Good Times for Seniors - July/Aug 2017

JULY/AUGUST 2017

Great Sports

MEET JOE GRZENDA AND GUY VALVANO

Ice Cream

THE ULTIMATE SUMMERTIME TREAT

These are the days

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for seniors

contents

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In thIs edItIon: FeatureS

columnS

the great guy ....................................... 4 - 5 Guy Valvano pens “Turning 50”

Washington Watch ................................ 12

ice Cream ............................................... 6 - 7 Remembering a treat diamond days ....................................... 8 - 9 Joe Grzenda takes a look back at his baseball career Phone scam Beware.............................. 12 Medicare Penalties................................ 13

Your Health............................................ 10 gardening .............................................. 11 -30- ........................................................... 16 travel turkey and tennessee .......................... 15 -16 theSe are the dayS Fairs, Festivals and More ..................... 18 - 19

Good tIMes FoR senIoRs a tiMEs-sHaMroCK PuBLiCation

149 penn avenue Scranton, pa 18503 EditoriaL | 570-348-9185 advErtising | 570-348-9100 community newSpaper group managing editor tom graham x3492 advertiSing SaleS manager alice Manley x9285

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contriButing writerS: duane Campbell, Bob gelik, susan Jaffe gar Kearney, Cheryl M. Keyser, nancy reddington Parlo, Ed rogers, Eleanor rogers, Jack smiles Good Times for Seniors is a publication dedicated to informing, serving and entertaining active older adults in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties of Pennsylvania. It publishes six times per year — winter, spring, early summer, late summer, fall and a holiday edition.

Circulation of this issue is 61,000 copies to more than 125,000 readers aged 55 and over.

Advertising rates and deadlines available upon request.

Visit us online at goodtimesforseniors.com 2

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get up and get Moving

according to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention, regular physical activity is one of the most important things older adults can do to promote their long-term health. the CdC recommends that men and women age 65 or older who are generally fit and have no limiting health conditions need at least two hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, each week. in addition, such people should perform strength-training activities that work all major muscle groups at least two days per week. While many fit older men and women with no preexisting health conditions are capable of these activities, those able to push themselves a little further can opt for 75 minutes per week of vigorousintensity aerobic activity, such as jogging or running, combined with the same strength-training regimen. a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity coupled with strength training may also provide adequate physical activity for aging men and women.

Before beginning a new exercise

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regimen, men and women should consult with their physicians to discuss any limitations they may have and how to manage those risks while still being physically active.

— staff report

Washington Watch CANNABIS SURPRISING ATTRACTION Think you’ve seen it all? A recent article in The New York Times will surprise you. Many of the people behind the growth of the cannabis industry — better known as marijuana — are, believe it or not, older women. These are business women who have suffered a major problem and discovered that the use of marijuana helped them deal with pain or eased their recovery.

A 2014 national survey on drug use and health found that 5.1 percent of adults over 50 had used marijuana in the past month and this number is expected to rise. State information on medical marijuana indicates that its use in those over age 60 has risen as high as 20.5 percent.

Data is still skimpy — for instance, states which have not legalized its use obviously have no statistics. But on-going research is being conducted on the medical use of marijuana as an alternative to opioids and other pain medications.

CARING CONCERNS It is estimated that there are more than 43 million caregivers in this country, many of them family members or friends. The care they provide — everything from feeding to bathing to paying bills — is usually uncompensated.

One study from the Met Life Mature Market Institute estimates that between lost wages, pensions and reduced Social Security benefits (most being unable to work while caregiving), caregivers are losing some $3 trillion annually.

To begin to deal with this situation, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Aging Committee, along with other Senate colleagues, has introduced the RAISE Caregivers Act. (RAISE is an acronym for recognize, assist, include, support and engage.)

It would set up a family caregiving advisory council which would include federal agency representatives, caregivers, veterans, advocates and older adults.

“As our population grows older, the number of uncompensated family caregivers providing high-quality, long-term care will only increase,” said Collins.

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For additional information, visit the website at aging.senate.gov.

TOO OLD TO WORK? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 59-year-old man who claims that he was discriminated against at a Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Florida which refused to hire him because of his age.

The gentleman had more than 20 years of experience in restaurants and had applied for a job as a general manager.

The company declined to hire him because, according to the EEOC, it was looking for an individual who could “maximize longevity.”

The lawsuit was brought after attempts to find other ways to resolve the matter, including through conciliation.

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers from discrimination starting at age 40.

“Age cannot be a factor in whether or not someone can earn a living,” said Michael Farrell, director of EEOC’s Miami office, For more information, visit the website at eeoc.gov.

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SAD NEWS According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths from Alzheimer’s have significantly increased since 1999.

The disease is now estimated to affect more than 5 million adults in the country.

“Significant increases in Alzheimer’s deaths coupled with an increase in the number of persons with Alzheimer’s dying at home suggest that the burden on caregivers has increased even more than the number of deaths,” according to the CDC. With an aging population, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is expected to quadruple by the year 2050, unless some scientific breakthrough is achieved to eliminate an illness for which there is no treatment or cure.

For more information, visit cdc.gov. cheryl m. keyser is a writer for Good times for seniors.

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Photos by Emma black

The Great Guy

Guy Valvano pens “Turning 50”

G

uy is at it again.

Still the premier sportswriter and historian of northeastern Pennsylvania, Guy Valvano is hard at work putting the finishing touch on the latest of his 12 books, this one about the 48-year-old University of Scranton soccer program that he’s titled, “Turning 50.’’

Back when the 20th century was still young, northeastern Pennsylvania became a passionate hotbed of amateur sports. Spectators thronged high school gridirons Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons the stage was set for the University of Scranton football Tomcats.

When fall became winter, high school gyms throbbed to the action of basketball players and fans two or more nights a week. Venues like Watres Armory drew large crowds for U of S games, long before the Jesuit landmark grew into the sprawling complex of today from a handful of buildings back then, the main one on the 300 block of Wyoming Avenue, a handful of barrack-like structures on a few acres in the lower Hill Section.

High school and college football and basketball were all the rage. Baseball not so much. Boys competed, girls cheered. That was the way it was for many years.

Time marched on. The world changed. Girls wanted a piece of the action. They found it on the basketball courts and softball diamonds. Their triumphs and defeats gained equal space on the sports pages and TV. Seated front row center for this cavalcade of sports was one of the finest, most prolific sportswriters this region has ever produced, Guy Valvano, a veritable encyclopedia of sport whose photographic memory and instant recall bring alive fables and foibles of the decades.

Guy first stepped into the journalistic arena when, just out of Dunmore High School, he joined The TribuneScrantonian in 1946 in the lowly rank of copy boy, hustling finished stories

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from the desks of reporters to the editors for final scrutiny, running for coffee and cigarettes, doing all kinds of go-for chores, while learning the newspaper game.

In those days it was a hurly-burly, dog-eat-dog world of fierce competition between The Tribune-Scrantonian and its rival, The Scranton Times, and bragging rights were up for grabs every day as they battled to give their readers the first and the most in-depth coverage. Nowhere was the rivalry more intense than the sports world. If truth be known, Guy and his cohorts, sports editor Chic Feldman, Jimmy Calpin and Tommy Edwards usually gained the upper hand.

Guy did not remain a copy boy long.

Soon his obvious talents for getting and writing stories earned him promotion to correspondent covering different areas of Scranton, then onto a bigger and better world, reporter. His background playing sports at Dunmore High made him a natural for the sports staff.

Over the years he has witnessed and written about hundreds of high school, college and professional ballgames, not to mention countless feature stories about coaches and players. Just about every noteworthy figure who pastimed here in sports is on a first-name basis with Guy, even their families.

In his book, Guy writes it was 1969 when the U of S added soccer, helped by the urging of students coming here from places like Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York, where high school soccer had gained foothold years earlier.

Guy tells about the first coach: “John B. Robertson Jr., a newly-hired employee of the U of S, had the distinction — or unenviable task, as some skeptics might prefer to look upon it — of serving as coach of the first men’s soccer team at the University of Scranton.

Like every fledgling program at any level of competition, soccer experienced growing pains. During Robertson’s four-year tenure, the Royals managed to persevere, even though the young coach with no soccer-coaching

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experience on his resume had to work without the amenities that had been made available to many of his counterparts at the University.”

Robertson resigned from the position after the 1972 season and concentrated on carrying out his duties as the athletic trainer for the U of S athletic teams, a chore in which he eventually would earn plaudits for his meticulous approach to evaluating injuries and recommending possible procedures for treating them, not only U of S athletes, but players from local high schools, even aging weekend warriors.

Perhaps the most remembered of the soccer mentors, Steve Klingman succeeded Robertson and served for 22 seasons before turning the reins over to Paul Payne, who had been an assistant for the U of S women’s soccer program, in 1995. Payne, who coached the Royals for four seasons, was succeeded by Matt Pivirotto in 1999. Pivirotto completed his eighteenth season as Scranton’s head coach in 2016.

In his more than two decades as head coach of the University of Scranton men’s soccer program, Steve Klingman compiled a 324-116-23 record for a. 726 winning percentage. In 1980 and 1981, his Royals advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament championship game during a string of four straight Final Four berths (1980-1983). The Royals also made additional Elite Eight appearances in 1977, 1978 and 1979.

The University of Scranton also has enjoyed tremendous success in women’s soccer since adding the sport to its intercollegiate athletics program.

