August 2012 PrimeTime

PRIMETIME FREE

RHODE ISLAND

AU G U ST 2 0 12

Classic American

r e m m Su WIN a

PackGolf age!

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• Oldies Hits • Classic Movies • Vintage Cars

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hen speaking about the term “classic,” book collector and seller Sam Hough made a good point. Classic can mean different things to different people, and it’s difficult to nail down what can be considered a classic, from literature and music to style and architecture.

Still, we tried to do it in this issue of PrimeTime.

In my opinion, a classic is something that transcends generations. It was created, written, worn, etc., in an earlier era but has withstood the test of time and still stands out as something worth paying attention to. It has been imitated and replicated and tweaked over the years, but even in all its variations, it’s an American institution.

In this issue of PrimeTime, we talk about classic books, movies, style, food, music, architecture and cars. Oh, and did we mention root beer floats?

The best part about what we consider the classics is that they bring back memories.

You hear an oldies hit and think back to your high school prom. An old movie comes on TMC and you remember your first date with your spouse. These classics transport us back in time, to a simpler world that we could use more than a dose of.

“We always want to have something in our repertoire that they’ll remember from when they were young. It just brings back memories and that’s what it’s all about,” said Steve Isherwood, lead singer of the barbershop singing group Generations Quartet.

And a root beer float from the A&W car hop can have that same nostalgic effect.

Also in this issue of PrimeTime, find out how Rhode Island born and bred author Jon Land got his start, and what Joan Retsinas thinks of his characters. That’s Entertainment gives us a must-read breakdown of the acts performing at the popular summer attractions, Newport Jazz and Rhythm and Roots Festivals. And if you’re in the mood to do some good, don’t forget to check out A Worthy Cause. This month, MiAugust 2012 chael Cerio catches up with the 1944 Warwick Ave. folks at Books Are Wings, and Warwick, RI 02889 shares how you can support youth 401-732-3100 FAX 401-732-3110 literacy. And we’re very excited Distribution Special Delivery to welcome Terry Spencer to the PrimeTime team. Terry will carry on the legacy of her father, Don PUBLISHERS D’Amato, by continuing to write Barry W. Fain, Richard G. Fleischer, his beloved history column, A John Howell Glimpse of RI’s Past. Don would EDITOR be proud, and we’re honored to Meg Fraser have her with us. megf@rhodybeat.com There is so much bad news on the television and in the newspaMARKETING DIRECTOR Donna Zarrella pers. Take a break from it all and donnaz@rhodybeat.com try to remember what made the “good ol’ days” so good to begin CREATIVE DIRECTOR with.

Linda Nadeau

INTHISISSUE BACK TO THE CLASSICS

4 HIT PARADE

Generations Quartet serenades seniors to a simpler time

6 HIGH ROLLERS

Doris Duke’s Packard cruises into Celebrity Classic Cars

PR I M E TI M E

lindan@rhodybeat.com

WRITERS Jessica Botelho, Don Fowler, Don D’Amato, Elaine M. Decker, John Howell, Joan Retsinas, Kim Kalunian, Mike Fink, Meg Chevalier, Cynthia Glinick, Joe Kernan, Kerry Park

Meg Fraser EDITOR

N.E. HOME

12 ONCE

UPON A TIME

Sam Hough says classics are in the eye of the beholder

13 SECOND SCREENING

Providence Community Libraries resurrect classic film collection

Modern Design and Construction takes classic approach to architecture

14 NEW LIFE

FOR THE BILTMORE

On the celebration of its 90th anniversary, hotel remembers past, looks to future

15 WHAT’S FOR DINNER?

Mom’s meatloaf still has what it takes

20 MUST-HAVE ACCESSORY Pearls are a girl’s oldest companion

SENIOR ISSUES Retirement Sparks ............................................................................. 22 Director’s Column ............................................................................. 27 Car nights cruise into nursing homes................................... 18

PRODUCTION STAFF Matt Bower, Brian Geary, Lisa Yuettner

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10 HOME SWEET

PEOPLE & PLACES Doer’s Profile......................................................................................... 19 Glimpse of RI’s Past ........................................................................... 25 A Worthy Cause .................................................................................. 16

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Sue Howarth – sueh@rhodybeat.com Brittany Wardell – brittanyw@rhodybeat.com

PrimeTime Magazine is published monthly and is available at over 400 locations throughout Rhode Island. Letters to the editor are welcome. We will not print unsigned letters unless exceptional circumstances can be shown.

ROOT BEERS

A&W keeps car hop tradition alive

PROFESSIONAL’S PERSPECTIVE Your Taxes ............................................................................................... 11

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Donna Zarrella – donnaz@rhodybeat.com Carolann Soder, Lisa Mardenli, Janice Torilli, Suzanne Wendoloski, Gina Fugere

A Joint Publication of East Side Monthly and Beacon Communications.

9 CHEERS TO

NEXTMONTH

Fresh off the summer, we’ll dive right into important issues for seniors in the September issue, covering everything caregivers need to know to take care of their family.

LIFESTYLES That’s Entertainment ....................................................................... 21 What do you Fink? ............................................................................ 29

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Hit Parade “ ” We always want to have something

in our repertoire that they’ll remember

from when they were young

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CLASSICS

W

eddings, celebrations, graduations - pick an important memory from your past and chances are, there is a song to go along with it. The chances are also pretty good that Generations Quartet knows how to sing it.

With a combined 186 years of experience in barbershop harmonies, Generations is on the road roughly three times a week, bringing oldies to people throughout the region, at nursing homes, schools, private parties and more.

“Last year we had 119 appearances; this year we’ll probably end up with 140, which makes us the busiest barbershop quartet in the United States,” said lead singer Steve Isherwood, who at 53 years old, is the youngest of the group.

Isherwood is joined in Generations by 83-year-old tenor Bill White, 74-year-old bass Ellis Strange and 74-year-old baritone Bill Cheney.

“We love to sing. The tenor of my quartet is 83 and he joined the [Barbershop Harmony] Society in 1955 - he’s been singing barbershop non-stop ever since,” Isherwood said. “It’s something you do for life.”

Generations has a catalogue of 50 songs, not including their holiday selections, and they usually add a new song every month.

They harmonize to tunes from the 1890s through the 1960s, touching upon some of the most popular music in American history, from Louis Armstrong to Ricky Nelson and Simon & Garfunkel.

“We try to choose songs from the hit parade,” Isherwood said.

“We always want to have something in our repertoire that they’ll remember from when they were young. They all have a little story about a particular song.”

When performing, they provide background about the song or artist, sending the audience back in time.

“It just brings back memories and that’s what it’s all about,” he said.

Best of all, he added, oldies music and barbershop harmonies give people something to smile about.

“When you get to go into a nursing home and put on a show for 100 people, you walk into the room and everyone is quiet. You leave and they’re excited about life and they’re smiling - you can make a dramatic change in a very short amount of time,” he said.

“We love that, how we can turn a room around.”

To contact the Generations Quartet or book an appearance, call 578-2260 or email generationsRI@aol.com. For more information, visit generationsquartet.com.

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CLASSICS

High

Rollers L

eon Kayarian loves cars. Just off Route 95 in Cranston, his Celebrity Classic Cars showroom provides a venue where he can share that passion with others.

And in Rhode Island, he says there is plenty of interest.

“Rhode island is the third largest state per capita for car collectors. Everybody collects cars in Rhode Island,” he said, noting that only California and Florida surpass the Ocean State in per capita collectors. “There’s a strong love for cars.”

The Celebrity Classic Cars showroom displays everything from a 1911 Cadillac and a 1933 Ford to a 1914 American Underslung and a 1950 Buick Hemi Kustom. The company has access to more than 50,000 classic and antique cars worldwide.

At the center of the spacious room is parked Kayarian’s ultimate showpiece: the 1938 Packard Twelve Landaulet (pictured at left) once belonging to tobacco heiress Doris Duke, once the richest woman in the world. Guests can visit the showroom to see the Packard or take a photo with it.

