Senior Living Magazine Vancouver Edition January 2012 by INSPIRED 55+ Lifestyle Magazine

JANUARY 2012 TM

Vancouver’s 50+ Active Lifestyle Magazine

• Author/Adventurer Anthony Dalton is Looking for Trouble • A Sound Mind in a Sound Body • Running Legend Betty Jean “BJ” McHugh And much more... www.seniorlivingmag.com

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Be Your Best �� At Any Age

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FEATURES 6 Looking for Trouble

Explorer, author, photographer, sailor, speaker, and a bit of a romantic, Athony Dalton is a man of countless experiences and a thousand stories.

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McHugh is dubbed the fastest senior in the world.

14 Thick with Grizzlies

A BC couple embark on a bike journey to Haines, Alaska that turns out to be anything but ordinary.

by Barbara Small

24 Forever Young by William Thomas

by Lynda Pasacreta

31 Ask Goldie

by Goldie Carlow

32 Reﬂections: Then & Now by Gipp Forster

18 Keep On Going

Phil Horton reached his tipping point in his 40s when he decided to change his lifestyle, and he’s been active ever since.

20 Zumba with Zest

Dynamic dance-ﬁtness classes have taken the world by storm, including a modiﬁed version for active seniors.

26 A Sound Mind in a Sound Body

Cover Photo: Author/Adventurer Anthony Dalton at Captain’s Cove Marina in Ladner. Story page 6. Photo: Philippe Martin-Morice

Creating emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual balance throughout one’s life.

28 Positive Peace

Activist, educator and writer Pummy Kaur encourages her audience to consider their own complicity in social justice issues.

Senior Living (Vancouver & Lower Mainland) is published by Stratis Publishing. Publisher Barbara Risto Editor Bobbie Jo Reid editor@seniorlivingmag.com Ad Coordinator & Designer Steffany Gundling Copy Editor Allyson Mantle Advertising Manager Barry Risto 250-479-4705 ext 101 Toll-free 1-877-479-4705 sales@seniorlivingmag.com Ad Sales Staff Mitch Desrochers 604-910-8100 Ann Lester 250-390-1805 Mathieu Powell 250-479-4705 ext 104 Barry Risto 250-479-4705 ext 101 WWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

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Editorial Oct 2011.indd 1

4 The Family Caregiver

10 Running Up New Times for Seniors 30 BBB Scam Alert North Vancouver running legend Betty Jean “BJ”

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Head Ofﬁce Contact Information: Box 153, 1581-H Hillside Ave., Victoria BC V8T 2C1 Phone 250-479-4705 Fax 250-479-4808 Toll-free 1-877-479-4705 E-mail ofﬁce@seniorlivingmag.com Website www.seniorlivingmag.com Subscriptions: $32 (includes HST, postage and handling) for 12 issues. Canadian residents only. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Senior Living is an independent publication and its articles imply no endorsement of any products or services. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the publisher. Unsolicited articles are welcome and should be e-mailed to editor@seniorlivingmag. com Senior Living Vancouver Island is distributed free throughout Vancouver Island. Stratis Publishing Ltd. publishes Senior Living Vancouver Island (12 issues per year) and Senior Living Vancouver & Lower Mainland (12 issues per year). ISSN 1710-3584 (Print) ISSN 1911-6403 (Online)

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THE FAMILY CAREGIVER

Making Time for Leisure Activities When Caregiving

hen providing care and support for someone, over the long term, you can provide better care if you care for yourself as well. Family caregivers have a tendency to give up their own activities and interests in order to prioritize care. Their social life disappears, hobbies and interests are forgotten, they are less physically active and family leisure time diminishes. Some family caregivers feel guilty if they take time for themselves, and others are too tired or too busy. However, research shows that leisure has a positive effect on mood and self-esteem and decreases stress and loneliness. Introducing leisure time back into your life will benefit both you and the person you are caring for because you will be more rested and less resentful of what you have to give up. How might you begin to introduce leisure time and pleasurable activities back into your life? First, start by identifying what you enjoy doing. What activities did you used to do that you can make time for again? Did you once play bridge every week, enjoy painting, exercising, reading,

cooking, playing golf, gardening or going to the theatre? Do you prefer to do activities on your own or with others in a group? Which members of your social network might you approach to plan an outing? What days and times work best for you? Will you need to arrange for someone to cover for you or can your family member stay on his of her own for a short period? An activity doesn’t have to take up a lot of time. Even 30-minute or onehour breaks throughout the week can help replenish your energy or help you reconnect with others. January is a great time to explore what is available in your community through the various recreation centres or other community centres that offer not only fitness classes but also cooking, craft, gardening and other special interest classes. You do not have to sacrifice your own life and what you enjoy doing in order to be an effective caregiver. Maintaining balance is important in all aspects of your life, and when people focus too much in any one area, other areas suffer. Balance doesn’t just happen, it is created by choice:

Next Month in Senior Living...

Next month: Managing the transition into facility placement

Barbara Small is the Program Development Coordinator for Family Caregivers’ Network Society located in Victoria, BC. www.familycaregiversnetwork.org

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choosing to make time for leisure activities means choosing to make time for your own health and well-being. This, alone, can make you a more efSL fective caregiver.

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BY BARBARA SMALL

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JANUARY 2012

Adventure

Looking for Trouble

BY JULIE H. FERGUSON

SENIOR LIVING

Anthony Dalton at Captain’s Cove Marina in Ladner. WWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

Photo: Philippe Martin-Morice

“I

’m forever looking for trouble to see if I can get out of it!” Anthony Dalton chuckles. “So far, I have avoided the worst outcome, but I’ve had close calls with baboons, elephant seals and Royal Bengal tigers, to name a few. And I almost died alone in the Arctic.” On Sea Lion Island, south of West Falkland, Anthony squatted down to photograph an elephant seal among scores on a sandy beach. These gargantuan seals can kill, if threatened or have young; despite their size, they can move like lightening. He writes in Adventures with Camera and Pen: “We faced each other like mismatched gladiators. She kept one eye on me; the other, weeping copiously, remained closed. I crouched lower and held her Cyclopean gaze. Without warning, she opened her mouth wide. A deep, rumbling roar bubbled up from her belly and the huge elephant seal charged. In the second before discretion proved the better part of valour, I took one more photograph. Then I ran.” Anthony is a man of countless experiences and a thousand stories. Explorer, author, amateur historian are just part of who he is. He’s also a photographer, sailor, speaker, and a bit of a romantic. First and last, he believes they all flow from being an adventurer. When he speaks, Anthony radiates the energy and enthusiasm of a man 30 years younger. Hard to believe, but he collects Old Age Security while planning his adventures. He’s turbocharged; always on the go dreaming up new activities, books and projects. Anthony’s taste for adrenalin-fueled exploits surged during his teens in England. In the Air Cadets at 16, he soloed

Photo: Anthony Dalton

in a glider and made his first parachute jump after forging his mother’s signature on the waivers. When poor eyesight quashed his ambition to be an air force pilot, he immigrated to Canada with his family.

The second before the elephant seal attacked Anthony on Sea Lion Island, south of West Falkland.

