What’s your favorite thing about spring? Emerald Square Assisted Living

Gardening and being outside. I like to help plant.

Jean Miller

Warm weather, the birds and the flowers.

Jean Sczerbacki

The thing I like about spring is it’s a new beginning for us all.

Leta Ringwald

I love the flowers, being outside and being able to wear shorts again.

Billy Stevenson

Norman, Oklahoma. Full Circle Adult Day Care Center dedicated its new facility on March 26th with a ribbon cutting ceremony and an open house. The new location is 4223 28th Avenue NW, Norman, Oklahoma, in the Franklin Business Park. Established in 1995 out of an urgent and growing need for adult day services in the Norman community and surrounding areas, Full Circle provides person-centered care. Our Program Coordinator plans and implements a variety of stimulating activities based on our members’ interests and abilities. The comprehensive program addresses all areas of wellness including intellectual, physical, emotional, vocational, spiritual, and social health, through both group and individual activities such as pet visits, community outings, an intergenerational program, art classes, cooking groups, entertainment, holiday celebrations, special events, and more. Nutritious meals are provided and special diet needs are met by the kitchen staff. Costs are kept as low as possible and we accept DHS, Advantage, VA benefits, and private pay. Scholarships are also available to those who qualify. Our new facility is state of the art, with families as our top priority.
Our Licensed Professional Nurse (LPN) monitors dietary and health needs of our members. Certified Nurses Assistants (CNAs) provide assistance with activities of daily living and personal care needs. Medication is administered by our LPN or a Medication Administration Tech (MAT) as directed per physician’s orders. Any concerns regarding the wellness and care of our members are communicated to the family and physician.
Full Circle has been referred to as the “missing piece” for caregivers struggling to keep loved ones at home as long as possible and a respite for those caregivers needing a welcome break to look after their own health and wellbeing. Full Circle would like to extend a warm invitation to everyone in the community to come see what we have accomplished and what we have to offer. For more information, please call us at 405-447-2955 or visit us at www.fullcircleok.org.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Like many people, Patti Neuhold never saw the next big thing in her life coming.
But as the dust began to settle and spring had finally sprung, Neuhold was getting her head wrapped around the fact later this summer she would become the next president of the 16,000-student University of Central Oklahoma.
“I’m excited about it. Every day I realize more is going to come my way and opportunities I’ll get to be a part of and it’s exciting,” said Neuhold.
Earlier this year, the Regional University System of Oklahoma announced Neuhold will become UCO’s 21st president following the June retirement of current President Don Betz.
Neuhold is the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for the University of Central Oklahoma. She has a deep knowledge of UCO, having served in leadership in finance and budget, administrative and professional development departments, joining the university in 2007.
With two degrees earned and a third almost completed Neuhold is a proud product of education.
“I would not be where I’m at today without education and that’s a fact,” Neuhold said. “It is, in my opinion, a life changer. Education equals freedom for so many people. It can change the trajectory of an entire family for generations to come.”
“For me, to be able to open that door is so rewarding. I want to make sure other people have the opportunity to grow and shape their destiny the way I have.”
Neuhold balanced UCO’s $187 million budget through years of the most significant declines in state support and declining enrollment. She facilitated business process reviews that resulted in savings, higher retention of faculty and new leadership development opportunities.
“Patti Neuhold has the leadership experience, and vision for the university that will help prepare our students to contribute ideas, innovation and solutions to the marketplace,” said Mark Stansberry, RUSO regent chair. “Her blend of financial acumen, organizational development and understanding of what industry needs will help UCO continue to lead in education and workforce development.”
Neuhold was approved by the board of regents after a national search.
“This is not something I had been working towards,” Neuhold said. “This really wasn’t on my radar for some time.”
But when President Betz announced his retirement last year the wheels started turning. And Betz had already been preparing her.
“He was always very encouraging and helpful in helping me see the possibilities that were ahead of me,” she said.
These are challenging times for higher education in Oklahoma.
“It’s no secret the State of Oklahoma has withdrawn its financial support from higher education across our state,” Neuhold said. “I – like all the other presidents in the state – will be dealing with our allocation from the state and building a relationship with legislators where they understand where we are coming from and what we’re trying to do.”
“Society in general is pushing back against higher education and really forcing all of us to justify our existence, which seems counterintuitive for many of us. I think we’ll be dealing with changing our stories and making sure people understand what is going on behind the curtain and doing everything we can with what we have.”
From its main campus in Edmond and facilities throughout the metro area, UCO is recognized nationally as a military-friendly school and for its high student engagement through service-learning and volunteerism and its workplace environment.
“I hope that No. 1 we can pair our innovative thinking with innovative action. I really want to see UCO move ahead,” she said. “We have so many great problem solvers on our campus – so many innovative thinkers – and I would love to see all of that paired with action.”
“I want UCO to be marked by progress, and potential and possibility.”
She stood out in the selection process but Betz already knew she would.
“Patti has been a key member of the university cabinet for several years, and has exercised significant leadership on a number of highly relevant issues to the university,” Betz said. “I believe that Patti will serve the UCO community, the metro and the state with energy, insight and distinction. I will work closely with her throughout the transition. I am delighted, and I sincerely look forward to the successful future of the university under her leadership.”