Or, if you’ve got a few extra bucks, you could purchase it for $1.5 million.

“Any time you have a car that’s driven by the richest girl in the world, it makes it worth more,” Kayarian said. “It was built special for her by a company in New York. That makes it special.”

Under the hood, the Packard’s engine is identical to the ones used in PT boats during World War II. The Twelve was a symbol of power and wealth, as less than 600 of the exclusive model were ever built. The Doris Duke Packard celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, making it all the more appealing to buyers or renters. Celebrity Classic Cars can connect people with luxury cars to rent, lease or buy, and Kayarian expects that when a buyer does come knocking, they’ll have a connection to event planning.

“The car is an ideal automobile for people in country clubs who like to attract weddings,” he said.

Kayarian could deal in classic cars only to the people with the kind of cash to buy them, but that’s not what it’s about. For him, it’s about meeting other people who love cars and giving them the opportunity to see some of the finest machines ever built.

“I love cars and I love the history,” he said. “We know people are not going to buy the cars that are in the showroom, but we really want people to come to the showroom.”

The Celebrity Classic Car showroom is located at 950 Wellington Avenue in Cranston. For more information, call 467-5755, or visit celebrityclassiccars.com or 950wellingtonave.com.

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CLASSICS

Cheers to

Root Beers

O

nce a popular Friday night out, car hops are few and far between today.

In Rhode Island, though, we’re lucky enough to still have a car hop that brings us all the flavors of American diners. Since 1959, Smithfield’s A&W has delivered car loads of customers trays of burgers, French fries and, what else, but a root beer float to wash it all down.

According to Soda Fountain magazine in 1910, Robert McCay Green first created ice cream soda in Philadelphia. Green’s grave proclaims him as the originator of the treat. Others laid claim to the creation, but regardless of who is really responsible, the recipe has been a success with American diners for a century.

“They’re a big hit,” said Smithfield A&W Owner Stephanie Mosca, whose family carries on the car hop and A&W traditions. Her sisters have worked at the restaurant at one time or another, and her two children, Angelo and Isabella, are right alongside her, checking for car headlights to call for service.

Mosca says A&W reminds people of a simpler time.

“It’s getting the root beer in the mugs and the car hop service - people get a kick out of it,” she said.

The prices are reminiscent of a simpler time, as well. On Mondays, dig into a hamburger for just 99 cents, or a 99 cent chili dog on Tuesdays. The only items that cost more than $10 are family meals, and if you expect to get four hamburgers, four fries and four small root beers for less than $14.25 anywhere else, then please, let us know, because we’d want to eat there too.

If you’re driving in for lunch, dinner or a classic car cruise night, don’t miss the root beer.

It’s not as cheap as it once was (10 cents back in 1960), but the 99-cent mug or the $2.50 float is an essential part of the experience - and definitely worth it.

“A lot of people say it brings back memories,” Mosca said. “They’ll say, ‘I remember when...’”

A&W is located at 460 Putnam Pike in Greenville. To call your order in, call 949-9892.

For more information, visit www.smithfieldaw. com.

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PT | 

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CLASSICS

HOME Sweet New England

HOME

Established in 1932, Modern Design and Construction is a classic in and of itself. The family-owned company has brought beautiful details and superior craftsmanship to Rhode Island and beyond, overseeing the entire design process for commercial and residential clients.

In the downstairs of their West Exchange Street building, designers draft plans for luxury homes in Newport and sleek, modern apartments in New York. Upstairs, craftsmen create custom cabinets and do all their own woodworking on-site. The company has run this way since president Edmund Capozzi Jr.’s grandfather established MD+C, creating a legacy that this year celebrated its 80th anniversary.

It’s a legacy Capozzi is proud to continue.

“There’s a lot of pride in building something. There aren’t too many companies today who take labor and take capital and make something of value,” he said. “I think my grandfather would be pleased to know his legacy continued; that he built something that was for the long haul.”

Modern Design and Construction’s reputation is certainly for the long haul, and so are their properties. Capozzi feels blessed to work in a region that is rich in architectural beauty.

“Classic American architecture derives most of its origins from the English, which is Colonial architecture and Georgian architecture,” he said. “We’re very blessed in Rhode Island to have the city of Providence, which has one of the finest collections of Colonial and Georgian architecture in the country. With those styles, there’s a lot of great detail - a lot of symmetry.”

Architecture buffs can look for palladian style windows and stately columns to get their fix of what has now become known as an American style. Capozzi pointed to the John Brown House as an example, and one that Rhode Islanders and tourists should not miss. “[My grandfather] said that if you create something that people love, they’ll beat a path to your door to get it.”

For more information on Modern Design and Construction, visit MDCdesignconstruct.com or call 331-8000.

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To advertise in the PRIMETIME GOLF DIRECTORY contact Brittany Wardell 401-732-3100 brittanyw@rhodybeat.com

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YOUR TAXES

PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE

by M E G C H E VA L I E R

Paying for your classic car Do you remember your first car?

Have you kept it? Did it become a classic that you now keep in prime condition and only take out for the occasional spin or to exhibit at antique or classic car shows? Perhaps you were finally able to buy a classic and have been lovingly restoring it to its original pristine condition.

If your automobile fits into this description, it would most likely be classified as a collectible for federal tax purposes. Collectibles include works of art, rugs, antiques, metals (such as gold, silver and platinum bullion), gems, stamps, coins and certain other tangible property.

Collectibles, like almost everything else you own and use for either personal or investment purposes, are a capital asset. When you decide to sell or exchange a capital asset, the difference between the amount you paid for it, plus the cost of any permanent improvements that you made to it - such as the cost of restoring a car to its original condition, is considered your basis. The difference between your basis and your selling price is considered a capital gain or loss. If you have a gain when you sell the asset, it will be taxable. However, a loss on per-

If you have questions or would like more information about the basis of an asset, or the taxability of a collectible, call the IRS Tax Help Line for Individuals at 800-829-1040 or browse the IRS website at www.irs.gov. IRS Publication 551, “Basis of Assets”; Publication 544, “Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets”; Publication 526, “Charitable Contributions”; and Publication 561, “Determining the Value of Donated Property” are available on the website under “Forms and Publications” or by calling the IRS, toll-free at 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

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W

hen it comes to literature, the term “classic” means different things to different people. Who fits the bill, Mark Twain or William Shakespeare, or both?

For Sam Hough, classics are in the eye of the

beholder.

“The point is to collect books that stimulate your mind and stimulate your interests,” he said. “I have a number of books by my bed that I revisit fairly often, but then there are so many more I haven’t gotten to read yet.”

From his home in Cranston, Hough shares his love of so-called classics and all books. His business, The Owl at the Bridge, deals in books, and in rare and old books in particular. Hough says there is a whole underground network of people who buy and sell in the industry. One of his favorite customers is a 10-year-old boy from California on a search for writings of Cotton Mather.

The boy, Anthony, has a fascination with Benjamin Franklin and read that Franklin was an admirer of Mather.

“Anthony calls me from California with book questions; that’s what’s fun about this,” Hough said. “I’m providing a book to someone whose grandfather wrote it, or some kid in this case whose enthusiasm is for Ben Franklin, or someone with some kind of connection.”

That love of books is tangible in Hough’s presence. He surrounds himself with his collection, admiring the quality of the paper and the smell of the leather. He prefers a hardcover to an eReader, but he isn’t too worried about the advent of the Kindle.

The books he deals in, he said, will always have a place on his bookshelves.

So what does Hough consider his ultimate classic?

“Classics is a pretty general term, but of the things I have or have handled, I have a Dante “La Davina Commedia” that was published a century ago this year.”

The Owl at the Bridge can be reached at 467-7362 or Owlbridge@verizon.net.

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CLASSICS

Second Screening

I

n the basement of the Cross Mills Public Library in Charlestown, unattended and neglected, lay reels starring the likes of James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. When Dave Dvorchak stumbled upon the collection of classic films in September of 2011, he decided to resurrect the gang.

