Quick action and years of training kicked in for April Strate last week and helped her save the life of Marion Noland.

Noland, 92, a long-time Holden resident, was at the Country Cosmetology Beauty Shop sitting under the dryer when she apparently fell asleep. But when the beauticians tried to wake her they got no response. They immediately called 911 and requested an ambulance.

Strate, who works at Strate’s Drive-Inn which is located near the beauty shop, saw the ambulance and was informed by a bystander what was happening. With eight years of experience as a registered nurse, Strate ran over to the shop to see if she could assist Noland.

When Strate arrived she found Noland unconscious and after examining her, could not detect a pulse. Shortly afterward, Noland stopped breathing. The ambulance crew had arrived by that time and after a request by the paramedic, Strate began performing CPR on Noland.

“After just a short time administering CPR to her, we detected a pulse and soon Mrs. Noland woke up,” said Strate.

After the patient was conscious, the paramedics continued to treat her and prepared her for transport, according to Strate. Noland was life-flighted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kansas City, where she was stabilized.

“It’s important for everyone to learn CPR,” said Strate. “We had success in saving Mrs. Noland because all the links in the chain of events came together. Early intervention, the care of the paramedics, and the Life-Flight team all worked together and we had a successful outcome to this situation.”

Strate was unsure what caused the condition of Mrs. Noland but thought it was a cardiac situation.

Strate, along with her daughter Dana, just moved to Holden in June. She is married to Mike Strate who is originally from Holden but is now stationed in Fort Worth, Tx. with the Navy as a senior chief. She works in the family business for her mother and father-in-law, Dale and Linda Strate.

She was also in the military for five and one-half years and worked as an aviation electrician which is where she met her husband. She went to North Central Texas School of Nursing on her G.I. bill and has been a registered nurse for nine years. She worked as a school nurse for eight years.

Her husband Mike is on active duty with the Navy Reserve and will join the family in Holden in December when his current tour of duty ends. His military career includes 10 years of active duty and seven years as a reservist. He is also an aviation electrician.
Their daughter Dana, 14 is very active in FFA and band, playing in the drumline. She enjoys small town living, according to her mother.

April has moved around a lot, being born and raised in Ohio, meeting Mike in Florida, getting married in Texas and now living in Missouri. She also has been stationed overseas.

When asked if she was nervous about performing CPR on Mrs. Noland, she said her instincts and training just kicked in.

“I knew what had to be done and I just did it,” she said. “This is the first time in my career as a nurse that I’ve ever had to perform CPR on a real person. I have had training and been a CPR instructor myself, but never had to use it until now,” she added.

As for her future plans, she sees herself going back to work in the field of nursing someday.

by Dana Neubert
News Staff


HOPE Objectives To Be Topic Of Breakfast

A free, buffet-style breakfast for local business owners and farmers will be sponsored by HOPE Coalition at 6:45 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 17 at the Community Activity Center in Holden. The goal of the breakfast is to explain the purpose and objectives of HOPE and to show how individuals and corporations can help their community through the state's Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP).

The morning's lineup will include: an overview of HOPE by its executive director, John Roberts, a brief program from a Missouri Department Of Economic Development NAP representative and a question/answer period with Robert Showers, CPA and assistant professor, Department of Accounting, Central Missouri State University. The latter will focus on the advantages of charitable contributions through NAP.

"I know how busy people are and so we promise to keep the presentations short," said Roberts. "I'm often asked about what our organization does and felt this would be a good time to tell people about ourselves. Part of our story is how we are funded and so we invited a representative from one of our main sources and a tax specialist to answer any questions audience members might have. But all parts of the program will be brief and to the point so that people can go about their daily schedules," he added.

Roberts concluded by saying he looked forward to the gathering and hoped as many as possible would take advantage of the opportunity. "As much as anything, I hope people will leave the breakfast not only full of good food, but with a better understanding of our organization and a desire to help us address the needs of our less fortunate neighbors."


Activities Planned In Honor Of Veterans

Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 5844 and American Legion Post 90 of Holden will have a busy day Friday, as they join other Holdenites in celebrating Veterans’ Day 2005.

