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

While at press time we are under travel and destination restrictions, I find it comforting to revisit past travel and dining experiences, like this one in South Florida.
Often the best part of visiting a destination is splurging for an upscale gourmet meal, or two. This is the case in Miami Florida where the ambiance, service and ultimate perfect meal comes together with the BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort Hotel and dinning at the infamous South Beach Gianni Versace Villa.
Sometimes the simplest of menu items, if prepared to perfection, can be the memory you take away from a destination city. The BLT Prime at the National Doral Resort’s Filet Mignon is a prime example. Despite the Miami August heat dining outside overlooking the Big Monster golf course can be elegant for sipping your pre dinner cocktail, but soon you may want to move in to the elegant dining room with a more comfortable temperature. Sometimes the mind over thinks the body’s own thermostat and you have to concede to air condition comfort.
You might think a good prime filet with accompanying sides, is not a complicated gourmet challenge, but when prepared with skill it can be an over the top savory satisfaction. This is the case at the BLT Prime.
On another upscale over the top luxury experience, book a dinner or two at the exclusive, but accessible Villa Versace in the middle of popular South Beach. There are two dining areas in this infamous home of fashion and style designer Gianni Versace. If you are staying at any of the affordable South Beach icon Art Deco hotels, it is a pleasant stroll down Ocean Drive, either on the less traveled Eastern ocean park side, or if you prefer to dodge dinners at the many outside bumped out tables on the Western side. Needless to say Ocean Drive is always a traffic lover’s delight, and in the evening even more so where many come just to drive by the pastel colored lights illuminating classic art décor architecture.
The mansion was officially named Casa Casuarina for more than a decade, where it first operated as a private club and then as a boutique hotel. It reopened in 2013 under new management. Locals still refer to it as ‘the Versace mansion’.
It is reported that Versace bought a neglected three-story, Mediterranean-style home, originally built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, and a dilapidated hotel next door in 1992 and spent $33m on renovations.
To add to the villa’s notoriety Versace was shot dead on its front steps by serial killer Andrew Cunanan in 1997. The 10-suite Villa by Barton G boasts a 54-foot ‘thousand mosaic’ swimming pool lined in 24-carat gold, which was designed by Versace.
You will be met by the guard at the street side gate and then you may announce yourself to your hostess coming out of the main entrance. You will be invited to sit in the patio area, a formality even though you have previously made your dining reservations which are strictly required. You will be told no cameras are allowed and so you are instructed to check such at the reception desk. Cel phone cameras are currently allowed although standard cameras are not. In time you are escorted to your table, past an elaborate interior courtyard with fountain and past the intimate cocktail bar. By now you know you are somewhere special.
The interior dining room is almost oppressive with its intricate walls of rock and tile mosaics. The mood is brooding and your fellow room diners explode your imagination when you conger up what might be their history. The outside terrace overlooking the Roman villa styled pool and cabana area is the delight of South Beach. You almost hate to order your meal in anticipation of its finish and your need to leave. Again a perfect beef filet is an exquisite choice. If you are offered a dinner salad to start off, be warned the size is gigantic and so is the variety of greens.
A Martini toast to Gianni and this Villa is a must, to pay tribute to a man of means and his open to the dining public of his South Beach Villa. While an upscale dining experience may not be in your travel budget, but is there a price for an over the top memory you recall year after year? Our own grand dining memories are a comfort in this time of restrictions.
For more information and updates visit: http://vmmiamibeach.com/