The former office manager for Providence Community Libraries, Dvorchak discovered the film collection that was once part of the Rhode Island Library Film Cooperative and transferred it to the Providence library system. In total, there are more than 60 films in the collection. The libraries screen them for patrons, but the films cannot be taken from the building.

“They’re so old and they’re in such a fragile state that they shouldn’t be checked out in this stage of their life,” Dvorchak said.

But giving people a chance to relive the heyday of the silver screen has been a blockbuster success.

“There’s definitely interest,” Dvorchak said. “The way things are going today, more people are watching movies on their phones or their iPads. If you go to a movie theater today, chances are the movie you’re watching is being projected digitally. I think the way you’re watching it, or the format you’re watching it in, there’s something different about it than watching a movie on actual film.”

Fan favorites include Orson Welles’ “The Third Man” and holiday-appropriate titles like “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Christmas and “Night of the Living Dead” on Halloween. Providence Community Library has attracted as many as 150 people to screenings, and the demand for more showings continues.

Dvorchak left the library for a position at AS220 this summer but hopes his unlikely discovery continues to engage new fans and reinvigorate a generation that grew up with Saturday matinees.

“People who grew up seeing these films, whether it was in a theater or in a classroom, or maybe they had a projector at home, they remember that and enjoy being able to go back to that,” he said.

For more information on Providence Community Libraries, visit www.provcomlib.org or call 467-2700.

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CLASSICS

by DON FOWLER

Providence Biltmore gets a new life

The Providence Biltmore Hotel has been a classic piece of the capital’s landscape since 1922. Over the past 90 years, the elegant downtown hotel has seen its ups and downs.

The spacious 18th floor ballroom was packed recently, as friends, staff, former employees, new owners and politicians gathered to celebrate the 90th anniversary and the revival of the Rhode Island landmark.

Guests dined on Biltmore original recipes of beef Wellington and seafood Newberg, and drank their famous Biltmore Manhattans, as prominent Rhode Islanders recalled their “Biltmore memories.”

Jim McDonald, an employee of the hotel who started as a busboy at the age of 15 and rose to the position of catering manager, was more recognizable than most politicians. PrimeTime did a story on McDonald soon after his retirement, reprinting some of his photo collection, which he donated to the Biltmore.

There’s McDonald with President Carter. Is that Frank Sinatra? And Jackie Onassis? McDonald recalls that Jackie always stayed at the Biltmore when visiting her son, John Jr., who was a student at Brown.

“She was such a gracious lady. She always stayed in the same suite,” he recalled.

Cranston’s Jim Bennett remembers toting a

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Biltmore credit card, and eating many fine meals in the restaurant.

Gov. Chafee recalled some of the election nights, where political parties would gather to wait for the results. (“Some were good and some were not so good.”)

When I worked for the Providence Chamber of Commerce, I planned many dinners in the ballroom and the second floor Garden Room. McDonald was always there to oversee the staff, making sure that everyone was served promptly.

A banquet and ball ushered in the opening of the Biltmore on June 6, 1922. It was called “the most elaborate” social event ever to be held in the city, with more than 1,000 people in attendance.

The building was illuminated with more than 25,000 lights.

The original owners were New York businessmen John Bowman and Louis Wallick, and the building was designed by New York architects Warren and Wetmore, who also designed Grand Central Station. Shaped in a V, the structure provided outside views for all 600 rooms. It housed a pharmacy, as well as printing, carpentry and upholstery shops, and featured gardens and chicken coops on the roof. There were six restaurants.

The Biltmore was the place to go during the Big Band era of the ‘30s and ‘40s, with Benny Goodman and Jimmy Dorsey’s bands playing the Garden Room. They even flooded the floor for a

Sonia Henie Ice Show and set up a huge aquarium, complete with fish, for an Esther Williams show.

Remember the Bacchante Room? You were served by the gorgeous Bacchante Girls and featured private “banquettes” that seated two to eight guests. The bar area had a glass floor with pink lighting “to showcase the girls’ beautiful legs.”

The Biltmore survived the hurricanes of 1938 and 1954, when the building was flooded and water poured down into the elevator shafts. There is a plaque on the building showing the height the water reached in 1938.

The Biltmore closed its doors in 1974. I remember attending an auction of its many contents and buying some silverware.

It re-opened in 1979, and since then has undergone many renovations, restoring it to its original ambiance. A $7.5 million renovation added two new floors of luxury suites, one occupied for a time by a famous Providence mayor. In April of 2011, the hotel went into receivership but remained open.

The Providence Biltmore is on the National Preservation Register as one of the country’s cherished architectural treasures.

THE FUTURE As I rode down the elevator from the 18th floor, I asked the bellboy why the outside elevator, always a popular tourist attraction, wasn’t functioning.

“It hasn’t for the past eight years,” he said. “But plans are under way to get it going again.”

Those plans are all part of an ambitious project by the Biltmore’s new owner, Finard Coventry Hotel Management.

Finard plans to “preserve this landmark and icon in the city of Providence.”

The building, along with the Arcade and Industrial National Bank (Superman) building, is a bona fide classic, and Rhode Islanders look forward to another 90 years of elegance and Biltmore memories.

A 

CLASSICS

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here is pizza meatloaf, meatloaf on the grill and meatloaf without any meat in it. Over the years, momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s go-to family dinner has been sliced and diced and reworked into countless variations that you wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have found in Fannie Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cookbook. What would Betty Crocker have to say about her classic dish being made with tofu? Well, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then meatloaf and many other classic American recipes deserve kudos.

While meatloaf is one of those signature dishes associated with American cuisine, it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t actually a homegrown dish.

Meatloaf is first on the books in Germany and Belgium, but was likely conceptualized in some form going back to ancient Rome. The Germans passed the tradition on to their descendants in Pennsylvania and, voila, an instant American classic. Look through some cookbooks from the 1950s, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be hardpressed to find out that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feature some meat amalgamation in the shape of its host pan.

When the Great Depression hit, the entree became all the more popular, as moms could use fillers like ground cereal to make groceries last longer. If meatloaf, day one, was not wiped from the serving tray, then meatloaf, day two, became tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dinner or, at the very least, some sandwiches for lunch. Nowadays, gourmet chefs and at-home cooks put their own spin on things, adding more vegetables, spicy Italian sausage, cheese and bacon. If you were to ask Betty or Fannie, though, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d probably tell you to keep it simple.

And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget the Worcestershire sauce.

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A WORTHY CAUSE

“

by MICHAEL J. CERIO

IT ALL STARTED WITH MY MOTHER’S VOLUNTEER WORK AT LOCAL SCHOOLS . . .

She would come across children who had very little...It always amazed her how excited they were to get used books that they could call their own.

”

Books Are

They are simple pages of paper but they hold incredible power. One moment you are on the deck of the Pequod with Captain Ahab and Ishmael searching for Moby Dick. In another, you’re floating down the Mississippi River with Huckleberry Finn, or, perhaps, eating green eggs and ham with a fox in a box.

Whatever classic books you reach for in your library have no doubt brought you countless hours of enjoyment and memories. Unfortunately, for too many of America’s children, a lack of access to books at home creates literacy issues that are carried to adulthood - a problem being addressed locally by Books Are Wings.

Founded in Rhode Island in 1998 by Elizabeth Dennigan, her family and a group of dedicated volunteers, Books Are Wings puts free books in the hands of children. The organization began its work by collecting new and gently used books for distribution to local day care and community centers. Shortly after, in 2003, Books Are Wings incorporated into a 501c3 non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors and supported by the community and local businesses such as Citizens Bank Foundation and Verizon Foundation.

“It all started through my mother’s volunteer work at local schools,” said Sarah Dennigan, assistant director of Books Are Wings. “She would come across children who had very little and would give them books out of the trunk of her car that were once ours. It always amazed her how excited they were to get used books that they could call their own.”

