weight or get fit, he focuses on functional training – “which means the exercises I choose have a big carryover on things you might do in everyday life.”

He’s Westwood’s newest personal trainer, a competitive weightlifter, and a future physical therapist

A

nthony Nielsen makes you a promise right off the bat: He won’t “just set you on a treadmill and push go.”

Nielsen, 24, of Tampico, is Westwood Fitness & Sports Center’s newest personal trainer.

He recognizes that “everyone has their own path to take,” and so develops a resistance training program specific to each client.

Nielsen doesn’t just want to help his clients lose weight or get fit. His focus is on functional training – “which means the exercises I choose have a big carryover on things you might do in

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everyday life,” like, say, taking the dog food out of the car and carrying it to the basement.

“I tend to analyze each individual person and see what limitations or deficits they have, whether it be specific muscle groups or movements, and I base a program on what they need specifically.”

Personal training wasn’t always the first career on Nielsen’s radar, but with his background, it came naturally.

He grew up on a farm south of Tampico.

“In high school I was a three-sport athlete, so

I knew I wanted to do something along that line.”

His goal was to become a physical therapist.

He studied health science and nutrition at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, then went into NIU’s master of science program with an emphasis in exercise physiology. He got his master’s in May (his thesis: “The Effect of Resistance Training and Whey Protein Supplementation on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy on Various Participants”) and was hired at Westwood in August.

“

The exercises I choose have a big carryover on things you might do in everyday life.

ANTHONY NIELSEN

“

He hasn’t given up on his PT dream: He’s been accepted into St. Ambrose University’s doctor of physical therapy program, beginning this fall.

Nielsen is also a competitive weightlifter, a result of a class at NIU where students were asked to test their power output.

“I found out my power output was higher than the starting quarterback on the football team, and he was an extraordinary athlete.”

With such a high power output for his body weight, Nielsen began training and lifting competitively. Last March, he placed 11th at the Illinois State Weightlifting Championship, and later placed fourth in the Badger State Championship in Wisconsin.

Exercise is a part of Nielsen’s everyday life. “My day feels incomplete without it,” he said, adding that “sitting still drains more energy than getting up and moving around.”

He looks forward to his future as a physical therapist.

“I’ve got both sides of the coin. With exercise physiology, I’ve obtained an understanding of how to take someone average and put them at above average. Physical therapy is kind of the opposite: You take someone who is below average and help them recover.” s

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Learn more: Find personal trainer Anthony Neilsen at the Sterling Park Dostrict’s Westwood Fitness & Sports Center, 1900 Westwood Drive.

Go to www.sterlingparks.org or call 815-622-6201 to learn more.

Exercise is a part of Nielsen’s everyday life. “My day feels incomplete without it,” he said, adding that “sitting still drains more energy than getting up and moving around.”

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A pair of cowboy boots goes through the steps of a country line dance Thursday night at the Moose Lodge in Sterling.

STORY BY SHELBY KUEPKER PHOTOS BY PHILIP MARRUFFO SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

GET IN

LINE! Rock Falls man keeps dancing tradition alive at the Sterling Moose Lodge

J

ared Wetzell likes to toe the line, and invites everyone to do the same.

The 28-year-old Rock Falls man loves line dancing.

You can find him every Thursday night at the Moose Lodge in Sterling, teaching and practicing dances with his dedicated followers.

Wetzell, originally from Milledgeville, started line dancing 5 years ago at the Rodeo Saloon in Clinton, Iowa. He attended their free line dancing lessons every Wednesday night for quite a while.

Then a few years ago, while Wetzell was leisurely line dancing at Champ’s Sports Bar & Grill in Sterling, a couple of friends who are fans of country music asked about getting something started, so they could learn to line dance like him.

That’s how River Country Stomp came to Sterling.

Continued on page 12

Jared Wetzell of River Country Stomp leads a line dancing lesson Thursday evening at Moose Lodge in Sterling. The group teaches lesson for free Thursdays at lodge.