After a miserable year of work in a Toronto bank when he really wanted to be in university, he laced up his hiking boots, shouldered his backpack, and circled the globe for two years. “I left Canada as a quiet, shy youngster and returned as a confident, travel-hardened, and well-mannered man,” he says. He had not only travelled six continents, but also studied world religions and debated with priests and imams. In 1960, when Anthony stood on top of the Great Pyramid of Cheops viewing the vast expanse of the Sahara, he realized he’d reached a turning point. His journey had changed his life and crystallized his destiny. Anthony’s eyes sparkle. “The adventurer in me had fully engaged and became an addiction.” Today, he recognizes his adventurous spirit was also fed by a strong ego and the need to be a star. “It still is,” he says grinning. After working on communication towers to earn money, Anthony risked buying a used Land Rover in 1969 to pursue

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JANUARY 2012

er boats in the Caribbean and Pacific. So far, hundreds of Anthony’s articles have appeared in 20 countries and have been translated into nine languages, and he has published 13 books. His passion for history, developed in the Middle East, has broadened to include Canada, the fur trade, and the Arctic. Anthony says, “I’m a born historian and academic at heart.” He also admits to a “bottomless pit of ideas, which reflect my love of history and Canada,” and has a contract for two more nonfiction books, a movie option, and two adult novels under consideration.

Anthony and his guide, Moulay El Moktar, at the end of a CBC expedition to the Timbuktu salt mines, 1980.

River Rough, River Smooth is his favourite book, although the earlier publication of Wayward Sailor in 2003 launched him into Canadian pubon ns ui lishing’s mainstream. Anthony ng Pe Anthony with King . 95 19 , ds an Isl d had yearned to write a book like an the Falkl River after inhaling the novels of R.M. Ballantyne and books about Sir John Franklin’s overland explorations in northern Canada. River tells the story of Anthony’s two arduous but thrilling journeys retracing the 600-kilometre fur trade route on Manitoba’s Hayes River. For the first, he joined a crew

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of Cree First Nation men in a York boat from Norway House to Oxford House; for the second, he paddled a canoe with modern-day voyageurs from Oxford House to York Factory, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s old headquarters on Hudson Bay. Assignments continue to roll in for Anthony. CBC and the Discovery Channel have employed him for documentaries and recently the Smithsonian Institution chose him as a featured guest speaker for Celebrity Cruises. He is a proud Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorer’s Club.

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Asked what gives him joy today, Anthony replies swiftly, “Helping other writers. Deserts and the Arctic – I love their remoteness, danger and solitude. Canada’s ‘wild’ factor.” Anthony is still lacing up his hiking boots, shouldering his backpack, and slinging his camera round his neck at 71 years old. Readers can be sure of many more books from his pen and images from his Nikon – longevity is in his genes, to say nothing of adventuring. SL For a list of Anthony Dalton’s books, visit Senior Living magazine online at www.seniorlivingmag.com/dalton

Photos: Anthony Dalton Collection

his dream – he had fallen profoundly in love with the Sahara and the Middle East. He contracted with a Toronto travel agency to lead customized, guided expeditions for discerning travellers and roamed from Istanbul to Kathmandu for over a decade. His passion for history had him weaving stories about the ancient sites and reading Persian poetry by moonlight for his guests. But Anthony’s dream job ended abruptly when the Shah of Iran was deposed and the Russians invaded Afghanistan. He returned to Canada at a loss about what to do, miserable, and 40. It was 1980. “I had no thoughts of being a writer then,” he says. “It just never entered my head, although I’d had photographs published.” He sought refuge in Edmonton with his sister and met Steve Crowhurst, a travel expert. The two men hit it off and became lasting friends. One day Steve asked Anthony, “What are you going to do next?” “I’ve no idea,” was his reply. “Why don’t you write about your adventures? Start with your last trip to Timbuktu.” Anthony bashed out an 800-word piece and sent it to the Edmonton Journal. The newspaper published it six weeks later and his next career began. This one has lasted 30 years and shows no sign of waning. He has been sent on assignment to write about places most travellers only dream of visiting – the Falkland Islands, Timbuktu, Namibia, Oman and Vanuatu, to name a few. He has crewed on mighty windjammers in northern waters and sailed small-

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JANUARY 2012

Fitness & Leisure

Running Up New Times

SENIOR LIVING

BJ McHugh stretches after a run. WWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

BY JEAN SORENSEN

Photos: Jean Sorensen

etty Jean “BJ” McHugh challenges today’s concept of aging and the elderly. The 84-year-old North Vancouver running legend, dubbed the fastest senior in the world, has just finished the James Cunningham Seawall 9.5-kilometre road race clocking in at 62 minutes. “I thought it was a terrible time,” says BJ, who has been running since her 50s and has set some 30 world records for marathons, half-marathons, and shorter races. But, the time was good enough to earn her first place in the age-graded runners’ category. She acknowledges that age has taken its toll on her times. She once ran the 9.5 kilometre James Cunningham Seawall Race – a favourite with runners in Halloween costumes – in 43 minutes and 52 seconds in 1979, three days before her 52nd birthday. But as she runs – with other elite senior runners such as the 100-year-old Fauja Singh, who holds world records for his age category in eight different distances, including the Toronto Marathon, and Vancouver’s 74-year-old Rod Waterlow who ran the Vancouver 2011 Fall Classic half-marathon in one hour and 46 minutes – BJ makes society question seniors’ capabilities. And, opens new horizons. At age 80, she set a new world record at the 29th Royal Victoria Marathon. When she first started running, there were no age categories. Today, races have not only a winning time for the fastest runners, but runners are broken into age brackets of five or 10 years. In addition, runners are handicapped according to age using a computer formula, which determines overall performance. In the Cun-

for Seniors

ningham race, BJ’s age-graded performance outranked more than 900 other racers that day putting her at the top of the podium. BJ’s “running times” are chronicled in a new book My Road to Rome co-authored by her and CBC reporter and runner Bob Nixon, who first met BJ three years ago when a note about her came into the television studio. He subsequently reported on her invitation by the Rome Marathon organizers to run the 26-mile course. “I could not get her out of my mind,” says Nixon, “not just because she was such a remarkably lively and fun person to interview, but also because I discovered that her world marathon record as an 80-year-old was faster than I had run the same course when I was in my 30s. I had never met anyone that age who was so fit.” The CBC story grew into a book that tells the life of BJ, who was born in the small village of Stanwood, Ontario. She grew up on a farm and recalls adventures such as horse-drawn sled rides in winter to her grandparents’ home at Christmas, and follows her dream of nursing to a Toronto school. After graduation in Toronto, she moved to Vancouver to work as a nurse, where she met her husband Robert, a car salesman, who landed in her hospital ward. BJ laughs because she is not the only nurse to meet her husband as a patient. One day, while working out at the gym, a nurse stopped by to tell her how much she had enjoyed the book. “We both have something in common,” quipped the nurse. “We both met our husbands in bed.” BJ’s story is full of urban family life – such as the rigours of manually defrosting fridges, sewing new dresses for social events and the kids, seeing her daughter Jennifer off to sporting events, swim meets, training sessions and finally the 1972 Olympics, and outfitting the family for skiing trips to the North Shore mountains. BJ’s recounts are far from dull as she delves

