Chanhassen  *  952-934-5659

Leuthner Well Company

Victoria * 952-443-2582

Laser and Electrolysis

Chanhassen  952-474-7474

Dine in Downtown Victoria * 952-443-2858

Victoria  *  952-443-2022

MACKENTHUN’S Gourmet Meats

Victoria  *  952-443-1841

St. Bonifacius  *  952-446-1338

Holy Family Catholic High School

Victoria * 952-443-4659

by Sue Orsen

         It flows through the heart of one person and then it flows through the heart of a different person, most likely a stranger who is, in fact, blood related.

         When you look at the big picture in Victoria, there are many body parts, not just the blood.  You see the eyes and expert hands of the American Red Cross, the legs and muscles of the Victoria Lions, the shoulders of the co-chairs, the arms of the donors, the voices of phone callers and greeters at the door, the faces of cookie and coffee servers, and the touch of many other generous volunteers. 

         When you take all those body parts and add heart, you’ve got everything needed to run a successful bloodmobile.  ‘Tis the heart that pumps the blood that delivers the life to the entire body.  You gotta have heart!

         Yes, it’s all about the Red Cross Bloodmobile that now has a 35-year history in Victoria.  Victoria became a center for donating blood to the American Red Cross in 1974; the beginning is a simple story.  It happened at the suggestion of Wayne Neubarth, who had recently moved to Victoria with his family from Arlington and joined the Victoria Lions.

         Said Wayne, “In order to give blood here, we had to drive all the way to Chaska, so I brought it up to the Victoria Lions that maybe we’d like to sponsor a blood draw in town.  That’s what the Lions were doing in Arlington.  Victoria thought it was a good idea.  Mary got it organized for us.”

         Said Mary Neubarth, “I called the Red Cross to see what we had to do.  We had to have so many pints of blood.  I thought we could do that.  We had to have all our own RN’s, all our own nurses.  I thought we could do that too.  Monyne Raiche, who was an RN here in Victoria, helped me get other RN’s.  I remember we got Rosie Williams and Peggy Yanisch and Jan Olinger.  After a few years, the Red Cross brought out their own people.” 

         Mary said that the site of the Victoria blood draw was the St. Victoria Parish Center for many years.  “Marge Robling made the lunch for all the workers.  The Lions paid for that,” she said.

***

         At ll a.m. on Monday, January 19th, 2009 -- in the 35th year of sponsoring the Victoria Bloodmobile -- Victoria Lions showed up at the Victoria Field House and dug into the work at hand.  The Red Cross truck had backed up to the rear door entry of the Field House for unloading and the Lions diligently attacked the big boxes and containers.  They lifted, stacked, and transported coolers and cases from the truck to the huge gymnasium of the Field House.  You could tell that many of the Lions who showed up to work that Monday had done it before.  Setup time was under two hours; take-down time that evening was about the same.

         After several years of being held at the St. Victoria Parish Center, the blood draw moved for a short time to the Village Hall, and then the Field House gym.  No matter where it’s been held in Victoria, it’s always sponsored by the Victoria Lions. 

***

         Red Cross workers unfolded tables, arranged blood bags, tubing, and test kits, and set up the work stations.

         Tochina Hampton, supervisor of the Red Cross group that came to Victoria, put in 12 hours that cold January day in Victoria.  He said that some of the drivers  put in 13 to 14 hours, including their driving time to and from their homes in the Twin Cities area.

         While the Lions are volunteers, the Red Cross people are paid workers.  It was explained that once blood is drawn from a person it’s called a drug, which requires professional handling from nurses and trained technicians in order to meet all safety standards.

 

Click here to continue You Gotta Have Heart.

Island View Dining

Waconia.  952-442-2956

February 2009

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Victoria Volunteers Elaine Scholl, left, and Ruth Kroening tend to blood donor Doug Dyer of Victoria.