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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Incoming college freshmen, fresh people, first years, plebes or whatever name you give yourselves, let me say I’m as nervous as you are.
But for entirely different reasons.
You anguish over the possibility that your first semester, perhaps your first year, of college will be conducted virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Rather than hanging out in dorm rooms, meeting new friends and walking with those friends to lecture halls filled with fellow students, you’ll be forced to sit, alone, in your childhood bedrooms, watching professors drone on about American literature, African history and God knows what from God knows where.
Not exactly the college experience you were hoping for, correct? Raise your hand if you want to pledge a virtual sorority and attend an online keg party?
While some schools are determined to open this fall — so far, it’s full speed ahead for the University of Iowa — other schools are wavering. California State University, the nation’s largest four-year, public university system, announced all 23 of its campuses would remain empty for the start of the 2020 term.
On a more alarming note, Harvard Medical School has made the same decision. This fall first year students in its medical, dental and graduate programs will be learning the basics of their crafts virtually. Which is precisely why I’m so nervous.
Wouldn’t you be? Knowing your future heart surgeon, orthopedist or endodontist may have acquired his or her, uh, skills, via Zoom?
As I write this column, I hearken back to my first year at Northwestern University, where I learned the rudimentary skills of journalism, including how to correctly use words like “hearken” and “rudimentary.” The adrenaline rush I felt as a class full of budding journalists pounded out story after story in hopes our work would be finished before our professor yelled, “TIME!” provided a taste of the deadline pressures I faced daily in my first newspaper job. When my editor screamed, “Schwem, I needed that copy five minutes ago,” from across the newsroom, I knew he was serious.
Were that same editor to scream at me from a small window on a computer screen, I probably would have clicked “mute” and kept writing, oblivious to time constraints.
Now imagine undergoing an operation and seeing not a team of medical personnel, but a lone physician staring down at you.
While trying to connect to a Zoom meeting.
I hope the anesthesia kicks in quickly, so I don’t have to hear the following dialogue:
“Hello everybody. Dr. Linden here. We are set to perform bypass surgery on male patient Schwem. I’m excited to be working with all of you. I just realized we all went to Harvard. How cool! Is everybody on? Nurse O’Malley?”
“I’m here.”
“Nurse, turn your phone horizontally so you get a wider view of the patient’s heart. There you go. Is the surgical tech on?”
“I’m here. Hang on, let me shut my office door so my dog doesn’t interrupt.”
“Please hurry. We’ve already started the anesthesia. Maybe I should have initiated the meeting first. My bad.”
“Doctor, can you move closer to your computer’s microphone? I didn’t hear the last part of that sentence.”
“I said, ‘My bad.’”
“What? What’s bad.”
“Never mind. OK, I’m going to make the first incision. Can everybody see?”
“You need to screen share, Doctor.”
“Stand by. Better?”
“Much.”
“Doctor, I’m looking at the monitor behind you. It appears the patient’s heart rhythm is falling.”
“No, I just checked. It’s fine. Maybe you need to adjust your screen resolution.”
“Stand by.”
“Doctor, from what I’m seeing, it seems the patient is losing a large amount of blood.”
“I concur. But I’ve got it under control. We all learned about blood transfusions at Harvard, right? Well, we learned it virtually but at least we learned it.”
“Virtual blood transfusions. Awesome class!”
“Oh no, I’ve lost him.”
“Who? The patient?”
“No, the surgical tech. Can you ping him and get him to dial back in?”
“Stand by.”
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)

You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

Dear Savvy Senior, All this horrible coronavirus carnage got me thinking about my own end-of-life decisions if I were to get sick. Can you recommend some good resources that can help me create a living will or advance directive, or other pertinent documents? I’ve put it off long enough. Almost 70