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into the fabric of life. Nixon says she describes those new ski pants of the ’70s as “so tight that if a woman put a dime in the pocket you could tell if it was head or tails.” The whole book, he says, is dotted with such McHugh gems. Throughout the story, her four children and husband are focal points of her life. But, after finding tennis hard on the body, unable to ski during summer and with the children flying from the nest, she sought out a new sport – running. It turned into a passion and led to recordsmashing performances. Today, BJ says she never set out to smash any records, although the records started falling as she entered races. She continues to run for the pure joy of the sport and, along the way, has developed a group of friends that are as foundational as her sneakers. She doesn’t wear a runner’s watch but marks time with a stopwatch, nor does she worry about pace or the distance she has run. She also doesn’t use a heart monitor. “I know my body,” she says, adding that really is what she listens to when she is running in or out of a race. She also doesn’t follow a special diet, like many runners who are vegans or vegetarians, nor takes dietary supplements. Instead, she cooks regular meals, although she does watch what she eats, especially near a race date; she suffers from a mild form of irritated bowel syndrome. Her big meal is breakfast – fruit, oatmeal and a bagel. Regularly running with a group of women starting out at around 6 a.m. three times a week for an hour, she runs a fourth, longer run on Saturday mornings and can last up to three-and-a-half hours, if a marathon is beckoning. She cross-trains with cycling, lifts weights in the gym, and practises yoga. BJ credits her group of friends – all younger – as her inspiration. Having younger friends is important as one ages, she feels, as they keep her active. “It’s hard to stay in bed when you have friends waiting – even if it is raining outside,” she says. They also provide a source of energy, optimism and humour. At the crack of dawn, they are a noticeable crowd, chattering down the street. She tells of one North Vancouver resident, who obviously rolled out of the wrong side of the bed to set out his garbage, turning to the noisy group and said: “Why don’t you girls shut up!” Then, there was the morning when an owl swooped down and tried to wing off with the ponytail of a running buddy. The group works as a team planning events, booking hotels and airfare. “I’m really quite spoiled,” says BJ about the group cheering her accomplishments at events. But, they celebrate their victories together. “Thirteen of us ran the [2011] Chicago Marathon,” she says, adding that all completed the course to take home finisher’s medals. BJ has not come through the record books unscathed. Husband Robert, long a support member for her and

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aging as he found himself facing that “slippery slope” of declining health expected in old age. But, here is BJ healthy at 80. And she doesn’t see any mystical fountain of youth; running is part of her active lifestyle. Her book sets out 10 life lessons in the last chapter, including “think young” and “don’t just get into shape – BE in shape by being active.” She plans to take that perspective into the Honolulu Marathon in De-

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cember 2012. She has two daughters, Jennifer (the Olympic swimmer) and Jillian, and two sons, Brent and Gyle. They all run or have run, but son Brent competes in marathons. “My granddaughter Ava wants us to do a three-generation run in Honolulu,” says BJ, an event that takes place a month after her 85th birthday. BJ’s optimistic she will make it, but quips, “At my age, you don’t buy SL green bananas.”

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friends at the events, and the family’s main breadwinner, fell 23 years ago on a sidewalk curb, hit his head and sustained brain trauma. Through his decline into dementia, and financial difficulties, BJ tells in her book how she continues to run and stay by the side of the man she calls “the great love of my life.” BJ has also sustained numerous injuries: she once tripped over her dog as it darted out to catch a squirrel and injured her shoulder, which required surgery. Her running buddies came to the rescue during her convalescence and ran over dinners for her and Robert, adding the occasional bottle of wine.

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BJ runs for the pure joy of the sport.

What comes from BJ’s life is not being down, but getting back up. As she ages, BJ continues to open new doors for runners, as race organizers have to add new age categories to accommodate more seniors entering road racing. Nixon says that what has intrigued him as a journalist in his 50s about BJ is her “secret” to

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JANUARY 2012

Fitness & Leisure

Thick with Grizzlies BY KYM PUTNAM

SENIOR LIVING

to the Klondike Gold Rush. In July 1897, shiploads of glittering gold arrived on the west coast of the United States. That’s all it took for 100,000 fortune seekers to head to Skagway: gateway to the Yukon goldfields. After hauling their required 2,000 pounds (907 kg) of supplies over the treacherous mountain passes, only 30,000 actually reached Dawson City, Yukon. Few struck gold, but all of them came away with something. In their search for the elusive yellow rock, they discovered an escape from ordinary life. Today, Skagway still attracts ad-

The author pushes forward, slow and steady.

venture seekers and is home to Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. We also hope to escape our ordinary life and, at this point, my anxiety level is extraordinarily high. Journal Entry – Kym – July 5 What on earth was I thinking? Of course, I knew the White Pass was high. BUT we are starting at sea level! And short means steep. 3,292 feet (1,003 metres) straight up with a fully loaded bike. I start to whine first thing in the morning. After stopping at the local bike shop and enquiring about the ride up the pass – the young ironman there said it was a pretty tough climb even for him. I really start to whimper then and have grave doubts about making it. I’m only scowling and hyperventilating a little bit when we ride out of town. Brian is not being the slightest bit sympathetic to my anxiety. At my snail’s pace, I realize there’s no

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Photo: Brian Hall

“T

hat highway is thick with grizzlies!” our daughter warned us before we departed on our bicycle trip. I had filed that tidbit of terrifying information in the back of my mind until now, as I dodge enormous mountains of bear poop on the smooth, traffic-free pavement between Haines Junction, Yukon and Haines, Alaska. I catch up to my husband (eventually) and we look at a steaming pile together. I can tell by the look on his face that he’s thinking the same thing as me: enormous poop, enormous butts, enormous bears. We laugh nervously and get the bear spray out of our bags. I’ve been worried about this portion of the trip since we left home. Everything about this experience has been enormous – the distances between towns, the steep hills, and the vast and endless scenery. It’s also enormously beautiful. This is our very first bike trip. That’s the way we are – buy bikes, plan a few weeks in advance and go. Unfortunately, I am incapable of paying attention to details. I’m a big-picture kind of person and when my “adventurer” husband showed me the map, it only looked like a couple of inches of pedalling per day. No problem. Our journey begins at the Port of Prince Rupert, on B.C.’s North Coast, a four-hour drive from our home in Smithers. From there, we board an Alaskan ferry and sail up the inside passage to Skagway, Alaska. This is a spectacular two-day voyage along the edge of the world’s largest temperate rainforest. With almost 18,000 km of shoreline, the panhandle of Alaska receives over 100 inches (254 centimetres) of rainfall a year, contains over 50 major glaciers, and grows cedar, hemlock and spruce up to 200-feet (61-metres) high. Even though 70,000 residents call this place home, what was wild 10,000 years ago is still wild today. Stopping in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, and Haines before disembarking at the final terminus of Skagway, from here, we’ll ride over the White Pass to Whitehorse, on to Haines Junction and over the Chilkat Pass to Haines, Alaska; a 600 km loop from one port to another. The entire trip will take 11 days, seven riding and four napfilled, whale-watching days on the boat. We arrive in Skagway on the fourth of July and with a bit of luck get the last campsite in town. Skagway owes its birth

