Dear Savvy Senior, Do currently offered vaccines against pneumonia provide seniors any protection against the coronavirus disease? I’ve always been bad about getting vaccinated, but this coronavirus pandemic is causing me to change my thinking. Pro-Vax Patty

Dear Patty,
This is a great question. Because the coronavirus (COVID-19) attacks the lungs and respiratory system, many readers have asked whether the pneumonia vaccines, which are administered to millions of patients each year, might protect someone if they contract the coronavirus.
But unfortunately, the answer is no. Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus.
This virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are in the process of rapidly developing a vaccine against COVID-19, but it is expected to take at least a year before it’s ready.
Having said that, you should also know that there are several other important vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all seniors should get up to date on after the coronavirus pandemic dies down. Here’s a rundown of what they are, when you should get them, and how they’re covered by Medicare.
Flu vaccine: While annual flu shots are recommended each fall to everyone, they are very important for older adults to get because seniors have a much greater risk of developing dangerous flu complications. According to the CDC, last year up to 647,000 people were hospitalized and 61,200 died because of the flu – most of whom were age 65 and older.
To improve your chances of escaping the seasonal flu, this September or October consider a vaccine specifically designed for people 65 and older. The Fluzone High Dose or FLUAD are the two options that provide extra protection beyond what a standard flu shot offers. And all flu shots are covered under Medicare Part B.
Pneumococcal vaccine: As previously stated, this vaccine protects against pneumonia, which hospitalizes around 250,000 Americans and kills about 50,000 each year. It’s recommended that all seniors, 65 or older, get two separate vaccines – PCV13 (Prevnar 13) and PPSV23 (Pneumovax 23). Both vaccines, which are administered one year apart, protect against different strains of the bacteria to provide maximum protection. Medicare Part B covers both shots if they are taken at least a year apart.
Shingles vaccine: Caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash that affects more than 1 million Americans every year. All people over age 50 should get the new Shingrix vaccine, which is given in two doses, two to six months apart. Even if you’ve already had shingles, you should still get this vaccination because reoccurring cases are possible. The CDC also recommends that anyone previously vaccinated with Zostavax be revaccinated with Shingrix because it’s significantly more effective.
All Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover shingles vaccinations, but coverage amounts, and reimbursement rules vary depending on where the shot is given. Check your plan.
Tdap vaccine: A one-time dose of the Tdap vaccine, which covers tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) is recommended to all adults. If you’ve already had a Tdap shot, you should get a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster shot every 10 years. All Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover these vaccinations.
Other Vaccinations
Depending on your health conditions, preferences, age and future travel schedule, the CDC offers a “What Vaccines Do You Need?” quiz at www2.CDC.gov/nip/adultimmsched to help you determine what additional vaccines may be appropriate for you. You should also talk to your doctor during your next visit about which vaccinations you should get.
To locate a site that offers any of these vaccines, visit VaccineFinder.org and type in your location.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Story and photos by Darl DeVault

