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'An Evening for Hospice' raises more than $27,000
Harvesting hope, healing and harmony evoked both laughter and tears Sunday evening during the ninth annual "An Evening for Hospice" auction.
Poignant recollections of angels in the snow and the last words of a dying child stilled the crowd of more than 100 when Terri Shipshock, executive director of Community Hospital Health Foundation and Jonathan Krutz, director of the Nebraska Hospice and Palliative Care Partnership, shared personal reflections of the benefits of hospice care. Terry Peterson, whose wife, Donna, succumbed to cancer in 2003, and Cathy Nichols, clinical nurse manager Hospice and Home Health, also addressed the gathering.
Laughter later filled the Community Room at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds at the verbal antics of world champion auctioneer Joe Frazier and ringman Cal Siegfried. The duo worked the crowd with seasoned skill, raising more than $27,000 for hospice services at Community Hospital.
Approximately 70 percent of Nebraskans polled indicated that, given a choice, they would prefer to die at home, free of pain, surrounded by family and loved ones. According to Krutz, less than one in five will.
Hospice is still a relatively new concept and is only available to those who meet specific criteria, Krutz explained, and does not yet adequately address the chronically ill, those who have debilitating and deadly diseases that will undoubtedly end in death, but without a predictable timetable.
But for those whom Hospice is approved -- once its mission is understood -- the care, the expertise and the support, are most welcome.
"When the doctors told us that medicine had done everything it could for my 33-year-old niece," Shipshock said, "Hospice wasn't a welcome word at all. Surely, there was more we could do."
But as the family began to understand the gravity of the situation and discovered what hospice offered, they embraced it with open arms.
"They took away the responsibility for Michelle's care," she explained, "Freeing the family to love her, to spend precious time with her before she died."
Michelle died on a cold, wintry day, Shipshock continued, and hospice workers joined the family in the snow outside of the hospice facility, to make snow angels to honor Michelle's life.
"Tonight," she said, " we raise funds for hospice so that people can have dignity in death and others can make angels in the snow."
Krutz shared a fresh memory of a family elsewhere in Nebraska whose young son was dying of a terminal disease. Hospice came in and "allowed them to be parents again," he explained. Because of hospice and the care given, he died at home, without pain and with his parents there to ease his passing as he roused himself one last time to tell them, "I see Jesus."
Hospice, Krutz explained, reaches beyond medicine. Hospice workers come alongside and are able to better explain what is happening, what to expect and what to do.
"It helps to prepare everyone for life's end," he said, "It helps everyone to be able to say 'I forgive you' or 'I love you."
Bereavement support is part of what hospice offers as well, explained Terry Peterson as he addressed the crowd. "Every couple of months I would receive a brochure," Peterson said, "They helped me deal with all of the 'firsts' in that first year after Donna died."
Cathy Nichols expressed her gratitude for the funds raised during Evening for Hospice, explaining that these funds not only provide for much needed continuing education, they allow hospice to provide care for those who do not have health insurance.
Hospice care is a team effort, Nichols explained, involving a hospice physician, chaplain, social worker, hospice nurses and volunteers.
"Because of you," Nichols said, "we can fulfill our mission."
A wealth of unique items were donated to the cause, creating some 21 packages for the live auction and several smaller packages offered through a silent auction. Frasier and Siegfried hit the ground running with their verbal sparring as Joe tried to keep track not only of the bidders but of Cal, who was often off to the side, "doing business, here."
His "business" was to cajole, to entreat, to dare bidders to go one bid higher, once convincing a bidder to increase the stakes by $2.50.
Siegfried and Frasier opened the auction with the "Choice of 21" bid, allowing the winning bidder to select from all 21 packages.
One-of-a-kind items drew top dollar, with the fiddle signed by Charlie Daniels garnering the high single bid of $1,800.
Andy and Geri Anderson's winning bid and resale of Smokin' on the Plains, raised the most money for a single package, with the double bidding totaling $2,275.
All of the items and successful bidders were:
Choice of 21 Live Auction Packages: Dr. Dan and Dr. Kathy Farrell chose "Scenic Steamboat". Package Sponsors: Mike and Kathy Carr, Steamboat Springs Ski & Resort, McCook Eye Clinic, Eakes Office Plus, Kugler's Sinclair, and Annette Kasselman, Creative Memories.
