Logging Camp Christmas dinner benefits KAO

Over 100 Borderlanders donned their best plaids and suspenders for a sold-out Logging Camp Christmas on December 2. This fundraiser for Koochiching Aging Options featured a logging camp-style dinner and old-time entertainments. Diners were called to table by an original bull horn sounded by Douglas Skrief. Paul Bunyan, played by John Larson, and Babe the Blue Ox were two of the special guests. Honorary Cooks Mark Gierszewski and Dean Piekarski reviewed camp rules for the evening. The band included Jessie Laurion, piano, Margarete Kostiuk, harmonica, Henry Novak, accordion, and Kathy Thureen, flute. No Place Like Home Again decorated the dining room at Backus Community Center for the event. Proceeds will benefit the many programs of Kochiching Aging Options.

Plan Well to Age Well event September 20

Nearly 70 people attended “Plan Well to Age Well” on September 20, 2011, a presentation on critical legal, financial and care-giving issues facing older adults. The event, at Backus Community Center in International Falls, featured Rob Raplinger, attorney with Legal Aid Services of Northeastern Minnesota. Also speaking was Karen Tveit, Senior Outreach Specialist with the Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging. A panel question-and-answer with area service providers followed. The event was sponsored by Koochiching Aging Options and the Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging with funding support from the North Star Electric Cooperative Community Trust.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class - Big Falls

            A new class for family caregivers is being offered in Big Falls by Koochiching Aging Options.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a six-session class designed to teach caregivers skills to enhance their own well being as they care for an older family member or friend. Weekly classes begin October 3.

The goal of the course is for caregivers to learn to reduce their stress levels, improve their self confidence, bring balance to their lives, better communicate their feelings and increase their ability to make tough decisions.

Legacy Caregiver Services of Portland, Ore., developed the Powerful Tools for Caregivers program. Since 1998, this award-winning program has been taught in thirty states and has reached over 50,000 family caregivers.

Class members receive “The Caregiver Helpbook” developed specifically for the program. This take-home reference book reinforces the tools learned in class.

A $25 donation is requested for taking the class. The donation is to defray the cost of the help book and materials. No one will be turned away if they are unable to pay.

Certified instructors will be Leslee Loop and Koochiching Aging Options Executive Director Douglas Skrief.

            Classes will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. each Monday from October 3 through November 7 in the Big Falls Community Building in Big Falls. The class will be offered in other Koochiching County locations in the coming two years.

To ask questions or to register for the class call Koochiching Aging Options at 218-283-7030 or 1-800-950-4630 or click the Contact button.

Northland Foundation Awards Grant

The Northland Foundation has awarded a $20,000 grant to Koochiching Aging Options to support its service to older adults of Koochiching County and their families. The grant, made possible with financial support from Essentia Health, is to be used over the next twelve months for programming and growth of the organization.

Created in 1986 by The McKnight Foundation, the Northland Foundation is a diverse organization involved in grant making, business lending, and a variety of other initiatives to assist the children, families, older adults, businesses, and communities of northeastern Minnesota. Since 1986, it has awarded more than 2,800 grants totaling over $21 million to nonprofit organizations in the region.

Koochiching Aging Options Holds Annual Meeting

           The Koochiching Aging Options Board of Directors on March 12, 2011, held the first Annual Meeting of the organization. A number of visitors responded to a general invitation to the public and other service providers to attend the meeting which was held in the conference room at the Backus Community Center in International Falls.

            Chair Susan Fraik opened the meeting with words of welcome and introduction. Officers were re-elected, including Fraik as Chair, Susan Congrave as Co-Chair, Terry Murray as Treasurer and Julie Lepisto as Secretary to the corporation.

The Chair recounted a brief history of the organization. Executive Director Douglas Skrief offered a review of the finances of the organization and commented on the Annual Progress Report distributed at the meeting. He reviewed programs and services provided as well as funding sources. (Copies of the report are available from Koochiching Aging Options.)

A lunch prepared by the Backus center was enjoyed by all who attended. A regular Board of Directors meeting followed the Annual Meeting.