While Oklahoma seniors have been the most vulnerable to COVID-19, our modern heroes, medical health professionals, have also been impacted by this huge stress event.
Medical outcomes are stark. There are no proven therapies to treat or cure the disease. In Oklahoma, the vast majority of COVID-19 deaths are in seniors 65 or older, as high as 80 percent. The statistics go on and on, unchanging in dire descriptions of how vulnerable aging bodies are to the pandemic.
Another group shares a vulnerability every bit as brutal in descriptions. Our medical health professionals are the next highest death rate in America. Besides the brutal numbers of deaths, there is another facet of their suffering.
They are repeatedly exposed to preventable unmanageable stress. This immersion in the onslaught of a pandemic has the potential to inflict post- traumatic stress disorder.
In honor of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife.” Since National Nurses Week is celebrated soon from May 6 through May 12 it is appropriate to ask one “What are you going through?”
Nurse Beth Bierig said last week from New Jersey, “Working on a floor of all COVID-19 positive patients whose change in status happens quickly without warning, makes you feel constantly guarded as to when your own medical health will quickly turn badly as well. You don’t have time to even comprehend how scary the silent killer surrounds every piece of air you work in, but it weighs heavily on your mind.”
Bierig, from Hackensack University Medical Center, goes on to explain how having a servant’s heart can put a nurse in harm’s way. “While performing life sustaining measures on your patients and respiratory fragments flood the air in the process, you can’t help but wonder, will it be saving their life that takes mine?” she said. “I don’t know the effects it will have on myself or other people, because everyone has had different experiences. Every nursing specialty has their own traumas and people are generally drawn to what they can handle.”
Also, “the support nurses receive after this will affect their long-term mental health pertaining to this situation. The whole situation has affected everyone strongly, not only health care providers. We’re living in a historic time and hopefully we all learn from it.”
From the respiratory therapists who manage ventilators, and technicians that manage ICU equipment to the direct caregivers, stress can be overwhelming. The heroes who share their servant’s heart signed up to be properly supported and use their knowledge and ability to affect positive change. Again, at present, there are no proven therapies to cure COVID-19.
Some health care professionals function where they are overwhelmed by the sheer number of deaths that take place right in front of them. Sometimes as often as hourly, these deaths may inflict a PTSD future on the frontlines of medicine.
For those healers who were constantly worried about their own health because of a shortage of personal protective equipment life can change. Just the apprehension of spreading the disease to their family could have a dire outcome.
COVID-19, the severe respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic is extremely transmissible. Properly protected ICU critical care team workers being readied for patient interaction look like preflight prep before blastoff for our moon missions.
These heroes may share an almost as strong an impact as the vulnerable seniors who perished. Some may suffer grave symptoms of psychological stress impacting their ability to deliver medical health care in the future.
Every psyche is different in the many roles played by helping healers who suited up to sustain the COVID-19 patients. Science tells us women are twice as likely to suffer PTSD symptoms.
This pandemic is something different. The onslaught of stress can change brain wiring for the worse — at the level to create PTSD. Later, some may seek to stay away from the situations that remind them of the traumatic events.
Some caregivers may not be able to adaptively overcome the stress and adversity while maintaining normal psychological and physical functioning.
The potential for PTSD is when an individual is placed in a situation where they do not have all the needed equipment, weaponry, support by colleagues in numbers needed, or proper support from superiors. This is also fueled when they feel they do not have the proper protective material and are forced to go in harm’s way relentlessly when they fear for their own survival. On April 3, Oklahoma showed 10.6 percent of its confirmed cases were health care workers.
Situationally produced and yet self-imposed is the stress of sleeping in their cars in their hospital parking lot because they do not want to bring potential illness and death home to their families. This can result in the development of PTSD, depression and other psychiatric disorders.
In a medical scenario where our heroes ran toward the danger and healing is supposed to take place that sounds extremely abrupt. But in many of our hospitals that were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients presenting repeated unmanageable stressors, that is exactly what was happening.
Often nurses and doctors in COVID-19 hotspots made life and death choices, deciding who was to live and who was to die because of a limited number of ventilators and limited ability to intubate. And there was the randomness of patients dying right in front of them as these patients first entered the hospital.
We must be honest. Nurses and doctors are human and cannot escape that negative impact. People who signed up to work around the sick also take great pride in learning all the ways to be healers.
To suddenly be immersed in the onslaught of hourly and daily negative scenario can have a permanently deleterious effect on the human psyche. It remains to be seen if overwhelming the individual at a high morbidity level has a lasting effect. We know brainwave activity that negativity establishes can create specific pathways in the brain that were not there before.
