The Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) recovered more than $3 million for policyholders in 2017. The money was paid out to Oklahomans who had claim disputes with their insurance company.
“Oklahomans have the right to expect their insurance company to uphold the agreement made in their policy,” Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said. “I am very proud of our Consumer Assistance Division for its work to recover this money and their daily dedication to educate and help all Oklahomans with insurance issues.”
OID’s Consumer Assistance/Claims Division processes and investigates all complaints lodged by the public against insurance companies. The division opened 6,220 files in 2017. In that year, employees also answered more than 16,000 phone calls. The money recovered for last year totaled $3,326,828.16.
“Our department’s mission is to protect consumers by making sure insurance companies are following all laws and regulations,” said Lydia Shirley, Assistant Commissioner of the Consumer Assistance/Claims Division. “We are here to make sure Oklahomans are getting the coverage they were promised.”
Oklahomans who believe their insurance claim has not been handled properly are encouraged to call the Consumer Assistance Division at 800-522-0071.
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.

What does volunteering do for you? Norman Regional Health System Volunteers

It fills my soul. I’ve been doing it for a year-and-a-half.  Dana Cantwell

It truly gives me an opportunity to give back to a community that’s given me so much. Hailey Dycus

It’s a community and it’s giving back to that community and interacting with a wonderful set of people.  Jonnina Benson

It gives me something to do on Wednesdays and it’s something to look forward to that’s fun. Dixie Hurd

by Vickie Jenkins, Staff Writer

Meet Ginny Curtis, Licensed Insurance Agent of MCM Insurance, Medicare and Retirement. The company is family owned and operated and they are proud of their combined team experience of 50 years. MCM Insurance is focused on those with Medicare and the options that they can offer. With comprehensive Medicare help, there are many carriers, not centering on one individual company, instead, offering a wide variety of products, setting their goal to help individuals get the coverage they need and deserve. The name of the company, MCM Insurance comes from the first initial of the 3 owner’s last names. Jennifer Melton, Ginny Curtis and Tonderai Bassoppo-Moyo.
As Ginny sits behind her desk, she explains the MCM Insurance with professionalism and ease, giving that comfortable, down-to-earth feeling. She speaks with confidence and pride, giving her words a bit of strength, dedication and answers. “I’ve been doing this for 32 years,” she says with a smile. It is obvious that she is very comfortable speaking about the advantages of MCM Insurance. “I enjoy my job and helping others. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here, “she adds.
“Not a lot of people realize they can come to us and we can help them get more coverage than what they are getting now. We can help the Veterans in a lot of ways. We just need to reach out to them. We are trying to get the word out as much as we can. We focus on offering information sessions called Navigating through Medicare. This session is intended to fully educate on Medicare and the options available. I’d say that about 98% of our clients are Medicare and that is why we try to help them any way that we can. It gives our clients a big advantage overall.”
MCM Insurance serves the whole state of Oklahoma. Appointments can be set up at their office, in the customer’s home or even a coffee shop if they prefer. They aim to please and want to do the very best for their clients.
The services that are offered by MCM Insurance are Medicare supplement, prescription drug plans, Medicare advantage plans, hospital indemnity, short term care, final expense, cancer, heart attack, stroke, dental, vision and hearing. Today, in this ever changing world, it is good to have one office and one team working for the clients.
“We love to participate in local community events.” Ginny says. We can schedule one of our presentation or they can contact MCM to have a table at their event.”
Some of the questions that seem to be asked when talking to a MCM agent are: Can you help me with insurance even if I am under 65? What if I have been diagnosed with cancer or have to spend time in a hospital or nursing home? Can you set up my family business with group insurance? Do you offer vision and dental plans? The answer to all of these questions is YES! They will be happy to help you in any way they can.
“We are a small office, yet we are very unique. I love the fact that we are family owned and operated. “We treat everyone with the highest of respect, focusing on what is right for that person. We take an unbiased approach and do our best,” Ginny comments.
On a personal note, Ginny is a pleasant individual who seems to have a positive attitude, taking on a positive attitude in everything she does. Born in Chicago, she moved to Oklahoma when she was a teenager.
Between Ginny and her husband, they have 6 children, 16 grandchildren, (another one on the way) ages 1 through 23, and 1 great grandchild. “That can be a hand full sometimes,” she said. When she is home, she enjoys spending time with her family. Her hobbies include sewing and cooking, which she loves doing both.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with an MCM agent to attend a session on Navigating through Medicare, or schedule a presentation, you can reach the office at 405-842-0494. If you would like more information, check out the website at www.mcmmedicare.com. The office is located at 2232 West Hefner Road, Suite A, Oklahoma City, OK 73120. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10:00-3:00, Saturday by appointment only and closed on Sundays.
Overall, MCM Insurance and their team will be happy to help you with any of your insurance needs. Give them a call; you will be glad you did.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn [email protected]

