Thisweek ourlife 1 20 17

Discovering The Mature Lifestyle

Meet the Rhinestone Rockettes - Dancing for over 30 years

Health & Fitness

January 20, 2017

January Issue

Habitat 500 bike ride keeps Apple Valley man in shape

By Sue Webber Contributing writer Randy Oppelt has found a unique way to keep busy and active.

Oppelt, a resident of Apple Valley who retired eight years ago after 25 years as the Parks and Recreation and Public Works director in Burnsville, rides the Habitat 500. It is a seven-day, 500-mile bike ride fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, first started 25 years ago.

“I wanted a challenge, and this sounded interesting to me,” said Oppelt, who will be participating in his 15th ride this year.

Getting started He began by borrowing a recumbent bike, and then he bought his own recumbent, signed up for the Habitat ride, and started training by biking the nine miles from his Apple Valley home to his job in Burnsville.

“Biking to work was key,” Oppelt said.

“I enjoyed it and it was a good way to start and end the day. I started biking at the end of March and continued until October, or until the bike cables started freezing. I’d get to work before 6 a.m. fully awake, and shower. Mentally and physically, it was a good thing to do.”

Now retired, Oppelt bikes and jogs in the spring and early summer and jogs, walks and works out at a gym in the fall.

He started the Habitat ride when he was 53 years old. “I was looking for some way to give back, to get involved, as well as some way to combat my body getting older and very out of shape,” Oppelt said. “So, I signed up for the ride and started biking to work to get in shape.

Fifteen years later I am still at it. I have ridden both the trike and the two-wheel recumbent on the ride.”

The route, always in Minnesota, consists of a loop, Oppelt said. “Its starting and ending point are the same city,” he said. “Normally the route is totally within Minnesota, although occasionally the route will venture into western Wisconsin (the LaCrosse area) for a day or two.”

The first and last days of the ride usually are short days of 50 to 60 miles (Sunday and the following Saturday),” he said. “Wednesday is our long day: a century ride of 100 miles. The other days are 70 to 85 miles.”

On Wednesday, riders have the option of working on a Habitat for Humanity home instead of riding the 100 miles, Oppelt said. “Some older riders like myself really prefer and appreciate that,” he said.

“The home we work on is called the Bike Home,” he said. “Some funds raised by the ride go toward paying for that home, usually around $30,000. Some years we are lucky and get to put up the wall on our build day. Other years when

A three-wheel recumbent bike sometimes has been Randy Oppelt’s choice for long-distance rides. (Submitted photo) the house is already under construction, we do whatever is required at that time to move the house along.”

During the ride, participants stay overnight at schools and sleep in the gym or camp outside on the grounds. Their breakfasts and dinners are usually provided by local churches. “We are provided rest stops every 15 to 20 miles,” Oppelt said. “Food and beverages are provided at these stops.”

Connecting the riders to a cause was found to be “very, very successful,” Oppelt said. “People understand the cause on a much more emotional level,” he said.

He had his first chance to work on a Habitat home during his second ride.

“We walked into a house and a little girl took the hand of one man and led him on a tour of ‘her house,’ and showed him ‘her room.’” Oppelt said. “We watched this go on and it was touching, very moving. That’s when I really became hooked. The little girl’s mother talked to our group and told them that now she had a safe home with a neighborhood, where her children could make friends and have security and a sense of belonging. That’s when I really understood it on an emotional level. Before that, it had been a concept.”

Oppelt serves on the planning committee for the Habitat 500, and has served as chair for the last seven or eight years. He also serves on the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota, the organization that supports all the local affiliates in Minnesota that do the actual home building.

“The ride keeps me physically and socially active, and gives me a sense of commitment and belonging,” Oppelt said. “I’ll have a hard time letting it go.”

The 2017 ride is set for July 9-15.

A native of Chicago, Oppelt came to the Twin Cities to attend Macalester College. He and his wife have three children and three grandchildren, all of whom are physically active, he said.

Roadside Assistance A nurse and massage therapist accompany the group.

“The ride is well supported with a SAG (Support and Gear) crew in vehicles that watches over us and is there to help if we poop out or pop a tire,” Oppelt said.

“The road crew keeps track of us via a ham radio. We can contact the SAG crew via cell phone whenever we need to, as long as there is cell service.”