How do we know what effect this has on these brave people’s body and spirit when these pathways are never compensated for? These individuals may have anxiety and depression from these days forward.
The wild card in all of this are brave medical health professionals who contracted COVID-19 themselves, while trying their best to help others. Hundreds have died around the world. Yes, they signed up for this profession, but not to suffer the same as their patients.
Another stressor is some hospitals, such as the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, are cutting pay and hours because of the strict emphasis on COVID-19 leaving them cash poor.
“A grateful nation will likely create a fund offering therapy and treatment for front line medical professionals who have health problems traceable to saving lives similar to the federal World Trade Center Health Program,” Oklahoman Kara De La Pena, APRN, said. “Considering for many of us who took on preventable risks, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 will be held up as a model for providing us medical treatment. That program is funded through 2090 now.”
The seniors saved and whole world thank our heroes and seek restorative insight into the medical outcomes thrust upon the healers who fight to keep people alive.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Social distancing. Infection risk. Quarantines.
The news during this pandemic has been enough to make your head spin.
Fear has been prominent no matter who you listen to and nearly everyone agrees – at least for now – it’s probably a good idea to just stay home.
For more than 30 years, Diana Hendrix worked in nursing home administration. She understands that life does go on and she also understands vulnerable populations.
That’s why six years ago she started Guardian Angels Concierge Service.
Little did she know that her business one day would be saving lives.
“Most of my seniors are pretty concerned. They don’t want to get sick,” she said. “They don’t understand why all this is happening but they still don’t want to get sick and don’t want their families to get sick.”
That’s where Guardian Angels comes in, to provide essential services during this time. Grocery shopping, light housekeeping and cooking still remain essential and Hendrix and her staff are able to provide those services.
”The one thing I’m trying to get out there is don’t be afraid to call us. Just because this is happening in the world if you need help call us,” Hendrix said. “I can do a certain amount of interviewing on the phone and pulling things together without actually being with a client. But even when I do have to see a client we’re very protective.”
In business since 2014, Hendrix brings her healthcare administration experience to her clients.
“I thought there would be a better way to help our seniors but I didn’t want to do any nursing. There are plenty of nurses out there and home health agencies. So I started out grocery shopping and making sure seniors ate and took their medicine.”
Grocery shopping and cooking was the easy part of.
Per regulations, Hendrix isn’t allowed to administer medication to clients but she can be there to remind her patients when they’re due.
The big thing I try to do for every family is try to find a solution for whatever is going on in their life,” Hendrix said.
As most non-essential stores have closed, errands are fewer for Hendrix.
“We’re still doing a lot of cooking which we do a lot of breakfasts, sandwiches for lunch and we do a great deal of crockpot and casserole cooking so clients can have them several days,” Hendrix said.
Hendrix and her staff are still able to still walk pets and provide other services just on a limited basis.
“We’re not taking any of our furry friends to the vet right now,” she said. “The vet I use is saying unless it’s an emergency we’re not really going into the vets.”
Another service is escorting patients to doctor’s appointments, which has taken on a new look.
“What they’re doing is they’re saying stay in your car and we’ll call you when the doctor is ready to see you,” Hendrix said. “They’re saying the fewer the better. They’ll take my client’s temperature, escort them into the doctor’s office and turn around and bring them back to the car.”
“They’re not wanting people to be in the waiting room at all.”
Things may look different but Hendrix and her staff are getting things done in this new normal.
“We’re trying our hardest not to go to stores. We’re doing as much as we can online,” said Hendrix.
Shoe coverings are donned before going into a client’s homes as well as gloves and sanitizing wipes.
Right now, the largest service is Hendrix is fulfilling is home organization including down-size packing. Regular housekeeping and laundry is also offered.
“When I started to look at the governor’s list to see if we were necessary,” she said. “The reason we fell into that essential spot was that if we didn’t come the client would not be able to do it. Picking up a load of laundry is hard for clients who use a walker or wheelchair. Making their bed, running a vacuum cleaner are things they need help with to stay at home.”
As the quarantine wanes on, Hendrix has noted her regular clients call more often.
But Hendrix and her staff are still there and talking with clients and reminiscing with them, brighten their days as they go along.
“It’s amazing I’m talking to them almost every day and I’m telling my staff to make sure you give them a call,” Hendrix said. “Those that started out with me … they’re still calling me.”
“I commend every administrator out there because I know they have a hard job.”
You can find out more about Guardian Angels online at guardianangelsokc.com or on Facebook.

