Good Times for Seniors -- 09-19

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

FALL EDITION

Leaf peeping guide The best fall foliage views in northeast Pennsylvania

Love of trees

Meet Tony Santoli, Scranton city forester

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Active at 97

Meet Jack Gannon, local WWII veteran

A friendly face

Kelsey Pazanski Wargo takes a special approach to senior care management

contents

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In thIs edItIon: FeatureS

coluMnS

WWii veteran still active at 97 ............. 4

today’s grandparent ............................ 2

Forester shares love of trees ............... 8

Washington Watch ................................ 13

Care manager shares passion .............. 12

scams ..................................................... 13

Cosmo iacavazzi: a local legend ......... 17

green space ........................................... 17

all aBout leaF peeping

travel

Photographing fall foliage ................... 3

Lancaster trip ........................................ 16

nEPa leaf peeping guide ..................... 5 tips for leaf peepers ............................. 6

new hotline for grandparents.............. 14

a tiMEs-shaMroCK PuBLiCation

Managing editor Elizabeth Baumeister x3492

advertiSing SaleS Manager alice Manley x9285

contriButing WriterS: david deCosmo, Jack smiles, Bob gelik, Julie Jeffery Manwarren,

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Cheryl M. Keyser, Ed E. rogers, Edgar Kearney and duane Campbell 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.

Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement.

GOOD T IMES FOR SENIORS

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TODAY’S GRANDPARENT

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coMMunity

Good tIMes FoR senIoRs

149 penn avenue Scranton, pa 18503 EditoriaL | 570-348-9185 advErtising | 570-348-9100

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Fall 2019

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The gallery With six grandkids ranging in age from 4-21, the front of our Frigidaire is completely covered I took some time to visit the “Art Gallery” the by photos attached by magnets from practically other day, and I strongly recommend all grandpar- every vacation spot and tourist attraction we’ve ents do the same. ever visited.

I suspect you’ll find yours in the same place I’m guessing some of you have a similar ours is located. It’s on the refrigerator. display.

It’s amazing how we begin our collections But though it’s right in front of our eyes we with just a few simple photographs. Perhaps don’t often take a few moments to scan those a picture from the hospital when the first born precious memories. It’s a treasure we shouldn’t grandchild comes along. ignore.

Before you know it, the collection grows to So the next time you’re about to grab the milk, include vacation photos, preschool events and stop and enjoy the art gallery. graduations, the grand kids in sports uniforms, Hope all your news is good. birthday celebrations, yearbook photos, prom and David DeCosmo is a retired TV news reporter. high school graduations.

He and his wife escort tours for Travelworld.

by David DeCosmo

Three tips for taking stunning fall photos

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Autumn, according to many photogra- leaf or pinecone can be just as striking. phy enthusiasts, is the most photogenic Consider composition. Think season. Here are three tips for capturing about the different components the colors and textures of fall during in your photographs and how your leaf peeping adventures, whether they look together. Don’t be afraid to you’re using high-end equipment or the set up what’s in the frame before snapcamera on your smartphone. ping your photos. Add some bright-colUse indirect light. Avoid bright ored leaves or remove a piece of litter sunny days and try to shoot to ensure the shot is just right. either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Don’t be afraid to In fall, there are picture-perfect take photos on rainy days; rain makes moments everywhere you turn. A colors pop in a way that the sun can’t. pumpkin patch, a local football field and your Take close-up shots. You might own backyard can be captivated by the vistas all be great places to around you but look at what’s take autumn-inspired close at hand too. The image of a single photos.

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Local WWII veteran still active at 97

by Jack SmileS

W

hen the Army nurses and surgeons left the mobile surgical tent 30 miles from the front in France for a break, they asked Jack Gannon to stay with the patient, an injured soldier.

Gannon, now 97, recalls the soldier asked him to scratch his right big toe.

“How the hell do you tell a guy he doesn’t have a toe, or leg?” Gannon said.

Today Gannon is 97. He lives in Moosic. Alone. He drives, he shops, he cooks, he cleans house. Last month he flew to California to visit his daughter Bernadette.

“I do everything for myself,” the 97-year-old World War II veteran said.

He has a sharp memory, too, as the detail of his story of the amputee suggests.

Gannon almost didn’t make it to one, never mind 97 years. He was a preemie baby, only 2 3/4 pounds. He grew up in the Patch section of Exeter. His father served in the Marines and in the Army with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

His mother and father worked in a hospital in the kitchen and maintenance.

