Lynnpro - March 2021

Lynnpro - March 2021

Live Life

HOW A NEAR-DEATH HIKING EXPERIENCE REFRAMED MY LIFE 4 STEPS THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

You know how when someone has a near-death experience in a book, the author always writes, “My life flashed before my eyes”? Until a few years ago, I figured that was hyperbole. “Yeah, right,” I thought. “Who has time to think about all of their warm and fuzzy memories when they’re about to kick the bucket?” But that all changed the day I found myself on the edge of a cliff outside St. George, Utah, and my highlight reel started to play. The day began with what should have been an easy hike. Cheri, our grandson Jacob, and I were hiking through Snow Canyon State Park. We’d been there before to check out the canyon, extinct volcano, lava tubes, and sand dunes. Because I was on familiar ground, I got cocky. I took four steps off the path and onto the side of the mountain. It was just four steps, but the impact was massive. When I turned around, I realized I couldn’t go back, only forward. I stepped from one ledge to another, looking down at the ground far below. As I picked my way across the cliff, I started contemplating my options. Panic was setting in. “How should I jump?” I wondered. “Which body part should I land on? Which limb can I afford to lose?” Then, I realized I couldn’t step forward OR backward. Cheri and Jacob were out of sight and I was stuck on a ledge, panic-stricken. Tears ran down my face. I knew I was going to die. That’s when the highlight reel started. I remembered all of those great nights eating out with Cheri, the time with my grandkids, and the exciting days running my business. I realized, “Dang, I really do like my life! I can’t believe I was ever upset or sad or angry when I had a life like that.” In what I thought were my last moments, my perspective shifted.

Patiently, the guy explained that I’d come the wrong way (thank you, Einstein) and talked me through a series of jumps and maneuvers that would lead me back to my family. It took me three and a half hours of scaling those cliffs before I made it back to Jacob and Cheri. Four hours after my life flashed before my eyes, I was sitting in our hotel room, eating Doritos and marveling over what the heck had happened. One thing is for certain: Today, I don’t do hiking detours. I don’t care if $200 is laying on the ground just 2 feet away from the path’s edge — I’m not getting off of that trail. You couldn’t pay me to be that stupid again, and it wasn’t just the fear for my life that did it. You see, the whole time I was on the cliff, I was beating myself up in my head. Yeah, if I’d died that would have been bad enough, but what if Cheri had followed me? Or Jacob? I took four steps that could have put my whole family in jeopardy. That thought, and the realization that I really do like my life, changed my whole outlook. I was pumped to live life again and do it better. That hiking story is an easy way to sum up how I’m feeling about 2021. Lynnpro skirted the cliff last year — so did you, if you’re reading this — and I learned a thing or two. It was a crazy experience, but we came though it just fine, and I couldn’t be more excited about where our business is headed.

Then, I saw a guy standing on a ledge 10 feet away from me taking photos. My freakout drained away and relief took its place.

Here’s to a death-defying spring!

“Where did you come from?” I asked the photographer. “I have to get down!”

–Jeff Saxby

“Because I was on familiar ground, I got cocky. I took four steps off the path and onto the side of the mountain.”

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CORN DOGS AND BASKETBALL

In fact, eating corn dogs while watching March Madness caught on like wildfire — and the teens didn’t even have Instagram to promote it! Though it’s not clear how, it spread across Oregon and eventually the rest of the country. It’s likely that people just heard about it from friends and family and thought it was a great idea. The corn dog, like basketball, is an American creation. In the 1920s, the creators toyed around with the idea of fried foods on a stick. They battered and fried everything from cheese to bananas, but it was the battered sausages that really stood out, and the corn dog was born. By the 1940s, the convenient creation had popped up at state fairs and drive-in restaurants all over the country. In 2012, in honor of the original Corn Dog Day, the then-governor of Oregon issued an official proclamation naming March 17 National Corn Dog Day in the state. Several companies jumped on the bandwagon as well, including Foster Farms (a maker of frozen corn dogs, among many other meat products) and the Pabst Brewing Company. While it’s not an “official” national day recognized by the U.S. Congress, it’s celebrated with thousands of events every March. And it’s grown beyond its U.S. roots. An article printed in The Oregonian in 2009 revealed that National Corn Dog Day parties have been celebrated on nearly every continent — including Antarctica!

It’s no coincidence that National Corn Dog Day is March 20 — the third Saturday of the month. This day is traditionally the first Saturday of March Madness, otherwise known as the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. But wait. What do corn dogs and a basketball tournament have to do with one another? Turns out, National Corn Dog Day has everything to do with March Madness. The “holiday” began in March 1992 when two Corvallis, Oregon, high school students needed a snack while watching a basketball game. They got some corn dogs and called it good. But somehow, this simple snack and sport pairing turned into something huge.

MEET DIANE COSTELLO, THE 5K GURU! HOW ONE WOMAN RUNS 3 5KS A YEAR (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM US) CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT:

Diane Costello has run 5K races for about a decade. But she’ll be the first to tell you that she uses the term “running” a bit differently than most racers.

delivery meals and a complete line of medical equipment for the elderly, along with information on crucial services like Medicare.

“The reason I got into ‘running’ all of these races is so I have an excuse not to actually ‘run’ the races,” she jokes about her job as a race organizer. “I’m not a great athlete or anything — I’d much rather be in charge of a race than actually participate!” Diane has been a Lynnpro client since 2014, and she has a big heart. The three annual 5Ks she organizes in small-town Indiana — the April Frog- Hop Five, the July Fowler Fireworks Frenzy, and the December Run Run Rudolph — all have roots that tug at your heartstrings. The latter two benefit the Fowler Community Center, and the Frog-Hop was organized in memory of her pastor’s son, who passed away at age 15. Diane is passionate about all three races, but the Fowler Community Center has a special place in her heart.