Books Are Wings believes that children who love to read will develop the literacy skills to help them excel in the classroom and in life. Efforts especially target communities where literacy scores are the lowest.

“When a child grows up loving to read, it becomes second nature and plays an important role in building their confidence,” said Jocelynn White, director of Books Are Wings. “From middle school to high school, and into adulthood, reading creates the foundation that makes it easier to pick up new skills and interests, which often leads to success.”

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test administered every two years by the United States Department of Education, only one in three American fourth graders reads proficiently. In Rhode Island, that number is slightly better, with 40 percent of our fourth graders able to read at their age appropriate level. Among low-income families, however, the gap widens - something White and Books Are Wings attribute to a lack of access to books.

“In today’s society, we have a lot of families who are struggling to meet their basic needs, so the strain of spending money on a book can be daunting when you know you don’t have the dollars to spare,” said White. “But, the result of this is that important educational opportunities fall by the wayside and we want to be there to pick up the slack.”

At the core of Books Are Wings’ efforts to improve access to books and cultivate a love of reading among children, the organization coordinates a Book Party Program. Held at Head Start Programs, libraries, elementary schools and community housing developments, Book Parties begin with support from the community and donations of books.

During a Book Party, volunteers and Books Are Wings representatives read stories to children and work with them to spell their names; helping to teach a fun-

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PEOPLE AND PLACES

Wings damental skill related directly to the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literacy efforts. In addition to the reading and book distribution components of the parties, Books Are Wings incorporates fun activities such as face painting, music and snacks. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We find that when children associate fun activities with reading, it motivates them to want to read more on their own,â&#x20AC;? said White. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our goal is to help the community understand how much fun reading can be so they can better influence children. Just like going to the park, or to the movies, reading can be a fun activity.â&#x20AC;?

One of the biggest challenges that Books Are Wings works to address is the learning loss that occurs for many students when school is not in session and children lack access to educational opportunities. Most students, regardless of socio-economic status, lose up to two months of reading achievement during the summer months. As a result, when schools reconvene in September, teachers must often re-instruct students in materials from the previous year before introducing new curriculum. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Summer learning loss is one of the easiest ways to measure how not having books at home impacts a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability in the classroom,â&#x20AC;? said White. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Research shows that

SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS

Last year, Books Are Wings provided books to 15,000 Rhode Island children in communities across the state.

WINGS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; PAGE 28

- . //

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SENIOR ISSUES

b y K E R R Y PA R K

Classic car shows cruise into area nursing homes If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a fan of classic cars, you might not need to venture any further than your local nursing home. Antique car shows have become a tradition at nursing homes throughout Rhode Island and this year is no exception.

You can catch the next big event on Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the 15th annual Cortland Place Car Show and Barbecue in Greenville. Admire more than 100 cars and enjoy a barbecue with all your favorite summer foods prepared by Chef Marc Ruggio and his staff. And, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to top off your meal with Cortlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homemade apple pie!

There are games for the kids and B101â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cruisinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Bruce Palmer will provide entertainment. The best part? It is all complimentary, courtesy of Cortland Place, though donations will be accepted for the Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association and St. Judeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital. See for yourself why nearly 1,000 people attended last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event.

If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it on the 11th, check out the Riverview 5th annual Antique Car Show at Riverview Healthcare Community in Coventry on Sept. 6. Listen to live music featuring the lively sounds of Bud Pistacchio, while you munch on goodies and enjoy the huge variety of classic cars from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

See you there!

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DOER’S PROFILE

PEOPLE

by JOAN RE TSINAS

AND

PLACES

Jon Land: Craftsman The basics of Jon Land are, well, basic. Born in Providence, he grew up in Barrington, graduated from Barrington High School and then from Brown.

After college, he ventured a few blocks away to the East Side. Thirty years later, he is still there. No stints in Middle Eastern hot spots. No jobs as a secret service agent. No summers on an oil rig.

No time served in jail. Not even a parking ticket - a feat on the East Side. No entanglements with wives and children.

No heroic exploits.

On paper, it’s a different story.

Land is a craftsman, delving into his imagination to create flawed heroes who vanquish evil with aplomb, as well as with guns and nifty weapons. He writes thrillers. To date, he has written 30, but the ideas keep germinating, the characters keep evolving in his mind.

His first hero, Blaine McCracken, was a Vietnam-era rogue CIA agent.

Another, Ben Kamal, was a Palestinian-American who teamed up with his Israeli counterpart. Caitlin Strong, the latest, is a Texas Ranger.

“Somebody is trying to do something terrible. The hero has to stop it,” Land says, summing up his plots.

Their roller coaster adventures have the usual assortment of mayhem, guns and intrigue, but the roller coasters happen within the characters too, as they confront their own emotional demons.

Land didn’t train to be a writer. He had grown up reading Louis L’Amour westerns, watching John Wayne movies and playing cowboy, but so did a lot of other boys. Instead, like a lot of other boys, he went to college, intent on going to law school.

An English course and two professors, Elmer Blistein and George Monteiro, changed his course.

“I fell in love with writing at Brown,” he said.

Professor Blistein jokingly called himself “Dr. Frankenstein” because he urged his student into being Jon Land the writer of thrillers. For a senior thesis, Land wrote his first novel, “Iconoclast.”

“It was awful,” he insists.

But Land mastered the core structure: a beginning, a middle and end. A lot of would-be writers start, but don’t finish novels. He knew he could write novels. The question: could he sell them?

Land’s family staked him to a few years of trying, giving him money they had set aside for law school. Before Land sold his first book, his grandfather, Joe Levy, who lived on Elmgrove Avenue, wrote him a letter of encouragement, now framed near his desk.

Land wrote. And wrote. This was to be his profession, his trade. He had to earn a living. Through the years, he gathered an agent, an editor and a publisher. He A 

lavishes credit on that team. He calls Natalia Aponte, an editor who has been with him through more than 20 books, “crucial, one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

The stories are born in Land’s imagination but nurtured through multiple drafts, overseen by multiple parties, all just as intent as Land on the novels’ success. Indeed, the idea of a western heroine arose in a group discussion: the genre of thrillers had no female stars, even though 80 percent of buyers are women. The groupthink yielded Caitlin. Four books later, Sony has commissioned Caitlin for a potential television series.

For six, sometimes seven days a week for five hours a day, Land writes and researches. The settings must feel real.

He has traveled to the Middle East to nail down the scenes where his Palestinian and Israeli duo live, to Washington, D.C. and to Texas. For some scenes, he has done exhaustive background research. The latest Caitlin Strong thriller starts on an oilrig, though security would never allow anybody without

clearance to roam around one.

He hasn’t been in a Mexican jail, but he has interviewed people, read and verified to recreate the smells, sights and sounds of the places.

For the next Caitlin Strong adventure, still in embryo, Caitlin takes her almost-stepson, a high school football star, to visit Brown, where he goes to a game at the stadium and talks to Phil Estes, the coach. (Land is vice president of the Brown Football Association). Caitlin and the recruit go to WaterFire.

This setting comes straight from Land’s experience, but the idiosyncratic bad guys, scheming to destroy Providence - if not the country - spring from his imagination.

Land’s college classmates who work in law firms and banks may earn more than he does, but it is doubtful they have as much fun plying their trades.

Tales of Texas Rangers To read modern-day “Tales of Texas Rangers,” grab the Caitlin Strong series.

Caitlin is a fifth-generation gun toting, sharp-shooting Ranger. She is just as laconic, just as tough as the heroes of the 60-year-old television series, but she is a woman in the “band of restless men.”

The iconic song almost hums in the background. Her forbears fought rustlers, revolutionaries and assorted bad guys; she does the same, though she giddy-ups in cars, boats and planes; Stetson planted firmly on her head.