Gannon made through eighth grade, at which point he quit to pedal vegetables in Pittston.

He was working in New Jersey when he was drafted into the Army in December of 1942. He requested to be drafted from Pittston hoping to go in with someone he knew, but it didn’t work.

“I was a loner,” he said.

Intake was at the Carlisle barracks.

From there, he went to Camp Pickett, Virginia, a medical training center with 600 men from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Some of the men were trained as operating room techs, X-ray, blood delivery and other medical assist jobs.

“But,” Gannon said, “you didn’t know what you were going to do until you got over there.”

For Gannon, “over there” was France with the Third Auxiliary Medical Group, by way of a year in England from June ’43 to June ’44, where he worked as a dining room orderly in a hospital and in a motor pool. He landed in France on June 24,

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Jack Gannon, 97, points out a photo in the 1944, three weeks after D-Day. There were still pockets of German resistance around.

“You got the hell scared out of you the first time you heard artillery,” he said.

The Third Auxiliary was a mobile surgical unit comprised of black out tents, prep tents and surgical tents which usually followed 20-30 miles behind the fighting front, but at the Battle of Saint Lo, Gannon said, they were close enough to hear small arms fire.

“Our outfit moved field tent operating rooms, three or four of them, with two surgeons and an anesthesiologist. We never knew how long we’d stay in one place. Could be as little as a week when the fighting was fierce.”

Gannon proved to be handy and versatile. He rebuilt and maintained generators providing power to the surgical tents. He saw a lot of horrors, amputations and death, especially after the Malmedy Massacre, where

GOOD T IMES FOR SENIORS

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There were light moments, too.

Gannon laughed, recalling the time the Third Auxiliary took over an apartment building and a winery near Bonn, Germany. Some of the men filled a 250-gallon water tank with wine, but were found out by officers who drained the tanks. But a lot of bottled wine got to the men.

“In-between seats of the trucks were two bottles of wine,” Gannon said.

After the war, Gannon went to a house in Scranton looking for the girlfriend of an Army buddy. He met a girl there, Helen, who was cleaning the house.

Helen told the girlfriend, “I wouldn’t date him if he was the last man on earth.”

She changed her mind and they married in 1948. They moved to New Jersey where he got a job with Federal Telephone, later AT&T, and he and Helen raised three kids. Helen died in 2000. In 2001, Gannon moved back to the area and bought a family home in Moosic.

A couple years ago, his daughter, Bernadette, was visiting him in Moosic from California. When he told her the story of one of the nurses he drove to book, 'Front line Surgeons.'

Paris, she searched the nurse’s name on Google and learned the commander Germans machine-gunned American of the Third Auxiliary, Major Clifford POWS during the Battle of the Bulge.

Graves, had written a book, “Front He also got a couple cushy assignments, Line Surgeons” published in 1950. shuttling officers as command car The only copy they could find was in a driver and driving seven nurses to a library in Los Angeles, available only hospital in Paris. for reference. Bernadette had a friend His favorite surgeon was Dr. Walter at the library, who agreed to photocopy King, an orthopedic from Peoria. the book. From the original copy, Ber“I went with him into an iso tent to nadette made two more and had them talk to soldier. Dr. King said, ‘If I have bound, giving once each to Gannon and to take your hand off, I ask you not to his sons, Andrew who lives in Sacracry. Or we can gamble and try to save mento, and John, Boca Raton Florida. the hand and risk infection.’”

Gannon found two men he served They took the gamble, and Dr. King with mentioned in the book — Gabe saved the soldier’s hand.

Feini in the Reading area and Dewey Gannon broke his leg in an accident Fee in Kentucky — tracked them down on April 12, 1945, the day FDR died and lent them copies. and the day after the American troops “They were thrilled to get the book,” liberated Buchenwald concentration Gannon said. Fee finished reading the camp. The Americans set up a book just before he died. makeshift hospital at Buchenwald, As to being 97, independent and and doctors sent Gannon there. What active, Gannon attributes it to a refusal he saw took his mind off the pain of to give in. his leg.

“I got it stuck in mind I’m not going “I saw bones piled, bodies piled. I to give up. My grandfathers lived to 89 saw where they slept on shelves with and 98, and they stayed active. That’s one blanket.” what I’m doing.”