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Continued from page 11

The dance floor a the Sterling Moose Lodge is filled with country line dancers Thursday night for the River Country Stomp lessons.

This month marks the 3-year anniversary of Wetzell’s teaching debut. River Country Stomp has been at the Moose a little more than 2 years, after line dancing at the Days Inn in Rock Falls and Champ’s Bar and Grill in Sterling for a short period.

The cost to learn Wetzell’s dances is $2, which pays for renting the lodge for the night. Wetzell’s services are free, but he says he won’t shy away from tips.

He teaches two new dances every week, so his regulars now have quite a few dances under their belts.

Around 6 p.m., Wetzell will play the dance songs he’s taught previously. Around 6:30, 6:45, he hops up on stage and begins teaching the easier of the two dances, sans music.

He goes step by step and repeats the moves over and over to assure everyone gets the dance down.

Then he throws on the song, and everyone dances together.

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Before teaching the second dance, Wetzell takes a break and plays a few more familiar songs.

Then around 7:30, he teaches a dance that’s “usually a bit more difficult.”

River Country Stomp has about 50 regulars, and averages 70 or 80 dancers a week.

Wetzell dances to “Beautiful Drug” by Rascal Flatts, “Hell of a Night” by Dustin Lynch, and “Head Over Boots” by Jon Pardi. He also loves throwing it back to the classics, like “Watermelon Crawl” by Tracy Byrd and “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus. s

Jared Wetzell of River Country Stomp leads a line dancing lesson Thursday evening at Moose Lodge in Sterling. The group teaches lesson for free Thursdays at lodge.

Stompin’ at the Moose Stop by the Sterling Moose Family Center, 2601 E. Lincolnway, to see Jared Wetzell in action. Give him a call at 815-441-0584 or find River Country Stomp on Facebook to learn more.

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Every sc ra p is useful

Quaint Rock Falls quilt shop also home to charitable sewing circle STORY BY LONNIE C. MILLER | PHOTOS BY ALEX T. PASCHAL | SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

L

inda Bushman, owner of Quilt Supplies 4 U, sells all kinds of quilt supplies – fabric and notions, batting and thread, patterns and books.

She’s happy to help select fabric, talk patterns, place special orders, give advice.

For example, quilts should be stored carefully, in nonacidic paper or a clean pillowcase.

“Be sure to take them out every now and then to allow them to air, and then re-fold them using new fold patterns so the fabrics don’t get damaged by using the same folds over and over,” she said.

That’s the business end of her passion.

But she and her circle of friends also spend hours quilting and sewing for charity. That’s what she puts her heart into.

Bushman’s quilting obsession started when as a youngster at her grandma’s knee. She watched with rapt attention, and later learned to make her own creations as her grandmother pieced together warm and beautiful quilts for family and friends.

She’s now the proud owner of 15 of those quilts.

She started the business online with a friend, Sally Dolin, and about 7 years they opened a shop.

When life changes took Dolin away from the business, Bushman moved to her current location.

She’s also a member of the Dixon Quilt Club and often shows up as a vendor at their events.

And every Tuesday, friends gather at her shop to sew for the less fortunate.

Mary Ann Runnion, Anna Filippi Marge Koelher, and Gloria Perino, fellow members of

St. Andrew Catholic Church’s Altar and Rosary Society, have pieced together 600 cosmetic/ personal care bags for victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault. They’ve made more than 300 dresses and 100 pair of boys’ shorts for an African charity.

This year, they’re working on a stack of sweet dresses to send to an Indian reservation in Arizona, where little girls get one new dress a year as part of a program called “One Dress at a Time.”

Other projects include making 16 quilts for hospice, 40 quilts for the fire department, 10 quilts for Gianna’s House for pregnant woman and girls, and 40 dog beds for Happy Tails Animal Shelter.