The Lady Royals made their debut in 1983, becoming one of the first collegiate women’s soccer programs in the country on the varsity level. John Kelly Morahan, a former athletic star at Western Wayne High School in South Canaan, coached the first Scranton women’s soccer team, guiding the Lady Royals to a 10-4-1 record. Morahan said Steve Klingman played an important role in helping get the women’s soc-

cer program off the ground. Morahan resigned after one season because of time constraints.

Joe Bochicchio, who had starred in athletics at West Scranton High School, succeeded Morahan as head coach in 1984 and transformed the program into a national power during his 23 years at the helm. Along the way, Joe turned out seven All-Americans. Bochicchio was preparing for his 24th season at the University when he succumbed to cancer in 2007. During most of his tenure as Scranton’s women’s soccer coach, Joe was a member of the faculty at Scranton Central High School. In 1997, he retired after 30 years in education.

Joe Bochicchio first played soccer at Keystone Junior College in La Plume, and then at Cortland State College in Cortland, New York. He excelled in the sport at both institutions.

Bochicchio’s first team at Scranton posted a 15-3 record. The Lady Royals were 297-144-34 overall during his coaching tenure for a .661 winning percentage. Scranton was 115-10-4 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom League.

University of Scranton director of athletics Gary Wodder (1974-1997) liked to refer to Steve Klingman and Joe Bochicchio as the “Pied Pipers of Soccer.”

Finding a playing site was one of the first major obstacles. An abandoned driving range, Clover Field, in Scranton’s West Side, would become the first home base. Eventually, most of the practices that first season were conducted at Weston Park in North Scranton.

Student Chuck Shields, who has a passion for soccer, had participated in the sport for the first time as a freshman at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill. He told Valvano: “After graduating from high school [in 1967], I enrolled at the University of Scranton, where there was no soccer team. They had recently added wrestling [as a varsity sport]. Some of us students got to talking about how we would like to see soccer added [as an intercollegiate sport] to the athletic program as well. Charlie Ascenzi and I went to see the director of athletics, Dave Ocorr. He listened to us and said, ‘Just show me there’s some interest in soccer and I will look to put it in the budget next year.’ That was in the fall of 1968.”

“With that knowledge,” Shields said, “Charlie and I approached Ocorr and said that we had a number of players

who were interested in playing on the varsity level. So we put together times for practices and we contacted local colleges such as Wilkes, King’s, Keystone and anyone who would play us. For the most part, there were some scheduled scrimmages, or we were asked to just show up at a team’s practice and scrimmage them during their practice.

There was about a half a dozen of those scrimmages, but we got to play and were able to show David that there was sincere interest.

“With that, David said he would put it in the budget for the following year.

It would be submitted as a full varsity sport and not as a JV sport, as I believe wrestling started that way. The following year, we had a team with a full varsity schedule. David had hired John ‘Robbie’ Robertson as coach (David knew him previously), and Charlie and I were the first captains ever of the University of Scranton soccer team.

And the rest is history.”

The 1970 University of Scranton yearbook, Windhover, offered this review of the 1969 season: “Soccer was a new sport at the University of Scranton in 1969, and the rules of the game were foreign to most of the ‘U’ students, who came out to watch the booters perform at Clover Field. But no one could accuse the fans of not displaying enthusiasm for the team, even though they may not have understood the game itself. Most of the team members had never played the sport before Coach John Robertson issued an invitation for tryouts. The highlight of the season was the selection of Gary Green to the MAC All-Conference Team at the goalie position.”

Obviously Guy, who lives in Dunmore with spouse Marie, pours his heart and soul into his work. In the beginning he did his writing on a

old typewriter, but instead has since become computer savvy. Every book is an investment of hours upon hours of tedious research, most of it scrutinizing reams of microlfilm and old newspaper clippings at the University of Scranton Weinberg Library and the Albright Memorial Library. Old scrapbooks are another source. All that adds up to countless hours and days of excruciating notetaking, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Then come the interviews, tracking down and harvesting the memories of people still around who were there.

Of his dozen books, three stand out as his favorites. One chronicles the career of legendary Dunmore High football coach Jack Henzes and traces his gridiron glory from the days he played for his equally legendary dad, John “Papa Bear” Henzes, architect of a bygone dynasty at Blakely High School. Another spotlights Blakely’s worthy successor, the Valley View Cougars under Frank Pazzaglia, another one of Papa Bear’s proteges. The third recalls the ascension to basketball prominence of the U of S Royals of coach Bob Bessoir.

His other books include: “The Dream Lives On,” “State Champions,” “A Love Affair With Football,” “Royals of Renown,” “Cougar Pride,” “Winning Ways,” “No Ordinary Joe,” “Thanksgiving Memories,” “Like Father, Like Son,” “The Lynett Legacy” and “Hail, Cesare!”

Is there a 13th in the future?

Guy isn’t saying.

“I do a lot of reading,” he smiled, “and things just pop into my mind.” gar Kearney is a freelance writer for Good times for seniors.

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Ice Cream: Remembering a treat I

t’s summer.

Do you know where your ice cream is?

Donald E. Dinning of Carbondale certainly does. He keeps two 1.5-quart containers (formerly half-gallons) of Turkey Hill vanilla in the refrigerator’s freezer at his North High Rise apartment as a backup for the container he’s regularly dipping into. Vanilla was his favorite flavor as a youngster. It still is.

The 83-year-old and several other members of Carbondale Adult Activity Center also knew without hesitation where they could find their favorite ice cream when they were kids, roughly 50 to 75 years ago.

Ice cream has a long-standing image as a summertime treat. Consumption peaks in July and, thanks to President Ronald Reagan’s proclamation in 1984, July was declared National Ice Cream Month with the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day; this year, it’s July 16. But this little Carbondale band of ice cream aficionados made it clear that their youthful affection for ice cream was year round. Still, they were equally clear that the operative word was “treat.”

Dinning, who turns 84 in August, was born and raised in Jermyn.

“I had two favorite ice cream shops,” Dinning said, recalling his youth growing up in the 1930s and ’40s. Both were on Main Street in Jermyn. One was “Russell’s ice cream parlor, right next to the old movie theater.”

“Every Saturday, if my father could afford it, he’d give me a quarter and I’d go to the movie theater to see the serial,” he said. “And it cost me 12 cents to

Venosh

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get into the movie theater. On the way in, there was a candy machine. I’d get an Almond Joy candy bar for five cents.

“After the movie, I’d go to Russell’s and from the change I had left (eight cents) I could get a single dip of ice cream in a cone. That’s where I blew my quarter,” Dinning said.

His other favorite ice cream shop served Dolly Madison.

“My mother always loved Dolly Madison [ice cream]. My dad would send me down to get a quart container.”

“The ice cream was a special treat in everybody’s home back then,” Dinning said.

Joanne Mattise, 86, of Simpson is related by marriage to a partner in a former local ice cream shop.

“My husband [the late Sam Mattise] used to have the ice cream store in Jermyn,” she noted. He and his brother operated the store, she said.

Long before she married, as a young girl, she would set her ice cream sights on Russell’s shop at the corner of Belmont Avenue and Canaan Street in Carbondale.

“We used to walk from Simpson to Carbondale (a mere two miles). They had the most delicious ice cream.”

Her favorite back then, was and today, remains white house.

“They had a cone for 10 cents. It was so big you wouldn’t believe it,” Mattise said.

The shop was an outlet of Russell’s farm dairy, which made its own ice cream and sold it retail, she said. According to Lackawanna Historical Society records, Russell’s made and sold dairy products, including ice cream,

hugaboom

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beginning at least as early as the 1920s.

Spencer Russell is listed as the owner of the business in Carbondale city directories.

Sisters Mary Ann Venosh, 72, and Patty Hugaboom, 61 this month, both live in Carbondale but grew up in Forest City.

Separated by about 11 years in age, they have very different, fond remembrances of childhood ice cream adventures.

“I used to go to the Red Cross Drug Store” in Forest City, Venosh said. “We used to hope that Dave was the one working that day because he would give us huge ice cream cones compared to the owner.”

Hugaboom has two recollections from her youth regarding ice cream.

One is “going to Montdale for ice cream” referring to Montdale Dairy in Scott Township. It continues to operate a retail shop at 939 Montdale Road (Route 438) in Scott Township.

Her other memory involves McGee’s Ice Cream.

“They came around in the afternoon with their truck,” she said. “We used to go swimming in the pool and he would come around with his truck and sell us ice cream.”

The sisters’ tastes in the cool treat are decidedly different. Their favorites?

“I would say cherry vanilla (aka white house),” Venosh said.

“Chocolate — in a cone,” Hugaboom opined.

Twos keep popping up when Carbondale native and current resident Clara Montone, 86, talks about ice cream.

“I had two favorite [ice cream shops] when I was 10,” she said. “It was Russell’s at the corner of Canaan and Bel-

mattise

montone

mont because we lived at the corner of Canaan and Belmont. Then there was Mulholland’s, just down the street.”

Then there were the flavors. Her first favorite flavor was chocolate marshmallow — in a cone, of course. That changed when she was about 14 to butter pecan.

One of her favorite things about getting ice cream was “when they had the two cones hooked together. (The double-cup cones were baked so that the cups that held the ice cream scoop were side by side, atop a long cone.)

You could get a scoop in each, the same kind or two different kinds — whatever you wanted,” Montone said.