In “Strong Enough to Die,” Jon Land introduced Caitlin, pitting good versus evil in a battle that goes beyond Texas to Afghanistan and Washington. The bad guys are everywhere, including our State Department. That novel also introduced characters who will recur: her boss, the inspirational ghosts of her father and grandfather, the South American general-turned-mercenary who ponders Kierkegaard and a bad guy who morphs into a good guy who becomes her lover. He has his own inspirational ghost, a lifer he had befriended in prison. We see Caitlin’s emotional side, as she loses a husband, gains a lover and forges almost-maternal bonds with his two teenage sons left motherless in one of the tale’s hundred shoot-outs.

In “Strong Vengeance,” the most recent in the four-volume series, Land narrates Caitlin’s latest adventure, a convergence of trajectories leading to terrorists intent on spreading radiation throughout the southwest’s air, rivers, and, in an extra-creepy fillip, even the rainfall. But the Texas Rangers ride to the rescue. On desk duty (punishment for wounding a bystander in a high school sniper shoot-out), Caitlin goes fishing with her lover’s sons. On this vacation outing, she happens upon an oilrig filled with corpses. Somebody has killed the crew. Meanwhile, her lover is languishing in a Mexican jail for shooting a bad guy. Fortunately for the nation, and the plot, a clandestine U.S. official rescues him; the country needs his renegade savvy. By the end, Caitlin, quickly recalled to active duty, has linked the oilrig, the terrorists, a waste-disposal gangster, a 50-year-old murder of Texas fraternity pledges and a 19th century pirate. Befitting Ranger tradition, she saves the day, shooting them all out with her lover/sidekick by her side.

I fell in love with Caitlin at an airport lounge. She made the wait bearable, but airport lounges are filled with people eager to lose themselves in thrillers. I stayed with her afterward because she is not just a heroine in a morality play, albeit a gun-laden one, battling evil, but because she has the self-doubt, regrets and emotional nudges that make her fascinating.

And her villains take you beyond cardboard shooting targets: they cross the line from “bad” to “good,” as Land shades “bad” into its hues. Indeed, some villains are reflective, also filled with self-doubt and regrets. Some you understand.

“Strong Vengeance” will take you on a dizzying adventure from the Gulf to the bayou, from mosques to junkyards. And in the end, Caitlin Strong lives to fight another battle. She is, after all, a Texas Ranger.

PT | 

CLASSICS

Must-have accessory O

xford shirts, chinos, penny loafers and Ralph Lauren sweaters all come to mind when you think of classic American style. A vision of Jackie O pops into your head, on the arm of the president in a tweed jacket.

But no outfit of Jackie’s was complete without a string of pearls.

Daniel Pritsker, vice president of Providence Diamond Company, agrees that diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but pearls are their oldest companions.

“A lot of the First Ladies throughout history wore them. Back in the day, you had three TV networks so those were the women people looked up to. The First Lady was the most important woman in the country,” he said.

Freshwater pearls are easier to make, and can be mass-produced, resulting in lower prices. Saltwater pearls come from oysters, though, and are going to cost you.

The pearl industry has changed over time. Natural disasters, like the tsunami in Japan, ravaged the oyster beds, wiping out the crop and resulting in a 20 percent mark-up. Women also have many more televised role models to look up to, and pearls have waned in

popularity. Moisture, wind, makeup and perfume can all taint the quality of a pearl, so your favorite string could be damaged over time, resulting in a poor resale market for the once-popular jewels.

Still, jewelers like Providence Diamond Company continue to keep classic strings and modern interpretations in stock. Pritsker says Mikimoto Pearls are of the highest quality, and premier designer David Yurman is incorporating pearls into pieces with other gemstones. Shoppers can find necklaces, bracelets and earrings in champagne, pink and even black shades. A 16-inch white strand will run you about $2,500, but a black set is as much as $7,500.

They aren’t the best seller anymore, but pearls still stand out as a classic must-have accessory - especially with women who remember the days when Jackie was the nation’s fashion plate and Audrey Hepburn made her iconic stop in front of Tiffany’s.

“It’s definitely an older clientele, but a lot of designers are still integrating pearls into their designs,” Pritsker said. “They’ll always be in fashion.”

Providence Diamond Company is located at Garden City Center in Cranston. For more information, visit providencediamond.com or call 946-7070.

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LIFESTYLES

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

by DON FOWLER

Jazz and roots music popular with seniors Remember Woodstock? How about the early days of the Folk Festival when Dylan, Guthrie and Baez rocked Newport?

Those festivals are distant memories for most of us, replaced by heavy metal and rap groups filling football stadiums and civic centers.

The good news is that there are two music festivals in Rhode Island that still attract thousands of senior citizens, along with a growing number of younger folks who are tired of contemporary music.

NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL While the sold-out Newport Folk Festival has been attracting younger audiences of late, with music that is difficult to categorize, the Newport Jazz Festival still holds a strong appeal for an older audience.

We’ve seen all the greats, from Louie Armstrong to Dave Brubeck on the Fort Adams stage, and we are now enjoying many new upcoming artists, like Boston’s Grace Kelly and the Tedeschi-Trucks Band.

This summer, George Wein has gathered both young and older artists to continue the great tradition of the festival, starting with a concert on Friday night, Aug. 3, at the InternaDR. JOHN tional Hall of Fame.

He calls it “Bourbon Street meets Bellevue Ave.,” with Dr. John headlining a show that will also feature the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, celebrating their 50th anniversary.

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 4 and 5, will be held on the sprawling lawn of Fort Adams State Park, with three venues providing continuous music. Two of the venues are under tents, with chairs provided. Bring your own for the main stage.

Veteran jazz performers Pat Metheny and Dianne Reeves headline the Saturday afternoon festival, while the Tedeschi-Trucks band will play a full two-hour concert set, closing the festival late Sunday afternoon.

Tickets are on sale at newportjazzfest.net.

RHYTHM & ROOTS The Rhythm & Roots Festival, held annually at Charlestown’s Ninigret Park on Labor Day weekend, is now in its 15th year and we haven’t missed one of them.

The festival boasts four stages of music, including a family tent for the grandkids, dance lessons (it’s never too late to learn), continuous dancing day and night on two dance floors, gourmet food and drink and some of the best music you will ever hear.

We admit to not being dancers, but love the foot-stomping music and the friendliness of the performers and the audiences.

Our favorite part of the three-day festival is the up-close and personal workshop tent, where main stage performers talk about their music, jam with other fiddlers, accordion players and guitarists, and form close ties with HUGH LAURIE their fans.

The festival was named one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association, drawing music lovers and performers from all over the country. We especially like the Cajun bands, including Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys from Lafayette, La. This year, the festival landed Hugh Laurie and the Copper Bottom Band for the headline act Saturday night. Laurie is a well-respected pianist, singer and all-round musician, and is backed by a powerhouse band.

Music ranges from Cajun, zydeco, Tex-mex, roots, blues and everything in between. For tickets and more information, visit www.rhythmandroots.com, or call 1-888-855-6940.

Suggestions to enhance your enjoyment Both festivals are subject to weather conditions, so come prepared with sunscreen, hats, rain gear, water and extra clothing, especially for the cooler evenings.

Arrive early and stake out a spot near the main stage. Limited shade is available for both festivals, where you can hear well because of excellent sound systems but must rely on the big screen for an up-close view.

You can bring food, but no alcoholic beverages. We bring some snacks and drinks, but enjoy the many venders for our main meals. Alcohol is available for purchase.

Handicap stickers will get you closer to the entrance.

A 

PT | 

RETIREMENT SPARKS

SENIOR ISSUES

by ELAINE M. DECKER

RETIREMENT DOWNSIZING —

Condensing the bookshelves Almost everyone who is downsizing for retirement has to face the daunting process of condensing shelves full of books, including many classics in the pop culture sense of the word. When I finally psyched myself up to attack this task, I discovered it was taking me on a trip down memory lane. I began with the bookshelves in the second floor hall, scanning groupings from top to bottom and here’s how it went.

