A-Section 7-24.pdf - The McLeod County Chronicle

The McLeod County Chronicle, www.glencoenews.com,
Wednesday, July 24, 2013, page 10
Trailblazer Continued from page 1
MnDOT late in August. nel, conducting compliance
Herfindahl told the Joint checks and maintaining vehicles,
while at the same time
Powers Board that if transit
systems want a say in the future,
the time is now.
clients that is the same as or
maintaining service for their
If no progress is made by better than what is being offered
now.
this time next year, Herfindahl
indicated, MnDOT “will Gary Ludwig, Trailblazer’s
be much more forceful in director, noted that Trailblazer’s
expansion into the city of
telling you what is going to
happen.”
Hutchinson and replacing its
Herfindahl said that cooperation
will come when tran-
proved successful, because it
“Hutchmobile” service
sit systems realize that it provided a wider range of
could be a “win-win” situation
for everyone.
The Hutchmobile only op-
service.
In particular, Herfindahl erated within the city of
said, the smaller counties and Hutchinson, Ludwig pointed
cities could realize some benefit
by no longer having the the potential of bringing cus-
out, while Trailblazer offered
burdens of managing persontomers
and employees into
Chronicle photos by Lori Copler
‘Excited about
Grace’ theme
of anniversary
Grace Lutheran Church
of Brownton celebrated
its 125th anniversary
over the weekend with a
wide variety of activities,
from horse-drawn
wagon rides with Keith
Tongen (above) on Friday
night to a special
worship service Sunday
morning presided over
by the Rev. Andrew Hermodson-Olsen,
left, current
pastor at the
church, and former pastors
Larry Strenge, Don
Hippe and Hans Lillejord,
as well as the
church choir, below.
Other activities included
a fun walk, ice cream
social, games, a dinner
and a program.
County veterans benefits public
self-help station now available
McLEOD COUNTY – In
an effort to assist local veterans
in accessing online information
concerning their veteran
entitlements, McLeod
County Veteran Services has
set up a public computer
work station for use by veterans
who don’t have access to
a computer at home or need
assistance with navigating the
myriad of veteran benefits
websites.
The public work station is
located in the Veteran Services
office at the county administrative
building, north of
Glencoe.
Veterans can stop by during
regular business hours to research
and apply for veteran
benefits on their own. Staff
will be available to assist in
navigating the different veteran
websites and to answer
questions as needed.
“McLeod County Veteran
Services has been patiently
waiting to provide this new
and much-needed capability
to local veterans,” said Jim
Lauer, county veterans officer.
“Many of the popular veteran
benefits websites, such
as MyHealtheVet (which provides
access to VA health
care records) and eBenefits
(which allows accessing VA
claims files and the filing of
online benefit applications) as
well as Department of Veterans
Affairs and Department
of Defense information sites
are setup on this public work
station so they can be accessed
with a simple click
from the desktop,” Lauer
said.
Assistance is available to
navigate to the veteran’s specific
needs. “With the rest of
the world going digital,
McLeod County Veteran
Services believes this new
option will assist veterans
who are not quite ready to
take the step into the digital
world on their own,” Lauer
said.
For more information, or to
schedule your first session,
contact McLeod County Veteran
Services at 320-864-
1268.
the city from the surrounding
area.
Herfindahl said she would
set up the meeting between
the area transit systems.
In other business, the Joint
Powers Board heard that
Trailblazer was having an
easier time filling jobs with
the new wage scale, and recently
hired two full-time
drivers and a part-time dispatcher.
It is still advertising
for drivers, a dispatch manager
and an operations manager,
Ludwig said.
It also increased the meal
allowance for volunteer drivers
to $10 from $7.50.
Sprengeler Continued from page 1
going on, Sprengeler said he
came running like crazy, and
scared the rest of the cows
away.
“I was on all fours when
Dave came and could only
manage a few breaths,”
Sprengeler said. “I didn’t
have any external injuries except
for bruising, so he asked
me if I wanted to call an ambulance.
I kept trying to say
yes, but I started going into
shock.”
By the time the ambulance
arrived, Sprengeler’s lungs
had collapsed. They immediately
took her to the hospital
in Glencoe and worked on
her for a couple of hours.
“I had ruptured my spleen.
I was bleeding so much internally
they couldn’t take care
of me there,” Sprengeler said.