Growing up in the Great Depression and World War II era, she said, money was tight. “My mother and father were working. I had to do the chores,” she said.

“We never could afford a sundae — didn’t have the money. If we got a sundae, that was a real treat.”

“We were happy to get a 10-cent cone at the end of the week.”

That would be the kind with two scoops.

While this group can readily recall memories of a favorite ice cream, the expedition to find it and enjoying it as a way to cool off on a warm summer’s day, they continue to make new memories each Thursday during the weekly ice cream social at the Community Center.

“When they say ‘ice cream,’ we’re all in line,” Joanne Mattise said. bob gelik is a retired food editor and copy editor of the times-tribune.

dinning

Ice Cream History Without a doubt, ice cream is a treat that enjoys nearly universal popularity. And that, in turn, is a result of the technology of refrigeration that provides the freezing temperatures that allow ice cream to be mass produced, stored and transported.

The development of modern refrigeration took place in the early twentieth century. But that’s not where the history of ice cream begins. It was merely the catalyst for ice cream to move from being a treat or dessert enjoyed only by royalty, the rich and powerful, to being a food that could be enjoyed by the entire populace.

Ice cream, according to some sources, may have its origins as early as second century B.C. Food anthropologists and nutrition experts note that humans have a penchant for sweet foods, devouring them as a source of energy. So stories of ancient people including the Romans enjoying snow or chipped ice flavored with fruits, fruit juice and/or honey have some basis.

Such a dish certainly is a chilled treat, but it’s not ice cream.

It is possible that ice cream had its origins in China, though there is no conclusive research, according to an article by Mary Miley Theobald in the spring 2010 edition of Colonial Williamsburg magazine. She writes that there are references in seventh century and 12th century writings to an iced dairy food in China and to such a dish being served at a Mogul court in the 14th century.

At some point between the first and 16th centuries, humans discovered that placing a completely closed container filled with milk, cream, sugar and flavorings into an ice water bath made by mixing ice and plenty of salt could freeze the cream mixture.

The process is known as the endothermic effect. Knowledge of the process spread and was being used in Italy, France and England during the 1500s, Theobald’s article points out.

From sometime in the mid-1500s through about 1800, it seems, people were making some form of ice cream, albeit for a relatively elite class of people. It also was eaten fairly soon after being made because of a lack of refrigeration. That changed a bit with development of insulated ice houses beginning in the late 1700s. Large blocks of ice were cut from lakes in winter and stored though the year. In the 1800s, there were home ice boxes serviced by ice deliverymen.

During the 1800s, several advances in technology led to an increase in ice cream production and availability. One was the invention and patenting of an “artificial freezer” by Nancy M. Johnson of Philadelphia in 1843. It contained a tub, cylinder, lid, dasher and crank. It is the prototype of the hand-cranked home ice cream freezer still used today.

Ice cream making continued to flourish and, toward the end of the 19th century, ice cream shops began cropping up across the United States. The first ice cream cone was served in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

The ice cream industry got a major boost with the invention of a self-contained electric-powered refrigerator-freezer for home use in the 1920s. Production and consumption swelled following World War II and has remained steady through today. The average American today consumes more than 23 pounds of ice cream annually, according to International Dairy Foods Association.

— bob gelik

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Diamond Days

Photo by Emma black

Joe Grzenda takes a look back at his baseball career

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GOOD TIMES

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Joe Grzenda graduated from Moosic High School on June 8, 1955, his 18th birthday. Two days later his father drove him to Jamestown, New York and dropped him off at a stranger’s house. So began a two-decade professional baseball odyssey for Grzenda wherein he played in eight major league and 16 minor league seasons in 18 different cities.

Sitting in the finished basement of his ranch home in a wooded development in Covington Township surrounded by mementoes of his career, Grzenda talked about his career arc in a two-hour interview two days after his 80th birthday.

There was no Little League in Moosic when Grzenda was growing up.

“We played with a ball with a cover of black electrical tape. The neighbors had cows and we had to be careful where we’d slide.”

A left-handed thrower who was listed at 6-2 and 180 pounds, Grzenda was a hot prospect at Moosic High, where he once struck out 19 in a seveninning game, losing 1-0 to Marymount with the run scoring on an error. At a high-school reunion, he joked with his classmate who made the error, saying, “After 50 years, that error still bothers me.”

Still in high school, Grzenda also pitched for Greenwood AA in a highcaliber adult amateur league. He was bird-dogged by the late Joseph J. Wincovitch, a Detroit Tigers scout who would later be the Lackawanna County Sheriff. Grzenda got a $4,000 signing bonus, cleared $3,600, the average annual salary for an American worker at the time, and the equivalent of $25,000 in 2017 dollars. Though the money went to his parents, Grzenda said, “The $3,600 made me proud.”

The Jamestown Falcons were then a Detroit Tigers affiliate in the Pony (Pennsylvania, Ontario, New York) League. “It was a heck of an experience for me because I had never been away from home,” Grzenda said. “Most were college boys. I lived with two other guys. The club made sure one of them had a car so we could go to lunch and things.”

From 1955 to 1960 he pitched for five different Detroit minor league clubs and developed a reputation as a hard thrower. “Guys coming down from the big leagues said I was throwing as hard or harder than Herb Score.” (Cleveland

Indians pitcher Score was considered one of the fastest pitchers in the Major Leagues at the time.)

In 1958 at AA Birmingham, Alabama in the Southern Association, a girl in the stands near the dugout caught his eye. He had the bat boy carry a note to her. Her name was Ruth. They married in 1959. They are still together. They raised two kids, daughter Donna and son Joe Jr., who grew up baseball brats sometimes going to three different schools in a single school year.

Grzenda won 16 games for Birmingham in ’58 with a club-record 190 strikeouts, helping the Barons win their first pennant since 1931. That off-season, the Tigers wanted him to go in the Army for six months. He never learned why and didn’t play any army ball.

Discharged a month early, he reported to spring training with the Tigers in Lakeland, Florida. It rained five of seven days and Grzenda didn’t pitch.

The Tigers advanced him to their top farm club, AAA Charleston in West Virginia. He seemed to be on the cusp of a call up to the Bigs, but had a setback.

“I always wanted to tell this. I met the club in Indianapolis, but they lost my equipment. I had a red belt, the team’s color. I wore that and Mel Stottlemyre’s son’s spikes. The first baseman loaned me his second glove.

They pitched me that day. No throwing, Nothing. Ozzie Virgil, the father, was the catcher. Ozzie comes to the mound.

‘I heard you were a fireballer. You’re not throwing nothing.’ I said ‘Ozzie, I haven’t thrown since last year.’ He kept calling curveball, curveball, curveball.

I did OK for five innings. The next day I had a toothache in the elbow. I blame myself because I was afraid to say no.”

Though team doctors gave him injections before his starts, it took four or five years to get over the elbow soreness. By 1960 Grzenda had been in the minor leagues for six seasons, but he never considered giving up the dream.

In 1961 Grzenda finally stuck with the Tigers after spring training.

Though Grzenda would start 156 games in the minor league career, in the majors he was used in relief. He made his debut on April 26 against the Yankees.

“I was so nervous my knees wouldn’t stay in my pants.” He got in only four games before being sent down to Denver in early May. The Tigers released Grzenda after the ’63 season. Over the next seven sea-

Grzenda kept the ball Mercer had hit for the second out, took it home, put it in an envelope on which he wrote: “Last ball ever thrown as a Washington Senators baseball club. Sept. 30, 1971.

Mercer grounded out to me.”

Thirty-three years later, in 2004, when the news broke that Montreal Expos franchise was moving to Washington for the 2005 season, Washington Post writer William Gildea interviewed Grzenda at his home in Covington Township. Grzenda’s son Joe Jr. was there. In 1971, 11-year-old Joe was allowed to hang around the dugout and batting practice with the Senators. He even had a Senators uniform. He was there that last crazy night. During the Gildea interview Joe Jr. came up wth an idea: have his father’s last Washington Senators ball be used as the ball for the Nationals ceremonial first pitch.

The idea turned into a reality. On April 19, 2005, on the field in front of the Senators dugout at RFK Stadium, Joe Grzenda, under strict orders from the Secret Service handed the 1971 ball to President George W. Bush. Before Bush walked to the mound to throw the pitch, he said to Grzenda, “This is going to get us in the hall of fame.”

Excited as he was, Grzenda was worried about his ball. It had been reported Nationals catcher Brian Schneider was planning to keep the ball to add to his collection of 200 autographed balls.

Grzenda told the Secret Servicemen the ball was his. After Bush threw the pitch one of the Secret Servicemen made sure the ball got back to Grzenda.

The Senators devastated Grzenda by trading him to St. Louis after the ’71 season. He liked Washington and Ted Williams. “If Ted was still alive I’d knock on his door and ask him why he did it, but it was probably Short who did it.” Bob Short was the Senators owner.

St. Louis in 1972 was a miserable season. Though it was his highest paying season ever, $29,000, the Cardinals didn’t use him. He pitched only 35 innings. In 1973 he was went to spring training with the Yankees, but was assigned to Syracuse in the International League (IL). He had a great season with a 2.43 ERA and a league-leading 18 saves, but never got called up to New York. He spent 1974 with Richmond, Atlanta’s franchise in the IL and had another good season, 7-2 with 11 saves, but he was 38 by then, so he retired.