A bike mechanic also shadows riders along the route, ready to assist when mechanical problems arise.

“Last year, we had a really bad stretch of rainy weather and he ended up changing over 100 flat tires,” Oppelt said. “Road debris tends to stick to wet tires, resulting in more flat tires.”

Each rider is required to fundraise a minimum of $1,000, but the average amount raised is usually two-and-onehalf times that amount, he said. “We average about 110 riders a year, with a maximum capacity of 135 riders,” Oppelt said. “We raise around $330,000 each year.”

Randy Oppelt enjoys working on the Habitat for Humanity homes under construction.

(Submitted photo) someone in his or her 70s. “When you’re with a group of 70-80 people for a week, getting up at 5 a.m. each day, barriers get broken down. Many are introverts who find they have a lot of nice conversations. When you meet again for the next year’s ride, you go right back to where you left off. It’s like no time has passed.

The connections you make survive. You get a sense of family; there’s a magic to it. That’s at the heart of why I go back each year.”

He estimated that about 6,500 people donate toward the ride each year, “resultThe long haul ing in a significant group of people who The ourLife writers and editors can be The average rider is someone in his or support the ride and therefore Habitat reached at editor.sun@ecm-inc.com. her lower 50s, Oppelt said; the oldest is for Humanity.”

Edina’s Rhinestone Rockettes still going strong after 30 years

By Sue Webber Contributing writer What might appear to be a glamorous workout occurs every Wednesday morning at the Edina Senior Center.

Four women, ranging in age from 67 to 79 and comprising the Rhinestone Rockettes, meet to rehearse familiar songs from the 1930s and 1940s, including “In the Mood” and “Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy.” Several times a month, the group performs for a church group or at Twin Cities senior citizen facilities.

Rhinestone Rockettes was founded by the late Ruth Bakken in 1987. She had been a teacher, choreographer and dance studio owner. The group originally had up to 20 members, and is always looking for new participants.

Now the Rockettes are down to what one member calls The Final Four. They are:

Jerilynn Bergeson, Wayzata

“I’m a tap dancer,” said Jerilynn Bergeson, a 19-year member of the Rockettes.

“My mother thought I was going to be the next Shirley Temple.”

It was while she was taking tap lessons that she was referred to the Rhinestone Rockettes group, Bergeson said. “It has been a good fit for me,” she said.

Bergeson, Joanne Hed and Mare Saffe also are member of the Timberwolves and Lynx senior dance lines. The Timberwolves troupe is a 20-member group that practices once a month.

“I go to the YMCA every day except Wednesday and do dance aerobics and weight lifting,” Bergeson said. “On Wednesdays, I’m tap dancing with the Rockettes.”

The group has separate costumes and fish net stockings for each of its six numbers.

Members of the Rockettes have achieved notoriety in other venues, as well. Bergeson was the Minneapolis Aquatennial senior queen in 2005; Mare Saffe won that crown two years ago; Jan Christianson also is a past Aquatennial senior queen; and Joanne Hed was a candidate.

Prior to retirement, Bergeson worked in the credit department at General Motors.

“Now, this is just my way of life,” said Bergeson, a native of Minot, North

Dakota, who has five children and nine “It really helps you mentally,” Chrisgrandchildren. tianson said. “The teacher really is great and likes changing things up on us. It’s Jan Christianson, Edina lots of fun and good exercise.”

Her exercise program also includes The only member of the group who lives in Edina, Jan Christianson has been walking around Lake Harriet almost eva member of the Rockettes since 2005. ery day of the week, she said.

At one time, she said, “I took ballet for She is a 1966 graduate of Edina High quite a few years.”

School.

“You’ve got to keep moving,” ChrisShe said she became a Rockettes member after seeing a variety show in Rich- tianson said. field while she was still working at the University of Minnesota. “I thought I wanted to do that when I retired,” she rockettes - to page 3 said.

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Health & Fitness January Issue

Discovering The Mature Lifestyle January 20, 2017

Weekly bowling keeps 95-year-old on her toes

By Sue Webber Contributing writer Elsie Syverson’s love affair with bowling goes back a long time.

“I was on Bowlerama, on TV with Bill and Nancy Carlson, in the 1950s,” she said. “I won $875.”

Now 95, Syverson lives at The Glenn in Minnetonka, and said she still bowls twice a week. One of those outings is with the bowling club every Thursday at the Hopkins Activity Center.