March 21, M.J.Van Deventer will be the guest speaker for a noon “Brown Bag Luncheon” at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. She will speak on “Jerome Tiger ~ The Enduring Legend.” Her talk, which is open to the public free of charge, is one of several activities about the late artist’s life and influence, complementing a retrospective of Jerome’s influence and art, which hangs through May, 2018.
Jerome Tiger began to paint in “Indian Style” in 1962. Nettie Wheeler of Muskogee, Oklahoma, recognized Jerome’s talent and encouraged him in his artistic endeavors. Jerome submitted his early work to the 1962 Philbrook Art Center’s Annual Indian Art Exhibition and later was invited to have his first major exhibition where nearly all of his images sold out. A full blood Muscogee Creek-Seminole, Tiger’s style is said to be a combination of “spiritual vision, humane understanding, and technical virtuosity” but with traditional subject matter and composition.
Speaker, M.J. Van Deventer-Shelton says, “I grew up in Muskogee and became acquainted with Jerome Tiger through an English class at Muskogee Central High School in the late 1950s. Sitting next to Jerome in that class, I often watched him draw while the rest of the class labored over diagramming complex sentences.”
Fast forward to 1967 and the untimely accidental death of Jerome Tiger. By the late 1970s, M. J. embarked on a research journey to piece together the fragments of Jerome’s life, visit the artists and collectors he influenced and research the enduring quality of his art ~ paintings that changed the face of Native American art.
While serving as the Director of Publications and editor of Persimmon Hill for the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for 18 years, Van Deventer had the opportunity to study Jerome’s art and become friends with Arthur and Shifra Silberman, whose gift of Jerome’s art has made this museum’s Jerome Tiger paintings, the largest archive of his art.
Van Deventer is a graduate of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and received a Master’s Degree in Communications from Oklahoma State University. She did post graduate work in the pre-law program at Tulsa Junior College and also studied at Syracuse University in New York on a Wall Street Journal Fellowship.
For 25 years, she was a newspaper reporter/editor for the Stillwater News Press, Tulsa World, the Daily Oklahoman, Fort Worth Star Telegram and the Tulsa Tribune, which nominated her for a Pulitzer Prize for public service reporting. During that time, she also was an adjunct professor of journalism at OSU and the University of Central Oklahoma.
An award-winning journalist, her articles have appeared in Southwest Art, Oklahoma Today, Tulsa People, Oklahoma Magazine, Traditional Home, Art Gallery International, Cowboys & Indians and Triple AAA’s Home & Away. She is the author or co-author of 10 books and is currently completing a biography on Jerome Tiger and the well-known Oklahoma sculptor, Harold T. Holden.
Her passions are writing, cooking, gardening and traveling, especially to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a past chairman of the Muskogee Area Master Gardeners, and current President of the Muskogee Area Arts Council. She is a board member of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, which has the second largest holding of Jerome’s art, including his only sculpture and his last work, The Stickballer.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art, and culture. Founded in 1955, the Museum, located in Oklahoma City, collects, preserves, and exhibits an internationally renowned collection of Western art and artifacts while sponsoring dynamic educational programs to stimulate interest in the enduring legacy of the American West. More than 10 million visitors from around the world have sought out this unique museum to gain better understanding of the West: a region and a history that permeates our national culture.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum features a superb collection of classic and contemporary Western art, including works by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, as well as sculptor James Earle Fraser’s magnificent work, The End of the Trail. The exhibition wing houses a turn-of-the-century town and interactive history galleries that focus on the American cowboy, rodeos, Native American culture, Victorian firearms, frontier military, and Western performers. Outside, beautifully landscaped gardens flank the Children’s Cowboy Corral and interactive children’s space.
Additional information about the Brown Bag Luncheon Series is available by contacting Tara Carr at the National Cowboy Museum, (405) 478-2250.