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

At press time leisure travel is not available or recommended, but it does not keep us from planning and revisiting destinations worthy of future consideration. Reminiscence is the safest kind of pleasure travel, sometimes called arm chair travel. For a few moments we have a respite from current news. In the following months this travel column will revisit previous personal travel experiences. Enjoy.
Some Florida resorts are located amid a massive amount of traffic and tourist activity. The Marriott Pompano Beach Resort and Spa is somewhat off the beaten track, and is boon for motorists, with their own transportation.
While a stroll within a mile of the property can be charming, there are not many cafes, restaurants or shops within the immediate area. If your desire is to get away from it all, and just ensconce yourself in a comfortable setting with pristine and maintained beaches, 2 pools, 2 towers of accommodations and delicious eating experiences, Marriott Pompano Beach Resort and Spa may be your ideal.
When you consider a visit to Florida at any time of year, it is important to keep in mind the annual hurricane season from mid-summer through September. Of course these days, predictable weather patterns of past years seem to be unpredictable. It’s a boon to Pompano that they are far North of Miami Beach with its recent health headlines. It also is North of Fort Lauderdale, and a comfortable distance from its neighbor Lauderdale-By-the-Sea, which is a more active community with its many eateries and entertainment options. Again motorists will find it near enough to quench a typical Florida tourist’s appetite.
Near Pompano is the Hillsboro Lighthouse, privately owned and only open for tours at certain times, being a coast guard operated property. Check them for opening times and tours, as you book your visit.
Happily, sequestered in your ninth floor ocean front room with balcony, you might find the sporadic afternoon thunderstorm a real 3-D entertainment, more impactful than the best free action disaster movie, shown on your large in room TV screen. Be sure and inquire about a corner suite room, for added luxury. As with many upscale hotels, housekeeping may be sporadic, even when alerting them to your out of room schedule.
Check in time is listed at 4 pm, but as someone I know had to do, you might have to wait until 6 pm, which will give you time to explore the property, Atlantic Ocean beach, Spa, and exercise room or grab a bite to eat.
McCoy’s restaurant both comfortably inside or out by the active pools, offers a variety of delectable meal options and beverages with congenial wait staff. If you’re a fan of specially cocktails, with the proper and courtesy instruction, they follow through with your requests most satisfactorily.
Florida still offers what many sun worshipers require and the family welcoming Marriott’s Pompano Beach Resort, might be your new favorite Florida oasis for you and your extended family.
For more information and reservations: www.marriott.com/fllpm

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
3110 N.W. 15 Street – Oklahoma City, OK 73107
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OU Medicine and its academic partner, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, recently received $100,000 from CompSource Mutual Insurance Company to assist healthcare providers on the front line of treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To avoid potentially exposing their families to the virus, many healthcare providers are not going home at the end of a long workday, but are staying away from home for everyone’s safety. The donation from CompSource Mutual will be used to provide meals and a place to stay for those physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers.
“We’re grateful to CompSource Mutual for their generous support of our healthcare team to combat this pandemic,” said Dr. Dale Bratzler, Enterprise Chief Quality Officer of OU Medicine. “This donation will fund temporary housing and food for OU Medicine and OU Health Sciences Center team members living away from home to protect their families from potential exposure to COVID-19.”
CompSource Mutual Insurance Company, an Oklahoma-based business that provides workers’ compensation coverage, donated a total of $250,000 in Oklahoma to assist medical personnel and families coping with lost wages and other hardships because of the pandemic. Other recipients include the Tulsa Area COVID-19 Response Fund formed by the Tulsa Area United Way and the Tulsa Community Foundation, as well as the United Way of Central Oklahoma’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
“Our policyholders include many Oklahoma businesses that are currently experiencing the emotional, physical and financial tolls of this pandemic,” said CompSource Mutual President and CEO Jason Clark. “We are committed to being a reliable partner in our communities’ responses, which we first demonstrated earlier this month by implementing measures to help CompSource policyholders who are struggling financially to pay their premiums. This donation is the next step and supports our guiding principle to improve the communities in which we live and work. I am grateful to our leadership team for approving this vitally important assistance for three organizations who are working directly in support of first responders, medical professionals and affected families in our state.”