The Yankees offered him a pitching

Grzenda finished his career with a 1.000 fielding percentage. in 219 games and 308 innings pitched he never made an error.

Photo by Emma black

sons he was sold twice, spending time in the majors with Kansas City, the Mets and Minnesota, finally winding up in Washington with the Senators where he had his best Major League season in 1971 at age 34, when he earned $22,000 as the Senators closer. He had a 5-2 record and a 1.92 ERA. But how to explain blossoming so late in his career? “Sid Hudson, the pitching coach, and I were sitting on bench talking and Sid said, ‘if you ever go on that mound and are afraid to lose, you’re going to lose.’”

It was an epiphany.

“I thought, son of a B, that was me.

At that time you needed five years for a pension and I was thinking about that every time I went out there. I was so tight. Sid changed my attitude, changed my personality.”

Grzenda qualified for the pension during the ’71 season. Ted Williams was the Senators manager and he knew Grzenda had qualified. Grzenda was shagging flies in the outfield when Ted tapped him on the shoulder and asked how he was doing. I said, “The world is off my shoulders.”

The Senators moved to Texas after the ’71 season. Their last game in Washington against the Yankees ended with Grzenda on the mound — and with a near riot.

The crowd was only a little over 14,000, but they were on the edge. In the fourth Yankees pitcher Mike Kekich grooved Senator favorite Frank Howard a fastball and he hit it for a home run.

The fans went crazy and were barely contained from storming the field as “Hondo” took three curtain calls. In the ninth, with the Senators leading 7-5, the buzz from the crowd was palpable.

Grzenda was on the mound. He got the first two outs quickly, the second on a Bobby Mercer grounder back to the mound. As Horace Clark stepped into the box, the crowd erupted. “You could see a cloud of dust as the fans down the lines poured on to the field,” Grzenda said. “One big guy with a beard ran at me. I had the ball and was thinking about throwing it at his head, but he just touched me and ran off.”

Fans leapt over the dugout as the players ran in. Three jumped on Howard’s back. They stole hats. They tore up the bases, the turf and anything they could get their hands on. Order was never restored and the game was forfeited to the Yankees.

President George w. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch after receiving the ball from Joe Grzenda on opening day for the washington nationals in 2005.

coach job in West Haven, Connecticut, but Grzenda had just bought his house in Covington Township, and with two kids, the coaching job didn’t pay enough. When a new battery factory opened in Dunmore, Grzenda was the first one hired. He worked there 22 years.

Post-career honors didn’t end for Grzenda with the Nationals opening night in 2005. In 2014 he was inducted into the Birmingham Barons Hall of Fame where he had pitched for two championship teams in five different seasons, where he had endeared himself to fans by requesting to be sent to AA Birmingham instead of AAA Vancouver and where he had met his wife.

After the on field induction ceremony

he posed with his wife Ruth in front of the dugout near which he had first spotted her in 1958. He told a reporter for alabamalife.com “It was a special place.”

Grzenda finished his career with a 1.000 fielding percentage. In 219 games and 308 innings pitched he never made an error. The errorless career and the in famous last inning in Washington in 1971 keep Grzenda on fan radar. He gets 10 to 15 letters a month from fans with baseball cards to sign. Sometimes they send $5 or $10.

He signs and sends back the cards — and the money.

Jack SmileS is a freelance writer for Good times for seniors.

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9

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Helping Aphasia patients better communicate Approximately 800,000 people have a stroke each year; about one every 40 seconds. Only heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases and accidents are more deadly. Strokes occur due to problems with the blood supply to the brain: either the blood supply is blocked or a blood vessel within the brain ruptures, causing brain tissue to die.

The lasting effects of a stroke can run a very broad spectrum, from the patient returning to a regular lifestyle to major complications including varying degrees of paralysis, neurological difficulties and communication problems. Stroke is the leading cause of aphasia, a communication disorder that results from damage or injury to language parts of the brain.

Aphasia may also be caused by a brain tumor, brain infection or dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease. After a patient suffers a stroke, a team of medical professionals usually get involved with the assessment to determine the specific areas of the brain involved and what follow-up treatment and therapies are necessary.

According to Marla Kovatch, M.A., a member of the Clinical Faculty in Marywood University’s Department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, a stroke or other injury to the language centers in the brain can lead to aphasia.

While we take our communication skills for granted, there are numerous components to the communication process that give us the ability to understand others and communicate with them through forming words, putting sentences together, writing as well as understanding time and numbers including money.

The specific impairments can be so different and are approached in different manners. The major types of aphasia include: n Expressive or non-fluent aphasia is when the individual knows what they want to say, yet has difficulty communicating to others either in writing or speech. n Receptive or fluent aphasia occurs when the patient hears a voice or reads print but may not understand the meaning of the message. They may not even understand their own language. n Anomic aphasia is when the patient has word-finding difficulties for both

speech and writing. n Global aphasia is the most severe form, and it is often seen right after someone has had a stroke. The patient has trouble speaking and understanding words and can also not read or write.

This can improve if the damage from the stroke is not too severe.

A speech pathologist has a wide assortment of assessments and evaluations he or she will use as they meet with an aphasia patient to determine their strengths and weaknesses within the communications area. Do aphasia patients understand the words being spoken to them? Do they know the words they want to speak and can’t form them or perhaps the words are not coming to them. Perhaps words come out but might not make any sense.

Kovatch stressed that no two patients with aphasia are the same. Each is assessed and treated accordingly. The speech-language pathologist will meet regularly with a patient to increase his or her ability to speak and communicate. The therapist can also help develop alternative methods of communication that do not involve speech, which can help compensate for language difficulties. Unaided communication systems include gestures, body language and sign language. Aided communications can be as simple as word cards or pictures to electronics like hand held devices or computer that combines the use of icons on the screen and a generated voice.

Marywood University’s Department of Communications Science and Disorders offers a free weekly community support group for individuals who are at any stage in the recovery process.

Mrs. Kovatch states, “our aphasia group encourages all affected by a stroke to come together in a warm and accepting environment. Through group discussion, organized language and literacy activities, we aim to encourage independence and to maximize speech, language and reading skills. Each member is paired with a graduate student clinician for individual appropriate support.

Kovatch believes that the support group offers a comfortable environment to both share frustrations and celebrate successes. It provides weekly practice of Please see HeaLtH, Page 12

Gardening S lugs ate my petunias. Overnight.

Right down to a couple of bare stems sticking out of the ground.

In other years they have only lightly munched, with bearable damage, on the menu I usually offer of generic red petunias, but this spring I sprung for Easy Wave petunias at double the price, apparently a gourmet treat. Floral filet minion vs. meatloaf. (Though I do love meatloaf.)

I have never been much of a fan of Wave petunias. No particular reason except they are maybe a bit rangy. And aggressive marketing turns me off. But I do like the Easy Wave variety. It has the flowers and vigor of Wave, but a more mounding habit without the rampant growth, and it comes in a more interesting range of colors.

As much as we celebrated a mild, or at least tolerable winter, so did the slugs. I don’t expect things to get any better. Fortunately I had not planted all of the petunias I bought. So I dug up the slug victims and put them in intensive care, potting them up in good soil, fertilizing them, putting them in the sun and crossing my fingers. We’ll see.

Meanwhile I replanted their leftover cellmates. And I mulched with slug bait. OK, not quite mulched, but I was very generous in my application. Generally I use a slug bait that contains metaldehyde, which makes organic gardeners cringe. It’s poison. Yes, it is, but not as toxic as the aspirin you might take after a hard day of gardening or the beverage I sip.

There is an alternative, which may be as effective and safer, containing iron phosphate. I am averse to paying big money for a product that contains 1 percent of an active ingredient which you can buy by the ton from industrial suppliers. But maybe I’ll get some and use both to protect my petunias.

There are several homey approaches which all have one thing in common: they don’t much work. The old trick of putting some beer in a saucer to attract and drown them is ineffective and a waste of beer. Some advocate messy hand picking or even stabbing one by one, which is like saying you should clear your lawn in fall by picking up the leaves one at a time by hand. Some

say coffee grounds repel them and that is worth a try. Can’t hurt. Gotta do something with the grounds. But keep in mind that the active ingredient, caffeine, is toxic. And lest you feel superior, so is peppermint tea.

I like escargot, but eating them is not an effective control. They are the wrong kind of snail.

Having given the ineffective methods, I hesitantly suggest one that does work.

One reason I am reluctant to mention it is because I can’t find anyone, experts nor dirty hands gardeners like me, to back me up. Even Google laughs at me.

Wave petunias were not the only thing different for me this season. I found a good deal on real mulch this spring, the fancy kind in bags. No, not colored or rubber. Just natural ground bark. In the past I had mulched with grass clippings a couple of inches deep.

There’s no shortage of those in May. Not pretty, but the price is right and it’s effective as a mulch. Besides, what else are you going to do with them?

An aside on grass clippings. My wife mows the lawn. I do the gardening, but she mows. That was in our wedding vows. She empties the mower bag into a large tub for me to distribute. That is a job that must be done right away. After just a few hours, grass clippings get really nasty. In fact, less than an hour later when I start pulling them out, it is noticeably warm.

Slugs also love dahlia sprouts. Early in the season, when I first put them out, the slugs have a party. But I grow them out back for cutting, and as soon as I had grass clippings available, I mulched them, including this spring.

No need for the fancy mulch out there.