“Every scrap from other projects gets saved, then turned into something helpful and useful,” Bushman said. “We don’t throw anything away.”

They women also accept donations of new toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap, washcloths, deodorant, shampoo and combs to fill the care bags; as well as money to help fund the projects.

Donations can be dropped off at the shop or at St. Andrew’s church. s

Visit the shop Quilt Supplies 4 U, 620 E. Rock Falls Road/U.S. Route 30 in Rock Falls, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday through April.

In May, the hours will change, to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but will remain from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Call 815-622-9413 for more information.

Top Right: The group has made and filled hundreds of cosmetic bags that will go to woman at the YWCA. Top Center: Dresses made by the group will be donated to a charity in Arizona. Top Left: Along with the groups charity work, Quilt Supplies for U has a wide array of quilting needs. Bottom: Linda Bushman, owner of Quilt Supplies for U, displays a quilt that will be donated to the pediatric unit at CGH. Linda and others meet weekly to make items that are then donated to different causes.

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FROGGY’S Froggy’s expansion, renovation brings a fresh, new feel ...

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Photos by MICHAEL KRABBENHOEFT Left: The Double Big Ass Burger with fresh cut fries and a Shock Top with an orange garnish at Froggy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Rock Falls.

Cheddar bacon ranch waffle fries with an Electric Frog drink at Froggy’s Bar and Grill.

BY SHELBY KUEPKER SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

W

hether you’re looking for an enormous breakfast skillet, a quick, $5.95 lunch, or a piled-high, scrumptious burger, the newly expanded Froggy’s Bar & Grill has it all.

Froggy’s is Barbara Lamb’s baby.

Lamb, 65, of Rock Falls, and her husband Wayne opened the original restaurant, BoJack’s, with another couple. When ownership shifted to solely the Lambs, they changed the name to Lamb’s Tap. Wayne died in October 2006, leaving Barb to run the restaurant on her own. As her four children got older, they were called upon to step up and help run the Tap. Things were going so well that Lamb bought three neighboring buildings, expanded the restaurant, and opened Feb. 14, 2015, under the new name, Froggy’s, which was Wayne’s nickname.

The name change would have happened earlier, but “he was always against it,” Lamb said with a chuckle.

Her oldest son, Ted, 47, did all of the remodeling.

“There’s nothing he can’t do. He’s very gifted,” she said.

Even though the family was adding the length of two buildings to their business, they refused to close.

Open from 7 to 1 a.m. practically every day, they knew the addition would be a difficult task, so the did all of the construction in the middle of the night, during the six hours the restaurant was closed.

“It’s really hard when you do it all yourself,” said Chaley Lamb, 25, Barb’s youngest daughter and Froggy’s manager.

With the expansion, though, came a beautiful, cozy new wooden interior, with the bar, tables, and walls, all made by Ted. Lamb wouldn’t be as successful as she is without the help of Chaley and her other daughter, Bobbie Claxton, 46. Chaley manages and tends bar, while Bobbie runs the kitchen.

Corn beef tacos with homemade coleslaw and shreaded cheese with an Amaretto Stone Sour drink at Froggy’s Bar and Grill.

Continued on page 23

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Continued from page 21

With the expansion came the opportunity to offer more menu options. They love offering fun food food, piled high. They have a Burger of the Month, a huge burger “you can’t get anywhere else,” Chaley said. Add fresh cut fries and homemade sauce, and you can’t go wrong.

Monday is 99-cent taco night, and you can find seafood at Froggy’s on Friday and Saturday. They give their customers Lenten options, and food specials every holiday, such as Valentine’s Day and Easter. Don’t want to leave the house? Froggy’s delivers.

Until now, they’ve been working their magic on the “two fryers and little grill” in their old kitchen.

Recently, though, Froggy’s got the OK “to move into the new kitchen,” Lamb said.

In addition to the scrumptious, Froggy’s has a full bar with 12 tappers and amazing drink specials every day.