Isolation has become the new normal as we all do our part to end the spread of Covid-19. But while we’re separated, experts at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation say there are important steps we can take to maintain our psychological and physical health.
1. Stick to a schedule
The lack of a set daily routine can be disruptive. Resist the urge to stay up late and sleep in, as it disrupts your body’s circadian rhythms, said OMRF immunologist Eliza Chakravarty, M.D.
“Sleep deprivation also causes stress hormones like cortisol to rise, signaling the body to go into fat-storage mode by slowing your metabolism,” said Chakravarty. “And when you’re sleepy, you eat more, which can put you on a slippery slope.”
2. Get moving
Research shows that even 30 minutes of moderate exercise lowers blood pressure, strengthens bones, improves mood and helps maintain muscle mass, said OMRF researcher Holly Van Remmen, Ph.D.
“Getting outdoors when the sun is shining boosts your physical and mental wellbeing,” said Van Remmen. “Do some gardening, mow the lawn, go on a long walk—whatever gets you off the couch.”
3. Say no to junk food
“Resist the temptation to graze all day long out of boredom,” said Chakravarty. “If you snack, have healthy options on hand like veggies and hummus, fruit or nuts.”
It’s no secret that obesity has a severe negative impact on health in a variety of ways. And that can be compounded by coronavirus, which appears to take a severe toll on people suffering from obesity-related conditions like heart disease and diabetes.
4. Stay connected
Sunshine and fresh air can work wonders for your mood, but so can maintaining contact with friends and family—from a distance. “Pick up the phone, send emails or write letters to stay in touch,” said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “Even though we’re not together physically, we don’t have to be alone.”
5. Take a news break
“There’s a difference between staying informed and dwelling on never-ending commentary and speculation,” Chakravarty said. “Instead, go sew, paint, learn a hobby or rediscover an old one. Be creative.”
We don’t know when this pandemic will end, said Chakravarty. “But how you come out when it’s over depends a lot on the decisions you make now.”

story and photo by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

At the time, none of us knew.
The patient we received from the emergency room was breathing 40-50 times a minute and maxed out on oxygen.
The bipap – the last line of oxygenation before a ventilator – wasn’t keeping up and the patient was struggling.
We knew the Coronavirus – or more technically, Covid-19 – was a thing.
Like all hospitals around us, there were whispers of a handful of patients on our campus being tested for it.
But they were in the ICU or on a separate floor, being taken care of by nurses with special personal protective equipment, wearing helmets and facemasks with powered air-purifying respirators.
Meanwhile, our patient was in respiratory distress.
Lab tests, chest x-rays and CT scans were reviewed along with a late call about the patient’s history.
The situation called for an ICU level of care.
The call from the patient’s doctor revealed COVID 19 was highly suspected.
That’s when COVID-19 became real for all of us in the room.
Outside the room, five respiratory therapists, the house supervisor and my charge nurse huddled together.
Eyebrows and voices raised.
The people I looked to most in the hospital for answers were without them.
Not only that, they were scared.
The bipap ventilation system was effectively aerosolizing the already contagious virus.
In layman’s terms, the high pressure flow made the viral particles even smaller and easier to transmit.
The surgical masks we were all wearing aren’t designed to be effective against the virus.
Two days later we learned the patient died while on a ventilator.
The day after that we learned results were positive for COVID-19.
Direct exposure was declared and all of us barred from returning to work for 14 days.
Nearly two weeks later we’re still learning.
Now I take my temperature twice a day and monitor for symptoms while logging everything online.
A fever over 100 degrees. A cough. Vomiting and diarrhea. Body aches.
All are symptoms of infection.
I haven’t been tested nor will I be tested unless I develop symptoms.
But my goal throughout this pandemic isn’t to complain or blame others. My goal, when I’m not at the bedside after my quarantine ends, is to highlight individuals who are helping turn the tide.
One of those individuals making a difference is Becky Lewis.
Lewis RN, MSN, CIC, is the system director of infection prevention for INTEGRIS, Oklahoma’s largest health system.
This virus has affected us all in different ways: personally, professionally and emotionally.
In Becky’s own words:
I see my family less and work more.
It is necessary but it is hard.
My five-year-old asks me when the sickness will be gone and my almost two-year-old cries when I come home because he knows that means it’s time to go to bed.
I come home and immediately start looking at any new common guidance documents from the CDC and the like to see if there were any revisions or updates overnight.
Every day I identify three to five items to focus on and work toward providing recommendations or guidance for each and relay that information to the system. The amount of updated or new information to digest is astounding.
I am currently on day 49 of non-stop COVID work. I am tired to my bones but know what I am doing is necessary and important work. I am working to keep our patients and caregivers safe.
I worry about the fear factor for our teams on the front line and the misinformation that can feel stronger than science.
My first week on the job as an infection preventionist was during H1N1 and it was wild, but we didn’t have the same social media presence that we do now and it is a strong element to work with and around.