It is like Dad coming home early to interrupt an after-school teen tryst. The feeding stopped. So I have come to the conclusion — I and no one else — that grass clippings deter slugs, and quite effectively at that.

I am amazed that I cannot find any concurrence on this method. None at all. After all, it is totally organic (as long as you don’t use clippings that have been treated with weed killer). Organic gardeners will try anything, believe anything, as long as it’s organic, whether it works or not, and this seems

Petunias mulched with grass clippings Slugs like hostas better than tuberous verses quality bagged mulch. If it were a begonias. I don’t understand why. Slugs television commercial, the word “dramati- are stupid. zation” would be flashed in tiny print for half a second while you were watching the girl in the bathing suit.

Potato blossoms are not the most beautiful flower in the garden, but they may be the most welcome, signaling that baby pota- There are many beautiful shade plants that toes are ready-to-eat. slugs don’t particularly like.

to work. Maybe that’s the reason.

Let me make an uncommon request.

As some may have discerned over the years, I am a Republican. As such I am desperate these days to find someone to agree with me. Anyone. On anything. Even slugs. And since I have been unable to find ANY accord from anyone who actually knows something, I reach out to readers. Has anyone had such success with grass clippings as a slug deterrent? If so, email me at dcamp911@gmail.com. Together we can change the world. Or at least the garden. A little.

Of course you can plant things slugs don’t like. This is obviously not possible for deranged hosta fanatics, but there is gardening beyond hostas. They could swap out their hostas for helebores

and astilbes and begonias and be the better for it. Not only no slug damage but a better looking shade garden.

Evergreens, grasses and ferns are all pretty much immune if you don’t care about flowers. In sun you can plant euphorbias — there are many different kinds — and dianthus and salvias and sedums and … well, dozens more. I hate to turn this space into a bunch of lists.

If you Google “slug resistant plants,” you can blow the rest of the day with lists. Probably none of them are your favorites.

If slugs aren’t enough to move me from gardening to something less frustrating like golf, I spotted my first Colorado potato beetle. It would be called the buffalo burr beetle if anyone cared Please see garden, Page 12

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Scam Alert

have several options for paying a real tax bill and are not required to use a specific one.

n Do not give out any information.

Hang up immediately. n Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to Tell Tale Signs of a Scam: report the call. Use their IRS ImperThe IRS (and its authorized private sonation Scam Reporting web page. collection agencies) will never: Alternatively, call 800-366-4484. n Call to demand immediate payn Report it to the Federal Trade The Internal Revenue Service has or their local IRS office until after the ment using a specific payment method Commission. Use the FTC Complaint warned people to beware of a new tax payment is made. such as a prepaid debit card, gift card Assistant on FTC.gov. Please add “IRS scam linked to the Electronic Federal “This is a new twist to an old scam,” or wire transfer. The IRS does not use Telephone Scam” in the notes.

Tax Payment System, where fraudsaid IRS commissioner John Koskinen. these methods for tax payments. Genn For anyone who owes tax or sters call to demand an immediate tax “Just because tax season is over, scams erally, the IRS will first mail a bill to thinks they do: payment through a prepaid debit card. and schemes do not take the summer any taxpayer who owes taxes. All tax n View your tax account informaThis scam is being reported across the off. People should stay vigilant against payments should only be made paytion online at IRS.gov to see the actual country, so taxpayers should be alert IRS impersonation scams. People able to the U.S. Treasury and checks amount you owe. You can then also to the details. should remember that the first conshould never be made payable to third review your payment options.

In the latest twist, the scammer tact they receive from IRS will not be parties. n Call the number on the billing claims to be from the IRS and tells the through a random, threatening phone n Threaten to immediately bring in notice, or victim about two certified letters pur- call.” local police or other law-enforcement n Call the IRS at 800-829-1040. IRS portedly sent to the taxpayer in the EFTPS is an automated system for groups to have the taxpayer arrested workers can help. mail but returned as undeliverable. paying federal taxes electronically for not paying.

The IRS does not use email, text The scam artist then threatens arrest using the Internet or by phone using n Demand that taxes be paid withmessages or social media to discuss if a payment is not made through a the EFTPS Voice Response System. out giving the taxpayer the opportupersonal tax issues, such as those prepaid debit card. The scammer also EFTPS is offered free by the U.S. Denity to question or appeal the amount involving bills or refunds. For more tells the victim that the card is linked partment of Treasury and does not re- owed. information, visit the “Tax Scams to the EFTPS system when, in fact, quire the purchase of a prepaid debit n Ask for credit or debit card num- and Consumer Alerts” page on IRS. it is entirely controlled by the scamcard. Since EFTPS is an automated bers over the phone. gov. Additional information about tax mer. The victim is also warned not to system, taxpayers won’t receive a call n For anyone who doesn’t owe taxes scams is available on IRS social media contact their tax preparer, an attorney from the IRS. In addition, taxpayers and has no reason to think they do: sites, including YouTube videos.

New Phone Scam Demand Tax Payment

HEALTH FROM PAGE 10

fact that a healthy lifestyle is crucial.

The guidelines recommend that people: oral reading, reading comprehension, Eat a Mediterranean of DASH-style receptive and expressive language, and (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertenpragmatic skills. The emotional support sion) diet with nuts added. the group provides can lead to uncoverMonitor blood pressure. ing hidden strengths and successful Limit the levels of sodium in the diet. coping strategies in addition to mainDon’t smoke and avoid secondhand taining current skill levels. The memsmoke. bers are inspiring and encouraging role The speech and language specialist models for one another. The Aphasia also suggests that everyone become Group has received national recognifamiliar with the acronym F.A.S.T. It’s tion; receiving the National Stroke Asa way to remember the signs of stroke, sociation Voter’s Choice Award in 2015 and can help identify the onset of and in 2014 for the Most Outstanding stroke quickly: Aphasia Group.

Face drooping: if the person tries to The meetings are held Mondays from smile does one side of the face droop?

1 – 1:45 p.m. in the McGowan BuildArm weakness: if the person tries ing room 1066. The meetings are held to raise both their arms does one arm throughout the year except for school drift downward? breaks and holidays.

Speech difficulty: if the person tries “The more quickly that a stroke pato repeat a simple phrase is their speech tient is treated, the better the chances slurred or strange? for recovery of speech and language Time to call 911: if any of these signs problems as well as other physical conare observed, immediately contact cerns,” added the instructor. For those emergency personnel. who have never had a stroke there is much that can be done to lower the nanCy ReDDington paRlo is a risk. New guidelines from the Amerifreelance writer for Good times can Heart Association and the Amerifor seniors. can Stroke Association reinforce the

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GARDEN FROM PAGE 11 when all it ate was the buffalo burr weed, but when farmers moved west and started planting potatoes, the bugs decided they liked those better, and the banquet table was groaning with them.

I am growing eight varieties of potatoes, most of which you won’t find in your neighborhood supermarket.

A favorite is Desiree, red skinned and yellow flesh and delicious. For outstanding flavor and texture I always grow fingerlings, small potatoes very popular in Europe.

Some of my potatoes are blooming now, a summer milestone. When the flowers appear, that means there are small potatoes underground, the kind markets sell as gourmet, a word that I believe means expensive. If you root around under the plant, you can dig up a few of the babies, then leave the plant to produce its normal crop later in the season.

I am not a selfish person, and I am willing to share. A few beetles eating a few holes in the leaves doesn’t bother me enough to do something. Up to a point.

There were only a few, but I knew when temperatures regularly climb into the 80s, the population can explode. So as

a first step, I’ll smash any row of tiny yellow eggs I find on the undersides of leaves. Then what?

Over the last hundred and fifty years the beetles have developed resistance to many pesticides. You use a spray and it kills most of them, but a few have a natural resistance, and those are the ones that reproduce, making a population of resistant insects. Normally I use different insecticides each time I spray. And there is a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis that is specific for potato beetles, all natural, and I’ll use that. If I can find some.

As it turns out, none of that was necessary. I couldn’t understand why the beetle population remained very low.

Then one morning I saw a predator wasp eating a potato beetle. No idea where they came from. But thank you, wasp.

It looks as if the season is transitioning from planting time to maintenance time. I haven’t, not yet. There is still planting to be done. I guess I’ll have to do both for a while, rubbing my stomach and patting my head.

Duane Campbell is a freelance writer for Good times for seniors.

Medicare Penalties

Feds to waive penalties for some who signed up late for Medicare

E

ach year, thousands of Americans miss their deadline to enroll in Medicare, and federal officials and consumer advocates worry that many of them mistakenly think they don’t need to sign up because they have purchased insurance on the health law’s marketplaces. That decision can leave them facing a lifetime of enrollment penalties.

Now Medicare has temporarily changed its rules to offer a reprieve from penalties for people who kept Affordable Care Act policies after becoming eligible for Medicare.

“Many of these individuals did not receive the information necessary [when they became eligible for Medicare or when they initially enrolled] in coverage through the marketplace to make an informed decision regarding” Medicare enrollment, said a Medicare spokesman, explaining the policy change.

Those who qualify include people 65 and older who have a marketplace plan or had one they lost or canceled, as well as people who have qualified for Medicare due to a disability but chose to use marketplace plans.

They have until Sept. 30 to request a waiver of the usual penalty Medicare assesses when people delay signing up for Medicare’s Part B, which covers visits to the doctor and other outpatient care. Medicare beneficiaries who already pay the penalty because they had a marketplace plan can request that it be eliminated or reduced.