When it comes to entertainment, there’s a DJ every weekend, and often a live band, along with six large TVs, video gambling machines, a pool table, dart boards, and lottery ticket machines.

The expansion continues, with work to a banquet room now in progress. The Lambs also hope to renovate a little used portion of the original bar.

The work has been a point of pride for the Lambs.

“We started really small, and it took a lot to get where we are,” Barb said. s

Froggy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Rock Falls.

Hop on over to Froggy’s 215 W. Second St., Rock Falls Froggy’s Bar & Grill is open from 7 to 1 a.m.

Monday through Friday, from 6 to 1 a.m.

Saturday and from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Lunch specials are served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and happy hour runs from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Find Froggy’s on Facebook or call 815-625-4783 to learn more.

Patrons sit at the bar inside Froggy’s Bar and Grill.

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TO FITNESS AND BEYOND

s d e e n s ’ y t i YMCA expands to fill commun

I

BY KAYLA HEIMERMAN | SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

t’s more than a gym. It’s more than a pool.

It’s more, even, than a community center.

It’s a cause, says Ashley Richter, engagement director.

“We step in and fill needs in the community that aren’t being met,” she said. “The schools could no longer afford to offer summer school, so we stepped in. There was nowhere, really, for kids to go after school that was safe and where they could get a healthy meal; we stepped in and provide that.”

The YMCA on its face is a health and fitness organization – a gym, a pool, a sports league.

The Y offers newly expanded and upgrad-

ed fitness space, including a cardio center that boasts top-of-the-line equipment, such as treadmills, stationary bikes, and elliptical trainers. It also features the SYNRGY360 system, where personal trainers often lead clients through customized workouts. The Y also offers a recently expanded and upgraded strength training center.

“We’ve been able to utilize our space better and offer more space for our members to work out,” Richter said. “We’re getting a bigger member base as a result, and they’ve really appreciated more room to work around.”

The YMCA long has offered land and water

fitness classes, led by certified instructors, but it recently added on-trend classes, such as cardio kickboxing, BollyX, and POUND to its weekly lineup. It also offers a premium class, led by personal trainers, on the SYNRGY306 system, but only from time to time or as part of special programming, such as its Turkey2Tree holiday health challenge.

The new classes have proven to be some of the most popular ones, Richter said.

The YMCA has a special fitness program for seniors, too, called SilverSneakers. That series of classes is very popular and continues to add to its ranks.

Continued on page 27

Photo by PHILIP MARRUFFO | Students at Challand Middle School take part in a kickboxing aerobics lesson Friday afternoon. The lesson was to inspire students to join the YMCA program Girls on the Go, a program that teaches young girls about healthy eating, meeting friends, and running a 5K.

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Continued from page 33

It has a 24-hour crisis hotline, on which it receives about eight calls a day.

“Those calls are seldom a victim saying, ‘I’m in grave danger,’” Walters said. “They generally are someone who cares about a victim .... saying, ‘I don’t know what I can do for her, but I want to help.’”

It also has a battered women’s shelter (in an undisclosed location) for women who fear for their safety and their children’s safety, to get them out of dangerous situations. The shelter can house about 20 women and children, but usually sees half that on an average night.

“We haven’t had an empty night in years,” Walters said.

The organization also offers counseling and support groups for adults and children who are victims of domestic violence.

“Our goal always is to educate, to provide victims and their loved ones and those who care about them with the best information to make the most informed choices for themselves,” Walters said.

The YWCA of the Sauk Valley reaches into the community through its diversity and racial justice training program – the eliminating racism part of its mission. It also has an immigrant resource program, which helps connect immigrant families to community resources.

The organization also runs two programs for middle school girls: TechGYRLS seeks to expose girls to science, technology, and math in a safe, girls-only environment with support from women mentors. Girl Space empowers girls in a safe, nurturing environment that is not academic or athletic based, and helps them build self-esteem along with leadership and interpersonal skills.