turning back and get into a rhythm – if you can call barely moving a rhythm. I actually end up walking my bike most of the way up the pass – I’m faster that way. It’s only 19 km to the summit, but it takes four hours. Journal Entry – Brian – July 5 Broke camp and cruised around Skagway. Breakfast at Sweet Things, grabbed a spare tire from the Sockeye Cycle Shop, picked up groceries and hit the road. Five minutes out of town, and I’m in my lowest gear. Four hours of grinding up to the pass in low gear. Once over the pass, it’s rolling terrain. By 6:50 p.m., we are camped at kilometre 65 on Tutshi Lake. Fabulous scenery. Tomorrow, I’ll wear six pairs of underwear – OUCH my butt is sore. After that first day, everything else seems easy. The next day we ride 120 km at a leisurely pace into Whitehorse. The day is brilliant, the smells are berry delicious, and the lakes, deserts, and mountains seem to roll past effortlessly. It is a day to savour – except for that last 23 km when I start to whimper in the heat and beg for a taxi. Fortunately, we can’t find a phone to call one. I surprise myself and easily ride into Whitehorse. Journal Entry – Kym – July 6 This is so cool. I get out of the tent to pee at midnight and it’s still daylight. I’ve told Brian I’m not riding today. He wants to do a major 160 km day from Whitehorse to Haines Junction – as if I haven’t done enough. I’m taking Bernie’s delivery truck ($55 per person) to Haines Junction tomorrow. I don’t care what he does. I tell him I think he’s nuts and ask him why he wants to kill himself.

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Journal Entry – Brian – July 7 I had planned to ride Whitehorse to Haines Junction today, meeting Kym there tonight. Opted out and spent the day in Whitehorse with Kym. Nice reading day, out for lunch, street performers downtown, etc. Journal Entry – Kym – July 7 I am so glad we didn’t ride from Whitehorse to Haines. Just one long undulating boring highway, head wind, thunderstorm, no rest areas, water or food. We treated ourselves to a night at the Raven Motel in Haines Junction accompanied by gourmet dinner in same establishment. The dinner cost as much as the room but well worth it. Anyway, tomorrow we might be dead since we are entering the “thick with grizzlies” portion of the trip. Might as well spend all our money.

I know the last 230 km is the most beautiful part of the trip but it’s also the one I’m a bit worried about. This section is full of glaciated peaks, alpine tundra, and those grizzlies. We’ll ride past Kluane and Tatshenshini – Alsek Parks, over the Chilkat Pass and down, down, down to the sea. The bear droppings, our first warning, remind us to get the

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bear spray out. We ride along and Brian just can’t go slowly enough to stay with me, no matter how hard he tries. I keep my eyes peeled left and right along the side of the road. Brian is ahead of me by a kilometre and I won’t be catching up to him until he stops. The big grizzly casually steps onto the road between us. My first reaction is one of awe and excitement. It is bigger and more beautiful than I expected. My senses are tuned right up by now and I start to yell – Hey bear! Hey bear! Unbelievably, I keep riding towards her – I’ve just spotted her cub too. I keep

ing wolves. “How Yukon can you get?” we remark. The last one is a big male who is more interested in us than the cars stopped along the side of the road. He ignores the people in the two cars beside him with cameras pointed, but when we cycle by he stands up and takes note of us. Hmm – he’s thinking – here’s something different. But like a good bear, he keeps his distance. It is a most memorable day, and we finally end up in a maintenance yard to camp for the night. Every other desirable spot seemed to have big bear beds tamped down in the grass.

The author’s husband, Brian, at a rest stop, prepares to hit the road again.

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yelling and she meanders down into the ditch beside the road as I pass. Brian can’t even hear me but looks back and sees me wildly gesturing and pointing at the long grass beside me. He stops, I catch up and we both look back. The beautiful beast steps back onto the road as her young one trails behind and they saunter away from us. We stick closer together for the rest of the day and encounter three more bears. One pair is near a pack of howlWWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

The remainder of the ride is bear free but full of sunshine, fabulous mountains, glaciers, lakes and one enormous downhill to our final campsite in Haines. We board the ferry the next evening and nap our way home. And what do we say about this trip to friends who ask? It was wonderful – we saw FIVE GRIZZLIES! It’s true that our biggest fears can be our most thrilling memories and we are able to break away SL from the bonds of ordinary life.

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JANUARY 2012

Keep on Going Fitness & Leisure

BY KEVIN MCKAY

Photo: Kevin McKay

Phil Horton at badminton practice. 18

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he year was 1978 and 43-year-old Phil Horton came to the realization that something had to change in his life. The married father of two girls was busy working for BC Hydro, golfing every Saturday and Sunday morning, and enjoying life with his family the rest of the time. Yet, something was missing. Phil was getting larger – and not in a good way. He needed to get back in shape and he needed to do it right away. So, what prompted the change in attitude? Part of it was passing the milepost that said 40; part of it was realizing that golf alone was not cutting it; and part of it was getting tired of dragging all that extra weight up and down mountains all over the province. His job gave Phil the opportunity to travel the province inspecting the installation of overhead lines. It meant hiking over some very rugged terrain, which became more difficult as he aged. He made the decision to change his lifestyle. “The running and jogging boom was very big at that time and, as much as I hated running, I saw it as possibly a way to get fitter,” he says. “It was a case of being in the right place at the right time.” For his first run, Phil decided to run around Stanley Park. It was not easy, but he did it, and started on a training regimen of running in and around the park with the help of some mentors who provided encouragement and showed him the trails. He says, “I ran both around the Seawall and through all the various trails and paths. It is a beautiful setting and is one of my favourite places to run and to train. I know that park like the back of my hand.” Then Phil decided he would like to try running a marathon. “I bought all the books on running and one said on the cover, ‘So you want to run a marathon.’ I followed that religiously seven days a week for three months. My first one was in Richmond around 1982, and I was hooked. I have run many half marathons and a handful of full marathons.” One item on Phil’s bucket list was the New York marathon, something he crossed off his list in November 2010 at the age of 75. “I always wanted to run that marathon and I finally did,” he says. “You don’t just treat it as a normal race. Running in New York is like 26 miles (42 kilometres) of sightseeing. It was most exciting not only to finish but to experience the whole week – it is unique.” Phil, who never paid any attention to the Senior Games when he was working, discovered them shortly after he retired at the age of 57 in 1992. Without work to occupy him, Phil and his wife, Mary, looked around to see what they could get involved in. They saw an advertisement for badminton at the Bonsor Recreation Centre in Burnaby. They decided to give it a try and started to play twice a week – something Phil still does to this day.