Northeast Pennsylvania leaf peeping guide STAFF REPORT

L

eaf peeping – traveling to view and/or photograph fall foliage in areas where the seasonal landscape is especially vibrant – is a popular autumn activity for all ages, especially active older adults. A leaf peeping adventure can come in the form of a Sunday afternoon drive or a week-long tour with stops in a different town each night. Or, it can be as simple as a day at the local pumpkin patch, apple orchard, golf course or amusement park.

Below is a list of just some of northeast Pennsylvania’s rich leaf peeping opportunities.

Mountain resorts

■ Big Pocono State Park (Monroe County) ■ Frances Slocum State Park (Luzerne County) ■ Gouldsboro State Park (Monroe and Wayne counties) ■ Hickory Run State Park (Carbon County) ■ Lackawanna State Park (Lackawanna County) ■ Lehigh Gorge State Park (Luzerne County) ■ Locust Lake State Park (Schuylkill County) ■ Mount Pisgah State Park (Bradford County) ■ Nescopeck State Park (Luzerne County)

Mountain and ski resorts can provide excellent panoramic views of the fall foliage. Although many are closed for the season , some host special public events during autumn.

Here are two examples: ■ Elk Mountain in Union Dale of fers an annual f all festival the second week of October. See elkskier. com for details.

■ Promised Land State Park (Pike County)

■ Montage Mountain offers several fall events, one of which is the Fall Wine Festival scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28. For more information, visit montagemountainresorts.com/ winefest.

■ Swatara State Park (Schuylkill County)

NEPA state parks One area in which northeast Pennsylvania does not lack is its selection of state parks, which often feature the most scenic landscapes an area has to offer. Northeast Pennsylvania state parks include: ■ Archbald Pothole State Park (Lackawanna County) ■ Beltzville State Park (Carbon County)

■ Prompton State Park (Wayne County) ■ Ricketts Glen State Park (Luzerne, Sullivan and Columbia counties) ■ Salt Springs State Park (Susquehanna County)

■ Tobyhanna State Park (Monroe and Wayne counties) ■ Tuscarora State Park (Schuylkill County) ■ Varden Conservation Area (Wayne County) ■ Worlds End State Park (Sullivan County)

Scenic drives in the Poconos Just about anywhere you travel in northeast Pennsylvania, there’s bound to be some beautiful scenery outside your car window. But the Pocono Mountains are especially

beautiful this time of year.

The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau provides a wealth of scenic drive suggestions on its website: ■ Route 611 from Portland to Delaware Water Gap

■ Route 715 to “Sullivan’s Trail” from Tannersville to Pocono Pines

■ Route 390 from Mountainhome to Canadensis to Skytop to Promised Land to Tafton ■ Route 209 from Bushkill to Dingmans Ferry to Milford to Port Jervis ■ Route 209 from Kresgeville to the Beltzville Dam and Reservoir ■ Route 84 from Milford to Greentown to Mt. Cobb to 380

■ Route 191 from Bangor to Stroudsburg to Analomink to Paradise Valley to Cresco to Mountainhome to Newfoundland to Hamlin to Honesdale to Rileyville to Lookout.

■ Route 903 from Fern Ridge to Jim Thorpe ■ Route 534 East through Hickory Run State Park to Beltzville ■ Route 447 from Analomink to Canadensis to Newfoundland Ple ase se e Guide, Page 10

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Millions of people each year look forward to the magnificent colors on display in autumn. Fall offers irreplaceable views, whether you’re atop a mountain ridge or thick in the folds of a forest. In addition, the crackle of leaves underfoot and the earthy smell of the soil tempts the senses even more.

Some advance planning can help make fall foliage trips that much more enjoyable and awe-inspiring.

Peak viewing times Areas of the northern-most latitude will start to show color earlier than more southern areas. Generally speaking, the leaf-viewing season begins in late September and runs through early November for much of North America.

Peak times for viewing depend on areas of travel and time of year. For large swaths of Canada and the United States, plan trips for late-September to mid-October. The Weather Channel offers maps and charts at weather.com/ maps/fall-foliage for the peak times for many areas of the U.S.