Medicare also imposes a waiting period for coverage on people who do not sign up when first eligible. If they meet the waiver requirements, they now can request that be lifted.

“This has been a problem from the beginning of the Affordable Care Act, because the government didn’t understand that people would not know when they needed to sign up for Medicare,” said Bonnie Burns, a consultant for California Health Advocates, a consumer group. “Once they had insurance, that relieved all the stress of not having coverage and then when they became eligible for Medicare, nobody

It took several hours for Grimes to told them to make that change.”

One of them is Lisa Grimes’ 49-year- find the right letters and other docuold sister, who receives Social Security ments needed to apply since her sister’s “filing system was a large shopping disability benefits because of mental bag,” Grimes said. With assistance illness. She became eligible for Medifrom the Medicare Rights Center, her care because she receives those dissister received Part B coverage withability benefits but had marketplace out a late fee or waiting period. It was coverage at that time.

For the past year, Grimes, a St. Louis retroactive, so she might be reimbursed for the medical bills she paid last fall real estate lawyer, has been trying to and winter unravel the when she had problems that no insurance ensued after coverage for her sister doctor visits. opted to keep People need her marketto sign up for place plan Part B usually and drop her within three Part B covermonths before age, probably or after turnbecause her ing 65 if they marketplace aren’t getting premium job-based at the time insurance, or cost half as when their much. Only job-based after that — Bonnie Burns, a consultant for health insur$50 monthly California Health Advocates, ance ends if premium they are older ballooned to than 65, ac$360 did they cording to Medicare rules. Most people learn that marketplace customers lose under 65 who receive Social Security their premium subsidies when they disability benefits qualify for Part B join Medicare. (Grimes agreed to be after 24 months of benefits. interviewed as long as her sister was Under the health law, people who not identified.) qualify for Medicare will lose subsiOther Medicare beneficiaries have dies in the online exchange plans. And made similar mistakes by assuming enrolling in one of those plans does not they didn’t need Part B if they had a marketplace plan, retiree coverage from protect them from a permanent late a former employer or coverage through enrollment penalty.

Marketplace insurers, who are often a current employer with fewer than the first to spot when a member is 20 workers or with the Department of Veterans Affairs. None of these is a sub- turning 65, are barred under the health law from canceling coverage because stitute for Medicare Part B. that member may qualify for Medicare, Grimes said her sister couldn’t Burns said. They are required, howafford the new marketplace premium ever, to cancel a Medicare-eligible memand had to drop her plan last year. ber’s subsidies.

The Social Security Administration Last summer, Medicare officials denied her appeal to reinstate her Part began sending emails each month to B coverage with no penalty or wait about 15,000 people with subsidized period. Then she learned about the coverage through the federally run new Medicare waiver from a Missouri counselor at the State Health Insurance marketplace. The notices target people approaching their 65th birthday and Assistance Program.

Once they had insurance, that relieved all the stress of not having coverage and then when they became eligible for Medicare, nobody told them to make that change.

tell them how “to avoid an unwanted overlap in Marketplace and Medicare coverage.” Officials also began contacting individuals who already have both Medicare and subsidized marketplace coverage, urging them to discontinue the latter.

Yet the warnings have missed some people with marketplace coverage, who could find themselves on the hook to cover their own medical bills if their private insurer indicates they should have been on Medicare and refuses to pay.

“These are very complex rules,” said Stacy Sanders, federal policy director at the Medicare Rights Center, a consumer advocacy group that spearheaded an effort in 2015 by nearly 50 unions, insurance companies and seniors’ advocacy organizations urging Medicare officials to address the problem. “The lack of good notification was leading people down a dangerous path in terms of declining or delaying Part B.” Those who enroll in Part B 12 months or later after becoming eligible can face a permanent penalty of 10 percent added to the Part B premium for each full 12-month period that a beneficiary could have had Part B, but didn’t enroll. This year, the Part B standard average monthly premium is $109.

Medicare began emailing letters in March about the temporary waiver to some people 65 and older who are enrolled in plans sold on the marketplaces run by the federal government. But the federal government is not reaching out to others who may be eligible.For information on how to apply for the waiver, officially called “time-limited equitable relief,” go to the Medicare Rights Center’s Medicare Interactive webpage or call the center’s helpline at 800-333-4114.

KHN’s coverage related to aging & improving care of older adults is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation and its coverage of aging and long-term care issues is supported

by The SCAN Foundation.

SuSan Jaffe is a writer for kaiser health news.

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The Stanley Clarke Band, Jazz guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli and The Royal Scam: A Tribute to Steely Dan

13th Annual

Give yourself freedom to hear!

Schedule a

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August 4-6, 2017

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Travel The government probably would be just as happy if you didn’t go to Turkey this year what with the terrorist attacks in Istanbul and other parts of that country.

The U.S. State Department says that U.S. citizens should “carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey at this time … due to the persistent threat of terrorism.” The British government has issued similar warnings.

Major cruise lines have canceled port visits in that country. As a result, travelers are being denied — at least for the present — an opportunity to see some of the world’s most historic sites.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the state of emergency which has been in effect in Turkey since last year’s unsuccessful coup will continue until the country achieved “welfare and peace.” The New York Times says the edict gives Erdogan “an almost untrammeled grip on power.”

When 2017 schedules were posted for the ports of Istanbul and Kusadasi, which serves Ephesus, most cruise lines listed stops at one or both for this summer and fall.

Things changed swiftly. The year began with a horrific terrorist attack on one of Istanbul’s most popular nightclubs. ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre killing at least 39 people and injuring dozens more. It was followed days later by a car bombing outside the main courthouse in Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city.

John Madden of TravelWorld said all major cruise lines have canceled Turkish visits for the 2017 season. Passengers instead are going ashore on the Greek islands, Rhodes, Montenegro or even Sarande, Albania.

Until the troubles began, Turkey, with more than 40 million annual visitors, ranked among the top 10 most visited countries in the world.

We were in Turkey in the fall of 2011 as part of a Good Times Eastern Mediterranean cruise. There were two shore excursions, one to Istanbul the other to Ephesus. Our group enjoyed both very much.

Turmoil is nothing new to Istanbul. It has been associated with major events in political history for 20 centuries including being sacked by Crusaders in 1204.

In recent years Sultanahmet Square,

Library Of Celsus, Ephesus Turkey.

in the heart of the Old Istanbul district, has been the site of two terrorist attacks. The latest — on Jan. 12, 2016 — claimed the lives of 13 and injured another 14, all foreign tourists. Those two events, plus a number of similar incidents, caused cruise lines to cancel Turkish visits half way through the 2016 season and, following the nightclub attack, for all of this year.

Sultanahmet Square is near some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including sixth-century Hagia Sophia, transformed into a mosque under the Ottomans; the famous multi-domed Blue Mosque; the lavish Topkapi Palace, imperial residence of the Ottoman sultans, and the Grand Bazzar, the world’s most visited tourist attraction.

We had about 10 hours in the city and had to maintain a frenzied pace to see them all. Then it was on to Ephesus on Turkey’s west coast, one of the largest open air museums in the world.

This ancient Greek city, the second largest in size and importance during the Roman period, also is no stranger to turmoil.

Probably the most noteworthy incident was the riot of the silversmiths in

the spring of 55 A.D. toward the end of the Apostle Paul’s lengthy visit. Luke, writing in the Acts of the Apostles, called it “no little disturbance.”

The silversmiths made miniature models of the Greek goddess Artemis and her nearby temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Paul, preaching in the local synagogue, persuaded many that “gods made with hands are not gods.”

A silversmith named Demetrius convinced a crowd of workmen that because of Paul’s teaching their livelihood was in danger and Ephesus became filled with confusion. The throng rushed into the city’s large theater, dragging with them two of Paul’s traveling companions. The haranguing continued for hours.

Paul wanted to address the crowd, but his disciples and city officials would not allow him to go. Finally, the city clerk restored order and advised the protestors to take the matter up in court if they had an accusation against Paul or the Christians.

The huge theater that was the scene of the silversmith riot is one of the major landmarks still standing. It is a

dramatic and impressive sight. Members of the Good Times group walked across the stage and many took the opportunity to sit in the stone seats.

Nearby is the restored façade of the Library of Celsus, one of the largest libraries of the ancient world. And just beyond is the Persecution Gate which leads to the grave of St. John Evangelist and the ruins of the basilica erected in his honor in the sixth century.

On a hilltop overlooking the city is another landmark with religious significance, the House of Mary. Many believe that after the crucifixion John took Mary to Ephesus to avoid the persecutions of Christians in Jerusalem and built the house in which she spent the remainder of her life.

There were other stops on the cruise including Rome, Athens and Crete but the ones in Turkey are those we remember most. Hopefully, the world situation will return to normal and the cruise ships will again to call at Istanbul and Ephesus.

By Ed and ElEanor rogErs for good TimEs for sEniors

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Good Times in Tennessee Good Times travelers are going to Tennessee in November for seven days of holiday fun and excitement.

The trip, with stops in Chattanooga and Nashville, has been arranged for the travel club by John Madden of TravelWorld.

Included are stays at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville and the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Inn, a performance of the Grand Ole Opry, a dinner cruise on the Cumberland River and much more.

The complete package, including transportation, hotel accommodations, all admissions, four dinners, a lunch and breakfast every day is priced at $1,479 per person based on double occupancy.