"A Christmas Carol" -- Package Sponsors: KICX 96.1 and Great Lakes Airlines. Purchased by: Jerry Gohl
"Wine Country" -- Package Sponsor: Kevin and Sheri Ord. Purchased by: Jim and Connie Gohl
"Star Treatment" -- Package Sponsor: Diane and Steve Marr. Purchased by: Bob and Renalle Loshbaugh
"Springtime in the Rockies" -- Print by Don Dernovich. Purchased by: Dr. Lori and Devlin Reece
"New Year's Eve in Kansas City" -- Package Sponsors: Richard and Jane Stull and Mesa Airlines. Purchased by: Norm and Sharon Timmerman, donated back, and purchased by Doug Schlegel
"Mighty Bison" -- McCook 2006 Bison Football team signed football & jersey, Other package sponsors: McCook Lettering & Garrison's, McCook Public Schools, Joltin' Jos, Mike's Achievement Plus, Kugler's Sinclair, Annette Kasselman, Creative Memories. Purchased by: Chris and Annette Wagner
Second signed Bison Football -- Purchased by: Steve and Diane Marr
"Nebraska, the Good Life" -- Package Sponsors: Dog Tired Adventures, Randy McKillip, Country Kitchen and The Chief Motel, Taste of Texas BBQ and Cabela's. Purchased by: Norm and Sharon Timmerman
"Heartfelt Heirlooms" -- Package Sponsors: Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Accents, Etc., and Annette Kasselman, Creative Memories. Purchased by: Larry and Gail Bass
"Doc Severinsen & His Big Band" -- Package Sponsors: Gary and Donna Bieganski, Cornhusker Hotel and Kugler's Sinclair. Purchased by: Cal Siegfried
"It's All Relative" -- Package Sponsors: Alco, Runza, Wendy's, Arrow Car Wash, Doyle and Karen Kasper, Baskin Robbins, Community HealthCare & Hospice, Cinema III, Gillen's Carpet Cleaning, McDonald's of McCook, Modern Cleaners, Phones, Etc., Samway Floor Covering & Furniture, Subway, Wagner Ford-Mercury-Toyota. Purchased by: Bruce and Deb Wilcox
"A Day at the Spa" -- Package Sponsor: Renalle's Classic Hair Design & Spa. Purchased by: Jerry and Sara Rippen
"Husker Fever" -- Package Sponsor: Wells Fargo Bank -- McCook. Purchased by: Trevor and Megan Taylor
"Picture Perfect" -- Package Sponsors: Olson's Photography and Vap's Seed and Hardware. Purchased by: Kelvin and Leigh Ann Miller
"It's out of the Park" -- Package Sponsors: Gene and Gretchen Budig, Doug and Mary Vap, Mesa Airlines, and Annette Kasselman, Creative Memories. Purchased by: Terry Peterson
"Happy Holidays" -- Package Sponsors: Bass & Stagemeyer, PC and Country Floral Design & Gift. Purchased by: Norm and Sharon Timmerman
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" -- Package Sponsors: Sharleen Riemenschneider, Edward Jones Investments, Rick Gohl, Rick's Sales & Trailer Outlet and Norma and Ron Barnett, Personally Yours. Purchased by: Jeff and Kristin Stagemeyer
"Madonna & Child" -- Sculpture by Sondra Jonson. Purchased by: Mark and Linda Graff
"Arizona Bound" -- Package Sponsors: HillCrest Golf Club in Arizona, Phoenix International Raceway, Dick and Bonnie Loper, George and Peggy Pearson, Great Lakes Airlines. Purchased by: Dr. Jerry and Barb Michaelis
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" -- Package Sponsors: MHS Class of 1971, LB Motors -- Larry Bass, Randy and Pam Messinger, Randy Peters Seed Farms, Inc., Gary Loop Engineering Technology, Inc., Wayne Rouse, Country Stampede and Kugler's Sinclair. Purchased by: Jerry Gohl
"Smokin' on the Plains" -- Package Sponsors: Jim and Kristi Clapp, Schmick's Market, and Knowlen & Yates. Purchased by: Lemoine 'Andy' and Geri Anderson, donated back, and purchased by Todd and Shariel Thieszen
Fourteen Silent Auction Items:
"Kid's in the Kitchen" -- Sponsored by: Dan Lindstrom, Morgan Stanley. Purchased by: Terry Peterson
"Autumn's Harvest" -- Sponsored by: Dan Lindstrom, Morgan Stanley. Purchased by: Chris and Annette Wagner
"Native American Heritage" -- Sponsored by: Anne Morse and Michelle Lytle. Purchased by: Doug and Mary Vap
"Shape Up" -- Sponsored by: The Body Connection. Purchased by: Kurt and Rebecca Vosburg
"Winter Wonder" -- Sponsored by: Linda Ruppert, Home Solutions and Janet Weber, Arbonne. Purchased by: Loren and Lois Brown
"Nature's Beauty" -- Sponsored by: Common Scents Nursery, Deb and Bruce Hoffman. Purchased by: Norm and Sharon Timmerman
"Just for Kid's" -- Sponsored by: State Farm Insurance, Linda Maiden. Purchased by: Terry Peterson
"Oh My, Pie" -- Sponsored by: The Village Pie Maker-Eustis, NE. Purchased by: Bruce and Deb Wilcox
"Pamper Me" -- Sponsored by: Barbara Morris, Arbonne, Super Nails, The Hair Cut Company & Day Spa, Country Floral, Longnecker Jewelry and The Spirit Shop. Purchased by: Jim and Connie Gohl
"Cozy Comfort" -- Sponsored by: Wanda McDonald and the Community HealthCare & Hospice Staff. Purchased by: Tom and Cindy Kohmetscher
"Weekend Getaway" -- Sponsored by: Beta Sigma Phi. Purchased by: Bob and Connie Olsen
"Frosty & Friends" -- Sponsored by: Sunsetters Club. Purchased by: Kevin and Sheri Ord
"Spirit a Month" -- Sponsored by: The Bottle Shop and Borsheim's of Omaha. Purchased by: Kurt and Rebecca Vosburg
"Live at the Bieroc" -- Sponsored by: Sehnert's Bakery & Bieroc Café. Purchased by: Dr. John and Cindy West