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“One of the things I like the most about badminton is the camaraderie,” he says. “There were some nice people at Bonsor who helped Mary and me when we were still learning the game. It is a lot of fun. Some days, you make a few really good shots, and it feels great. People tell me I have a good serve. What I like is that I can run around, play a few games and still go out later for a run and not feel stiff the next day. I have sort of conditioned myself to different activities without the downside.” Eventually, Phil and Mary started to compete in badminton at the Senior Games; they won several medals. “Mary was a very good player and won several gold medals with her partner over the years until her hip went,” says Phil. “Having good health is very important for staying active and, fortunately for me, I have very good knees and joints.” Although Phil was a successful badminton competitor and enjoyed it, he was still restless. What he didn’t like was waiting around the gym for three days of competition, watching other matches and waiting for his next competition without any opportunity to meet other people or see any of the other activities and sports. In the Senior Games, athletes are only allowed to compete in one activity or sport per year, so when Phil started looking around for an alternative to badminton, he quickly zeroed in on golf, a sport he’s played since age nine. “I started playing during the time I had a little stint living with my aunt out in Haney,” he says. “The local golf course quickly became my favourite spot, and I snuck onto the course where the staff that worked there would keep kicking me off. The owner must have seen something in me because he told them to just let me play, as I might become a real player someday. At that point, I could still be a little bit of a jerk but golf, sports and the good people I met helped keep me on the straight and narrow.” Even after he married and started a family, Phil feels he was fortunate to be able to continue playing golf every Saturday and Sunday morning that weather permitted. It was natural for him to represent Zone 4 in golf at the Games, something he did in 1999 in Kelowna and 2004 in Penticton. Aside from his time on the course, Phil enjoyed watching some of the other athletes compete. Phil also tried out road cycling in 2002 in Prince George and mountain biking in Nanaimo in 2007. Though he relished the challenge, he did not bring home any medals in those games, though he did have time to check out plenty of other activities at his leisure. “The race in Prince George was just in terrible weather and a lot of my competitors take it so seriously. They had leg muscles that were huge and state of the art equipment. One guy even had a truck following him while he raced with a back-up bike in the back.” Unfortunately, for Phil, marathon isn’t an event at the Senior Games but he did have the chance to compete in the long-distance track and field events on many occasions. The longer the race, the better he did, winning one gold and one silver in the 10 km run the three times he entered it, as well as one silver medal in the 5,000metre race one year. “I am not the fastest guy in the world, and I could never compete against the sprinters,” says Phil. “I just go steadily along and keep SL on going until the end of the race.”

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JANUARY 2012

Fitness & Leisure

ZUMBA WITH ZEST

BY BEV YAWORSKI

Left to right, Ramona Hudson, Georgiana Evans and Zumba instructor Patricia Simpson. 20

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Photos: Bev Yaworski

nstead of the usual boring and uninspiring personal fitness program, add some zest to a workout regime. Zumba Gold – the fitness craze sweeping the globe – might just fit the bill. It’s a chance to shake those shoulders, roll those hips, and feel the beat while turning fitness into a fun experience. Georgiana Evans caught the Zumba bug early. A retiree in Delta, Georgiana maintains an active exercise program – possibly influenced by a pre-retirement career as a physical education teacher, so it may not be too surprising that she recently added Zumba Gold classes to her already impressive fitness repertoire of line dancing, lawn bowling and swimming. Zumba fitness involves dance and aerobic elements with choreography that incorporates dance moves from hip-hop, samba, salsa, mambo, tango and even belly dancing. By using the beats of international music with fast and slow rhythms, followers describe this fitness program as exhilarating, effective, fun and easy-to-follow. Zumba Gold is an adaptation of regular high-impact Zumba, suitable for the baby boomer population because it’s a low-to-medium impact version. It takes the Zumba formula and modifies the moves and pacing to suit the requirements of an active older participant, as well as those just starting on their path to a fit, healthy lifestyle. Georgiana, who takes part in the weekly class offered at the Delta McKee Seniors Recreation Centre, says: “I liken it to line dancing, except there is a lot of upper body motion,

Ramona Hudson and Georgiana Evans in their Zumba Gold class.

whereas in line dancing mainly the feet move. I don’t do anything else really to get a lot of upper body exercise. Because I broke my arm last year in a fall, I felt I needed something to get my left arm strengthened, so I started Zumba.” Georgiana travels to sunny Mesa, Arizona every winter, which is where she first started Zumba Gold. She attends the classes in Arizona, where Zumba popularity among seniors has seen class size grow from 40 to 80 participants per session. “In one hour, you get a good amount of exercise in a class,” says Georgiana. “I lawn bowl too, so I do get some exercise for my right arm, but with Zumba both arms are almost always in motion as part of the routines.” McKee Centre volunteer Jean also enthusiastically takes part in the classes. Because she loves to dance, this type of fitness suits her. Patricia Simpson is the certified Zumba Gold instructor. “Zumba Fitness is great for all ages, no matter what your age, ability or fitness level,” she says. “I love Zumba because it brings my favourite things together – dancing, inspiring people and having fun.” Zumba is still new to Canada, but it is spreading fast. Now in over 11 different countries including Australia and New Zealand, it has become very big in Britain. Some followers also wear special clothing, branded T-shirts, cargo knee pants, bangles, and other gear to promote their love of this exercise phenomenon. Patricia has been teaching the class for seniors at McKee since January 2011. She starts each session with a warm-up

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stretch and a message to “listen to your body and take water breaks to stay hydrated.” She also varies her music selections to add extra spice to the class. A session might include creative moves that are Latin-inspired such as cha-cha or tango with Eastern Indian music mixed in with the charleston, the twist and belly dancing thrown in for extra fun. Zumba was originally created by dancer Alberto “Beto” Perez in Columbia during the 1990s. Zumba Fitness company history claims that Beto’s life took an unexpected twist when he rushed off to teach an aerobics class and forgot his traditional aerobics music. He quickly improvised using his own mix of music from salsa tapes he had in his backpack. Thus was born a new kind of dance-fitness that centres on letting the music move you instead of counting repetitions with music. In 2001, Beto took his new dance-fitness style to Miami, Florida and the Zumba program took off in a big way across the U.S. and internationally. Special branded clothing, accessories, music CDs, a fitness DVD and a video game all spread this fitness craze. The Zumba program in its various forms is now taught in gyms and studios all over the world to millions. It’s also become an Internet YouTube sensation SL with thousands tuning in to watch the fun. To learn about Zumba classes in your area, visit Senior Living magazine at www.seniorlivingmag.com/zumbazest

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JANUARY 2012

FOREVER BY WILLIAM THOMAS

Dain City: The Town that Time Nearly Erased

’ve been reared in small towns and, as David Letterman would say, we all know how painful that can be. Dain City, Stop 19 and Wainfleet – say what you like about me, but I’m no social climber. Coming up to 65, most days I still have to clean my shoes with a stick. A rural hamlet bordered by the Welland Canal and two busy railroads, Dain City was a great place for a kid to grow up. Unfortunately, this little place has undergone more name changes than the Great Imposter. Initially, it may have been designated Air Line Junction after a company that made brakes for trains. In 1908, Joseph Dain arrived from Iowa with patents in hand and built Dain Manufacturing, which produced agricultural machinery for export, mainly to South America. So, naturally they named the place – Welland Junction. Within a year, houses were built for Dain employees putting people to a place and a face. In 1911, Deere & Company bought out Dain and the place was named Dearborn, Michigan. No, actually the village remained Welland Junction until the mid-’50s when the City of Welland annexed it and, to avoid duplication, changed the name to Dain City. Then, now and forever after, it will be known as Dain City, even though officially it has become Welland’s Ward 6. Located south of Welland and north of Port Colborne, Dain City lies on the same latitude as Puke, Albania. I got a detention for bringing this up in geography class once, but you can even look it up. I went to School System No. 4, and Dain City was now in Humberstone Township not Crowland Township. Then they changed the name of the school as well: from SS No. 4 to Bridgeview School. Apparently, SS No. 4 sounded too much like a secret training base for Germany’s Luftwaffe. I preferred SS No. 4. No pressure to succeed, every school sports team I played on was greeted with chants of: “We’re Number 4!” “We’re Number 4!” Confusing to kids? One night, I went to bed in a house at 53 Ontario Street and woke up the next morning at 53 Forks Road East. Nothing had moved except the dog, 24

