Volume 6 Issue 6

NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

September Volume 14 Issue 9

THE NVH OBSERVER

N O R F O L K V E T E R A N S H O M E

From The Desk of Jerry Eisenhauer

NVH Administrator

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Home Happenings 2

New Members 3

In Remembrance 3

New Employees 4

Great Eclipse

Viewing

4

Member of the

Month

6

Pet Visit Reminder 6

Swear-in Ceremony 6

Governor:

Pete Ricketts

NEBRASKA

DEPARTMENT OF

Veterans’

AFFAIRS Director:

John Hilgert

Greetings, Norfolk Veterans Home celebrated our annual “Corn Days” August 7-11. The event was a huge success again this year, and our members were treated to everything from a creamed corn meal, corn auction and farmer’s breakfast. The staff corn eating contest was changed to a watermelon eat-ing contest this year. I managed to win the completion in the second round due to a three way tie. The members were polled as to who had voted for which staff member they thought would win the contest and only three vi-sionary members had cast their vote for me! It was a lot of fun. Our won-derful volunteers came through with flying colors and our staff did a great job of making sure our members were able to attend all the events they wanted to participate in. Kari Calvillo, Assistant Director of Nursing has been hired as our new Clini-cal Nurse Trainer, taking over for Bev Anderson who retired at the end of July. Congratulations to Kari and Best Wishes to Bev. The Annual Nebraska State Employee Charitable Giving Campaign kicks off a little later than usual this year, but will take place September 5th through September 27th. NVH employee’s past generosity has set the bar very high but we are hoping to set a new contribution record this year. NVH has already held a few fund raisers prior to the official kickoff. Many thanks to this year’s Charitable Giving Chairs, Linda Sparr and Vicki Barg. As state employees, we recognize the importance of providing quality service to our communities and the Charitable Giving Campaign is just one way our em-ployees go the extra step to make our communities a better place to live in. Hope you enjoy a great Labor Day and we look forward to seeing you. Sincerely,

Jerry Eisenhauer Administrator

State of Nebraska Vision:

Grow Nebraska

State of Nebraska – Mission:

Create opportunity through more

effective, more

efficient,

and customer focused

state government

Members celebrated CORN WEEK at NVH Aug. 7th to 11th. Activities included corn shuck-ing, a cream can supper, cheering on staff at a watermelon eating competition (way to go Jerry Eisenhauer on your win), a Corn Auction and an old fashioned Farmers Breakfast.

Thanks to all who joined in on the fun!

H o m e H a p p e n i n g s

P a g e 2 M E M B E R S L I V I N G W E L L

Interested in Volunteer Opportunities at NVH? - Contact Sheila Kube at

Phone: (402) 370-3102 - E-Mail: Sheila.kube@nebraska.gov

H o r s e R a c e o u t i n g

P a g e 3

V o l u m e 1 4 I s s u e 9

S A L U T E O U R N E W M E M B E R S N O R F O L K V E T E R A N S H O M E W E L C O M E S Y O U

Norbert Deitloff Branch of Service: U.S. Army

Hometown: Norfolk, NE

In Remembrance of Those

Members Who Have Passed. Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory,

nor engraved stone bear record of their deed, yet will their re-

membrance be as lasting as the land they honored.

~Daniel Webster

Marvin Johnson

Richard Peterson

Richard Peterson Branch of Service: U.S. Air Force

Hometown: Columbus, NE

The Norfolk Veterans Home is a state-operated facility

providing long term care for eligible Nebraska veterans.

For more information regarding

admission, please contact your

local County Service Officer or

Kari Calvillo @ (402) 370—3109

or

Colleen Benson @ (402) 370-3469

Raymond Jacobsen Branch of Service: U.S. Navy

Hometown: Winside, NE

Dale & Lucille Kieckhofer Branch of Service: U.S. Army

Hometown: Norfolk, NE

P a g e 4 M E M B E R S L I V I N G W E L L

N e w E m p l o y e e s

Abigail Wright

Position: Staff Care Tech II

Julie Nelson

Position: LPN Paige Robinson

Position: Staff Care Tech II

Hannah Pritchett

Position: Staff Care Tech II

Debra Thompsen

Position: Staff Care Tech II

Melissa McFarland

Position: Staff Care Tech II

G r e a t E c l i p s e V i e w i n g 2 0 1 7

NVH members and staff view the total eclipse. What made this eclipse extra special is that it is the first time since the total solar eclipse of January 11, 1880 that occurred over the continental United States—no other country saw it in it’s totality, though many countries saw a partial eclipse of the Sun.