JOIN US FOR SENIOR DAY AT CROSSINGS COMMUNITY CHURCH MAY 10TH

Key Note Speakers including Elaine Dodd, Oklahoma Banking Association and Berry Tramel, Sports Editor Daily Oklahoman PM. Do you understand Social Security or how to choose a retirement community? Have you researched Alzheimer’s’ caregivers, Veterans benefits, or the million-dollar business in Oklahoma called Medicare? Senior Day is designed for those who are interested in diving deeper into these specific issues. There will be a selection of break out classes with topics like these for attendees to select and a very special Key Note speaker at lunch, Sports Editor Berry Tramel with the Daily Oklahoman.
This year there will be a raffle for “DUDE’S NIGHT OUT WITH BERRY TRAMEL, the host will be Lance Ward Pastoral Staff Crossings. Raffle tickets will be available at registration. Elaine Dodd, Oklahoma Banking Association will also present on how to limit elder fraud. Elaine worked with the OSBI for over twenty years and is well trained on how to identify and stop bank fraud for Seniors. Kim Lopez, TRIAD Director Oklahoma County Sherriff’s Office, will share how to shop safely in a mall or grocery store. We have a new presentation this year- how to Use your I Phone! Mia Munnerlyn, Media Director for Well Preserved, will share some easy to follow tips for the I Phone. Ray Walker, Director Medicare Assistance Program will be thoroughly explaining Medicare. Jose’ Olivero, Public Affairs Specialist with Social Security, will share your options on Social Security.
We are very excited to have Blair Schoeb, Director of Area Wide Aging for Oklahoma, Canadian, Logan and Cleveland County. Area Wide serves over 25,000 seniors a year. Blair recently returned from the National Association of Area Agencies in Washington, DC. There will be classes on downsizing your home. Nikki Higgins Lifestyle Realty will conduct a panel for an easy transition for a Senior home owner. How to choose a retirement community, presented by Jill Huff with Spanish Cove. Who needs Memory Care? Presented by Keri Dennis with Stone Creek Assisted Living in Edmond. What is Adult day care? Presented by Brian Rush, Director of the Daily Living centers. Daily Living Centers have four locations in the metro and Edmond. Kathy Logsdon will share the amazing story of Epworth Villa. There will also be Vendor displays for attendees to find out information from business that support Seniors in the Metro Area.
Last year the Crossings 4th Quarter event donated $2900.00 to RSVP. RSVP is a volunteer organization that serves 130 nonprofits in the Metro. This year, proceeds will be donated to non-profits that serve seniors in the metro area. Our thanks to the Title Sponsors Quail Creek Bank, Epworth Villa, Lifestyle Realty, Spanish Cove & Well Preserved Advisory Group,
Those topics plus many more will be explained on May 10th. If you are a Senior and want to come and learn—- JOIN us for SENIOR DAY at Crossings Church, 14600 N Portland, OKC – on May 10, 2019. Registration will begin at 8:30AM. This will be an all day event and will finish at 4:30. Registration is only $12.00 and that includes lunch.
To register go to CROSSINGS.CHURCH/SENIOR-DAY or call 848-5790 for more information.