SENIOR LIVING

which ran away in protest. Dain City’s industrial base was John Deere; its commercial centre included Ort’s convenience store, Evan’s General Store and Frank Mihalyi’s soda shop/gas station. We hung out at Mihalyi’s store. Sid Hilton would sit at the end stool slurping Coke through a straw he crushed because it made the drink last longer. Frank sold cigarettes to kids for two cents each. It seemed The Dain City Hotel, on the canal next to the railway bridge, had always been there. Once a stagecoach inn, where the horses were bedded in the basement, “The Dainer” over the years was a brothel, an illegal betting shop, a public house, a private residence and now an abandoned building. I lived next door to one of the bookies that operated out of The Dainer. My mother was amazed the house was always filled with new fridges and stoves. Turns out it was the Leon’s. They gambled a lot. They lost a lot. They paid off in appliances. Just down my street and over the tracks was the Welland Drive-In, the hub of summer activity. Walking to the concession stand in the dark, you had to be careful not to trip over a speaker cord or a brassiere. Kids today have sex education classes. Malcolm Hilton and me, we had binoculars and the Welland Drive-In. Towering 230 feet (70 metres) over the Welland Canal, the lift bridges were our midway rides; the last kid to let go and plunge into the blue water below as the bridge rose slowly skyward, won. The last kid still holding on for dear life, but chickened out of jumping had to stay up there until the boat went under and the bridge came down. He lost. I went fishing with Jimmy Creighton at John’s Lake, which was really just a big pond. I brought fishing tackle; he brought dynamite. He went first. Suddenly, there was an explosion and a lot of fish swimming upside down, but nothing for me to catch. I went duck hunting with Allan Creighton at nearby Mud Lake. I shot him. I don’t know, maybe it was something he said. We were both surprised. To this day, I thank Allan – for not shooting me back. That could have gotten ugly in a hurry.

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I smoked my first cigarette with Malcolm Hilton out in the bush near the construction site of Dain City’s new subdivision. I coughed and spit my way through a long, unfiltered Viceroy cigarette Malcolm had nicked from his older brother. On my way home, I vomited green bile on my desert boots. That was my last cigarette. In 1958, we began to get our news from CHOW-Radio, which went on the air at its newly built studio on Forks Road West. Before that, we relied solely on Alex Hilton. She had a watchful eye and a party line. Among all those little settlements that sprung up in the first half of the 1900s, Dain City has won the war of attrition. I was a bat boy on a Dain City softball team that played against Perry Station, White Pigeon and Netherby. None of those villages exist today. Occasionally, I take a slow drive through the village. Little has changed. I see SS No. 4 on the corner, now an apartment building. I see two of three stores are still operating. And then I see Allan Creighton running for his life down the railroad tracks toward Port Colborne. Dain City – a tough but vibrant village that survived the test and ravages of time. SL William Thomas is the author of nine books of humour including The True Story of Wainﬂeet and Margaret and Me and The Cat Rules. For comments or ideas, visit his website at www.williamthomas.ca

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Fitness & Leisure

A Sound Mind in a Sound Body

uvenal, the Roman writer, used the motto, mens sana in corpore sano, meaning a sound mind in a healthy body. John Locke, the English philosopher, said “if you had those two elements in your life, you would have little else to wish for.” Taking care of the mind and the body are imperative for seniors aiming for fitness and leisure fulfillment. And it seems that the B.C. coast is a great area to practise those strategies. There is increasing research on the aging mind and body, called age identity. It seems new terms such as “felt age” or “subjective age” may be a more important factor than chronological age. Dr. Becca Levy said in a 2006 Yale University study that pessimism about elderly decline becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. Better to be half-full than half-empty. In another study Dr. Ellen Langer, a Harvard University psychologist, asked men in their 70s and 80s to relive or act 20 years younger over a retro weekend. The men subsequently behaved younger and more independently. A University of Toronto sociologist, Dr. Markus Schafer, in a 2010 study on age identity said that learning new things, reading in a new area, or at least trying to become connected with new technologies and platforms are some ways to feel on average 12 years younger. Dr. Levy concluded that attitude or expectation, not biology, leads many to set limits for themselves. Victoria and Vancouver are ideal locales to foster healthy age identity. There are always active peers and like-minded people visible running, biking, and walking dogs. A May 2009 Maclean’s poll showed that Victoria ranked third and Vancouver seventh among Canadian city-dwellers who spend on sports and recreation. It makes it easier to try the strategies that researchers suggest when so many around are role models in an active city. Socrates of Ancient Athens fame said that the first order of wisdom was to know oneself; an unexamined life was not good. The ancients also viewed people as having four sides – emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual, and they must remain in balance. Getting older and retirement are transition periods in life and usually represent a crossroads. The process can be wrought with the confusion and that goes along with change. To ignore any side can be harmful but the emotional and spiritual probably are omitted more than the others. Several tests and questionnaires can assist with self-reflection and self-knowledge – what Socrates called the examined 26

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life. If not directly spiritual, they can at least help a person focus on discovering needs at any stage in life. Whether people are left-brained or right-brained in their approach to solutions, introverted or extroverted, linear or random thinkers, knowing these tendencies can help give perspective to any transition. Online questionnaires and analysis can open the door for consideration and discussion.