Dear Almost,
Creating a living will (also known as an advance directive) is one of those things most people plan to do, but rarely get around to actually doing. Only about one-third of Americans currently have one. But the cold hard reality of the novel coronavirus may be changing that. Here’s what you should know along with some resources to help you create an advance directive.
Advance Directives
To adequately spell out your wishes regarding your end-of-life medical treatment are two key documents: A “living will” which tells your doctor what kind of care you want to receive if you become incapacitated, and a “health care power of attorney” (or health care proxy), which names a person you authorize to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to.
These two documents are known as an “advance directive,” and will only be utilized if you are too ill to make medical decisions yourself. You can also change or update it whenever you please.
It isn’t necessary to hire a lawyer to prepare an advance directive. There are free or low-cost resources available today to help you create one, and it takes only a few minutes from start to finish.
One that I highly recommend that’s completely free to use is My Directives (MyDirectives.com). This is an online tool and mobile app that will help you create, store and share a detailed, customized digital advance directive. Their easy-to-use platform combines eight thoughtful questions to guide you through the process. If you’re not computer savvy, ask a family member or trusted friend to help you.
The advantage of having a digital advance directive versus a paper document is being able to access it quickly and easily via smartphone, which is crucial in emergency situations when they’re most often needed.
If, however, you’d rather have a paper document, one of the best do-it-yourself options is the Five Wishes advance directive (they offer online forms too). Created by Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit advocacy organization, Five Wishes costs $5, and is available in many languages. To learn more or to receive a copy, visit FiveWishes.org or call 850-681-2010.
Another tool you should know about that will compliment your advance directive is the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST (sometimes called Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or MOLST). A POLST form translates your end-of-life wishes into medical orders to be honored by your doctors. To learn more about your state’s program or set one up, see POLST.org.
Readers should also know that if you’ve already prepared an advanced directive paper document, a POLST form or the VA advance directive form 10-0137, you can upload, store and share these documents too at MyDirectives.com.
And finally, to ensure your final wishes are followed, make sure to tell your family members, health care proxy and doctors. If you make a digital advance directive or have uploaded your existing forms, you can easily share them electronically to everyone involved. Or, if you make a paper advance directive that isn’t uploaded, you should provide everyone copies to help prevent stress and arguments later.
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.

Gerald Jaquith lived a frugal, unassuming life. A math teacher who’d retired from Ringwood High School, he was still driving the Ford truck he’d bought in 1986 when he died last summer in an accident on his Waynoka farm at the age of 78.
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation officials were recently surprised to learn that Jaquith, who’d given OMRF approximately $7,500 over a period of 33 years, had made the Oklahoma City nonprofit the sole beneficiary of his estate. They were stunned when they discovered the estate totaled more than $2 million in assets.
Jaquith never told John Meinders, his long-time attorney, why he chose OMRF as his beneficiary, but the Woodward lawyer suspects it stems from his client’s loss of his brother and parents to heart disease.
“Gerald was a man with vision and a strict set of values. He always wanted to help other people,” said Meinders.
Jaquith grew up in rural Woods County, on land that his family settled around the time of the Land Run. Jaquith helpied his father tend nearly 1,000 acres of land, where the family grew wheat and raised cattle.
After college, Jaquith made his way to Texas and New Mexico, teaching high school math in both places. But when his father and brother passed away, he returned to western Oklahoma in 1984 to help his mother run the farm.
Jaquith continued teaching math in the Shattuck and Ringwood schools, encouraging his charges to head to college and expand their horizons, much as he had.
Mark Dickinson, a friend who helped Jaquith tend his farm for many years, described Jaquith as “a good-natured, everyday kind of person, the type of guy who would stop to help someone broken down on the side of the road.”
Dickinson said he wasn’t surprised when he learned his friend had left his estate to charity. “He was kind-hearted about everything he did.”
After Jaquith’s passing, OMRF Senior Director of Development Sonny Wilkinson visited Jaquith’s farm.
There, Wilkinson found the remains of a life lived simply and frugally: Tinkerbell, the dwarf cow with a crippled leg Jaquith had chosen to keep as a pet; a cache of family photos; a collection of farm equipment he used to tend the land that had been in his family for generations.
Atop a stack of documents and a neatly folded pair of new overalls on the kitchen table, Wilkinson also discovered a copy of OMRF’s 2015 annual report.
Meinders sold Jaquith’s farm to a neighbor and is still in the process of liquidating the remainder of his assets, which also included savings accounts and bonds. When the process is complete, Meinders estimates OMRF will receive more than $2 million from the estate.
Because Jaquith did not designate the gift to any particular type of research, the donation can be used to fund areas of OMRF research where they’re needed most. OMRF scientists work on projects affecting a wide range of illnesses, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
“We’ll never know exactly why Mr. Jaquith decided to help OMRF, but we’re extremely grateful he did,” said Wilkinson. “I only wish I’d had a chance to meet him and to say thank you.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenge to everyone. For many, the boredom and loneliness of staying home, away from family, friends and co-workers, has been the worst part. The members of the Edmond Quilt Guild have seen it as an opportunity to help their community.
Judy Elliott, EQG’s president, first received a request for cloth masks from a local hospital on March 20th. In early April, EQG board members shared instructions for face masks on the Guild’s website and spread an appeal via social media and emails to their members. By April 6th, they produced and distributed 266 masks to 6 different groups. By April 13, 1462 masks had been donated to 15 organizations. On May 3rd, the total was 2895. On May 17th, the count was up to 4225.
EQG has donated face masks to 22 organizations – mostly in Oklahoma but as far away as Texas and New York. They were donated to hospitals – OK Heart, OU, Mercy, St Anthony’s, and VA. They went to Edmond Fire and Police departments and Edmond Public Schools. Some masks went to churches, doctors’ offices, home health agencies, a Masonic Lodge, nursing homes, and the OKC Zoo Primate House.
Donated masks worn by staff at Bradford Village.
The masks were made by 66 members and 9 non-members. One member commented that making masks was like eating peanuts – Once you start, it’s hard to stop. Many noted that they had plenty of time and fabric and were happy to contribute both to the effort.
For more information about EQG and their community efforts – please see http://www.edmondquiltguild.us/