Mozart: From Salzburg to Vienna

The Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble will present its fifth and final regular-season concert, Mozart: From Salzburg to Vienna, Tuesday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. This all-Mozart evening will feature his most popular work, Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
Mozart’s String Duo No. 1 in G (K. 423) for violin and viola was written when the child-genius was only 17 to help out a colleague—Joseph Haydn’s brother, Michael—who was unable to complete a commissioned work due to illness. By this time, Mozart had been composing for over a decade so, though it is a youthful work, it does not lack maturity. Like Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B-flat (K. Anh. 91), for two violins, viola, cello and clarinet, was published after the composer’s death at the early age of 35. The quintet, like a number of Mozart’s later works, was finished by another, in this case, the renowned Mozart scholar R.D. Levin. The program will include Mozart’s enchanting violin sonata No. 24 in B-flat (K. 378/317d), transcribed for clarinet quartet (violin, viola, cello and clarinet).
Capping the evening is a work that has long been considered Mozart’s best loved, his serenade Eine kleine Nachtmusik—literally “A Little Night Music” (K. 525) for two violins, viola, cello and double bass. This work was among a bundle of manuscripts that Mozart’s young widow took to a publisher hoping to generate some badly-needed cash. Though it is thought to be missing a movement, there is plenty of charm in the surviving four movements.
Musicians appearing in this concert are: Gregory Lee and Katrin Stamatis (violin), Samuel Formicola (viola), Meredith Blecha-Wells (cello), George Speed (double bass) and Chad Burrow (clarinet).
Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble, Oklahoma City’s own chamber ensemble, presents fine classical chamber music in the beautiful and acoustically-rich St. Paul’s Cathedral at 7th and N. Robinson near downtown Oklahoma City. Tickets are $20 at the door. Children, students and active-duty military personnel admitted free with ID. Free parking south of the cathedral. For more information, visit us at www.brightmusic.org

By Jose M Olivero, Social Security Public Affairs in Oklahoma City

Unfortunately, tragedy can strike without any warning. The loss of the family wage earner can be devastating both emotionally and financially. Social Security helps by providing income for the families of workers who die.
Some of the Social Security taxes you pay go toward survivors benefits for workers and their families. The value of the survivors benefits you have under Social Security may even be more than the value of your individual life insurance. When you die, certain members of your family may be eligible for survivors benefits. These include widows and widowers (and divorced widows and widowers), children, and dependent parents.
Here are the people who can get survivors benefits based on your work:
* Your widow or widower may be able to get full benefits at full retirement age. The full retirement age for survivors is age 66 for people born in 1945-1956, with the full retirement age gradually increasing to age 67 for people born in 1962 or later. Your widow or widower can get reduced benefits as early as age 60. If your surviving spouse is disabled, benefits can begin as early as age 50.
* Your widow or widower can get benefits at any age if they take care of your child younger than age 16 or disabled, who is receiving Social Security benefits.
* Your unmarried children, younger than age 18 (or up to age 19 if they’re attending elementary or secondary school full time), can also get benefits. Your children can get benefits at any age if they were disabled before age 22. Under certain circumstances, we can also pay benefits to your stepchildren, grandchildren, stepgrandchildren, or adopted children.
* Your dependent parents can get benefits if they’re age 62 or older. (For your parents to qualify as dependents, you must have provided at least half of their support.)
You can read more about Survivors Benefits at:
www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf.
How much your family can get from Social Security depends on your average lifetime earnings. The more you earned, the more their benefits will be. For more information on widows, widowers, and other survivors, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/survivors.
Social Security is with you through life’s journey. Be sure to tell friends and family about our Survivors Benefits and how we can help in times of need.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