Pick your destination Anywhere with deciduous trees provides the opportunity to witness blazing autumn color. During leaf-peeping season, travelers can go coast to coast

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and see awesome vistas. Some regions are particularly known for their leaf displays. New York’s Catskill and Adirondack regions are prime spots for visitors in the autumn. Those who live further north will find that leaves in Vermont are such an attraction that routes are published indicating where to enjoy the best views. Further south, Central and Eastern Virginia peak in late October. And don’t forget the shores of the Great Lakes, which are awash in reds, oranges and yellows by mid-September. The travel resource Frommer’s offers more leaf-peeping locales to visit.

Pack the right gear While most people are not without a smartphone that can capture amazing high-resolution imagery, serious leaf photographers may want to take out their prized camera equipment for leafpeeping excursions. Also bring along a map or a GPS-enabled device so you can explore back roads and areas off the beaten path more readily.

There are plenty of apps that can help with foliage-finding adventures, so a phone is a handy tool. When packing, also bring along hiking boots, comfortable layered clothing and any equipment you’d normally take for an afternoon in the great outdoors.

Another idea is to hit the ATM machine prior to the visit. Many smaller towns and their local shops may not take credit cards, so it’s best to have cash on hand for food and souvenirs.

Extend the day Make leaf-peeping part of a larger series of events for the day. Scope out vineyards where you can sample local wines or plan trips around orchards, where you can come home with beautiful photos as well as fresh-picked apples and pumpkins. You may find a county fair or street festival while exploring.

Financial Planning for The Sandwich Generation

BY CHRISTOPHER SCALESE There is a growing trend facing those at and near retirement today that may result in significant emotional and financial strain that very few discuss and even fewer are prepared for: More than 40 million Americans are serving as the primary caregiver for their aging parents.1 A study by MetLife Research found family caregivers spend an average of $12,000 a year of their own money tending to parents.2 And these number is only expected to increase as the baby boomer generation gets older.

Added to which, you may still be caring for your own children, whether they are minors, or adults who have moved back in with you—perhaps with their families as well! Last year, 15% of 25- to 37-year-olds lived with their parents. That’s 6% more than Generation X members who lived at home at that age and almost twice that of baby boomers.3 Having your time, attention and finances being pulled between both the generation above and below you all while trying to plan for your own retirement has coined the nickname The Sandwich Generation.

So, how can you care for your loved ones while also tending to your own needs and

financial obligations? Consider the following tips to develop a proactive plan: • G e t i n v o l v ed – If your parents are still in good health, take the time to learn about their finances and understand their wishes for things like caregiver preferences should one or both become incapacitated. If they resist help, ask them to tell you about their accounts to help you develop ideas for your own retirement financial plan. Depending on the family dynamic and volume of assets, at a minimum ensure they have a credible and trusted advisor who can help explain and manage their financial affairs as needed and see if they will make an introduction so you can establish a working relationship.

Encourage meeting with an estate planning attorney to set up financial and medical power of attorney documents and other legal essentials to streamline their estate management.

• R e v i e w c o v e r a g e – Find out if your parents have long-term care insurance or other policies that may help offset the costs of eldercare. If they own annuities and life insurance, these may have living benefits triggered by medical conditions that could help pay for care, whether at home or in a facility. If your parents do not have many assets or as they become depleted, resources

may be available through Medicaid. If one or more generations become financially dependent upon you in the future, you should consider reviewing your own life insurance coverage. Even if you do not have earned income, consider the costs of hiring help that would be needed in your absence.

• B e s t r a t e g i c – Speak with your own advisor to develop a financial plan that accounts for the various obligations and expectations you will have for your savings.

This should include tax planning to help you answer questions such as where to withdraw funds from to avoid tax penalties and how to set aside savings in a tax-advantageous manner—whether through 529 collegesavings plans, retirement accounts or other options for you or your loved ones. Keep in mind you may also be able to claim dependent(s) on your taxes if you are paying for more than half of their daily expenses.

• S e t c l e a r li m i ts a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s Be honest about the help you can and cannot afford to give—physically, mentally and financially. Taking care of yourself is not selfish; it is essential. If you don’t take care of your own wellbeing, you will ultimately jeopardize your ability to care for your loved ones. For the healthiest family dynamic, define your boundaries and goals, and

discuss them with your loved ones.

There is no denying the pressures of being a family caregiver may take a high emotional and financial toll on The Sandwich Generation. As with all aspects of finance, the sooner you can start the conversation and start planning, the more the benefits can compound over time. By being prepared for juggling these multiple responsibilities, you will be better equipped both mentally and financially to find the joy in being surrounded by your family.