Story and photos by Darl DeVault

Recent retiree Rob Walker, 64, wants to share the concept that social distancing is an automatic added benefit of learning to kayak while exploring Oklahoma’s many places to get on the water. He explains that the flow of any river, the currents and the variations in any lake enforces social distancing. >From this, he insists seniors who take up the sport of kayaking are assured a COVID-19 safe recreational outing.
“Social distancing comes with the territory when you’re kayaking because you cannot get that close to each other without intending to get close to each other,” Edmond resident Walker said. “And certainly, if you are on one of Oklahoma’s rivers the current is such a variable that you have to consciously work to get within social distance of someone, making it safe to have a wonderful outing on the water.”
Oklahoma’s 1,231 square miles of water provide new senior paddle sport enthusiasts with plenty of safe opportunities for recreation. Paddle sport insiders say our state’s 78,603 miles of rivers entice senior kayakers to become outdoor enthusiasts.
Although magazine and television ads often portray sea and whitewater kayaking, Oklahoma has none of the former and little of the latter. Flatwater kayaking (also called recreational kayaking) with wide, lightweight plastic touring boats, dominates in Oklahoma.
A new generation of these wider, inexpensive flatwater kayaks with dynamic control and lightweight construction is fueling a paddle sport explosion. With the control and balance provided by these smaller, wider boats, many seniors have been enticed to try the sport.
With the COVID-19 pandemic requiring people to be six feet away from each other even in a recreational setting, safety on the water is now a plus. The need for social distancing means that for seniors kayaking is one of the safest forms of exercise.
Overall safety is also determined by other things that go on each day like the weather and the river flow rate seniors might be on or the conditions in a lake.
“I advise anyone planning to kayak or canoe to first go online to the many web sites detailing flow conditions and weather predictions,” said Larry Floyd, Surrey Hill outdoorsman and hiking book author. “With the demand placed on our rivers by the large number of paddlers in Oklahoma many organizations help us float safe by monitoring flow rates and weather conditions.”
This kayak boom is accompanied by growing scientific analysis of river conditions that make the sport safer than ever. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service data is presented and interpreted on numerous Web sites that give the paddler plenty of information to plan a safe trip. A link to the main site is: https://water.weather.gov/ahps/ The weather service provides this info to help promote its weather awareness activities.
Walker says fellow seniors who bicycle catch on to the effortless balance and the instant feedback provided by the new generation wider kayaks. He says many comment on how similar the two feelings are and yet one can relax more in a kayak when choosing to drift along with the river to admire the scenery.
The 60-mile section of the Illinois River near Tahlequah, where it flows nearly due west for its first 15 miles in Oklahoma until it joins Flint Creek, is a slow-moving place to relax according to Walker. He said you will find people in rubber rafts, canoes and kayaks traversing the river all summer. There the river ranges from 40 to 80 feet in width, with elms, maples, and oaks on the riverbank.
Recent technology has upgraded the quality and lowered the price of boats available to the recreational kayaker, while providing great kayaking opportunities for those of all ages, shapes, abilities, and fitness levels. As newcomers to the sport, many seniors enjoy the stability and ease of boarding these wider recreational boats.
Seniors can easily find out if they enjoy kayaking by renting one for a few hours. Flat Tide Paddleboard Rentals puts you on the water in kayaks and paddleboards at the northeast corner of Lake Overholser near the Route 66 Bridge on the weekends. Nearby RIVERSPORT at Overholser also rents all paddle sport recreational craft.
Seniors can use their kayaks on local lakes, ponds, rivers, or Class II streams. Most kayaks have a variety of uses such as weekend, full week, or longer self-supported river trips.
Many seniors are attracted to these new generation boats ranging from sit-on-tops to open-cockpit tandems. The closed-cockpit singles seen on Oklahoma lakes and rivers are generally shorter and wider (27-30 inches) than the standard expedition-style (20-25 inches). This makes them easy to maneuver and more stable. This feeling of being in control while gliding effortlessly through the water provides even the newbie senior the confidence to take a spin on flat water.
Some of these wider for seniors kayaks can be seen online at this link: https://kayakmanual.com/best-kayaks-for-senior-citizens/
Other seniors are buying kayaks for fishing platforms, with many seen seriously fishing from a kayak on Oklahoma water. “Fishing is one of the strongest segments of all of kayaking,” Floyd said. “Recreational kayak fishing is huge in Oklahoma with many different types and styles of fishing kayaks – whether you want sit on top or sit in the kayak.”
With all the major boat builders offering Web sites with tours of their products, one can comparison shop like never before. Shoppers should review the weight and features of many boats before purchasing. Again, stressing safety, everyone should wear a PFD (personal floatation device or lifejacket) on the water.
The Oklahoma River in downtown Oklahoma City is a boon to recreational kayaking. Organizers have created RIVERSPORT at the Chesapeake Boathouse to rent equipment and provide instruction to paddlers interested in kayaking and a wide variety of paddle sports such as stand up paddle boarding, whitewater kayaking and dragon boating.