Paul H. and Evelyn Bourne were the first two COVID-19 patients to require hospitalization at INTEGRIS Canadian Valley Hospital in Yukon. The married couple came to the hospital together, both were listed in critical condition and both required intubation to breathe.
Six weeks later, we are happy to announce that both are making progress.
Evelyn, who was transferred to another hospital, was taken off of the ventilator today (Wednesday, April 29) and is showing improvement. While Paul is headed to INTEGRIS Jim Thorpe Rehabilitation.
The 71-year-old spent 11 days on a ventilator, a total of 23 days in the hospital and then another 15 days in a long-term acute care facility. But today, he got one step closer to going home. Here is the emotional send-off.
Paul is expected to spend approximately 14 days at INTEGRIS Jim Thorpe working to regain his strength and coordination. We hope Evelyn will soon follow his lead. It’s stories like these that keep our caregivers going. This is what makes our job worthwhile.

by Nick Thomas

While most of us will be remembering mothers on May 10 this year, entertainers who worked as child actors in television sitcoms may also have special memories of their ‘TV mom.’ For Paul Petersen, that was Oscar winner Donna Reed, matriarch from “The Donna Reed Show.”

“It’s kind of an archival look back at an iconic television show,” said Petersen who, like Reed, appeared in all 275 episodes during the series run from 1958 to 1966. “I wanted the book to not only examine the people who made the show, but to put television in the historical context of the period. During the 8 years, we went through a lot including illnesses, accidents, and national incidents from that era.”
One of the most memorable was the 1963 Kennedy assassination.
“We were rehearsing and a guy from the radio station across the street called with a real quiver in his voice asking for Donna,” said Petersen who remembers answering the phone. “Donna then told us the president had been shot and it shut down the studio. We just packed up and went home for a very painful weekend.”
Most of Petersen’s memories of the show are far more pleasant, however, like the first day filming on the set.
“Donna was from a little town in Iowa called Denison, in the county right next to where my mother was born around the same year,” he explained. “When I got the job, the most excited person in my family was my grandfather who insisted on taking me to work to film the pilot. He marched right up to Donna and said, ‘Donna Belle Mullenger (her birth name) I knew your dad!’”
Reed was gracious, and remained personable and well-liked throughout the series, according to Petersen. “We all got together for lunch and were very close – uniquely close compared to other television families.”
A potentially tragic incident occurred when Paul crashed his Pontiac Grand Prix during the series. But Donna came to his rescue.
“The accident was my fault and for punishment I had to ride a bicycle 8 miles to work every day. But Donna and Tony (her husband) felt sorry for me and gave me a brand-new Volkswagen Bug. I loved that car!”
During the show’s run, Petersen obviously called Reed ‘mom’ while filming, but it was always ‘Miss Reed’ away from the set.
“It wasn’t until four years after the show ended when I was in my mid-20s and we were at Chasen’s restaurant that I remember her learning across the table and saying, ‘Paul, I think it’s time you started calling me Donna!’”
Having a close ‘second mom,’ especially a famous one, could have created friction between Petersen’s real mother and the actress.
“I remember in an interview my mother said, ‘how could I ever compete with Donna Reed?’ But she understood I had an ongoing professional relationship with Donna that sometimes required spending more time with her than my actual mother.”
“Donna was my de facto mother and guardian on the set, a pretty safe person to leave your kids with,” added Petersen. “She was an Iowa bred farm girl, the oldest of five children, who had lived through the depression and came out to California to be a Hollywood star and succeeded. She was a wonderful role model.”
In 2018 for the anniversary of the show’s first broadcast, Petersen (and coauthor Deborah Herman) released “The Donna Reed Show: A Pictorial Memoir” (see www.micropublishingmedia.com).

Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery and has written features, columns, and interviews for over 800 newspapers and magazines. See getnickt.org.

Stride Bank has managed to secure over 400 SBA PPP loans and saved an estimated 6,407 jobs

The staff at Stride Bank has been working around the clock for weeks now to ensure local businesses are approved for the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection
Program loans. The funds may have run out for the initial phase of the program, but Stride isn’t slowing down their efforts any time soon.
As the federal government works to provide a second wave of SBA PPP funding, Stride Bank is putting in the extra effort to ensure anyone left out of phase one funding will find relief with phase two.
So far, throughout this process, Stride Bank has managed to secure over 400 SBA PPP loans, provided over $59 million in potentially forgivable funds and saved an estimated 6,407 jobs.
When asked how Stride has managed to secure so much funding and ensure the approval of so many loans, Kevin Guarnera, the leader of Stride Bank’s dedicated SBA team, responded, “We’ve been a part of our community for over 100 years. We’re not about to quit on anyone now. Local small businesses are in trouble, and they’ve been thrown a lifeline. It’s our job to make sure as many small businesses as possible secure that lifeline and find safety.”
Guarnera and his team have been sought out by others in the industry as the experts on getting these loans approved quickly and efficiently. By understanding the guidelines inside and out and working overtime to get applications processed, the team at Stride has helped numerous local businesses find that lifeline.
“When you’re a part of a community, you protect it and everyone in it. We won’t stop until this is over,” added Guarnera.
Founded in 1913, Stride Bank is an Oklahoma-based financial institution that holds over $800 million in assets.
Offering a full range of financial services such as consumer and commercial banking, mortgage, wealth management, and treasury management, we have also developed and currently manage highly specialized payment solutions for several national fintech companies. While we are unwavering in our pursuit to continue innovating and offering new financial solutions, we will always remain loyal to our community banking roots in Oklahoma. We have branches throughout Oklahoma in Enid, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Bartlesville, Blackwell, Woodward, and Mooreland. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Learn more at www.stridebank.com.
Debbie Blacklock is the Senior Vice President and Manager of the Stride Bank Healthcare Division. Founded in 1913, Stride Bank is a full-service, Oklahoma-owned-and-operated financial institution with offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Bartlesville, Enid, Woodward, Mooreland, and Blackwell. As an industry leader throughout the U.S. in real-time, next-generation payments, Stride Bank provides mobile banking and a full spectrum of Treasury Management Services. The Stride Bank Healthcare Division provides loans and other financial solutions for senior housing, long-term care, specialty hospitals, surgery centers, physicians, dentists, and other ambulatory healthcare providers. Debbie has 21 years of commercial banking experience in Oklahoma with over nine years in the healthcare space. Stride Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.

Publisher’s Note: Upon finding out our local financial institution was not able to secure SBA loans, we were forced to look elsewhere. Because we “were not a customer of theirs,” three other banks refused to even look at our application for the PPP loan. Fortunately, we made contact with Stride Bank, who worked diligently to secure our PPP even though we were not currently a customer. This publication does not generally recommend or endorse one business over another, but Stride Bank won our respect. A special thanks to Debbie Blacklock, Senior Vice President, Manager of Healthcare Banking at Stride Bank, N.A. for her hard work. OKNT recommends Stride Bank to our Healthcare Friends. VISIT US AT: https://stridebank.com/