1. Administration on Aging, Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Human Services. April 2018. “2018 Profile of Older Americans.” P.3 https://acl.gov/sites/default/ files/Aging%20and%20Disability%20in%20 America/2018OlderAmericansProfile.pdf. Accessed June 21, 2019.

2. Fidelity Investments. March 26, 2019.

“How to take care of aging parents and yourself.” https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/personal-finance/ caring-for-aging-parents. Accessed May 20, 2019.

3. Caitie Burkes. Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. May 9, 2019. “Supporting both children and parents the sandwich generation keeps working.” https://www.businessreport.com/business/sandwichgeneration-retirement-baton-rouge.

Accessed May 20, 2019.

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FAll FoliAGe oUTlook: ViBRANT Pennsylvania hardwood deciduous forests are known for their vibrant splashes of red, orange and yellow leaves during autumn. scranton city forester, and retired Pennsylvania district forester, Tony santoli believes this year’s foliage will be outstanding across the region. He attributes it to the amount of rain. “last year’s fall foliage wasn’t very good because of the excessive rain that we had. ... i think 15 inches in August alone,” santoli said.

“This year, it’s going to be beautiful because we have had enough rain. ... We are in excess, but not like last year. i think this is going to be a very beautiful fall season, one of the best, because the rain this spring caused more leaves to develop in the forest and with more leaves, you’re going to get a wider range of colors.” santoli mixed science with some folklore imagery to explain how the leaves change color and why we have colorful foliage displays.

“What happens is that mother nature has a time clock. Along about late August, as you know, the sunlight diminishes late in the evening, and that’s the time clock mother nature uses to start building a layer of corky-like cells at the base of every leaf, cutting off the water to the leaf. it’s an automatic thing. it says it’s time to put her leaves to sleep. And that corky layer of cells cuts off the water and as the leaves progress, the leaves take color; they exhibit their colors. (The colors are in the leaves throughout the spring-summer but are overshadowed by the green chlorophyll. Without water and as photosynthesis shuts down, the other colors emerge.) it’s just a process that will always go on.” regarding the role of lower temperatures, he said, “Jack Frost might help it a little bit, okay?

But the main thing is less daylight hours tells mother nature it’s time to shut off the water to the leaves, and in the following weeks, they change colors. And this year, i think, is going to be a vibrant year.”

The peak in this area, he added, usually falls near oct. 12, but can vary by three or four days either before or after that date.

—BoB Gelik

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For the love of trees

By BoB Gelik

GOOD T IMES FOR SENIORS

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T

ony Santoli is one of those lucky souls who worked—and still works—at what he loves. In his case, it’s a love of trees.

After retiring as district forester for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry in 2001, he was appointed Scranton city forester in 2002 by then-Mayor Christopher Doherty. He still can be found, when he’s not in the field, at his desk at the city Department of Public Works headquarters on West Poplar Street.

Santoli started down his career path as a kid growing up in the city’s Hill Section.

“I used to take walks at Nay Aug Park as a kid, and Lake Scranton, and I just fell in love with the forest. I just felt attracted to the forest.

I wanted to pursue a forestry degree,” he said.

“I read all the books in my school’s library that (Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford) Pinchot wrote on forestry and I just became more and more invigorated toward taking forestry. So that was my choice, my goal in life, to be a forester.

“I love the outdoors, fishing, hunting – all that sort of thing – but mostly managing trees and protecting trees is what I wanted to do.

“Pinchot (the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, 1905-10) was the man. I really looked to him as my idol back then, when I was in high school. And I also looked at (former district forester) Manny Gordon as my idol, too. I used to see stories about him in the paper.

Everything just seemed to fall into place. I just wanted to be a forester; nothing else, but a forester.”

After graduating from Penn State University in 1961 with a degree in forestry, he served two years as an intelligence analyst with the Army.

He worked with the U.S. Forest Service in Maine for two years and in 1964 was employed by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry.

He was recognized for his hard work and dedication, receiving several awards including Forester of the Year in 1968 from the Society of American Foresters which covers five MidAtlantic states. In 1999, he received the Thomas P. Shelburne Environmental Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

“I was made district forester in 1983. I retired in 2001. It was a very exciting career.