Single occupancy is available for $1,799.

All arrangements are being handled

by TravelWorld offices in Scranton and Kingston. Reservations, limited to 52 people, may be made at those locations.

Ed and Eleanor Rogers will host the trip.

The group will leave NEPA early on the morning of Nov. 12 in a Martz Trailways Wi-Fi-equipped bus and travel to Lexington, Virginia, where it will spend the night. The next morning it will be on to Chattanooga, one of the south’s upcoming tourist venues.

While there, the group will visit the Tennessee Aquarium, one of the nation’s finest, which features both fresh and saltwater species.

Following a welcome dinner, the

nashville, tennessee

group will spend the night at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Inn, once a main stop on the Southern Railway System.

The railroad and terminal were the inspiration for the World War II-era Glen Miller hit tune, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.”

The Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville will be all decked out in its traditional finery when the Good Times travelers check in for a three night stay.

More than two million lights will adorn the inside and outside of the resort, an outdoor Nativity display will feature special lighting effects and an audio rendition of the biblical story of the birth of Christ, and a parade of trees will include evergreens decorated by country artists and other celebrities.

Arrangements have been made for the group to take a scenic cruise

on a Mississippi-style river flatboat through the Opryland Resort’s Delta Atrium to view the spectacular Christmas decorations.

A performance of ICE at the Opryland Events Center also is included in the package. The show features the magic of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer carved into two million pounds of colorful ice sculptures.

Also while in Nashville, the Good Times group will have premium seats for a performance of the Grand Ole Opry, a dinner cruise on the General Jackson showboat and a dinner and show at Nashville Nightlife Theater regarded as “The Best Country Show” in Music City.

Visits to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the historic RCA Studio B which has given birth to thousands of

traced to the days when news dispatches were transmitted by telegraph.

Bev DeBarros of Scranton, who has been a faithful Good Times reader for When I wrote my “swan song” for the years, went to Wikipedia to decipher the May-June edition of Good Times and headline. The one she liked best was that a created a headline that said I was typing single “X” indicated the end of a sentence; “30” for the last time, I thought readers two of them, the end of a paragraph, and would know what I was talking about. I three meant the end of the story. The Rowas mistaken. man numeral equivalent of 30 is XXX. After 72 years in the newspaper busiAnother, and probably more plausible, ness, journalism and typographical terms explanation can be found in the Westcome naturally to me. When I started and ern Union “92 Code” of 1859, a series of pounded out stories on a manual typenumeric messages for sending text that writer, I put “-30-” at the end of the article is basically the same. When a telegrapher because that’s what everyone else on the pounded out the dots and dashes for the staff did. I didn’t know its origin, but I did numerals three and zero, he was indicatknow it meant “the end.” ing “no more — the end.”

There are many explanations about the The Western Union code was in use origin of “-30-.’ Most agree that it can be during the Civil War during which news

dispatches from the front were transmitted by telegraph and always ended with “30.” News correspondents of the era apparently thought this was a good idea and adopted it.

The tradition continued when teletypewriters replaced the telegraph for sending wire service stories to newspapers. Many of the teletype operators were retrained Morse code “brass pounders” and to them it was only natural to end each story with “-30-“.

According to the American Journalism Review the use of the symbol was once so prevalent that it made its way into Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, which says -30- is “a sign of completion.”

The tradition of using it to cap off a piece of copy dropped off considerably when the computer replaced the typewrit-

-30-

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hit songs in multiple genres of music will be another highlight of the Nashville itinerary.

In its heyday, Studio B saw the creation of numerous chartbusters, such as Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and Charley Pride’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning.”

The famed 1940 Steinway piano that was used by Elvis has not left the room since he recorded there. If they’re musically inclined, visitors are welcome to ease themselves on the bench and tickle the ivories.

Also on the Nashville agenda is lunch at the Wildhorse Saloon where line dancing and other fun things are always on the agenda; a visit to Andrew Jackson’s home, the Hermitage; a guided tour of Nashville and an additional dinner.

The homeward trip will include an overnight stop in Lexington Virginia, and arrival in the Scranton/WilkesBarre area on Saturday, Nov. 18.

Madden urged Good Times readers interested in joining the trip to make their reservations as soon as possible.

“This is going to be a sell-out,” he predicted.

Brochures containing the complete itinerary are available from TravelWorld by calling 570-342-5790 in Scranton or 570-288-9311 in Kingston. er in America’s newsrooms, the magazine article explained adding, “So it’s a term whose meaning is lost on many younger journalists.”

In its definition of 30, the dictionary added, “Extended metaphorically to the verb form to write 30, i.e. (that is), to conclude a career.

That’s just the way I used it in the headline on my column.

Maybe I should have added another Western Union code which sometimes found its way on teletype messages, “73” or “Best Regards.”

I would have meant it, too. ed e. rogers retired recently after a 72-year career in the newspaper business, the last 23 as editor of Good times for seniors.

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Fairs & Fests Lycoming County Fair July 12-22. Lycoming County Fairgrounds, Hughesville.

10th annual Waystock Festival July 28, 5 p.m. and July 29, noon to 7 p.m. Wayside Park, 111 Center St. Waymart. Event features music, artisans, food and more. WaymartPa.us.

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Tioga County Fair Aug. 7-12. Tioga County Fairgrounds, 2258 Charleston Road, Whitneyville. tiogacountyfair.com.

Carbon County Fair Aug. 7-12; 4-10 p.m. each day. Carbon County Fairgrounds, 3285 Little Gap Road, Palmerton. carboncountyfair.com.

Kielbasa Fest St. Joseph’s Center Summer Festival Aug. 11-12, downtown Plymouth.

July 28-30, at Marywood University Campus. The event features food, games Sample the best kielbasa northeastern and live entertainment. stjosephscenter. Pennsylvania has to offer at this annual event. In addition to plenty of kielbasa, org/events/summerfestival. vendors will offer plenty of festival fare, such as potato pancakes, pierogies, Arts on the Square funnel cakes and, for your sweet tooth, July 29, noon-8 p.m., Courthouse deep fried Oreos. plymouthalive.org.

Square, Scranton. Hosted by Lackawanna County and ScrantonMade, all are Pittston Tomato Festival invited to enjoy a day of art, more than Aug. 17-20, downtown Pittston. Cel100 vendors and music. Scrantonmade. ebrating Pittston’s famous tomatoes, com/arts-on-the-square this festival offers plenty of ethnic food, 13th Annual Scranton Jazz Festival live entertainment, a parade, 5K run, games, rides, arts and crafts and more.

Aug. 4-6, downtown Scranton. Aug. pittstontomatofestival.com.

4, starting at 5 p.m.; Aug. 5, starting at 5:30 p.m.; August 6, starting at 11:30 a.m.

Harford Fair scrantonjazzfestival.org or 570-575-5282 Aug. 21-26. Harford Fairgrounds, (Box Office).

Harford. Enjoy live entertainment, food, exhibits and more. Horse pull will be Wayne County Fair Saturday morning, Aug. 26. harfordfair.

Aug. 4-12, Wayne County Faircom or 570-434-4300. grounds, Honesdale. The event will feature games, rides, food, exhibits, La Festa Italiana farm animals, thrill shows and live Sept. 1-4. Visit Courthouse Square in entertainment. Fair grounds open at 9 Scranton to enjoy this celebration of a.m. waynecountyfair.com.

Italian culture and cuisine, featuring food vendors and displays and live entertainment. On Sunday, Sept. 3, a Mass in Italian will be offered at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Cathedral, and the day ends with a fireworks display on Courthouse (Thursday) Square at 10 p.m. lafestaitaliana.org.

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Luzerne County Fair Sept. 6-10. 3605 State Rt. 118, Dallas. One of Luzerne County’s premier agricultural events. Admission $10.

Thursday, Senior Night, $5 for seniors 62 and older, Sunday, Family Fun Day, children 12 and under are $6 admission and children 2 and under are free. For more information call 570-675-3247 or visit luzernecountyfair.com.

Summer Events The Gathering, July 14 through 16. Symposium features performances, lectures, discussions and workshops. Featured speakers include Mara Liasson, Jennifer Michael Hecht and author Steve McIntosh.

Evans Hall at Keystone College, 1 College Green, La Plume. $25-$495. 570-945-8510 or thegatheringatkeystone.org.

The Oldest House Grand Reopening, July 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., July 15, 9 a.m., July 16, 1 to 4 p.m. Enjoy tours and entertainment. Call for reservations. The Oldest House, 297 Main St., Laceyville. 570-869-1679.

Guided Downtown Walking Tours, July 15, July 29, Aug. 12, Aug. 26, Sept. 9. Tours focus on the architecture and history of some of the city’s beautiful commercial and residential buildings such as Courthouse Square, Lackawanna Avenue, the Gothic District and the lower portion of the Hill Section. Reservations are required the Thursday prior to the event. Downtown Scranton. Free. 570-344-3841 or lackawannahistory@ gmail.com.

55th annual Art and Antiques Show, July 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., July 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 40 dealers and artists display and sell their ware. Wayne Highlands High School, 459 Terrace St., Honesdale. $6/$5 with flyer.

Lost in Time Car Club’s Fifth Annual Classic Car Show, July 15, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. First 100 registered receive a dash plaque and a goody bag. All proceeds benefit Toys for Tots Foundation. There is also a toy drive. Pocono Palace Resort, 5241 Milford Road, East Stroudsburg. 800-972-7168 or covepoconoresorts. com/.

