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Monday, November 2, 2009
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Packaged with care Pequot Lakes woman delivers with her work organizing care packages for American Legion By MATT ERICKSON Staff Writer PEQUOT LAKES - Five years ago, Jan Feuerhelm - a widow who a year earlier had moved from Wisconsin - joined the Pequot Lakes American Legion Auxiliary at the behest of her sister-in-law.
The social move quickly became a passion for Feuerhelm when she took over organizing care packages to be sent to soldiers serving overseas. She co-chairs the care package committee with Elaine Thielen and at 72 she intends to keep doing it as long as she can.
"It's a labor of love," she said last week at her Pequot Lakes town house, which doubles as the site of assembly for the care packages she and other auxiliary members send to area soldiers.
A Minnesotan by birth, Feuerhelm spent more than 28 years in Wisconsin. After her husband passed away in 2003, she decided to come back to Minnesota to be closer to her family.
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Jan Feuerhelm of Pequot Lakes went through care packages being readied in her garage to ship to local soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Feuerhelm has co-chaired, for the past five years, the Pequot Lakes American Legion Auxiliary's drive to get care packages to soldiers.
Brainerd Dispatch/ Steve Kohls
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Organizing the care packages isn't just a hobby but a way to give something back to the men and woman who are serving overseas. She has heard from several of the soldiers who have received the packages and all said they are appreciated.
"For them, it's just knowing someone at home cares," she said. "It's neat. I enjoy it thoroughly and am glad to do it. I will keep doing it as long as I am capable of doing it."
The packages Feuerhelm and her Legion Auxiliary sisters put together include the basics - sun screen, lip moisturizer, shampoo and eye drops - as well as snacks, magazines and puzzle books. She also tries to include a fun item in each package, such as a Nerf football, a Frisbee or a deck of playing cards. For the next batch of packages, a toy car is being sent.
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Unused soap and shampoo from hotels are among the many items collected by Pequot Lakes resident Jan Feuerhelm for care packages being sent to soldiers serving overseas. Feuerhelm co-chairs the Pequot Lakes American Legion Auxiliary's care package drives.
Brainerd Dispatch/ Steve Kohls
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
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There are some items the soldiers have requested that the Legion Auxiliary can't afford with its $200-a-month budget. Those items include batteries and battery chargers, 220v to 110v power converters, hand-held electronic games, disposable cameras, micro Mag-Lite flashlights, document sheet protectors, electrical tape, phone cards, CDs and DVDs. Feuerhelm hopes people will donate those items or money to the auxiliary to buy the items.
Jan Feuerhelm
Age: 72.
Hometown: Born and raised in Minneapolis, and six years after getting married she moved to a farm. A city girl going to farm. But the thing I liked was getting up and stacking hay bales.
Minnesota Vikings or Green Bay Packers: She lived in Wisconsin for 28 years, but has been and always will be a Vikings fan at heart. It was more fun that way. It made it more fun to argue.
Favorite meal: Hamburgers. Plain hamburgers. It's about the only meat I eat.
Favorite television channels/shows: Home and Garden Channel, the Food Channel, Survivor, CSI and Ghost Hunters.
Favorite holiday: None of the above. She said when she lived in Wisconsin she spent holidays with her nephew and his family, but now everyone in her family does their own thing. She is planning a trip to her nephews soon. I don't get to see him enough anymore.
Favorite place to travel: Alaska. She's been twice, including one trip where she caught a silver salmon. My nephew made me kiss it.
Local fishing: She and a group of friends made a trip to Baudette this year to fish Lake of the Woods. Plans are already in place to go next year. We had a ball and we all caught our limit, she said, including walleyes of 28.5 inches, 29.5 inches and 31 inches. She also used to fish with her husband on Lake Mille Lacs and the St. Croix River.
If you have a suggestion for an Everyday People feature, contact Kathi Nagorski at kathi. nagorski@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5859.
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People wanting to donate items or money, or to sign up a soldier can call her at (218) 568-6723.
The care packages are just one way Feuerhelm keeps herself busy.
A rock hound since her days of living on the St. Croix River, there are large glass jars filled with agates in Feuerhelm's living room and even larger rocks lining the sidewalk to her front door. When she moved from Wisconsin six years ago, she made sure her nephews remembered to bring her rocks.
"I love rock collecting," she said.
She's also a member of Glenda's Clown Troupe in Pequot Lakes. Glenda is her beauty operator, she said, and her sister-in-law was a member. When her sister-in-law retired as a clown, she took over her costume. She often can be seen at events firing a water cannon into the crowds.
"It's fun, but we need more youth," in the troupe, she said.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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