The day will get off to an early start as members will gather at the Holden Middle School to be part of an assembly. The veterans will present a ceremony and speak to the middle schoolers on the significance of Veterans’ Day and importance of veterans’ sacrifice to our freedom.
At 11 a.m., a short ceremony will be held at the VFW Hall at 104 E. 2nd St., and will be followed by a ham and beans meal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., that is open to all. There is no charge to veterans and the VFW will accept donations from others.
The group will then lead another ceremony at the Holden Manor for veterans who live there.
With the holiday season fast approaching, Holden’s First Baptist Church is seeking local businesses to sponsor a display at the third-annual Christmas in the Park.

According to Rhonda Wakeman, FBC coordinator for the event, “It’s time once again to start thinking about our annual Christmas in the Park. We improved on our display last year, and we hope to see even more participation this year.”

The event will run from December 3-31 and includes a drive-through Christmas display at the Holden City Park.

“Our goals are to bring people into our community, get the good news of Jesus Christ out and provide local residents with another way to support their community,” explained Wakeman.

The displays are donated from local businesses, churches, organizations and individuals and can be a creative way to represent an organization. Or, according to Wakeman, “It can be simply something that represents Christmas in your hear.”

She added that since this is a family-oriented park, the church reserves the right to refuse any display they feel is inappropriate or not in good taste.

Volunteers are also being sought to “work the gate” again this year to take donations that will go back into Christmas in the Park. Moneys will be used for electric bills, added electric pole and added displays. The donations will be taken from 6-8 p.m. nightly.

Wakeman asks that if anyone is interested in sponsoring a display or volunteering to help in any way, please call her at the church, 732-5503. She can also be reached by e-mail at: office@holdenfbc.org. She asks that businesses or organizations please leave their name, contact person and phone number. “The sooner I know, the easier it will be to pay for electricity and placement of displays,” she added.

She also suggested that businesses, with or without a display, provide coupons for their businesses to be given out as people exit the park.

 

Firming up plans for Holden’s annual Customer Appreciation Day was high on the agenda at the monthly meeting of Holden’s Chamber of Commerce held last Thursday at the Harmony House Restaurant.

Customer Appreciation Day, jointly sponsored by the chamber and the Holden Image this year, will take place in downtown Holden on Friday, November 25 and will include a visit from Santa Claus at the chamber office from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Pictures with Santa will also be available. Steve Haller will be there with his trolley and horse-team to give late-night downtown shoppers rides. Refreshments and entertainment will also be provided to complete the festive holiday atmosphere.

During the meeting, preparations were also made for the annual banquet to be held November 28 at the Community Activity Center.

It was reported that Kent J. Burnes, president of Burnes Consulting of Orangevale, CA, will be the guest speaker. His talk will cover “Being an Orange in an Apple World.” The keynote address pokes fun at those who go through life without a vision and is both funny and motivational.

According to Jenny Sollars, chamber member, “It will get business owners thinking outside of our storefronts.”

Tickets for the evening are $17 and are on sale at Farmers & Commercial Bank, Bank of Holden, Fastop, Holden Package Store and Country Creations.

Sandy Roberts, speaking for the history book committee, reported that the group had formed their sub-committees and that the deadline for family submissions is January 1, 2006. That is also the date that pre-sales for the book will begin.

Air Force Lt. Col. Lindsey Borg, Whiteman AFB’s liaison officer to the Base Community Council reported that the wing was beginning a new cycle of deployments beginning with approximately 300 base personnel getting orders in the near future.

He also explained that they just completed an exercise that explored new uses for the B-2 bomber and that the 509th was looking into finding a needy Holden family to provide a Christmas for. He will be working with Terry Callahan on this project.

It was also reported that Colonel Borg was selected as a National Defense Fellow and will be going to Harvard University this summer.

Speaking for the Holden R-3 School District, Matt Lindsay, HHS principal talked about the program “High Schools That Work.” He explained what the district was doing to enhance student achievement including creating a freshman teacher-team of eight teachers helping the ninth-graders make the transition from middle school to high school.

By Steve Sullins
Editor

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