She and her husband were longtime dancers, too, until her husband died after the two had been married 70 years. “We used to dance a lot, and I miss that a lot,” Syverson said. “We used to go to the Medina Ballroom with eight other couples.”

A native of South Dakota, Syverson grew up on a ranch 100 miles north of Rapid City.

“We milked cows and herded sheep, and we walked to school,” she said.

Later, Syverson taught school herself, first in the country and then in town.

Once she got to the Twin Cities, she worked at Honeywell and then at Eaton Corp. “I sold jewelry at one time, too,” she said.

“My husband was from Glenwood, Minnesota,” she said. “He flew 53 missions during World War II.” She and her husband had twin boys, though one died three days after birth.

The surviving twin lives in Seattle.

punch operator at Minneapolis Moline and then worked at Toro before a 22-year career at Tait’s Super Valu.

She recalls that growing up, girls were allowed to play only half-court basketball. “We played neighborhood softball when I was growing up, but there were no organized sports for girls,” Larson said.

Mitzi Lindquist, a resident of Hopkins, also is a regular at Tuesday and Thursday exercise classes at the Hopkins Activity Center. I’m a morning person, so I like the 9 a.m. workout,” she said.

She says Ben Walker, who leads the Fitness Focus classes on Tuesday and Thursday, is an ex-Marine. “It’s the most fabulous class,” she said. “He changes things up. He makes us work. I really

Elsie Syverson, 95, of Minnetonka (left), and Debbie Vold, (right) assistant coordinator at the Hopkins Activity Center, are at the bowling alley weekly. (Submitted photo)

She has been active in Hopkins aerobics classes for seven years, and also has tried adult gymnastics. “It had to be someplace convenient,” Larson said.

“Our teacher, Ben Walker, is very innovative. We never do the same thing twice.

Everyone there is very friendly.”

Now the classes are fixed on her calendar, Larson said. “I work the other stuff Nita Larson is another Minnetonka around it,” she said. “Sometimes I walk Mitzi Lindquist, of Hopkins, enjoys the twiceresident who is active at the Hopkins or bike, too.”

The mother of three children and weekly exercise class at the Hopkins Activity Activity Center. “I tried Curves and another [workout location] first,” she said. grandmother of two, Larson was a key- Center. (Submitted photo)

Nita Larson, of Minnetonka, has weekly exercise classes in Hopkins on her calendar.

(Submitted photo) love it.”

“I just found my niche and the right place to be,” said Lindquist, who says she’s been “faithfully exercising” for three years. “I find I have a lot more energy, I sleep better and my clothes fit better. I just swear by it.”

“I tried the YMCA, Curves and Snap before this,” said Lindquist, who retired eight years ago from working as a medical transcriptionist. She has five grandchildren.

The ourLife writers and editors can be reached at editor.sun@ecm-inc.com.

Golf, pickle ball and eating well Crystal woman’s goal is to live to be 120

By Sue Webber Contributing writer Jill Pettit says she doesn’t exercise.

But the Crystal resident plays pickle ball four times a week during the winter months. “I’ve been in two 18-hole golf leagues forever,” she said. “I walk. I don’t ride a cart.”

And she’s been doing somatics, a yoga-like workout, for four years.

Her life was changed 23 years ago, Pettit said, when at the age of 56 she was introduced to Juice Plus. The capsules, which she now markets through a distributorship, are not supplements, she said, but contain 17 fruits and vegetables and two grains.

“I would not miss a day of them,” she said, adding that all her cravings changed once she began the Juice Plus regimen. “I didn’t like avocados before, and now I make avocado chocolate pudding.

I’ve changed a lot.”

“I feel younger today than I did 30, 40 or 50 years ago,” Pettit said.

She wasn’t always the

careful eater that she is now. “I was a chocoholic and Pepsi person,” she said. “I used to eat glazed doughnuts. I’d have a candy bar and pop between the nine holes while I was playing golf.”

Pettit believes that what you eat as a child affects you when you’re 60, 70 or 80. “I can’t stand to see what people feed their kids,” she said.

Pettit hasn’t had sugar in the house for 15 years, and consumes no meat or dairy foods. “I do eat eggs, occasionally I do turkey, and I will eat dark chocolate, but it’s got to be a certain one,” she said. “I watch my labels. I make spaghetti with brown rice.”