Civil War Museum and Library Open House, July 15, 12:30 to 3 p.m. Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum and Library, lower level, Scranton City Hall, 340 N. Washington Ave., Scranton. 570-606-1014.

18th annual Conservancy Auction, July 15, 6 to 10 p.m. Marko Marcinko’s Music for Models perform.

Cocktails, dinner and auction. Waverly Country Club, 903 North Abington Rd., Waverly. 570-586-1822.

46th Scranton Region Collector Car Show, July 16.

Features flea market, carl corral and craft fair. Gates open, 8 a.m. Dash plaques for the first 200 participants.

Abington Executive Park, Morgan Highway, South Abington Twp. $3 individual/$5 car load/free children 12 and younger. sraac.net.

Monday Night Meditation, Mondays, 8 p.m. No meditation experience required, and no one faith embraced. Chairs, blankets and bolsters available, but guests can take their own blankets or zafus. Half-hour, partially guided, partially silent mediation period is followed by open and supportive discussion. The Wonderstone Gallery, 100 N. Blakely St., Dunmore.

570-878-3870 or thewonderstonegallery.com.

Crochet Club, Tuesdays, 10 to 11:45 a.m. Bring your own supplies, including a crochet hook sized I, J or K and yarn. Pittston Memorial Library, 47 Broad St., Pittston. 570-654-9565 or pittstonlibrary.com.

Men and Women’s Coffee Club, Wednesdays, 10 to 11:45 a.m. Falls Senior Center, 2813 Sullivan’s Trail, Falls.

Nature Walk, July 19, 4 to 6 p.m. Hands-on activities highlight features at the farm. Josie Porter Farm, 6514 Cherry Valley Road, Stroudsburg. $6 non-members/ $4 EE Center. 570-629-3061 or mcconservation. org.

Lackawanna Heritage Valley Group Rides, July 19, 6 p.m., July 26, 6 p.m. Bring their own bicycles. All skill levels are welcome. Valley Community Library, 739

River St., Peckville. 570-963-6730 or LHVA.org.

Tour the Luzerne County Courthouse, July 19, 6 p.m. Tour the neoclassical courthouse and learn about what goes on inside. Walk led by Richard M. Hughes III, President Judge. Wilkes-Barre YMCA, 40 W. Northampton St., Wilkes-Barre. 570-823-2191.

Scrabble, Thursdays, 1 p.m. Join the group of Scrabble players. No registration necessary. Adults only. Abington Community Library, 1200 W. Grove St., Clarks Summit. 570-587-3440 or lclshome.org.

Cruise-In, July 21, 5 to 8 p.m. Enjoy the vehicles on display or bring your own. Entertainment by Blue Velvet Big Band. Proceeds benefit Hallstead Fire Co. United Methodist Community Church, 436 Main St., Great Bend. 570-879-2933.

Waverly Twp. Comm Square Fair, July 21, 6 to 8:30 p.m. Enjoy carnival games, picnic dinner, music by Doug Smith Band with Erin Malloy at the Comm back lawn. Waverly Community House, 1115 North Abington Road, Waverly Twp. 570-586-8191 or waverlycomm. org.

The 32nd Annual Audubon Wildlife Art & Craft Festival, July 22 through 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than 80 nature artists and craftsmen will be exhibiting and selling their work, much of it wildlife and nature oriented. Wallenpaupack Middle School, 139 Atlantic Ave., Hawley. $5 entrance fee. 570-226-4557.

Trolley to the Game: Baseball Excursion, July 23, Aug. 6, Aug. 20, Aug. 27. Trolley departs at 12:15 p.m. Game times are 1:05 p.m. Reservations required.

Electric City Trolley Museum, 300 Cliff St., Scranton. $20 (includes ride, game ticket and $2 voucher for concession stand) $11 (for ride). 570-963-6590.

Guided Downtown Walking Tour: St. Peter’s Cathedral, July 29, 11 a.m. Lackwanna Historical Society offers walking tours of downtown Scranton. Tours focus on the architecture and history of some of the city’s commercial and residential buildings. Reservations required by the Thursday before the event. St. Peter’s Cathedral, 315 Wyoming Ave., Scranton. Free.

570-344-3841 or lackawannahistory@gmail.com.

Fifth annual Arts on the Square, July 29, noon to 8 p.m. More than 100 vendors, live art experiences, music, food and family fun. Lackawanna County Courthouse Square, 200 N. Washington Ave., Scranton.

570-963-6800 or lackawannacounty.org.

The USA’s Total Solar Eclipse, July 31, 8:30 p.m., Aug. 2, 8:30 p.m. Astronomical programs features lecture and observation through the telescopes, weather permitting. Thomas G. Cupillari Observatory at Keystone College, Hack Road, Fleetville. Free. 570-9458000 or keystone.edu.

Wine in the Woods, Aug. 5, 3 to 8 p.m. Must be 21 or older. Light fare available for purchase. Live entertainment by Dashboard Mary. Elmhurst-Roaring Brook Volunteer Fire Department, Route 435, Elmhurst. $15 advance/$20 day of/$5 designated driver. 570-8428309.

Cars and Coffee, Aug. 6, 9 to 11 a.m., Sept. 10, 9 to 11 a.m. Event takes place on the Comm back lawn. No registration required. Waverly Community House, 1115 North Abington Road, Waverly Twp. 570-586-8191 or waverlycomm.org.

Civil War Roundtable meeting, Aug. 8, 7 p.m., Sept. 12, 7 p.m. Lackawanna Historical Society hosts a roundtable open to anyone interested in the Civil War era. Reservations required. Catlin House, 232 Monroe Ave., Scranton. $20 individual/$25 family for membership dues. 570-344-3841 or lackawannahistory.org.

Two world renowned artists, jazz icon Stanley Clarke (pictured above) and Jazz guitarists/vocalist John Pizzarreli will be the headline acts for the 13th Annual Jazz Festival scheduled for Aug. 4, 5 and 6, at the historic Radisson Hotel in downtown Scranton.

Clarke is known worldwide for his innovative work as a jazz player and for his film scores that include “Boyz in the Hood,” “Passenger 57”, as well as collaborative videos with Michael Jackson. He has played with Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones, Chick Corea, Jeff Beck and Jean-Luc Ponty. Tickets range from $10 to $40.

For tickets and more information visit ScrantonJazzFestival.org or call 570-575-5282.

AVP Air Show 2017, Aug. 12 through 13. Headliners are the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team and the Air Force F-22 Raptor Demo Team. Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton International Airport, Avoca. $20 adults/$15 children. NEPAirshow.com.

Second Lacawac Farm to Plate Dinner, Aug. 12, 6 p.m. Dinner features cocktails, dinner stations, live music and a silent auction. Historic Watres Lodge, 192 Sanctuary Road, Lake Ariel. $85.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Aug. 18, 6 to 9 p.m.

Tripp House, 1011 N. Main Ave., Scranton. $30/$35.

570-961-3317 or tripphouse.com.

Cocktails for The Courts, Aug. 18, 6 to 8 p.m. Farm to Table Themed Fundraiser. Waverly Community House, 1115 North Abington Road, Waverly Twp. 570586-8191 or waverlycomm.org.

Steamtown National Historic Site Entrance FeeFree Days, Aug. 25. The railroad museum waives its daily entrance fees on select holidays throughout the year. Steamtown National Historic Site, 350 Cliff St., Scranton. 570-340-5200 or nps.gov/stea.

Farm to Fork, Aug. 26, 6 p.m. Proceeds benefit United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA’s Community Health Department. Spring Hills Farm, Route 524, Dalton. $100 per person. 570-346-0759 or uncnepa. org/events.

Fourth annual Children’s Charity Car Show, Aug. 27, 9 a.m. Proceeds benefits Children’s Advocacy Center. Nay Aug Park, 500 Arthur Ave., Scranton. $5 per show car. 570-906-4573 or scrantonpa.gov/nayaug_park.

Under the Tuscan Sun Gala, Sept. 8, 6 to 11 p.m.

The 13th annual Osterhout gala celebrates the wellknown Frances Mayes book and Diane Lane film, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” Entertainment, food and drinks will invoke the mood and tastes of the Tuscany region of Italy. Music provided by the Deja Groove Party Band.

Westmoreland Club, 59 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. $150 per person. 570-822-6141.

All Nationals Benefit Pow Wow, Sept. 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sept. 10, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Share in Native American culture and traditions with the community and surrounding areas. Grand entry: noon. The Belize Fund, 163 Melrose Road, Susquehanna. $7 Ages 12 and older/$5 seniors and veterans/free active military, children and dancers in regalia. 570-727-3614.

The Triumph of the Human Spirit, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.

Auschwitz survivor and Candles Holocaust Museum founder Eva Kor lectures about her experience. Lemmond Theater at Misericordia University, 301 Lake St., Dallas. 570-674-6400 or misericordia.edu.

Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market, through Nov. 16, Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The weekly farmers market returns to Public Square. Public Square, Main and Market streets, Wilkes-Barre. 570-208-4240 or wilkes-barre.pa.us.

Co-Op Farmer’s Market, through Nov. 22, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. Farmer’s Market, 900 Barring Ave., Scranton. 570-961-8251 or info@ coopfarmersmarket.com.

More summer events at calendar570.com.

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