Story by Darl DeVault

Oklahoma and the nation lost one of its best leaders March 28, with the passing of Dr. Tom Coburn (R), former U.S. representative (1995-2001) and senator (2005-2015) from Oklahoma at 72. With the nation locked down and absorbed with the COVID-19 crisis, not near enough has been said and written to commemorate this fiscal conservative leader’s passing.
A medical doctor for decades before heading to Congress, Coburn probably would have offered some good insight into our current pandemic. His office blistered the Center for Disease Control in a 2007 report, which highlighted lavish spending by the CDC and a lack of accountability for its core mission of controlling disease. That report is still available as a PDF at this link: https://www.menshealthnetwork.org/library/CDCoffcenter.pdf.
The CDC was just one of the many government agencies and programs to draw fire from this taxpayers’ watchdog. But Coburn spent his final years on another project that many Oklahomans are unaware of —working to get the required 34 states to petition Congress for an Article V amendments convention to propose needed changes to the U.S. Constitution.
Related to this project, I had the privilege to meet “Doctor Coburn” (his preferred title rather than “Senator”) at his home in Tulsa in 2018. As a volunteer, I drove with a friend to deliver several hundred copies of his final book, Smashing the DC Monopoly. He autographed them for our mailing and delivery to state legislators who had not passed the petition for the convention in numerous states. He was generous with his time to autograph the books and to distribute the books free of charge to those state leaders around the country. It was an in-depth way for him to advocate for action.
The Constitution provides for amendments by delegates at a convention of states once the necessary 34 states have petitioned Congress. Currently, 15 state legislatures (including Oklahoma) have passed resolutions for this petition.
Coburn’s book on diffusing the centralized power of Washington politicians dovetailed with his final efforts as Senior Advisor for the Convention of States Project. The project was started by Citizens for Self Governance to push for an Article V convention of states to restrict federal power. Article V is a little known and never used provision in the Constitution that allows the states to make amendments to it. It takes 38 states to ratify any amendments that are proposed.
I was struck by how much the Tom Coburn I met in person was so much like the leader we saw in the media for 20 years or more. No pretentions or airs from Dr. Coburn; what you saw was what you got — whether speaking to the U.S. Senate or one-on-one with a first-time visitor to his home.
My foreign-made SUV caught his eye. He immediately put me at ease with small talk about my car choice. He talked about how imports have become so ubiquitous in America. He remarked that it was ironic that we were working together to help America while I was showing up in a Korean-made car.
On a later visit delivering more books to his home, I had the pleasure of meeting his wife, Carolyn. Her friendly manner matched her husband’s ability to put a guest at ease. Most Oklahomans have forgotten that Carolyn was Miss Oklahoma for 1967, just the year before she married her former high school sweetheart from Muskogee.
I was at our state capitol the day the resolution passed to create a petition for the amendments convention in the Oklahoma state legislature. Seeing our state leaders get involved motivated me to help support the distribution of the last book Coburn wrote.
The petitions for the convention include wording to limit spending by Congress, but also language for term limits on House and Senate members. Coburn had fought hard in his first House term to have this term-limit amendment proposed by Congress. He said he soon learned that most members of Congress prefer staying in power as long as possible and are unsupportive of this limiting legislation.
