Four Winds Animal Clinic
Four Winds Animal Clinic was established in 1994 after Dr's.
Cort and Candace Mohr purchased the practice (Animal Clinic of
McCook) from Dr. Richard Bair and Dr. Kenneth Trout. Dr.
Hastings originally built the building and practice in 1953,
next to Tri-State Livestock and across the road from Southwest
Implement (when the highway still ran past the front door and we
were in the Mountain Time Zone). The building wasn't designed
for the amount of small animal medicine we are practicing now on
a daily basis.
Since 1994 the Doctor/Owners have practiced high quality
large and small animal medicine thanks to their modern
improvements. These improvements include remodeling the
laboratory and adding a binocular microscope as well as a serum
chemistry machine that tests kidney function, liver function,
and for many other internal problems we can't find in a physical
exam that helps with diagnostics and surgical safety. They've
also added safer radiology equipment and in-house developing of
the radiographs we take. An improvement we've all appreciated
because for years we drove across town to the human clinic and
borrowed their developer. These thirty minutes away from the
patient was not such a good thing when it came to emergency
medicine.
They've also added hydraulic surgery and exam tables saving
us the aches and pains of back strain. We've also enjoyed the
addition of the ultrasonic dental scaler because we were all
heading for carpal tunnel problems. The ultrasound imaging
equipment has helped with our pregnant puppies. The largest
improvement so far has been the cattle working facilities. Our
veterinary management software, Avi-Mark, has been a most
wonderful addition. We no longer hand write tickets, medical
records and reminder cards. When a patient passes away, their
reminders are automatically removed. We can attach digital
images to a patient's medical record. We no longer have as many
missed fees because we link them all together. Frequently asked
for estimates are memorized and printed on request. Searching
for a patient and their medical history is much quicker than
with paper charts. We can look up very quickly vaccination
histories, surgical history and diagnostic history as well as
lab results. As a precaution, we also keep up-to-date paper
copies of a patient's medical record. Inventory control has
become more streamlined.
In the future, we hope to fix our lighting and in-house
traffic flow issues. We'd like a second exam room, central
pharmacy, dog kennels further away from the exam rooms because
of the amount of noise, a treatment room (which is currently
shared with the surgery room and we'd like to get away from
cleaning infected messes where we do surgery). Ask your local
surgical technician in a human hospital and they'd be appalled
at our not so modern approach to surgery and debriding infected
wounds. We scrub and disinfect the clinic on a daily basis and
sometimes more often. The tables get cleaned after each patient
and the cupboards, sinks and floors every day. One of the best
compliments we received was from a recently graduated technician
that had interviewed at a number of large animal and mixed
animal practices before we interviewed her. She was quite
surprised that for a mixed animal practice how clean our
facility is compared to other clinics she'd toured.
Cort V Mohr grew up in Stratton and graduated from the
University of Missouri. He worked for Dr. Robert Rhodes at Twin
Forks in Benkleman, for Dr. Weldy in Plattsmouth, NE south of
Omaha and for several years as a dairy and cattle veterinarian
in Northern Indiana. His free time (what little of it there is)
is spent taking their daughters to 4H, dance, gymnastics, riding
horses, playing with their pets, helping at church and watching
SciFi.
Candace C. Murray Mohr primarily grew up in Kansas City but
spent several years traveling with her musical parents. She
graduated from the University of Missouri. She has worked as a
Veterinary Technician as a student and worked as an Emergency
and Critical Care Veterinarian and for several years as a small
animal veterinarian in Northern Indiana. Her free time is spent
with her husband, daughters, their daughters' hobbies, and their
7 horses, 3 dogs, and 1 cat.
Our support staff include three Licensed Veterinary
Technicians: Amy Strauch and Michelle Calvin both of McCook and
both graduates from Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in
our neighboring town of Curtis, as well as Ed Gunter of Denver
and a graduate of Belray who moved here with his wife Stephanie
a few years ago. Barb Hoyt is our Veterinary Assistant, Jill
Lambert is our Book Keeper and Kevin Farr is our Kennel
Assistant. You may have seen Amy's blog on the McCook Gazette's
website where she discusses a variety of subjects.
Some of the pet care services we offer are preventative
medicine, emergency medicine, Comprehensive Health Exams,
Individualized Immunizations based on their individual risks,
Soft Tissue Surgery, Certain Orthopedic Surgery, Radiology,
Modern Dentistry, Ultrasound, Telemedicine (Referrals to
Specialists), In House Laboratory, Video Otoscopy (Video Ear
Exam), Spay and Neuter Surgery, Individually Numbered Rabies
Tags, Pet Boarding, Pet Grooming With Rose Doss, Emergency Care.