Photo: James Ellsworth

BY JAMES ELLSWORTH

55+ locker room at the 2011 Playmakers’ Hockey Tournament

Meditation is another strategy that promotes calm self-reflection. The technique encourages a peaceful mind by taking time to focus on breathing, muscle relaxing and visualizing. Often, but not necessarily connected to Buddhist concepts, the techniques are very good for eliminating distractions and stress. Perhaps more important is that meditation can promote a positive rather than a negative outlook, which studies say are key to aging and well-being. Victoria even offers free drop-in noon mediations at the Bodhichitta Buddhist Centre on Douglas Street. Book clubs are another way to possibly help address intellectual, emotional and spiritual sides. It is true there are gender differences in reading but both men and women can benefit from the stimulation of reading in new fields, and from socializing. Statistics Canada (1998 Canadians’ Reading Habits) showed that men read as often as women. For instance, although somewhat more females read books than males, 68 to 54 per cent, over a quarter of men (27 per cent) read at least a book a week. Also, both sexes read at least a

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Photo: Barbara Ellsworth

book a month with almost the same fre- participants (1,880 to 702). There were quency, about 35 per cent. That means even seven women in the 80-84 division, that a third could be in book clubs, mixed one more than the men. If running apor uni-gender, and use it as a vehicle for peals as a physical fitness activity, then intellectual fitness. there is plenty of company out there. When one thinks of fitness though, one more stereotypically focuses on physical activity, the sound body. The west coast has many bike trails and walkways, but 55+ year-olds also are taking part in friendly competitive events too, such as running and hockey. For 32 years, Victoria has been hosting the Good Life Fitness Victoria Marathon, which features not only the The author and daughter Jennifer at the Good Life Victoria Half-Marathon, 2010. marathon but also a half-marathon and an 8 km road race each Thanksgiving weekend. In 2011, Many seniors also participate in the there were participants from 16 countries BC Senior Games for those 55 years old and a chance to run with Olympians. The plus. It has track and field events as well statistics for men and women aged 55 to as a bevy of other activities like dragon 80+ were remarkable. boating, bowling and ice hockey. Speaking of Canada’s game, Victo• 13 per cent of the runners in the mara- ria also hosts an annual Playmakers’ ice thon were over 55 years old, including hockey tournament every spring. At the 12 runners over 70 years 22nd tourney held April 4-9, 2011, over • 14 per cent of the runners in the half- 40 teams gathered, approximately 700 marathon were 55+, including 13 who players over 55 years old. Thirty-four of them were over 80 on two teams; and were 70+ • Of the 702 participants over 55 in the for the first time, there was one forward half-marathon, women outnumbered line comprised of 90 year olds. Doug men (373 to 329) Shorting, treasurer for the tournament • 18 per cent of the runners in the 8 km said the name “Playmaker” was chowere 55+, and again there were more sen to represent fun and friendship. women racing than men (240 to 206) “We wanted to give more emphasis to • 34 men and women over 65 years old the guys who made passes and set up participated in the marathon, including goals, not the goal scorers themselves,” two who were over 80 years old. says Shorting. “There is no trophy and no individual records or stats are kept. Some “seniors” are part of teams It’s all for the love of the game.” raising money for charities; some run Research shows the saying, “You’re because they can; and everyone loves as young as you feel” has credibility, the event, especially the last 2 km, lined especially if one has a positive attitude with cheering throngs. and gets active. There are many strateThe Times Colonist 10 km road race gies for addressing what even the anhas been held around Easter for the last cients knew, that keeping a balanced 22 years. Interestingly, in the 2011 event life is important at any age or stage. for 55 years old and up categories, there Yes, keeping the mind and the body were more than twice as many female sound is paramount. SL WWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

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JANUARY 2012

Positive Peace Author Proﬁle

BY ELIZABETH GODLEY

s a small child in India, Pummy Kaur says she learned about injustice early – through personal experience. For example, her father assumed her brother would get an education, but the same was not true for Pummy. “Females were invisible,” she says. “I was not neglected. I was fed and clothed. But in terms of all the education and nurturing, I was ignored.” However, in some sense, she says, being invisible “was a huge advantage, because I was kind of left to my own devices.” In 1959, at the age of 10, Pummy, her mother and brother went to live in Leeds, England, before immigrating to Canada, where Pummy went on to study at the University of Manitoba. As a woman with a degree in math and physics, she again suffered injustice. “I was one of only two or three females in a class of 200 men,” she recalls. After graduating, she applied to teach high-school physics in Winnipeg, but was turned down strictly on the basis of gender. “The principal said it would be ‘unseemly.’” She did, however, go on to teach, training first in Winnipeg, and later at SFU, UBC, UVic and Western Washington, with further studies in Australia at Northern Territory University. Fast forward to 1986: Pummy divorces her second husband. Their two children are three and six, and another is on the way, but she feels liberated. “The stress of an unhappy marriage was gone, and I was free to become who I wanted to be.” The person she wanted to be, it turned out, was an activist, educator and writer who encouraged her audience to consider their own complicity in social justice issues. Since then, she has written extensively for publications such as The Humanist in Canada and The Global Educator, all with the same theme – erasing 28

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Pummy in her classroom in Surrey on her last day of teaching before ofﬁcial retirement.

injustice and increasing compassion. Her first book, What Would Gandhi Do? Simple Solutions to Global Problems, was published in 2008. Her most recent, A Season of Non-Violence: 64 ways for 64 days, was published in 2011. Both are available from www. whatwouldgandhido.ca and www.seniorlivingmag.com/bookstore In A Season of Non-Violence (the cover was designed by her daughter Cadence Kaur Warner), Pummy develops the notion of setting aside a season of 64 days, between January 30 and April 4, to practise and inculcate peace and an absence of violence in daily lives. As she explains, January 30 marks the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s death (in 1948), while April 4 commemorates the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1968 assassination. During these 64 days, as Steven Staples, president of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa and author of Missile Defence: Round One, writes in WWW.SENIORLIVINGMAG.COM

the book’s forward, human beings everywhere might set aside a few minutes every day to think about “positive peace.” This concept encompasses not just the absence of war, but asks people to form relationships, perform everyday actions and make choices filled with “non-violent energy. Seen in this light, peace becomes the responsibility of the individual.” Today, Staples writes, people often feel powerless “in the face of atrocity, limitless technology and seemingly unstoppable disasters.” But A Season of Non-Violence shows that, through daily actions and choices, war and oppression can be stopped. A Season of Non-Violence offers 64 short readings and a quotation for each day. For the 29th day, for instance, the reading is entitled “Exercise your intellectual capacity and learn about the world from many sources,” and the quotation is a Baha’i prayer. Day 36 suggests asking the question of whether

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an action is good for children; the quotation is by Jane Adams, joint winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. “My ultimate aim is to empower people to take charge of their own lives,” Pummy says, and putting a stop to violence is a big part of that. “If people are living fulfilling lives, we eliminate most of the humancreated problems.” In 1980, Pummy came west to White Rock, and a year later, started to teach in Surrey, where she was most recently involved in designing an enrichment program for gifted, creative and talented children. Now about to retire, she looks back at a career that, in addition to classroom work, allowed her to help create a global education curriculum with a team of teachers from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. She also spent 23 years with the BCTF’s Peace and Global Education Provincial Specialists Association, and lectured at conferences all over the world. In 1992, Pummy became the founder and director of the Global Education Centre, dedicated to “education as if life really matters.” In 1995, she and her children lived in the Australian Outback in a small Aboriginal community, because she wanted her children to understand “a different reality.” When she’s not writing, Pummy loves to dance. She recently “fell into” the Argentine tango. Previously, she studied classical Indian dance and later became a champion ballroom dancer. She also describes herself as a “nester” who loves to be at home, surrounded by bright colours and rich textures. After her retirement, with several more books in various stages of completion, she plans to speak on the international lecture circuit. SL