Diane is a retired teacher and devotes a lot of her free time to her races. That commitment, her passion, and her adaptability are the secrets to her success. In 2020, she combined the Frog-Hop and Fireworks Frenzy 5Ks because of the pandemic and pivoted the Run Run Rudolph to an international virtual race. Our team swooped in to help, providing race T-shirts and creating a signature design for the 2020 dual race. “Becca’s team [at Lynnpro] designed a shirt combining the aspects of the two logos and came up with a really beautiful design ... It may be our favorite out of all of them, but we don’t want to use it again [because that would mean another year of combined races]. It’s a 2020 exclusive!” Diane says. We’ve loved working with Diane for the last eight years, crafting T-shirts that make excellent giveaways for her racers and their families. To learn more about Diane or her 5Ks, call 219-629-3593 or find her on Facebook.

The center is a gathering place for seniors to quilt, exercise, and host meetings and family reunions. During the pandemic, it has provided

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GEORGIABIKERSUNITE!

HOW LYNNPRO-PRINTED PATCHES HELP THE FAMILIES OF INJURED MOTORCYCLISTS

Three years ago, Dana Padgett and her husband, David, lost a close friend in a motorcycle accident. Both of the Padgetts are bikers, and they’re deeply embedded in the local motorcycle community of Temple, Georgia. So, when their friend was killed, his wife reached out to them for help. “His wife came to us wanting us to set something up that would go further than just the normal, everyday benefit people do for everybody [who is injured in a motorcycle crash]. So, we set up the Brother to Brother Riders Down Fund,” Dana explains.

Brother to Brother is funded by donations and the sales of special patches riders can wear to show their support. When it was time to order the first batch of those patches three years ago, Dana turned to Lynnpro. She already knew we did quality work because she also works with us to print car show T-shirts for her local branch of Sons of

the American Legion (Legion.org). Our sales rep, Liz Holland, quickly set Dana up with iconic patches displaying the Brother to Brother logo.

The Padgett’s nonprofit operates year-round and provides immediate help to the families of motorcycle riders who are injured or killed on the road.

“I always have a good experience with Lynnpro. There’s never a problem, and it has been great. I just email Liz and she does [the design layout for the new patch] and gets it back to me,” Dana says. Our office is full of adventure seekers, and it warms our hearts to know our products are supporting such a worthy cause. To learn more about the Brother to Brother Riders Down Fund, check out their page on Facebook.

“When a motorcycle rider is in an accident, it takes them out of work, so the family needs help with medical bills, gas, and food while the rider is in the hospital. We give them money. It’s not a lot — we usually cap it at $500 — but it helps with their immediate needs like getting gas to go back and forth from the hospital or food for anyone coming in from out of town because the rider is in critical condition,” Dana says.

English Ground Beef Pasties

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INGREDIENTS

Inspired by AllRecipes.com

• 3/4 lb ground beef • 1 medium onion, diced • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced • 2 sheets store-bought puff pastry dough

• 1 tsp dried parsley • Salt and pepper, to taste • 1/4 cup beef broth (as needed)

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, and potatoes. 3. Roll out the pastry dough into roughly 10-inch circles or squares. 4. Spoon 1/2 of the beef mixture onto each sheet of dough, then top the mixture with parsley, salt, and pepper. 5. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling, pinching each pasty shut and tucking in both ends. 6. Transfer the pasties to the prepared baking sheet, then cut several small slits in each pasty for ventilation. Bake for 45 minutes. 7. Remove the pasties from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 F. Spoon 1 tsp beef broth into each slit, then bake for an additional 15 minutes. 8. Serve and enjoy! DIRECTIONS

AQUAMARINE BASKETBALL BUTTERFLY CLOVER

DAFFODIL GREEN IDES LEPRECHAUN

MADNESS SPRING TANGERINE WOMEN

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inside this issue

1

How a Near-Death Hiking Experience Changed Jeff’s Life

A Match Made in Cornmeal Batter Heaven

2

Meet Diane Costello, the 5K Guru!

3

Georgia Bikers Unite!

English Ground Beef Pasties

4

The Easiest Anti-Aging Tactic? Laughter

WHY LAUGHTER IS GOOD FOR YOU LAUGHMORE, AGE LESS

As we age, we’re told to wear sunscreen, eat more vegetables, take vitamins, and even walk more — all in hope that our internal clocks will slow down and we will age better. But something as simple as laughter could actually be one of the easiest ways to slow the ticking clock of aging. Scientists have long known that laughter can be therapeutic and help us live longer. It has been shown to reduce wear and tear on our bodies and improve our relationships. A Norwegian study found that those who prioritized humor were more likely to live past 70 than those who didn’t laugh often. At a biological level, laughter can reduce tension in your muscles and activate a powerful stress-relief response from your brain by releasing dopamine. Just one chuckle may even improve your breathing and heart function! In fact, laughing can work wonders for the heart. One study showed that laughter therapy helped reduce the blood pressure and cholesterol levels of its participants. Their

blood circulation improved, too. Studies have also found that regular laughter can help strengthen your immune system, and it has long-term benefits for those with respiratory conditions. In addition to your body, laughter is also good for your social life. (And we don’t mean that people will want to spend time with you if you have all the good jokes!) Throughout history, laughter has been an evolutionary sign of understanding. When there are language barriers, laughing together can create camaraderie and a tighter bond between people of different cultures. The dopamine release that comes with laughter aids in stress relief and creates powerful memories that can improve your mood and strengthen friendships. Of course, laughter has its downfalls, too. Laughing at someone else’s expense is detrimental to their health and can harm your relationships. So, stick to light jokes and actively seek shows, cartoons, or people who make you laugh. You’ll feel good, and your body will be pretty happy, too.

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