She was the caregiver for her mother for 15 years, prior to her death at the age of 95. “She started Juice Plus before I did,” Pettit said. “She wasn’t on any drugs.”

Each morning, Pettit begins the day with two glasses of water and Juice Plus capsules. Then she drinks a smoothie containing 15 items, including “a whole bunch of kale,”

Jill Pettit, of Crystal, has watched her diet carefully for the last 23 years. (Submitted photo) plus a variety of other ingredients, such as brewer’s yeast, ginger, cinnamon, green tea leaves, banana, pineapple, dark cherries and blueberries.

Lunch might be a tuna salad with grapeseed dressing. A typical dinner is brown rice with quinoa seeds, lettuce salad and raw sauerkraut.

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“I eat a lot of salads and tons of raisins, walnuts, tomatoes, cucumbers and broccoli,” Pettit said. “I made my own grapeseedbased dressing, with honey and mustard and lime or lemon. I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, sliced and baked, and squash, spinach, arugula and toma-

toes. I’ve never swallowed coffee in my life, and I will never eat peas. I quit drinking milk when I was 15; I hated it.”

She doesn’t eat at restaurants very often. “I don’t like to,” Pettit said.

She does make an exception for Papa Murphy’s pizza, she said. It’s got to be thin crust pizza with pineapple instead of onions, and black olives instead of cheese.

Needless to say, she passes up the cookies during the holidays.

“I haven’t seen a doctor in 16 years,” Pettit said. “I haven’t had any prescriptions since I was in my 20s, and only one or two in my lifetime. I don’t take aspirin or ibuprofen. I’m pain-free. I never sit down during the day. I go, go, go, go. I still mow the lawn and do my own shoveling.”

While she was a stayat-home mom to her son and daughter, Pettit said she coached girls softball, flag football and softball through the Crystal Park and Recreation Department for 15 years.

Once her children were grown, she worked for a while as a part-time school bus driver for disabled children. She now has two granddaughters.

A native of north Minneapolis, Pettit said, “I’ve never lived more than 20 miles from where I was born.” She’s lived in her Crystal home for 49 years.

While she was growing up, her family added a family room and bathroom to their house, she said. “I shingled, did sheet rock and ceramic tile,” Pettit said. “I learned it from my father. There were eight of us, and we kept adding on to the house. I mixed cement with him.”

She used to change the oil in her car and change the tires, though Pettit said her husband “made me close the garage door when I did it.”

“I’d say I’m very, very healthy,” she said. “My goal is to live to be 120 in good health.”

The ourLife writers and editors can be reached at editor.sun@ecm-inc.com.

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Jill Pettit plays pickle ball four times a week during the winter months. (Submitted photo)

Health & Fitness January Issue

Discovering The Mature Lifestyle January 20, 2017

Seniors must be their own health care advocates My dictionary defines an “advoGuest cate” as a supportcolumn er, defender, and intercessor; some... by Bob one who pleads on behalf of someone Ramsey or some cause.

We all need an advocate like this sometime to stand up and speak up for us — especially when dealing with today’s complex, confusing and convoluted health care system. There are situations when we need a defender to help get the care we need, navigate today’s Medicare maze, make our wishes known, get answers and keep the health care professionals honest.

Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are usually competent professionals. But they are also human beings — flesh and blood — fallible. They get tired, distracted, worried and sloppy — just like the rest of us. They make mis-

takes: • Like the time my wife received the results of someone else’s sleep study.

That not only violated the other patient’s privacy; it could have been harmful if we had acted on this other patient’s diagnosis and treatment plan. Fortunately, my wife was paying attention and caught the mistake.

• Or another incident when an inattentive technician overlooked a metal bolt in a patient’s pocket as she readied to undergo an MRI. If undetected, the magnetic force inside the MRI machine could have propelled the bolt right through her body. Scary!

• Or the time a patient had completed treatment in the ER, but was left waiting an hour for a physician to sign the release form. Eventually, the patient signed an AMA (Against Medical Ad-

vice) form and walked out.

At times like these, someone needs to set the record straight, point out mistakes and keep medical personnel attentive and accountable. Who’s the best person for the job? Who can best represent your rights, interests and care preferences? You can!

You are your own most effective advocate. You care the most. You know your body better than anyone. You also know what you don’t know and need to know.