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412 First Ave., Sterling The organization also offers a Career Connections program, which helps women write resumes, practice interviews, and even apply (mostly online) for jobs. It also has a clothing closet of donated professional attire that women can use for job interviews and even in the workplace.

The YWCA of the Sauk Valley is, unfortunately, an often-overlooked community resource, Walters said. It too often is confused with the more widely known YMCA, even though the organizations could not have more different missions, he said.

“Whether I hear someone walking in or walking out saying, ‘If I knew this program was here, I would have done something a long time ago,’ it breaks my heart that someone continued in a violent home because they didn’t know we were here.” s

About the YWCA

YWCA of the Sauk Valley welcomes donations. The battered women’s shelter always is in need of feminine hygiene products, toiletries, and baby care items, such as diapers and wipes; and the clothing closet needs current professional women’s attire, especially in sizes 2X and larger. Call 815-535-0333, go to www. ywca.org/saukvalley or find YWCA of the Sauk Valley on Facebook to learn more.

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Area’s Largest Health Food Store!

BY LONNIE C. MILLER PHOTOS BY MICHAEL KRABBENHOEFT SPECIAL TO STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING

More room for compassionate care

Above: Northern Illinois Home Medical Supply in Sterling.

Right: Melissa SheppardMiller manages Northern Illinois Home Medical Supply in Sterling.

Northern Illinois Home Medical Supply opens in new locale

N

orthern Illinois Home Medical Supply (NIHMS), the area’s largest provider of medical aids and equipment, has moved its Sterling site to larger digs off Lincolnway on the east edge of town.

In addition to providing a larger inventory, the store also now is more accessible, a feature important to its clients, who include those well enough to leave a hospital but not yet fully independent; athletes; cancer patients; new mothers in need of special equipment for their infants; health care professionals; those in need of orthotic footwear; ostomy patients; sleep apnea sufferers; and healthcare professionals.

Melissa Sheppard-Miller has been the nonprofit’s manager for 7 years.

The new location, most recently home to New Life Lutheran Church, is 60 percent larger than the distinctive building at 2600 Locust St. that the store occupied for 14 years.

Among other things, that means more space to display the wide variety of lift chairs offered, she said.

“Clients can try each brand, and see how they function before deciding which will best fit into their lifestyle.”

The store also offers scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, bath and safety equipment, medical beds, CPAP machines (for those with sleep apnea) with newer, more comfortable masks, CPAP machines for children, disposable medical supplies and other daily living aids, all of which can be bought, rented or, of course, covered by insurance.

Therapeutic braces and athletic supports also are available for area athletes, or anyone who might need such assistance.

“We’re not just a store for the elderly, or the sick room, we have daily living aids for everyone, including children and athletes,” Sheppard-Miller said.

In addition, NIHMS carries a wide range of mastectomy supplies, and staffers LeAnne Horton and Deb Vos are American Cancer Society-certified fitters who can help people choose and learn to use prosthesis and wigs.

Continued on page 39

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Continued from page 37

“We have a private fitting room with a huge selection of items that will make women feel and look good while they’re undergoing treatment,” Vos said.

NIHMS also offers a large selection of Spenco Orthotic shoes, loafers, and flip-flops with arch supports – stylish shoes that don’t look like your grandma’s orthopedic shoes used to look.

They provide back support and are great for professionals who are on their feet all day, such as nurses.

Many of its items are covered by Medicare or other medical insurance, and staff works closely with CGH Medical Center and other area health agencies to ensure customers get exactly what they need. There’s even an “on-call” technician available after hours and for emergencies.

NIHMS also has a store in Dixon that provides the same services. s

Top: LeAnne Horton (left) and Deb Vos are American Cancer Societycertified mastectomy and wig fitters.

Bottom: A large selection of stylish Spenco Orthotic shoes, loafers, and flip-flops with arch supports are available.

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