By 2014 Coburn had determined that Congress was too broken by career politicians and partisan politics to limit the out-of-control spending, overreach, and dysfunction in the federal government. He likened his attempts in the House and Senate to stop wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars to “pushing boulders up ice floes.” His frustration with the political system led to his resignation from the Senate in 2015, he said, more than his battle with cancer.
So along with battling cancer the last five years of his life, Coburn continued to fight against business-as-usual DC politics by promoting an Article V amendments convention of states. He said it was the only way—and he of all people would know.
I was fortunate to interact with him in his new role as citizen Tom Coburn. He spoke out, telling fellow citizens and politicians that he supported the Convention of States movement. He was still at work to try to fix our government so that it returned to an exoteric endeavor serving everyone, rather than an esoteric situation where elected representatives serve themselves.
Watching an online video of former Senator Coburn speaking last year at a Convention of States Action meeting he looked thinner. He appeared frailer than when I had met him, but he spoke clearly and powerfully about the continued need for an amendments convention of states. From his appearance, it was apparent he would not be with us much longer. But he was still battling for what he believed in at that meeting—just as he always had.
The book’s subtitle sums it up for Coburn: USING ARTICLE V to RESTORE FREEDOM and STOP RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT.

Coburn discusses the book in a short YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVGZ4Btdo-Q. It is for sale at Barnes & Noble and you can borrow it as an E-Book from the University of Oklahoma Libraries.

For a second year, The Toby Keith Foundation will be hosting The Fish Bowl at Lake Texoma on June 20, 2020. First place in the Bass division is $10,000 (based on 150 boats) and a $500 prize goes to the worst fishermen. “We are aware that many nonprofits have had to cancel their fundraising events during the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re no different,” said Juliet Nees-Bright, executive director of The Toby Keith Foundation. She added that they have also pushed back their largest annual fundraiser, The Toby Keith & Friends golf tournament to October 17, 2020. “We are beyond grateful and excited to have found ways to revise The Fish Bowl to ensure everyone’s safety and keep it on our schedule,” added Nees-Bright.
The Foundation’s goal is to keep the momentum of this event going through a difficult time and do everything in their power to keep the fishermen safe while they enjoy the tournament. The Captains meeting will not be mandatory this year and will only be for those who did not register online or send in their registration via mail. Another major safety measure includes a drive-thru weigh-in. Both the Captains meeting and weigh-in will be held at Rally Pavilion, Rooster Creek. Online registration is open until 6 p.m. on June 19th at https://www.tobykeithfoundation.org/news-events/. If you send in your entry by mail after June 1st, please contact the foundation office at (405) 271-6552 to confirm that they’ve received your paperwork. Proceeds from the event benefit OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for children battling cancer. Hundreds of children from across Oklahoma and surrounding states have stayed at OK Kids Korral while they are receiving cancer treatments. If you would like to know more about OK Kids Korral, please visit www.tobykeithfoundation.org.
“We are so grateful to the companies who supported us our first year and who have already signed on again this year amidst COVID-19,” said Nees-Bright. “Our sponsors are part of our family and they truly care about our Korral kids who are battling cancer.” Title sponsor is Precision Construction out of Oklahoma City and Florida. Other sponsors who signed on for a second year are: Bank7, AFR Insurance, Future Bass Team Trail, Vernon Auto Group and Keystone Broadcasting. The newest sponsorship addition growing the event is Applied Industrial Machining.
For more information about the event or to become a sponsor, call The Toby Keith Foundation at (405) 271-6552 or visit https://www.tobykeithfoundation.org/news-events/.

