As Allied bombs fell nearby, 14-year-old Ingeborg Hartung was in school learning textile arts.
“War should be illegal. Why do young men have to go war for something they don”t understand, and die? for what,?” she says.
The Fort Bragg grandmother remembers a Germany where the only soldiers left alive to fight were teenagers. She remembers the advancing British Army killing the teenage boys she knew.
She made a pledge then to come to America.
“I am happy for the skills I learned in Germany, but I never want to go back,” she said.
Hartung, 84, has lived several full lives since, being the post-war suburban mom in Canada and then New Jersey, fleeing to California, running a restaurant in Weed and raising three sons.
I met Hartung among about 10 senior citizens we were delivering Fort Bragg Food Bank boxes to last week. Fort Bragg Food Bank driver Doug Duncan and I both have had careers in the corporate world and we both would likely be called “old men” if we showed up at Fort Bragg High School. But delivering meals to shut-in seniors last week, we got turned into two “young men” or “good boys” for some grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who gave us advice, stories and even treats in return for some laughs at our goofy antics, both intentional and unintentional.
Every senior we met was worth a feature story; some were suffering and hoping for more mobility in the future. I wish I could bring readers into each of the homes we were invited into and show the difference the Food Bank makes for people who are very good at stretching what they have. Several fellow residents recommended “Inge,” both for her outgoing nature and her stories.
Hartung is frustrated at how shut-in her neighbors really are.
“This place is too quiet, they don”t come out,” Hartung showed me her immaculate house, which contains at least 100 pieces of her own stunningly realistic oil paintings, pencil drawings all on unique medium like hardened forest fungi in the shape of giant conchs, found driftwood and saws and saw blades.
She has lived in Fort Bragg 30 years. She calls her oldest son “Hansi” and keeps a picture of him as a small boy on her desk. Another picture reveals a rugged former Fort Bragg commercial fisherman, Hans Hartung, who is now 62 and lives in the Central Valley.
Inge”s art is all relaxing and realistic — with no war, no painful scenes, nothing mysterious and baffling. There are mostly animals and pastoral scenes done with an expert and perfectionist”s eye, some taken from magazines, others of local barns and critters like the deer that come up her sidewalk to her front door.
The front doors that Duncan and I knocked on revealed a Food Bank clientele living at a different speed than those I encounter regularly on South Franklin Street.
These retired and physically ailing folks are certainly not rich, but some gave us as much food and other stuff to take back as we brought. The art of living within one”s means was a recurring inspiration. One former client told us she had reordered her diet so she didn”t need the food. Another told us how she shares and uses bits of food she gets. Another reads every line of our newspaper; most are women and widows. It”s such a contrast to the fast pace and maniacal consumption found in the outside world.
“These guys, who have millions or billions and they want more. Why? They can”t take a single nickel of it with them when they go,” said Hartung, who had apparently been watching some of the latest news.
Twenty percent of Food Bank clients are over the age of 60. Among those, I have met seniors in the line from Fort Bragg”s oldest families, several former business owners once widely known in the community and many elders truly needing to find a way to give as much or more than they take.
Seniors only hours are 10:45 to 11:15 a.m on the three days the Food Bank is open, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
I brought my friend Susan Fernbach who speaks German to meet Hartung, thinking Inge might tell even more great stories if she could speak in her native tongue. But she chose to speak English, and they talked about how much better the Redwood Coast Senior Center has become lately. The Senior Center supplies meals-on-wheels to many of these same people.
The comedy in our delivery day came partly from jokes about how big was the stack of paperwork that Duncan needed to update on each person getting food. The Food Bank does an extensive income, immigration status and age verification process, sends food from several government programs for seniors, along with the standard fare that all clients get.
These government programs, which provide everything from a block of cheese to protein-rich vegetables, all require signatures and income eligibility. Almost everyone who applies ends up qualifying.
The seniors enjoyed bantering with Duncan and me, especially when we got carried away with stories and joking and had to go back for signatures needed on the multiple forms, making exaggerations about Big Brother watching all the more fun.
