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Porter County
sheriff gets a chance to chat
David Lain
connects to senior citizens with coffee klatches
October 15, 2008
By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent
VALPARAISO -- In an hour that was part joking around,
part answering questions and completely casual, Porter
County Sheriff David Lain met Tuesday with a group of
senior citizens .
Lain, who held the first in a series of coffee klatches
at Campbell Street Cafe in Meridian Woods, fielded
personal questions about how his teen-age daughter was
doing after a horseback riding accident a couple years
ago, as well as queries about the sheriff's department,
its staffing levels, and programs it offers for seniors.
He bantered easily with the crowd, handing out
calendars, his business card, and jokey "get out of jail
free" cards, as well as refilling the cafe's bright
yellow coffee mugs for anyone who needed more coffee.
"He approached us and said this is something he wanted
to do. We immediately thought it was a wonderful idea,"
said Jill Pfister, public relations director for Pines
Village Retirement Communities, which includes Meridian
Woods.
Lain told the group he missed interaction with the
public now that his job demands he be at his desk rather
than in a police car and, with the loss of a cable show
on the department, there were fewer opportunities for
folks to find out what was going on.
The coffee meetings, he said, provided the chance to
find out what people's concerns were.
"I think it's a good idea. We obviously have a lot of
questions for him," said Meridian Woods resident Frank
Krysinski, who asked Lain about staffing within the
department. Lain said his department is short 10
officers.
Donna Keene, who lives at Meridian Woods with her
father, 86, wanted to about Project Lifesaver, an
electronic monitoring system for people who suffer from
memory loss. That was of particular interest to Keene,
who said her father's biggest fear is Alzheimer's
disease.
The monitoring system is provided by Porter County
Triad, a partnership between the sheriff1s department
and social service agencies to provide services to
senior citizens.
"It was nice to know there were other places to go
besides our community to learn about other help for our
seniors," Keene said.
Porter County
Sheriff David Lain will meet senior citizens for coffee
at 8 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month at Campbell
Street Cafe in Meridian Woods, Valparaiso |