You are best qualified to speak up for yourself.

This doesn’t mean you should take over and tell the doctor what to do or what to prescribe. Some seniors think they can check the Internet and read the latest health magazines and they’re amateur doctors. They’re not. As Mark Twain observed, “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.”

Health care isn’t adversarial. It’s a partnership. You hold up your end of

the bargain simply by advocating for yourself. Advocates aren’t surrogate physicians; but they are the voice of the patient in the treatment dialogue. Make your voice count.

Of course, it’s also wise to have someone you trust accompany you to important doctors’ appointments to help you decipher and understand today’s medical mumbo-jumbo. They provide an extra set of eyes and ears.

But the final responsibility for making your symptoms concerns feelings and fears known is yours. We all want doctors to listen to us. But they can’t listen if we don’t speak up.

In the modern collaborative health care process, don’t be a silent partner.

Instead, become an advocate—for yourself.

Bob Ramsey is a lifelong educator, writer and advocate for vital aging. He can be contacted at 952-922-9558 or by email at joyrammini@comcast.net

‘The Final Four’ do it all rockettes - from page 1

Joanne Hed, St. Louis Park

“All four of us are really versatile,” she said. “We’re ever since. She was a member of the New Fogey Follies from 2003-09, a group that gave two shows a year with lucky to be together.”

18 performances each time. “It was great fun and I miss Mare Saffe, St. Louis Park A tap dancer since the age of 3, Mare Saffe said, “I it,” Saffe said.

Now, she, Joanne and Jerilynn dance for the Timbergot over it for a while.” wolves and Lynx. “There are 20 of us,” Saffe said. “We But singing, dancing and acting haven’t been far from do a new dance each time. It’s like being in Madison her mind Square Gardens.”

Saffe also has been an actress, singer and dancer in local community theater groups, including the Lakeshore Players Theatre, Edyth Bush Little Theater, the Black Box Theater, the Jewish Community Center in St. Paul, Beth El Synagogue and the Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park, New Fangled Fun Co. variety shows and the Aquatennial Singers.

“I took a few acting courses, and I did stand-up comedy for six months,” Saffe said. “My opening night was at Knuckleheads Nightclub. I had to write my own material and perform for three minutes.”

In 2015, she was senior Aquatennial queen. “I learned how to wave and visited coronations,” she said. “The queen has to wear white, and David’s Bridal had a wedding gown I could wear.”

She’s active in other ways, too. She does aerobics, and bowls each Tuesday.

“I’m having a really good time,” she said. “With any group, you’ve got to have a sense of humor, love to laugh and do outrageous things.

“When you get to be our age, anything you can do, Members of the Edina Community Center’s Rhinestone Rockyou should do it. Never retire.” ettes, shown in their “Singin’ in the Rain” costumes, are, from Saffe has a son, a daughter and four granddaughters. left: Jan Christianson of Edina; Jerilynn Bergeson of Wayzata;

A 10-year member of the Rockettes, Joanne Hed formerly was a member of the New Fogey Follies with the late Allan Lotsberg (WCCO-TV’s Willie Ketchum).

“I got my first pair of tap shoes when I was 40,” she said. “I was 80 in January. I’m the oldest dancer with the Timberwolves and Lynx. I like setting an example for my six grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.”

At one time, Hed was with the Methodaires Singers at Methodist Hospital, a volunteer show choir that raised funds for Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital programs.

She also did Hawaiian dancing for six years with another group that entertained throughout the Twin Cities. She has performed with the Minneapolis Aquatennial seniors singing group, was a member of the Minneapolis City of Lakes chapter of Sweet Adelines, and a member of the Betty Rydell Christmas show.

And now she and Mare Saffe are performing 40-50-minute shows with the New Fangled Fun Co. A native of Detroit Lakes, Hed said, “I love to sing and I love to dance. I’ve been singing since I was a kid.

I always thought singing and dancing would keep you young. I didn’t want aerobics. So, I got some tap shoes because I wanted to have fun and keep in shape.”

“I’ve always worked, too,” said Hed, who added, “I’ve got a great husband who understands all that. He golfs and fishes.”

Hed calls the Edina-based Rockettes group The Final Joanne Hed of St. Louis Park; and Mare Saffe of St. Louis Park.

(Submitted photo) Four.

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