V o l u m e 1 4 I s s u e 9

P a g e 5

M e m b e r o f t h e M o n t h

J a m e s K e n t

B Y : L i z D a v i s

Bits & Pieces

CENSUS

135

Special

Occasion

Room

Reservations:

Call Activities @

(402) 370-3330

Join A Member

For a Meal

Only $2.50

24 Hr. Notice

Please

James (“Jim”) Kent was born Jan-uary 15, 1935, in Norfolk, Nebras-ka. He grew up on the family farm in Tilden with his younger brother and two younger sisters. Jim at-tended high school in Norfolk be-cause of the agricultural classes offered. While attending high school, he was the student man-ager for the basketball team. He graduated in 1952.

He was drafted into the Army at the age of 23. He got

his basic training at Fort Hood in Texas in January 1958 and then was sent to Germany. His job was driving an armored personnel full track vehicle. He served from January 1958 to December 1959. Jim was in Germany at the same time as Elvis Presley albeit in a different unit. However, there was a time when Jim was on a field maneuver and he saw Elvis. While stationed in Germany, Jim was able to travel around Europe on leave. He especially enjoyed visiting Rome, Italy. Jim achieved the rank of Specialist 4th Class. He was discharged from the Army in December 1959. After his Army service, Jim began his college career in Norfolk and later at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricul-tural Education. With his degree, Jim taught agriculture for two years at Clarkson high school and three years at Norfolk. On September 9, 1961, Jim married Cathy Corkle, a girl he had known from Til-den who had lived just a few miles away from the Kent family farm and belonged to the same 4-H Club. Jim and Cathy have three children (Tom, Ellen, and Bri-an). They have seven grandchildren ranging from ages 30 to 5. Jim and Cathy made their home in Tilden, Nebraska, where Jim worked in farm management and later owned a farm store. He also served on Tilden’s City Council for approxi-mately four years. He worked for the USDA in Knox County as a loan officer for 16 years. He retired in 2001 at the age of 66. Jim and Cathy moved to Norfolk on September 11, 2001. They were busy unpacking and did not know of the terror attacks until they went out for a bite to eat. Jim’s love of baseball began as a young man when he played for the Tilden town team. He later went on to umpire baseball for 30 years. He followed the career of fellow hometown boy, Richie Ashburn, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and is in the Hall of Fame. His favorite team, however, is the New York Yankees. Jim has had the opportunity to attend baseball games at several teams’ home stadiums including Kansas City Royals, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the New York Mets, as well as Yankee Stadium (both the old and new stadiums). After retirement, Jim and Cathy traveled around the U. S. visiting Yellowstone National Park, the Black Hills, Utah national parks, and the Grand Canyon. Their greatest travel memory is their trip to Ireland. Jim likes the activities offered at NVH and says the staff treats him well. His ad-vice is to “stay in school, education is important.”

Jim and Cathy on their

wedding day.

NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

EOE/AA/ADA Norfolk Veteran Home 600 E. Benjamin Ave.

Norfolk, NE 68701 Phone: (402)370-3330

Norfolk Veterans’ Home Observer is published monthly for the members, families, staff and other interested parties.

On Thursday, August 3 Norfolk Veterans’ Home staff and members had the unique opportunity of hosting the Oath of en-listment of the Rev. Christopher Bucklew into the US Air Force Reserves. Rev. Bucklew was sworn in by Chaplain Mike Moreno, LCMS who is currently doing an internship at Norfolk Veteran's Home. Rev. Bucklew will go into the Air Force Reserves as a First LT. Rev. Bucklew currently serves at Zion Lutheran Church of Plainview, Nebraska.

Pastor Bucklew accompanied by his wife Jennifer and three children; Andrew, Joseph and Lydia.

Chaplain Mike Moreno welcomes Rev. Bucklew and his family into the military after performing the offi-cial act of swearing Rev. Buklew into the United States Air Force Reserves.

Local Pastor Participates in Swear-In Ceremony

Reminder All pets need to have their vaccinations up to date with a copy on file at the front desk. We love to have our pets visit and we don’t want to have to turn them away because of not having prop-er documentation.