There’s the Women’s Lib section. Excuse me… Women’s Empowerment. I think I can part with The Female Eunuch and not put my self esteem at risk. There was a time when I might have thought Sexual Politics was an oxymoron; now it sounds like redundancy.

Either way, it’s gone.

As I recall, Men—An Owner’s Manual was not much help when I first got it. It doesn’t seem like a title that would improve with age, not that I’m a good one to judge. Besides, “In the land of the blind, the man with one eye” and all that.

I need the step stool to see the books

22 | PT

on the very top shelf. There’s an entire section of poetry that I would have bet I had tossed two moves past.

I count eight volumes of Rod McKuen. He was too cool in the sixties.

Now I’d need to hide him under a brown paper wrapper. Who admits to reading titles like Listen to the Warm?

Listen to the warm what? I wonder if he’s still alive. Some Googling confirms he is, but his appearances are limited to autograph signings. This makes sense, since Amazon lists most of his books from a penny to $3 or so.

One section that should be easy to trim is business management; I’m retiring, after all. I’m tossing everything with the words “Excellence” or “Minute” in the title. I learned long ago that when it comes to business, it’s far better to under promise and over deliver. Ditto on trimming the “How To” section, where I’ll toss everything with “Dummy” or “Idiot” in the title. I don’t need to be constantly reminded of my self image when I bought them.

Ah! Here’s a group I should be able to thin out—foreign language and travel. I pick up one that I don’t remember; it’s a street and transportation guide to Paris. It’s so detailed it includes a section on one way streets.

The book was published in 1977. In all likelihood those Sens Unique are four lane roads today. (For those who are wondering, Sens Unique is not French for psychic powers.) The most use I’d get out of this book at this point in my life is as toilet paper. It’s better quality than what was nailed to the stall walls the last time I saw Paris.

I should really get rid of most of

the pocket sized dictionaries, but they take up so little room. You never know when you might be called upon to translate something into Latin. At the very least, I should get rid of the guides for any countries that require more than two immunization shots. At my age, I’ll limit my travel to places that have flush toilets and pouffy duvets.

I expect to cut back a lot of the section on doll collecting, toys and miniatures. Then I remember that four of those stacked a certain way are exactly the right height to lift a box fan set on the dresser enough so its breeze passes over the footboard of the bed. Since I can’t remember which four and I don’t know if I’ll have central air where we retire, I’ll need to keep all of them.

Those books on collectibles are thick suckers, as are my many art books. I remember the comment of someone I had coerced into helping me move to a new apartment many years ago. As he was lugging yet another pile of books to the van, he asked, “Do you buy your books by the pound?”

The answer of course was “no.”

But when I consider the cost of relocating our household, I just might get rid of some books based on how much they weigh. Suddenly those thin little Rod McKuen books are looking like keepers after all. Maybe I’ll even get them autographed. Or not.

Elaine M. Decker’s book, Retirement Sparks, is available at Books on the Square, the Brown University bookstore, and Spectrum-India, all on the East Side of Providence, on Amazon. com and in a Kindle version. Contact her at: emdecker@ix.netcom.com.

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Annual Greek Festival August 17th - 19th, 2012 Friday 5-10pm • Saturday 12-10pm Sunday 12-9pm

Authentic Greek Foods & Pastries Greek Import Marketplace “Elliniki Yperiphania” Greek Dancers Childrens’ Activities Win a Trip to Greece!

www.greekfestivalRI.com

Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church

Celebrating our 100th Anniversary

Free Admission & Free Parking with Shuttle Service 97 Walcott Street • Pawtucket, RI • 401.725.3127

2nd Annual

Pet Photo Contest!

RhodyBeat’s Cutest Critters EVERYONE’S INVITED!!

Dogs, cats, snakes, gerbils, rabbits, fish & birds!

EVERYONE’S PET IS ELIGIBLE TO WIN!!

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3 CATEGORIES • Best Photograph • • Best Video • • People’s Choice Award •

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There are times when the human language is just simply inadequate ~ when finding words to describe a first impression or an experience, or even a person, falls short every time. This is how one feels after meeting Abraham Jatta, a Certified Restorative Nursing Aide at Heatherwood Nursing and Rehabilitative Center – at a complete loss for words. Jatta, a native of Gambia, is passionate and enthusiastic and energizing and devoted. Jatta and his colleague Lynn Lovechio, the Quality Improvement Director at this skilled nursing center in Newport, are the creators of a unique and highly successful program here called the “Functional Maintenance Restorative Program.” The two of them have an energy that is infectious because it is genuine, heartfelt and based on a true love for both the residents they serve, and a true conviction that what they are doing really matters.

The “Functional Maintenance Restorative Program” was designed six years ago by this dynamic duo to get the residents of this nursing center on a daily “motivating” exercise routine.

Every weekday at 9:30, all the residents are gathered from throughout the building to the main dining area for a period of dancing, movement and revelry under the direction of Jatta (better known as “Abe”). This session has affectionately been dubbed “Active with Abe”. With Abe’s high energy and Lynn’s supervision, this is by far the best part of each resident’s day, in fact, nobody (and that means nobody!) likes to be left out.

Jatta and Lovechio have documented observable benefits to this routine, citing improvements in morale, physical well-being (such as lower blood pressure and blood sugar) and memory. Jatta, who goes the extra mile with this functional maintenance program by taking residents out one-on-one on local outings, says of this Restorative Program: “When you are doing something you love and you see the results, it really motivates you! I absolutely love what I do.” This program lives up to its name – it truly is “restorative”. Lynn says “Whether strolling down the ‘avenue of Bellevue or the halls of Heatherwood’, there is something truly rewarding about this program.”

Heatherwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is a privately owned, 112 bed community at 398 Bellevue Avenue in historic Newport. It has beds for long-term residents, short-term rehab patients and a memory care program known as “Bridges”.

Skilled nursing services are available on every floor in this neighborhood like setting, which offers many of the comforts of home. Both private and semi-private rooms are available, along with areas for social gatherings, motivational exercising, religious services, and extras such as cooking classes. Each resident here is treated with compassion, dignity and respect.

This skilled nursing center now welcomes new Admission’s Director Bob Smith to the team. Smith’s calm demeanor, his openness and his pure excitement for the opportunity to work with the Heatherwood families make him a welcome addition to this close-knit community. He is grateful to be helping families as they go through the often emotional process of admissions with the utmost dignity, sensitivity and care.

To learn more about Heatherwood, please contact Bob Smith , Admissions Director, at 401-849-6600, ext. 4041, or visit the website at www.heatherwoodnursing.com.

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A GLIMPSE OF RI’S PAST h i s t o r y w i t h T E R R Y D ’A M ATO S P E N C E R

When Mrs. Astor called the tune Mrs. Caroline Astor began the strange ritual of “calling cards” in Newport. Much of the time of the very wealthy was spent going to cottages of those who were socially acceptable. Upon arriving at one of the mansions, a footman would be sent to the door with a “calling card.” Because all the socially prominent were busy visiting, no one was ever home and so the occupants of the carriages never left their vehicles. To receive a calling card from Mrs. Astor was a great honor, however, and it meant you were among the favored in society.

Ward McAllister not only helped with identifying the fortunate few who would be invited to an Astor ball or party, he also selected the menus for some of the most elegant dinners ever given in a private home. Mrs. Astor often had nine-course meals that would last for many hours.

Despite the wealth and outward appearances, the marriage of Caroline and William Backhouse Astor Jr. was not a happy one. Mr. Astor was a dour, coarse man, often overshadowed by the personality and accomplishments of his older brother, John Jacob Astor II. William rarely attended the parties given by his wife and was more interested in drinking, yachting, womanizing and horse breeding. Like many of the other Newport husbands, he owned both a sailing yacht and a steam yacht. There were parties aboard the yachts that included many unescorted women. Mrs. Astor was never invited on her husband’s yachts.