I loved every moment of it. But I decided to exit stage left. And then I came to see Mayor Doherty, (to see) if he needed a forester for Scranton because I wanted something to do as a forester. He said yes, so here I am 17 years later.”

In his role as city forester, Santoli’s primary goal is public safety as it relates to trees. Not

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BoB Gelik / For Good Times For seniors

Tony Santoli checks leaves of an october glory maple outside the DPW building on West Poplar Street. He selected it and several other varieties of trees as part of a beautification effort as well as lending some shade to the building. only is the city responsible for the trees in its parks, it also is responsible for those in tree lawns, the small grassy spaces between the curbs and sidewalks. “That’s a lot of trees, thousands and thousands of trees,” Santoli said.

Fulfilling his goal has been a balancing act between removing dead and dying trees and branches and planting new trees. So far, 2,700 trees have been removed and 2,300 have been replaced.

“We have to maintain public safety by looking for trees that have to come down and limbs and branches that are dead and dying or dangerous,” he said. “We must remove them and plant as many as possible as the budget permits.

“I’ve had great cooperation with all Ple ase se e T rees, Page 9

FROM PAGE 8

administrations, and city council.

We work hand-in-hand.

“Dennis Gallagher, director of public works, has given marvelous support to my program. … He understands the value of trees and how important it is to make them safe,” Santoli said.

While public safety is his top concern, the benefits of having trees in the urban landscape do not escape the man who fell in love with them in his youth. Aesthetically, they beautify, naturalize and soften the harsh feel of buildings. They act as filters and recyclers of oxygen and carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. And they provide shade that helps cool buildings and provide cooler areas in parks in the heat of summer.

Throughout his career, Santoli was a member of and held leadership positions in professional environmental and conservationrelated organizations.

He also served as chairman or in a leadership role of local groups including Lackawanna County Rural Development Committee, Pride, the annual Flaming Foliage Tour and its Queen Contest, Lackawanna Trashball anti-litter campaign, NEPA Environmental Council, People Against Litter, Landowners Seminars for Pocono Northeast RC&D Project, Natural Resources Subcommittee of Economic Development Council of NEPA and Pocono Northeast Conservancy. He continues to serve as chairman of the five-member Scranton Shade Tree Commission, along with former Mayor David Wenzel, Tom McLane, Anne McNally and Joseph Riccardo Jr. While he’s made a huge reduction in the number of dead or dying trees, Santoli points out, “I still have about maybe 250 trees to come down, and then we’ll be safer tree-wise.

And I’ve got about 600 that have to be trimmed of their dead branches and dangerous branches. We’re working on that. … We’ll soon have Scranton in top-notch shape, tree-wise.

That’s my obligation. That’s my commitment, to keep Scranton safe.

And to beautify public buildings, like this place here (DPW quarters).”

He supervised the planting of 50 arborvitae along a cyclone fence and a mix of trees—Japanese Tree Lilac, sweet gum, pin oak, red oak

BoB Gelik / For Good Times For seniors

Scranton city forester Tony Santoli sits at his desk at the city Department of Public Works on one of the rare occasions he is not out checking the safety and health of trees in the city. and October Glory maple—along the sides of the large complex.

Over the 20th century and into the 21st century, Pennsylvania’s forests and woodland have been threatened and attacked by insects and diseases such as Dutch elm, chestnut blight, hemlock woolly adelgid and gypsy moths. The biggest current threat, in Santoli’s view, is the emerald ash borer, for which there is no efficient, easily and inexpensively dispensed control to cover a wide swath of ash trees. The insect is in the area and has killed ash trees in the city and surrounding communities. The good news might be that it only attacks ash trees, at least so far, he said.

As time, budgets and manpower allow, Santoli will continue replacing trees that are a danger to the public with those from his preferred list: Japanese tree lilac; sweet gum, eastern redbud, October glory maple and red oak. “They will do well here. They don’t get

to be monstrous, like silver maple.

They’re relatively free from insects and disease, and they don’t lift up the sidewalks” like silver maple, Santoli said.

“Trees give out oxygen, shade; they cool buildings,” Santoli said.

MEET TONY SANTOLI Residence: scranton native Family: He and the former Arlene Zera have been married for 50 years. They met in the elevator of a building at 316 n. Washington Ave., where the Bureau of Forestry had an office and she worked for reddington Church Furniture as a secretary. He struck up a conversation, asked her for a date, the relationship blossomed and they married. They have two daughters,

“Trees are very important to us. ...