Accel at Crystal Park to offer BCBS and Humana options

In a move that increases health care insurance options and manages cost for consumers, StoneGate Senior Living, LLC, an award-winning full spectrum senior care and housing facility, announces new in-network insurance provider agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana for Accel at Crystal Park. Accel at Crystal Park is a skilled nursing care and rehabilitative facility serving the Oklahoma market, and its newest agreements join existing contracts with Medicare Advantage, the Health Insurance Marketplace, Tricare military health benefits plan and the Oklahoma government employee’s health plan.
“Our commitment at Accel at Crystal Park is to ensure the highest standard in patient care and rehabilitation, and access to in-network insurance providers is a critical part of this effort,” says Tamara Meadows, RN-BC, StoneGate Senior Living Divisional Director of Clinical Operations, Oklahoma. “We are proud to add Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana to our in-network insurance options, and offer expanded choice and cost management to our patients.”
The new in-network insurance provider agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana for Accel at Crystal Park will allow admittance for short-term, inpatient therapies and skilled nursing with lower, in-network copays, deductibles, & annual out-of-pocket expenses.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield contract agreement was effective as of December 1, 2017, and the Humana agreement took effect February 1, 2018.
For more information, visit: http://accelcrystalpark.com.
Accel at Crystal Park opened in February 2017, and features 59 private transitional care suites designed for patients recovering from an acute care event. Accel delivers modern amenities and technology, with a rehabilitation gym offering modern equipment and technologies that help patients complete post-acute rehabilitation as quickly as possible and return to their lifestyle. Learn more: http://accelcrystalpark.com/

Free program offers help for those recovering from loss of loved ones

INTEGRIS Hospice will sponsor three identical community grief workshops facilitated by Reverend Bob Willis, B.A., Theology.
Each free-of-charge session is open to the public. Attendees must register for only one session, in advance. Call the INTEGRIS HealthLine to enroll, 405-951-2277. Space is limited.
Willis will sculpt a broken heart from clay as he shares helpful grief information. Content will cover normal grief responses, myths about grief, honoring relationships and healthy expressions of grief.
A short break during each session is offered for networking and resource gathering. Session 1 – Thursday, March 8, 2018, Time – 6 to 8 p.m., INTEGRIS Cancer Institute, 5911 W. Memorial Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73142, Conference Rooms D and E southwest entrance. Session 2 – Tuesday, March 13, 2018, Time – 6 to 8 p.m., INTEGRIS Cancer Institute, 5911 W. Memorial Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73142, Conference Rooms D and E southwest entrance. Session 3 – Thursday, March 15, 2018, Time – 6 to 8 p.m., INTEGRIS Cancer Institute, 5911 W. Memorial Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73142, Conference Rooms D and E southwest entrance.
Willis served as a hospice bereavement coordinator for 17 years and has authored two books: The Ultimate Caregiver and A Guide for Grievers.