There were three children born of the marriage. The elder daughter, Emily, married James Van Alen. Mr. Astor was not pleased with the choice of a son-in-law in this case, and when drunk, made it very clear that he had a low opinion of the Van Alens. This nearly ended in a duel. It was only averted when Astor apologized. The younger daughter, Charlotte, married James Dayton of Philadelphia and apparently Mr. Astor approved. Later, Charlotte had a wild love affair with Hallett Alsop Borrowe, a vice president of Equitable Life Insurance Company. Her father was so incensed by this, and the publicity that accompanied it, that he disinherited Charlotte.

The only son of the marriage, John Jacob Astor IV, married the beautiful Philadelphia socialite, Ava Willing. Jack, a colonel in the army, distinguished himself in the Spanish American War. When Colonel Jack divorced Ava Willing in 1910, the family was shocked. Later, the 46-year-old socialite married 18-year-old Madeleine Force.

The newlywed couple spent their honeymoon in Europe and returned on the Titanic. Madeleine was pregnant at the time, and when the ship began to go down on April 14, 1912, she was sent to safety in a lifeboat. Col. Jack, with great gallantry, remained on board, assisting women and children, and he went down with the ship. This tragedy made it very clear that great wealth was no safeguard against tragedy, as Colonel Astor left an estate of more than $87 million, $63 million of it in real estate.

Mrs. Astor gave her last ball in 1905. Ward McAllister had earlier fallen from favor and was replaced by a new favorite, Henry Lehr. By the turn of the century, Mrs. Astor’s iron grip on Newport had loosened. Her leadership passed to three new queens of society: Alva, Tessie and Mamie.

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SENIOR ISSUES

Sharing our stories of Alzheimer’s What is your connection to Alzheimer’s? Most of us have one, and it is time for each of us to tell our story.

Dementia forms the bookends to my own life. When I was a schoolgirl, Sunday afternoons were spent in a nursing home in Somers, Conn., visiting my grandfather, Ted Sullivan, who suffered from vascular dementia.

Now I am raising a young son with Down syndrome. If both he and I are blessed enough to live into old age, we are faced with the very high likelihood that he will develop Alzheimer’s.

Am I ready? Is Rhode Island ready for the exponential growth in Alzheimer’s as Baby Boomers like me come of age?

According to the Rhode Island chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 25,000 residents are living with Alzheimer’s disease. We are familiar with the ravages of the disease on its victims. We know Alzheimer’s robs the individual of memory, basic functions and, ultimately, life.

But there are a host of less obvious issues that those of us who work in government, in medicine and in the social services confront every day that all boil down to Alzheimer’s care. There is the sheer cost of medical and nursing care, as well as concerns about quality, safety and appropriateness. We are only beginning to understand how dementia contributes to such disparate problems as homelessness, excessive hospitalizations or workplace absenteeism.

Our focus must also extend to the family and friends of individuals with Alzheimer’s, which is fittingly often referred to as a caregiver’s disease. The 52,000 or more family caregivers in Rhode Island provide an estimated $731 million in uncompensated care to their loved ones, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, but at a staggering cost to their own careers, finances and health.

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They deal with the consequences of dementia in terms of lost or less productive work time, damage to their physical and emotional health, a threat to their financial security and constant stress.

Fortunately, Rhode Island is about to embark on developing a State Plan on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, to complement the work that is taking place at the federal level to implement the National Plan.

The momentum at the federal level is exciting. With the unanimous bipartisan passage and enactment of the National Alzheimer’s Project Act in 2011, the federal government officially declared war on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The legislation authorized an immediate additional $50 million for Alzheimer’s research and another $106 million for research, caregiver support and education for the remainder of the year.

In May 2012, the National Alzheimer’s Plan was unveiled. The goal is to find effective ways to treat or delay the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, by 2025.

The work has already begun.

Among the Plan’s initiatives is a new Alzheimer’s website - www.alzheimers. gov <http://www.alzheimers.gov> - to provide families and caregivers with easy-to-understand information about dementia and where they can get help.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced an $8 million study of an insulin nasal spray that suggests a link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease in terms of how brain damage occurs. NIH is also investing $16 million into a study that will explore whether treatment that targets amyloid, the brain plaque associated with Alzheimer’s disease, could prevent the disease.

Another prong of attack involves training doctors and other health care

providers on ways to care for patients and support their families. And Medicare’s new preventive benefit pays for an annual wellness visit that includes simple cognitive screening tests that can signal the need for more extensive brain exams. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius observed, “These actions are the cornerstones of a historic effort to fight Alzheimer’s disease.”

Building locally on this national effort, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed, and Governor Chafee signed into law, a Joint Resolution affirming the need for a State Plan on Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

The resolution calls for the Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, which is chaired by Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts, to convene a workgroup to develop a state plan for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. The workgroup will be co-chaired by Lt. Governor Roberts and myself, in my capacity as director of the Rhode Island Division of Elderly Affairs.

The first meeting of the workgroup will take place this month. We are building a comprehensive, inclusive, well-publicized process so that all Rhode Islanders who want to share their experiences or expertise will have a voice. The resolution calls for the workgroup to deliver a state plan on Alzheimer’s and related disorders to the General Assembly by July 1, 2013.

We will start by developing a shared understanding of what Alzheimer’s disease is and the many ways it affects our community. We will identify the tools we have and the tools we lack, and develop a plan of action. And then, we must reclaim our state’s future and very possibly our own personal futures.

How can you help? You can begin by telling your own story of living with dementia or caring for someone who

is. Send them to Larry Grimaldi at the R.I. Division of Elderly Affairs, 74 West Road, Cranston RI 02920, or lgrimaldi@dea.ri.gov.

In April, the Alzheimer’s Association, Rhode Island Chapter, organized a wonderfully successful day at the State House to bring awareness to this devastating disease. Both Lt. Gov. Roberts and I shared our own Alzheimer’s stories with the assembled advocates, health care workers and family caregivers. We realized, with surprise, that we had never heard each other’s stories before.

Dementia is profoundly isolating, and not just for the individual with the disease, who folds deeper and deeper into himself until we can’t find him anymore. It’s horrendously isolating for the caregiver as well.

Let’s end our isolation, come together, speak out and get to work.

PT | 

A Lifetime of Achievement Demands Protection

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South County Krohn releases gets a ‘Silver’ star “Senior Resource The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) are pleased to announce the selection of South County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center as a 2012 recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality for its outstanding performance in the health care profession.

The award highlights select facilities across the nation that serve as models of excellence in providing highquality long-term care.

“This award is a benchmark of distinction in the journey to providing high quality care,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/ NCAL. “The long-term and postacute care community applauds South County Nursing and Rehab on this great achievement.”

As a recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality award, South County has demonstrated systematic advancements in quality, plans for continual improvement and sustainable organizational goals. The award will be presented to South County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center during AHCA/ NCAL’s 63rd Annual Convention and Exposition in October.

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WINGS –

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a child who has 25 books or more at home, on average, will complete two more years of education than a child growing up in a home without books.”

More than 15 percent of our country’s children live in poverty, with many having only one or two age appropriate books in their homes. For 61 percent of children living in low-income families, there are no books at all. And while the national reports estimate 18 books per student in school libraries, many schools in depressed areas often have less than one book per student.

“It’s important for us to get parents excited about reading with their children and to make it a regular part of the family’s activities,” said White. “We always make it a point to leave extra books at our events for parents to choose from and take home to read to their kids.”

A special education teacher by trade, White is deeply connected to the impact books can have on a child’s future.

“Teachers regularly tell us how much the work we do mirrors their efforts in the classroom and is making a real difference in how students advance their skills,” added White.

Books Are Wings is a small organization with only two staff members and

Guide” third edition

First published in 2008, the “Senior Resource Guide of Rhode Island” has been thoroughly updated to provide the necessary tools to navigate everything from nursing homes and Medicaid to home health care and elder abuse. The Guide includes more than 200 pages of essential reading for professionals and caregivers dealing with issues of aging and senior services.