The food was healthier and different from what I have seen in line, as homebound seniors can”t choose like the rest.
“Income-eligible seniors age 60-or-over can get a monthly box of food in addition to our normal weekly food distribution. The senior boxes come through a federal USDA commodities program called CSFP (Commodities Food Supplement Program),” said Food Bank Executive Director Nancy Severy. “This month”s 30-pound box contained oatmeal, fruit juice, tuna, evaporated milk, canned corn, canned beans, canned applesauce, spaghetti and pinto beans. This is a nice amount of food for a senior on a fixed income.”
Duncan and I heard about many ailments and saw many very clean apartments. Thanks are much more profuse at Cypress Ridge Apartments than in the line at the Food Bank and we both feel we have been enriched and made some people smile on this route.
The Food Bank delivers to Cypress Ridge (where I met Hartung and others) and also to Moura Senior Housing. Cypress Apartments keep the grounds and common areas very clean. Each senior is allowed to decorate inside and out however they want. The apartments, which have been around for nearly half a century, are a little dark and some have had mold and roof issues, but each unit I visited last week was nice and well kept.
The Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation (RCHDC) owns and manages Cypress Ridge, 48 units of senior housing in Fort Bragg; rents are determined on a sliding scale.
“There is a great feeling to working out here, there are some great people living here,” Duncan said.
Duncan was welcomed with big smiles by virtually every client. There were laughs as we joked about the slick top to his square frame, my carrot-topped giant one and the party we were all going to have after they saw the former wine boxes the food came packed in. When he introduced me, the folks were no less warm, but few wanted their name used as needing food deliveries.
Hartung was happy to give a plug to the Food Bank.
“This is a wonderful service they provide, it is really a big help every month,” said Hartung, who let go of her walker long enough to give Duncan a hug.
Duncan will need his muscles along with his sense of humor on Thanksgiving and Christmas, when full-sized turkeys, along with all the fixings, get added to the boxes that already weigh 30 pounds.
Fort Bragg Presbyterian Church delivers hot Thanksgiving dinners to these same seniors and Fort Bragg Lions Club delivers Christmas dinners — on their respective holiday.
Many government programs that paid the Food Bank bills have been cut or simply ended, while client needs have stayed about the same. Severy says the senior boxes, which I saw doing so much good, could be on the list.
“Every once in a while, Congress considers cutting the (CSFP) program. We encourage people to write their congressman when they read about this in the news asking them to support this wonderful program, which provides a generous monthly supplement to seniors. Seniors may call or visit the Food Bank to determine if they are eligible and to sign up.”
The Turkey Challenge is under way in which local businesses will match any donated funds or turkeys to provide holiday turkeys for Food Bank families. At Harvest Market you can pay for a turkey at the checkout stand and the market will deliver them to the Food Bank.
At Safeway, on Saturday, Nov. 19, the Food Bank will have a refrigerated truck in the parking lot ready to receive donated turkeys. “Turkey Dan” Fowler, of the Food Bank, will make an appearance that day from 1 to 3 p.m. Checks can be made out to “The Fort Bragg Food Bank” and mailed to the Food Bank at PO Box 70, Fort Bragg. Be sure to write “Turkey Challenge” on your check so your donation will be matched. Turkeys can be dropped off at the Food Bank warehouse at 910 North Franklin St.
Season of Sharing
This series goes hand in glove with the Advocate-News” and The Mendocino Beacon”s annual Season of Sharing fund drive for the Food Bank. The goal is to give the Food Bank money it can use year-round, not just during the holidays.
The nonprofit Community Foundation of Mendocino County administers the Season of Sharing free of charge as a courtesy to the newspapers. Every cent taken in by the newspapers goes to the Food Bank.
Checks should be addressed to the Community Foundation of Mendocino County (CFMC), and mailed to the newspaper at P.O. Box 1188, Fort Bragg, 95437, or dropped off at 450 N. Franklin St.
If you have any questions, call us at 964-5642. The fundraiser runs through Dec. 31.
Donors” names are printed each week, unless they ask to remain anonymous.