Cattle, Sheep and Goat Services include: Pregnancy Palpation or
Ultrasound, Bull Fertility Testing, Routine Working, Castrating
& Spaying, Dehorning, Obstetrics, Intestinal Parasite Screening,
Freeze Branding, Artificial Insemination, Cosmetic Dehorning and
Emergency Care. Equine Services include: Comprehensive Health
Exams, Vaccinations and Deworming, Pregnancy Palpation or
Ultrasound, Castrating, Obstetrics, Intestinal Parasite
Screening, Freeze Branding, Artificial Insemination, Wolf tooth
removal and Floating and Emergency Care. Exotic care for Birds,
Rodents, Rabbits & Reptiles include: Castrating and Spaying and
Medical Care.
Dr. Cort Mohr, Dr. Candace Murray Mohr and the staff at Four
Winds Animal Clinic are dedicated to providing exceptional
veterinary care for our patients and improving their quality of
life. We also seek to provide exceptional service to our
clients. We have an ongoing commitment to continuing education
for doctors and staff. We work closely with specialists in the
various fields of Veterinary Medicine and refer patients to
specialists whenever indicated.
Amy Strauch
History of McCook Art Guild
Mccook Art Guild was formed so that the members could paint
together, hire instructors and have our own show. In 1960 John
Clesson, Howard Brown and Greg Herring started art lessons where
the Country Kitchen is now at the Sunset Motel office.
One of the first meetings was held in Maudlee Urlings
apartment. She was the first president and Lois Messinger was
vice president, in 1962. Helen Allen and June Moskal joined the
Art Guild in 1963.
Greg Herring, the first high school art teacher, gave some
oil classes to a few women including Elinor Karrer and Elaine
Keene. This gave them the idea to start an art club.
Elinor Karrer started the ANAC club to take paintings to
Grand Island in 1965. In 1966 the ANAC show was in McCook and
again in 2007.
One early club meeting place was in the basement of a show
store in the corner of Norris and B where the small park is now.
The store burned and the Guild moved upstairs in the Pate
building, where Hal Mason is now. The building was used by a
dentist. There was an old dental chair there. Dr. Karrer, Dr.
James and another doctor used the building, which was owned by
Dr. Karrer. The Guild paid no rent and was very active there.
One day a week was devoted to painting and a sack lunch. The
members often went as a group to paint in the surrounding areas.
Several instructors held workshops there.
Kay Clesson taught oil painting classes for 17 years. She
recalls that she had 123 different students. A tube of
watercolor paint cost 40 cents compared to $3.00 or $4.00 today.
She charged $2.50 per student and .50 cents went to the Guild.
Steve Walker was also one of the teachers and taught the basics
of composition.
The Art Guild moved to St. Catherine hospital in 1979 using
several rooms, with donated furniture and carpet. The guild
owned a library of art books and paintings by visiting
instructors. There were many covered dish meals and programs
with group painting.
Today we have been on Norris Ave in the old savings bank
since 1997 which is owned by Joe Magrath.
Lois Messinger
Carpenter Breland Funeral Home
At Carpenter Breland Funeral Home our emphasis is on the
importance of meeting family needs while providing loving care
and compassion at a most difficult time in ones life.
The history of Carpenter Breland dates back several
generations, with more than 114 years of service to the area.
Beginning with the Pade Funeral Home in 1886, the business later
became Breland Funeral Home. In 1974, the name was changed to
Breland-Bettman Funeral Home. The Carpenter Funeral Home was
established in 1962 and in 1975 merged with the Breland-Bettman
to become Carpenter-Breland.
Jerry and Cheri Beckenhauer began managing the business in
June of 1985. Since 1985, the funeral home has gone through
several remodeling projects, both inside and outside. The latest
remodeling took place in the summer of 2005 when a major project
and expansion took place.
We literally gutted the middle section of the home, and
replaced with new drop-in ceiling and light fixtures, walls,
reception area, arrangement room, ADA restrooms, reverse osmosis
water fountain, expanded into the garage with 3 new office
area’s and a multi-use workroom. A new digital phone system,
sound system and high speed internet with computer networking
was installed.
Our motto, “Honoring Tradition-- Respecting Change” is not
only true of funeral service, but also necessary as we look to
the future of the business world.
The most recent investment for the business, and in and for
our community and surrounding area, was the addition of
Southwest Nebraska Crematory, LLC in August of 2007 in the
northwest part of town. This was a major decision and investment
for us, but was based on the increasing number of requests for
cremation. We have five people trained to operate the equipment
that is completely computerized and over-all added two part time
staff.
Our family-owned funeral home makes every effort to
accomplish any family requests as we serve the people of
Southwest Nebraska and surrounding area. We’re here to help you
with services for your loved one or assist you with pre-planning
or pre-funding your funeral service. We sell monuments, and
delight in giving tours of our facilities, giving talks to your
group, or just meeting for a cup of coffee to get better
acquainted with you!
Jerry Beckenhauer