Laura M. Krohn, an East Greenwich resident, has 14 years of experience in the field of Elder Law. For more information, call 398-8383 or visit www.seniorguideri.com.

an incredible team of volunteers. White is quick to point out how critical community support is to furthering their efforts and that it’s easy for people to get involved.

“Donate your books, give us your great ideas, or be a volunteer - see what we do and the impact we’re having,” said White. “And, of course, we’re always in need of financial donations to continue building our programs and partnerships to reach even more children.”

After its most successful year; one that saw Books Are Wings reach 15,000 children in communities across the state, White and Dennigan are focused on doing even more as they move forward.

“I think it’s important for people to understand our growth and our vision for the future,” said White. “We’ve worked very hard to get to where we’re at and to be here for the children that need us most.”

For more information on Books Are Wings, visit their website at www.BooksAreWings.org or email Jocelynn White at jwhite@booksarewings.org and Sarah Dennigan at sdennigan@booksarewings.org.

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WHAT DO YOU FINK?

LIFESTYLES

by MIKE FINK

Speak to the past “Speak to the Past and It Shall Teach Thee.” You can read this chiseled, uncredited, mysterious message on a granite wall. You can find this strange, cryptic, carved citation on George Street on the East Side, in Shangri-la, the mythic realm outside of time, right here at the edge of the Brown Quadrangle. It is the wing of the John Carter Brown Library, which is not, in fact, part of the University.

The 1904 main structure, with its elegant, exotic, sea-shell architectural detailing and the label “Americana” on its portal cornice, holds maps and beautifully-bound volumes of ancient lore about the discoveries in this hemisphere. The wing was added in 1990, and has yet another surprise on its hidden other-side, facing a grove of memorial trees. It reads, “Only the Word Transforms What Happens into History.”

I was a graduate student at Brown in the late 1950s, and my daughter earned her B.A. in the Class of 2001, but I never fully appreciated the sheer majestic beauty of the campus until the summer of 2012. The students, mostly, are gone throughout the months of July and August and leave the green spaces and the noble mansion-classrooms to their peaceful existence, until the prospect of Labor Day and the resumption of the hectic semester looms like a subtle earthquake. I wander like a friendly phantom as I pursue my mock research into the origin and philosophical meaning of those quotations.

I phone a fine librarian at the JCB, my friend Adelina Axelrod.

She tells me, “The passage comes, actually, from the Bible, the Torah. It is from Job, but it is usually translated from the Hebrew scrolls as ‘Speak to NATURE and it shall teach thee.’”

I ponder the change, and think, I guess “nature” is about the Garden of Eden, and that God explains to the complaining and troubled Job that if you study your own backyard, you will understand the meaning of life - sort of like what Voltaire spelled out in Candide: cultivate your garden, that sort of thing. But then, one of the trustees and friends of the JCB library, Mel Blake, advised me to go further with my quest and call Norman Fiering, a retired professor and the One Who Knows All about the evolution of the distinguished jewel box of a regal resource.

“I believe that even that word ‘nature’ is inadequate ... it should be ‘creation’ God advises Job to study all creation, all God’s manifold purposes and designs.”

This is a paraphrase, but it is what I took from our amiable and informational dialogue. It was Professor Fiering who told me to go around to the other side of that “billboard” as he playfully described the “Speak” logo, to find that second proclamation. “Only the Word.”

Of course, there is no final answer. For me, it all adds up or boils down to “Speak,” “Teach,” and “Word.” You can study evolution, law, biology, poetry and geography and, in the end, you will be pursuing something sacred, even religious.

It takes the month of August to take in such minutiae. Once the lecturer takes the podium and the laptops keep tabs on the virtual journal, you may lose sight of the stones and the lawns, the trees and the chirping of the sparrows or the coo-ing of the pigeons. College Town, with all its parking woes and its anxieties, is still and all a magic kingdom.

Speak to the Past. Only the Word.

Brown University recognizes importance of hospice care education Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island (HHCRI) and the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University announced that they have signed an affiliation agreement that establishes HHCRI as the major teaching affiliate for hospice and palliative medicine for the school.

Under the agreement, both parties will share responsibility for creating a learning environment in end-of-life care for Alpert Medical School students and residents. HHCRI will administer all clinical services and patient care, while the Alpert Medical School will be responsible for academic programs, research and the education of students and residents.

“This agreement between such a prominent, renowned medical school and a national hospice leader underscores the growing emergence of hospice and palliative care into mainstream medicine,” said Diana Franchitto, presiA 

dent and CEO of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island. “It represents the kind of innovative, visionary thinking and the spirit of collaboration that has been a mainstay in both organizations from our early beginnings.”

Edward W. Martin, MD, MPH, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Alpert Medical School and chief medical officer for Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, will oversee the clinical training of medical students and doctors at HHCRI’s Philip Hulitar Inpatient Center located in Providence.

“This alliance will bring great value to the community, to the seriously ill and to the next generation of physicians,” said Martin. “It is built upon a mutual commitment to the study and practice of hospice and palliative care.

The academic component will generate new ideas, new techniques and up-todate research that will clearly benefit hospice patients.”

Pictured from left are Edward Martin, MD, MPH, chief medical officer at Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island; Edward J. Wing, MD, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown University; Diana Franchitto, president & CEO of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island; and Lindsay Graham, executive dean of administration at Brown. (Submitted photo)

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A 

CALENDAR OUTDOOR FUN AT GRISWOLD HOUSE The Newport Art Museum continues its outdoor concert series with “One Act Wednesdays,” a series of one-act plays performed by the Marley Bridges Theatre Company. Performances are scheduled for Wednesdays at 6 p.m., through Sept. 5. The cost is $10 per person or $15 per family, and Newport Art Museum members receive $5 off admission. The Griswold House is located at 76 Bellevue Avenue. For more information, call 848-8200 or visit newportartmuseum.org.

MUSIC AT THE VILLA The Villa at Saint Antoine, located at 10 Rhodes Avenue in North Smithfield, offers free summer concerts in the courtyard through August. On Tuesday, Aug. 7 at 7 p.m., Avenue A will perform. On Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m., the Deluxe Quality Band will perform, with a rain date set for Wednesday, Aug. 23. Refreshments are served and these concerts are free and open to the public.

OF

EVENTS

SUNSET TUNES Spread out a blanket and unpack a picnic (complete with a bottle of wine, if you so choose) at the Blithewold Mansion in Newport. On Aug. 8, Barbara Slater and Friends will perform, followed by Jason Roseman on Aug. 22. Shows run from 6 to 8 p.m., or Marjories Cocktail Party with select seating, martinis and a selection of hors devours begin at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for members or $15 for non-members, and the cost of the Cocktail Party is $25 for members and $30 for non-members.

JUNK FROM THE TRUNK Linden Place Museum in Bristol is hosting a rotating exhibit of DeWolf and Colt family memorabilia through Aug. 31. The current exhibit, “China Syndrome,” looks at the patterns and pieces of dishes and glassware of the influential Rhode Island families dating back to the 1700s. Admission is $8, $6 for seniors and $5 for children. The exhibit is on display Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information, call 253-0390or visit www.lindenplace.org.

TRAVEL BACK 150 YEARS The Living History’s 14th RI Program, which trains Providence high school students to reenact the history of the 14th Rhode Island Heavy Artillery regiment, can be watched at the Roger Williams Park Carousel on Thursdays and Fridays at 10 and 11 a.m. and at 1 and 3 p.m., and on Saturdays at 10 and 11 a.m.

ART IN THE OUTDOORS Tiverton Four Corners is offering its 16th annual Sculpture Exhibit on the grounds of the Meeting House. This year’s exhibition is curated by Kaitlin Mullen, president of the Engaging Visual Artist Collaborative at Rhode Island College. The outdoor sculpture exhibit is available during the day, except when special events are scheduled, and admission is free. Don’t miss the exhibit, which runs through Sept. 3. For details, call 624-2600 or visit fourcornersarts.org.

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