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JANUARY 2012

BBB Better Better Better Better

Business Business Business Business

Bureau Bureau Bureau Bureau

SCAM ALERT

BY LYNDA PASACRETA

The Skinny on Choosing a Health Club

ach year, thousands of consumers across B.C. follow through with their New Year’s resolution to get fit by joining a fitness or health club. Most people who join health clubs are pleased with their choices, but others are not. They have problems with high-pressure sales tactics, misrepresentations of facilities and services, broken cancellation and refund clauses and lost membership fees as a result of spas or clubs going out of business. If you are considering joining a health club, the following guidelines can help you select the club that’s best for you. Shop around. Ask friends, coworkers, and your doctor for recommendations. Call several clubs to find ones that match your interests and budget. Check with the Better Business Bureau for Business Reviews on the clubs you are considering www.mbc.bbb.org Take your time. Give yourself time to make your final decision, and don’t cave in to high-pressure sales. A hasty commitment to take advantage of a limited time offer may cost you more in the long run. Ask about free trials, and see if you can sample the services and equipment before you buy. Read the contract carefully. Get any verbal promises in writing. Determine if you can afford the payments and total cost. Make sure you’re satisfied with the cooling off period and cancellation rights. What happens if you move, lose your job, become sick, or the club relocates or closes? In the event of the latter, you may be able to use your membership card at another facility (if the club belongs to a chain or association allowing you to use another gym’s membership, for example). However, keep in mind your original purchasing decision was not based on a fitness club you’ve never been to at an inconvenient location. Find out if the club is suitable for you. Make sure the hours and location are convenient, and you’re satisfied that the staff is qualified and helpful. Find out what sort of programs and fitness classes are offered to match your lifestyle, and if those programs are included in your mem30

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bership fees or cost extra. Know yourself and plan a routine. Assess how often you’re going to use the club and compare the costs of longand short-term memberships with drop-in visits. BBB suggests paying by credit card in case the club suddenly closes, but don’t part with any funds before signing a contract. Finally, never sign up with a club that hasn’t yet opened. SL

B.C. Protects Consumers in Continuing Service Contracts According to B.C. Law, you have 10 days to cancel your contract. If you decide to cancel, make sure to cancel the way the contract requires you to which is usually in person, by registered mail, or by fax. You can’t be locked into a membership that is longer than two years although it may roll over month to month automatically so make sure you know when your agreement ends. You have the ability to cancel under very speciﬁc circumstances such as for medical reasons or if you move more than 30 km away from the facility and are not offered services in the area you have moved to. Learn more about the law or ﬁle a complaint about a company at www.consumerprotectionbc.ca

Lynda Pasacreta is President of the Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C. Contact the BBB to check a company report or Buyers’ Tip before you purchase or invest. www.mbc.bbb. org or 604-682-2711. To contact Lynda Pasacreta, e-mail her at president@mbc.bbb.org

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Photo: Jason van der Valk

ASK

Goldie

BY GOLDIE CARLOW, M.ED

Dear Goldie: My wife and I divorced 10 years ago after our four children left the nest. We saw very little of each other until this last summer when we seemed to have more family celebrations. Strange as it may be, we now get along very well when we meet. I would like to start dating her with the hope of us getting back together again. Some of my friends think this is a crazy idea. However, we feel we are both older and wiser and do not have the stress of family life now. What do you think about it? –N.S. Dear N.S.: There are many things to consider. It’s true you do not have family stress now, but you can encounter many types of stress as you age. Take it slow until you spend lots of time becoming reacquainted. You have doubtless both changed over the years. Also, the stress you experienced before may affect your judgment now. There is no guarantee you can resume your old relationship but time and effort can produce a new one worth experiencing. Dear Goldie: I have been in a very good relationship for three years, but in recent months, it seems to be deteriorating. We are both in our seventies, in good health and keep active. But it seems we have lost interest in things we used to share and enjoy. We both have large families whom we like spending time with. Can you suggest anything to bring back the spark to our relationship? –W.O.

Get to know your neighbours

Dear W.O.: You are fortunate to be in good health and still active. The problem might be your large families. Continued excessive involvement with family activities may deprive you of your personal lives. It is time for you and your partner to look into this before your relationship disappears. Immediately start planning a vacation where you only have each other to focus on. At your age, your families have enough adults to deal with any problems that arise. Enjoy SL your holiday and continue your great relationship. Goldie Carlow is a retired registered nurse, clinical counsellor and senior peer counselling trainer. Send letters to Senior Living, Box 153, 1581-H Hillside Ave., Victoria, BC V8T 2C1. Senior Peer Counselling Centres (Lower Mainland)

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FIT BODY. FIT MIND?

Photo: Krystle Wiseman

Reﬂections THEN & NOW

BY GIPP FORSTER

hat happened to the But a healthy mind almost guarantees mother who would not a more satisfying one. We can jog through the pages of allow her children to leave the dinner table before they fin- history, through the gardens of a poet’s ished their vegetables? What happened mind, through the fantasy of pretend to the dinner table? What happened to and, of course, through the Bible. We can jog in the open field of promise vegetables at mealtime? We have become a “hurry-up” soci- – held fast by our own visions and ety and junk food people, at least in my dreams. Not only are many of us junk food legalizes by excuse every immoral act opinion. We have no time, it seems, to pick up “g’s” when we are speaking junkies to our bodies; we are junk food and practice that disturbed and greedy or to learn manners or to think whole- junkies to our minds as well. We are minds can come up with. Junk food for the mind is more dansome and edifying thoughts or to take not near as choosy now, as we were time to plant roses, let alone smell 40 or 50 years ago as to what we will gerous than sugar and more addictive than heroin – all obtainable them. (Not all, but many!) as easily as the click of a We live on hamburgswitch or the pounding of a ers and pizza, deep-fried We are inundated with ads of all kinds key. chicken and Chinese takeWe are inundated with out. Coke battles Pepsi and about physical ﬁtness and how to lose ads of all kinds about physigood old healthy milk is a cal fitness and how to lose “yuck” unless found in a weight. But there is little advertising weight. But there is little milkshake. about mental ﬁtness. advertising about mental fitAnd in the midst of it all, ness. Maybe that’s because is this great emphasis on we’ve made the body a god, health and exercise, diets and the mind the subject to and fat farms. Many of the purists eat just vegeta- accept and what we will reject from bow down to it. I think our minds, in general, have bles, jog and bicycle and protest that entering our minds and taking up resibig business is polluting the environ- dence there. We are, in many cases, lax become fat with complacency and inment. When I drive my car, I watch out stewards and just allow any old thing difference – sluggish with irreverence and lack of respect. Where morality for the bicyclists, and when I walk in to throw its garbage in there. We are invaded with cheap and once sought new gems for her crown, the park, I never totally relax in fear of being run over by a jogger. Some- promiscuous entertainment on our she now sits outside the gate of the times, I think there are more runners televisions and in our movie theatres. city, begging alms of those who were Instead of standing up for decency, once her children. than running shoes. I believe in freedom of speech and But often, I want to ask a question. we are debating its merits. Sports and Are there just as many joggers who sports figures along with many bazaar freedom of choice. But as I have mentioned so many times before, freedom like to go jogging in their minds? I entertainers are idolized. Degradation and irreverence seem has responsibility and must govern itself realize, of course, that a healthy body SL increases the chances of a longer life. to be the norm. The almighty dollar with common sense and decency. 32

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