by Kaylee Snow

When Clara Wichert fell in love with a farmer by the name of Lloyd Wichert, she did not realize what she was getting herself into.
“I was very naïve,” Wichert said. “I was barely 19, and we went over to his parents to talk about the wedding. I remember Lloyd’s father saying, ‘We cannot have the wedding until after the wheat is planted and it is up a couple of inches.’ I thought, ‘really?’”
The two married in 1959, and Wichert began farming with him immediately. The operation consisted of 600 acres of canola, alfalfa, wheat and cattle. Wichert had grown up on a farm, but her father thought women belonged inside the house. Because of this, Wichert didn’t have much farm experience.
“He told me my job was in the house to iron and starch his shirts, to cook and to clean,” she said. “My job was to learn how to do things in the house.”
However, Lloyd didn’t think so. Wichert laughs about it now, but she recalls how difficult the transition was for her.
“I always got yelled at, so that was very difficult for me,” Wichert said.
She described herself as a “tender soul” and often just “went in the house and cried.”
“One time, he needed me so bad when we were planting wheat that … I had to drive the tractor home because we had four or five plots of land that were at a distance,” Wichert recalled. “I cried so hard all the way home that when I got out of the tractor, he said, ‘I didn’t know. I won’t ever make you drive the tractor again.’”
Wichert was “scared to death” and recalls rolling backwards at a stop sign while in front of another tractor.
“It was not a pleasant experience for me,” she said.
Dust Bowl Days
Wichert was born in 1940 in Fairview, Okla., at the end of the Dust Bowl and in the middle of World War II. Her father grew wheat and had a few chickens and cattle.
I was born on the farm in a bedroom, in the southwest bedroom,” Wichert laughed. “I was born in a home. I don’t know if they had a doctor or not.”
While the family did have water and electricity, they didn’t have all luxuries.
“We had an outdoor toilet, and I remember that very well, and it was a long way out there,” Wichert said.
While Wichert has sweet memories of playing on the farm, it was hard back then.
“I watched my father with tears in his eyes stand by the window,” she said, “and it was very imprinted on my mind that the wind was blowing and the sand hills were blowing too, and he had resowed his wheat at least three or four times. Farming is a lot different now.”
Tough Times, New Beginnings
When Lloyd passed away in 1998, Wichert surprised everyone, including herself, and continued farming.
“I had to keep track of all the expenses, and I had to go and sell wheat,” she said. “I had never done that before. I had to learn to watch the wheat prices.”
Wichert sought help from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau (OFB) and Oklahoma State University on when to sell her wheat.
“I even asked the top wheat guy at OSU, and he told me you’ll never go wrong when you sell the wheat at three different times: at harvest, right after the first of the year, and then you might keep some a little bit later. I thought, this is complicated,” she laughed.
Wichert’s sons, Jeff and Rex, pushed her to continue farming.
“My son [Jeff] said, ‘You will learn how to do this,’” Wichert said.
She took classes to learn how to use a computer and type so she could keep better track of the expenses.
“I felt pretty good about myself that my son Jeff made me do it all,” Wichert said.
For the next 15 years, Wichert would farm alongside her sons and was fully responsible for the farm.
“The day I had to write a check for $15,000 for spray and fertilizer,” she said, “I could hardly make myself write that check.”
During this time after her husband’s death, Wichert found new beginnings with the OFB and Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom (AITC). She served on the OFB Women’s Committee for 15 years and chaired the committee for nine years.
“I never thought I would do that in my life,” she said.
Wichert gained immense knowledge about agriculture during her time as chair. Her involvement with AITC began at Fairview Public Schools (FPS) before there was an organization.
“I would come in every month and do a class about agriculture,” she said. “Some of those kids are in high school now, and they said, ‘Oh, we remember you Mrs. Clara. You always came to our classroom and did Ag in the Classroom.’ I always enjoyed that very much. That was very much a part of my life after my husband died.”
Wichert said she loves teaching agriculture because it’s fun for both her and the children, and it became her “heart.” The kids still know her as “Mrs. Agriculture” and the “Ag Lady.”
“I remember in 1981 going to the first Ag in the Classroom event, and I’ve been very involved with that ever since,” she said. “Even now, last week I went to a couple schools and read some books that Ag in the Classroom sponsors. I have learned so much.”
Living and working on the farm helped Wichert become a better agricultural educator. She said AITC is important because there are many children who don’t know much about where their food comes from.
“There’s not very many of us left that live on a farm,” she said. “Oh, they would be eager to tell me they live in the country, but they knew nothing about agriculture, and the kids today don’t. It’s just a foreign word.”
Wichert was recognized as the 2012 National AITC Ag Advocate for her efforts in creating agricultural curriculum and increasing agricultural literacy at FPS. She was awarded the 2017 Volunteer of the Year by the Fairview Chamber of Commerce and the 2012 Distinguished Service to OFB award winner. She was also recently recognized as Mentor of the Year through Mission Mentors at FPS for continuing to serve as a one-on-one mentor to students.
Wichert continues to stay active with Major County Farm Bureau and keeps herself up-to-date on AITC events. She still mentors a little girl at Fairview Elementary School once a week.
She’s a breast cancer survivor since 1982 and “not because of the two years of chemo, but it’s through God.”
She’s watched her husband lose his battle with colon cancer and her barn burn to the ground a couple years ago. Still, she keeps her faith.