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Last fall, some 313,677 Oklahomans signed their name to a petition to put Medicaid expansion in our state to a vote of the people.
It was the largest signature mandate for any state question in Oklahoma history.
On June 30, all Okahomans will get the chance to weigh in on whether or not the state will take advantage of federal funding to help the most vulnerable in our state pay for healthcare.
Medicaid expansion through a yes vote on State Question 802 would help Oklahomans struggling to get by – like individuals making less than $17,000 a year or a family of three making less than $29,000.
People who would be covered by Medicaid expansion include parents who work hard at jobs that don’t offer insurance, seniors nearing retirement who have lost their healthcare, and Oklahomans who are trapped in the coverage gap –meaning they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford care on the insurance exchange.
Medicaid expansion provides a lifeline for Oklahoma families who are slipping through the cracks in our healthcare system and it halts the agonizing choice that too many families face when deciding if they can afford critical medical care.
“I think now – more than ever – Oklahomans understand that having healthcare is so critical,” said Amber England, campaign manager for Yes on 802, an advocacy group that has helped get the initiative on the ballot. “Too many Oklahomans find themselves in a position working two or three jobs trying to make ends meet but they have to make the decisions like ‘Do I buy groceries or medicine.’”
The Yes On 802 campaign began April 2019 to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot in 2020. It is supported by a growing coalition of Oklahoma doctors, nurses, patients, business executives, non-profit organizations, healthcare advocates and hospitals.
Voters from across the state participated in the signature collection during a 90-day period.
Thirty-six states have already expanded Medicaid, and billions of tax dollars are already going to those states. Last year, voters in Utah, Nebraska, and Idaho all approved Medicaid expansion.
Expanding Medicaid would bring more than a billion of our dollars back to Oklahoma every year. The money we pay in federal taxes now is already paying for healthcare in states like New York and California.
Oklahoma has the second highest uninsured rate in the U.S. at 19.7 percent. Among low income (<138% of the federal poverty level) adults, the uninsured rate is 32% in metro Oklahoma counties, and 38% in rural counties.
One in 12 Oklahoma children (below 200 percent of poverty) is uninsured (8.1%).
England explained expanding Medicaid allows the state to be reimbursed $9 for every $1 the state spends on Medicaid care.
“It’s not just the morally right thing to do but the fiscally right thing,” England said.
The Yes on 802 campaign was nearly halfway through its effort to offer 30 house parties in 30 days to inform voters of the state questions before social distancing interrupted the effort.
But the current global pandemic brought the issue into everyone’s homes.
“Oklahomans understand the value of healthcare more than ever,” England said. “Too many Oklahomans over the past two months have been personally impacted by this virus. Many have not had access to the care they need and I think it’s more personal to folks now.”
Proposition 802 will appear on the June 30 ballot.
If passed, the measure would add a requirement to the state Constitution mandating that it offer Medicaid coverage to qualifying working age people in Oklahoma no later than July 1, 2021
With current social distancing guidelines, England encourages voters to ensure they will be able to vote by requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to them.
The Oklahoma Hospital Association is an advocate in increasing Medicaid coverage in Oklahoma.
“This pandemic has really highlighted the need for increasing the number of Oklahomans with health insurance coverage and we’re still committed to seeing Medicaid expansion through to fruition. Now more than ever, hospitals need this coverage expansion in order to continue serving their communities,” said Patti Davis, president, Oklahoma Hospital Association.