“It was 10 p.m. by that time.
They then sent me to Hennepin
County Medical Center
(HCMC), which is the trauma
center for our area.”
Upon arrival at HCMC,
Sprengeler was given 22
pints of blood, which is three
times the normal amount of
blood a person should have.
The doctors also noted she
had 17 broken ribs with multiple
breaks.
“No one could get the
exact number of breaks,”
Sprengeler said. “They operated
on me until 4 a.m.”
They tried to stabilize
Sprengeler, and put her in an
induced coma. They also put
her on a ventilator for her
lungs.
“The last thing I remembered
was telling Dave to call
work,” Sprengeler said. “I
woke up three weeks later on
Dec. 17.
Those three weeks, Dave
never left Sprengeler’s side in
the ICU and slept on a bench
the whole time. This left their
son, Kyle, to take care of the
farm.
“Kyle was going to school
in Willmar at the time, and
was able to work it out with
his instructors to have his
classes moved to the afternoon,”
Sprengeler said. “He
milked the cows in the morning,
drove 70 miles to class
and drove 70 miles back to
do chores. It’s a huge job to
do. He was so amazing.”
Kyle wasn’t alone in doing
the chores. Ashley, their eldest
daughter working with
Genex CRI of Shawno, Wis.,
came home for a while.
Kristin, their middle child,
completing her senior year at
UW-Madison, had come
home as well to help with the
house and chores.
“Kristin’s professors told
her not to worry about finals,
and go home to be with her
mom,” Sprengeler said.
“They told her to take her finals
by the end of spring semester.”
Their neighbor, Karen Anderson
of Lester Prairie, was
the first one to come over and
help the family with chores,
and she is still coming over to
help out daily.
Many other neighbors were
bringing food and offering to
help with chores. Sprengeler
also had a CaringBridge site.
Hundreds of people wrote to
her, and offered their support.
“There were people we
didn’t even know who were
wishing me well,” Sprengeler
said. “I was humbled. The
support and help from everyone
was amazing.”
Sprengeler was able to return
home six weeks after the
accident and a couple of
weeks in physical therapy at
the Knapp Center at HCMC.
“It was a challenge to even
stand up straight and walk.
They had to lift me out of
bed. I felt like such a baby,”
Sprengeler said. “It was discouraging
at first because the
things I thought would be
easy were hard. I didn’t know
how I was going to get back
to what I needed to do. I had
to more than just show up, so
I worked hard and made it
through.”
Sprengeler was relieved to
get home when she did because
Kyle was getting ready
to leave for basic training
with the Marine Corps only
days after her return home.
“I got home on a Wednesday,
and he left for training
on that Sunday,” Sprengeler
said. “He came to the hospital
a little, but not a lot because
of chores. We mainly communicated
over the phone.”
Sprengeler is now fully
mended and getting ready to
return to work. She will have
a decreased capacity of her
lungs, but is still optimistic.
“The doctors couldn’t believe
I was in the shape I
was,” Sprengeler said of her
last check up.
Sprengeler doesn’t want
people to think of her as a
miracle, but to take this as a
learning opportunity, especially
her fellow farmers.
“If you have a cow giving
you trouble, get them off the
farm,” Sprengeler said. “It
Submitted photo
Becky Sprengeler, right, of Plato, needed 22 pints of
blood after being seriously injured by one of her Brown
Swiss cows last December. Now she is helping Myra
Franke, left, at the Plato American Legion’s Red Cross
blood drive set for Thursday, July 25, at Cross Roads
West Church. The blood drive is scheduled from 1 p.m.
to 7 p.m. Call Franke at 238-2370 to make an appointment.
Chronicle/
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doesn’t matter if she is your
best milker or best genetic
cow. It is not worth it in the
end if someone is going to
get hurt. The cow that came
after me went down the road
the day after the accident.”
Sprengeler is OK with the
cows after the accident, but is
taking more precautions.
“I will make sure I am not
on the wrong side of the
fence from any cow that
could hurt me,” Sprengeler
said. “I wonder how I will
feel walking at fairs. I am not
afraid, but I won’t be in a
cow’s path. I realize that I am
vulnerable. It can happen to
anyone.”
Dave also believes there is
something to be learned from
this.
“People need to be aware,
and don’t take things for
granted,” Dave said. “There
is a reason for this.”
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