When asked what keeps her going, she said, “Definitely my faith in God and realizing that he has a plan for my life. As I look at my life, I think, ‘Who would’ve dreamed I’d get a national award for Ag in the Classroom?’ I just have to believe that God had a plan.”
Now in her late ’70s, she gave the farm to her sons a couple years ago.
“That’s what Lloyd made me promise to do before he died,” she said.
Her sons still say she owns the land until she dies. Jeff lives on the farm and is a crop adjuster, and Rex works for Syngenta in Tennessee. Wichert has three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. When it comes time for harvest, everyone comes home to help. They think it’s fun, which makes Wichert smile as she recalls the hard times.
“I know my two sons, they wouldn’t sell an inch of their land that my husband and I farmed, oh no,” she said. “They are men of the soil, and I know that doesn’t happen very often today … [Agriculture] is very important. It keeps us alive. If you’re alive, you use agriculture from the minute you get up to the minute you go to sleep.”
When asked about Wichert’s transition from someone who nearly hated agriculture to someone who is heavily involved and an agricultural advocate, she simply said, “It happened gradually.”
“I often think my husband is laughing in heaven because I have turned out such a neat agricultural person,” she said, because agriculture became so important to her, particularly after he died.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Several decades ago Gary Owens and his family were grazing Angus cattle on the hundred acres near SW 17th and Czech Hall Road.
Little did the future home builder know that that patch of Oklahoma prairie would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for seniors searching for affordable living.
“It’s just a good deal for someone that’s a working class person and just doesn’t have tons of income,” he said of his current home building project.
For the last 39 years the Owens name has been synonymous with quality homes in the Mustang area.
Now it’s also becoming known for truly affordable senior living with the opening of Belmont Cove.
That grazing land has given way to beautifully appointed homes seniors can afford to lease at $1 a square foot.
AMENITIES ABOUND
The luxury two-bedroom homes are 1,000 square feet of handicap-accessible living space. Baths are adorned with granite vanity and ceramic tile flooring.
Granite countertops and beautiful wood flooring spill into the kitchen with a host of stainless steel appliances.
Enclosed washer and dryer connections and a one-car garage add to the residence.
Fenced backyards and a covered porch allow for easy pet-friendly outdoor living.
There’s no costly buy-in to get into Belmont Cove either.
A deposit and first month’s rent allows residents to move in.
Belmont Cove is two miles away from Wal-Mart, Target, Homeland and other shopping venues.
Integris Canadian Valley Hospital is three miles away and the senior center is five miles down the road.
“You can be just about anywhere in Oklahoma City in 15 minutes,” Owens said.
Owens made sure that all leases included a buyout clause in the case that someone’s circumstances changed and they needed to move into an assisted living facility.
For the cost of a month’s rent residents are able to make that needed move.
It’s personal for Owens, who made sure he built the type of residence he would want his mother to live in. That’s because his mother did live in one of those homes until she was in her 90s.
Owens built a similar community in the 1990s and it was quickly purchased by a California investor.
Then Owens and his three brothers had to pool their resources when their mother required around-the-clock care.
“We wished we hadn’t sold it,” Owens said of the 47-home project.
That was an inspiration for Belmont Cove which is opening in three phases with a 2,500-square-foot clubhouse.
“The biggest thing is we do all the maintenance,” Owens said. “They can even take off for two or three months and we’ll watch after it for them.”
Mowing the yard, changing the light bulbs or air filters – it’s all included.
And it’s all markedly cheaper than any comparable property.
It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“It’s pretty hard for anybody to compete with us on price because we’ve owned the land so long,” Owens explained.
Owens also passes along deep discounts to residents at Galleria Furniture, which he also owns.
LOCAL HISTORY
Owens built his first house in 1978, while still in high school. Overcoming many obstacles due to beginning at such a young age, he has now built some 2,000 homes and 135 commercial buildings. He has also developed 26 housing additions in the Yukon/Mustang area.
Creating a fully integrated construction company, Owens performs a lot of work that would normally be contracted out by other builders, including carpeting, dirt work and sand and gravel delivery. This keeps costs low, allowing savings to be passed on to customers.
It’s always been about family for Owens, who has taught son Justin to carry on the legacy he’s built. Justin serves as construction superintendent, overseeing day-to-day operations and working with his dad since 1996.
His mother-in-law is expecting to move into Belmont Cove in the coming months.
Spend a few minutes with Owens and a couple things become obvious.
The elder Owens is relational and foundational. A handshake with Owens is a promise that he’ll deliver exactly what he says he will, even if it costs him more.
Many of Owens’ contractors have been working with him since the late 1970s. Most grew up with him in the Mustang area.
That shared foundation was carried over into the home building process and attention poured into the details.
For instance, everyone knows that a prefab cabinet will never enter an Owens home.
All wood cabinets are built from scratch with raw wood, stained and then finished.
It’s just another example of how every home is unique.
And he takes great pride in developing land that sustained his family into affordable homes that will be a blessing for more Oklahoma families.