Just mentioning Palm Springs brings up the cliché thoughts of well to do celebrities, escaping Hollywood to a retreat oasis out of the lime light and adoring fans, with incomparable warm weather never to disappoint. While that is true, today, Palm Springs is a tourist’s mecca with many festivals and events that may make the town over crowded where reservations for a mid-day lunch is mandatory.
I visited there for four short days in Mid-February in the midst of the popular mid century architectural festival. There seems to be something commercially happening in Palm Springs most weekends, if not at least once a month, making an enjoyable, leisure stay a challenge. With this information in hand you can find your way to the preferences that fulfills your holiday wish list.
Having visited Palm Springs off and on for over thirty years, I have seen it change and my preferences have also changed. I still like the romantic idea of passing by the places where celebrities lived, and the remains of their houses through a formalized celebrity house bus tour. This was accomplished surprising well with Celebrity Tours, with their office and pick up point in neighboring Cathedral City.
www.PalmSpringsCelebrityTours.com
Your bus driver narration is the key to your enjoyment and my Jeff, could not have been more informative or entertaining. Many of the houses in the Movie Colony Section are surrounded by high fences and vegetation, making it difficult to even get a peek at the property. The Las Palmas area houses are much easier to view. Some of the celebrity houses and stories that are seen and lives told about included celebrities of old: Liberace, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Debbie Reynolds, Bob Hope among others, and contemporaries like Cher and Matt Damon. The brief history of some of these celebrities are told with humor, but the ending of their lives gives one pause with a touch of sadness. Many of the houses viewed today have fallen into disrepair or are smaller and less glamorous than you would expect.
The reason Palm Springs became a Hollywood oasis was during a time when the actors were under contract to movie studios. Back then using film, some of the scenes would need to be re shot on short notice to the actors. Their contract read that they must be able to show up on a twenty-four-hour notice, and Palms Springs was close enough to allow such.
After sightseeing or shopping your thoughts and stomach might turn to dining. I found all my pre-reserved dining options to surpass expectations. You might think in fine upscale dining establishment that you might want to order something experiential or exotic. I prefer to test restaurants with some of the staples of dining. If they can knock my socks off with comfort food, then they can do anything.
What’s more comforting than meatloaf, which happens to be the specialty of TRIO, https://triopalmsprings.com. I started with their batter artichoke hearts with Caper Aioli dipping sauce. The homemade meatloaf entree with red wine reduction and caramelized onions near sour cream mashed potatoes, was quickly served and the combinations of meat flavors were excellent, living up to its reputation. I ordered my traditional extra cold martini and it arrive so cold it was bubbling! Asked how this was accomplished was told there was a special machine that deep froze the bottom of the glass and when the Vodka was added, it bubbled like dry ice. The visual was stunning although it made the beverage a bit bitter – but enjoyable just the same. Located on the very popular Canyon Drive, it can often be over crowed and noisy, which might add to your celebrity watching.
Also on North Palm Canyon Drive, is Copley’s (https://www.copleyspalmsprings.com) with its welcomed Valet parking. It is situated in a long ranch house style compound once owned by Cary Grant. With expansive patio seating and fire pit prime for outdoor dining, I preferred inside from the cool night air where elegant tables invite you to step away from the intimate popular bar area and begin your culinary adventure. One of my comfort staples is a lemony Cesar Salad, which I ordered and was delighted to see it was served with smoked bacon, Padano cheese and roasted pineapple as a crouton substitute. Extraordinary as the citrus added that zest, I usually get with lemon. The dressing was just enough, and the diced lettuce easily satisfied. What goes well with Cesar but a prime grilled filet in port wine reduction, which I had prepared Medium Plus – another test for any fine dining establishment. Again perfection and with one more beverage with blue cheese olives for dessert, I topped off a posh evening.
If your appetite has been teased, be sure and see next months issue with more dining suggestions, as I end my Palm Springs comfort food foray. Until then check out, www.greaterpalmsprings.com.

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zinn

by Betty Thompson

JAY—There’s no place like home.
Mattie Jeffries grew up on beans, cornbread, and hard work.
The second to youngest of eight children and raised by a single father, Jeffries was familiar with gender equality in their home. She chopped firewood, helped with outside chores, cooked, and cleaned alongside her four brothers and three sisters.
Though her mother was not around when she was growing up, Jeffries said she looked to her older sisters as an example of how to be a lady. Over the years, she changed from the little girl who just threw a cap and boots on.
“Just because I work like a man doesn’t mean I have to look like one,” Jeffries said. “My hands might be rough and calloused but at least my fingernails are pretty in pink. The old saying is true, ‘Even an old barn looks better with a new coat of paint.’”
Her father, Leslie Currey, was a welder by trade and taught Jeffries and her siblings to weld as well. Her four brothers are all welders today, and all eight children own their own businesses.
“Dad raised us to be independent,” Jeffries said. “I’ve heard the more you know the more you’ll have to do, but my philosophy is, the more you know the more you can do yourself.”
As a little girl, Jeffries dreamed of owning her own horse ranch.
“When I was little we didn’t have much, so we went to ride our neighbor’s horse,” Jeffries recalled. “I fell in love with horses and the freedom you feel when riding them.”
Eventually, she did get her own horse, and Dolly played a bigger role in Jeffries’ life than just being part of her horse farm dream.
She did not know Navada Jeffries well at the time, but she remembered the former athlete and fellow graduate of Jay High School who sold hay. And she needed hay for Dolly.
“I didn’t even pay attention to him in high school,” Jeffries laughed. “I was the country girl, and he was the preppy sports guy. He might have played football, but I never saw.”
The two hit it off after that hay delivery, and less than a year later, they were married.
While she did not wind up with the horse ranch she once dreamed of, Jeffries said she has something even better—a cattle ranch, with a few horses sprinkled in.
She and Navada built N & M Farms (named for Navada and Mattie) from the 100 cows Navada had when they began dating. When they first started the farm, they leased all of the land to run the cattle on.
“Together, with God, we grew what we have,” Jeffries said. “Neither my husband or I were given anything, we’ve had to work for everything.”
In the early years of their marriage, Jeffries was working at the bank in town and helping Navada with the farm in her spare time.
“I tagged along with him after hours and on the weekend,” Jeffries said. “He had a hired hand at the time to help him bale hay and work cattle and I told him, ‘Well I can do that!’ He told me I couldn’t, but I proved him wrong.”
Jeffries began working side-by-side with her husband on the tractor, mowing, raking, baling and hauling hay. She even helped him clean out chicken houses for fertilizer.
“I love being outside,” Jeffries said. “We work hard, and I don’t mind working hard.”
She worked at Navada’s side right up to the night before she had their first child, a daughter they named Dakota. She was back on the tractor just a little over a week later, loading up Dakota’s car seat and taking her anywhere from feeding stockers and baling hay, to working cattle and building fence.
Not much changed when their second daughter River came 13 months later, she just took both of them along in the cab of the tractor.
“I’ve raised two daughters in the tractor,” Jeffries said. “It was like having twins, the girls are 13 months apart.”
At the end of those long summer days in the hay field, Jeffries still made time to cook dinner for the family, and keep up with the other household chores, even if it was at 10 p.m.
“I’m a full-time farmer, full-time wife, and full-time mother,” Jeffries said.
While she admits those three jobs are very exhausting, she would not trade it for anything.
In 2003, eight years after beginning their farm, they were able to buy their first piece of property. Since then, they have continued to purchase more land and cattle.
“We think the same, and we have the same goal,” Jeffries said of working with her husband. “I believe it has strengthened our marriage being able to work together like this.”
Their third child came in 2009, a son named Navada Baler, who Jeffries describes as a “100% total farm boy.”
“He’s being raised in the tractor too,” Jeffries said. “He can already drive it.”
Over the years, hard manual labor took a toll on Jeffries back. In October 2015, an MRI revealed she had four ruptured discs and was on bed rest for an entire month. Friends and family told her she needed to quit working on the farm because they feared she would end up paralyzed.
“I didn’t want to have surgery but if that was what it was going to take for me to continue working on the farm then I was determined to do it.”
A friend told her about a spine specialist about an hour away in Owasso, and desperate for relief, Jeffries scheduled the first available appointment.
“I hadn’t been able to walk because of the pain,” Jeffries said. “He adjusted me and asked me to walk around the room. It was like flipping a switch on the pain. I’m not a crier, but I just started crying right then.”
It has been three years since that first doctor’s visit and Jeffries is back on her feet doing what she loves—working side-by-side with her husband and children. She said she cannot imagine doing anything else with her life.
“Owning a piece of our great nation is truly the American dream,” Jeffries said. “There is no place I’d rather be than in the tractor seat on a smooth piece of ground, on horseback gathering cattle, or being with my family on the farm making great memories. There isn’t any place like home.”