Trees are amazing, that’s why I love them so much. ... You might say I’m addicted to trees. ... I just love trees.

I love to make them safe.”

Bob Gelik is a retired Times-Tribune copy editor.

laurie santoli of dickson City; and michelle Horvath, and two grandchildren, Anthony and Juliana, all in Florida.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in forestry from Penn state University Military: intelligence analyst for the Army for two years.

Employment: retired from Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry as district Forester, 2001; scranton city forester since 2002

—BoB Gelik

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9

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For Adults age 65 and older Offered every day, seven days a week from 4 – 6 pm.

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FROM PAGE 5

■ Route 115 from Brodheadsville to Blakeslee to Bear Creek

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■ Maiolatesi Wine Cellars (Scott Township) ■ Nimble Hill Vineyard & Winery (Wyoming) ■ Pickering Winery (Wysox) ■ Staggering Unicorn Winery (Athens) ■ Winterland Winery (Sullivan) For more information about the Endless Mountains and its wineries and breweries, visit endlessmountains.org/ directories/wineries-breweries.

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11

The friendly face of senior care

by Julie Jeffery Manwarren

nursing home as a department head and later worked on staff at n the United States, about an elder care law office as geriatric 10,000 baby boomers are care manager and marketing turning 65 every day, representative. according to the U.S. Census In 2016 Wargo opened KPW Care Bureau. Navigating care for a loved Management and went back to one or yourself as you age can be school to earn a degree in nursing. overwhelming.

Wargo shared that she provides Kelsey Pazanski Wargo learned options for senior care and offers this firsthand when she became a a holistic and practical approach caregiver for her grandparents. to wellness. She seeks to promote “I was very close to my aging positively by helping seniors grandparents, and we lived a maintain their independence as mile away from their home. My long as possible. grandmother started showing A decline can happen very changes in her functioning and quickly and cause a lot of stress for personality in her 60s. Dementia those who need care and for family wasn’t talked about as much as it members who may be tasked with is now. We told ourselves that ‘this making decisions. is part of aging’ and now we know “I get a call a lot of times when that isn’t true. Back then we didn’t there is a crisis,” Wargo said. “If think anything of it, but the disease there is a fall, a diagnosis or a is progressive, and she became spouse passes away and the kids find worse,” Wargo said. out that the surviving parent has When Wargo’s grandfather been doing poorly, there is a sudden was diagnosed with cancer, the and urgent need to organize care.” family realized how much he had Wargo suggests that families be been managing for his wife. She pro-active and have the necessary had declined cognitively, and both legal forms in place, finances and grandparents needed help. discussions about future care of Wargo was in her early 20s when senior loved ones early on. Wargo she moved in to care for them. serves as an advocate for her clients She dropped out of college to and offers free consultations. became a hands-on “I can explain caregiver; bathing, “I am the luckiest to options, provide dressing, cooking be able to sit here and recommendations and cleaning. and give clients a Wargo’s mom and tell you that I know road map, explaining aunt helped with the resources are what I’m supposed to what care of their parents, available,” she said. but soon it became do with my life. This is “It takes some work more than the to get everything in my passion and I love place. three of them could Sometimes handle. families decide to do what I do.”

After Wargo’s that on their own, Kelsey Pazanski Wargo grandfather and sometimes they KPW Care Management passed away, her say ‘I just really grandmother needed need the guidance more care. The family eventually of a professional, someone who has found a nursing facility to give walked this path, someone who will the care that was needed, but the get to know my parents and who my experience left an impression on parents can trust.’”

Insurance and Medicare do not Wargo of the need for help for cover KPW Care Management families who manage their loved services. Wargo said sometimes one’s care. seniors themselves reach out for her Wargo earned a certificate in services and pay for it themselves to geriatric care from Misericordia give them peace of mind.

University. She worked in a

I

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SubMitted Photo

Kelsey Pazanski wargo offers free consultations about her company, KPw Care Management which provides coordination of care for seniors.

“I suggest that seniors be proactive and make decisions about their future care while they still can,” Wargo said. “They want and deserve an advocate to stand in their corner. I’m here to make sure they get what they want and need as they age. It’s best to have a plan before it is needed. Make decisions early and make decisions while you still can.”

Wargo is usually hired by the adult children or Power of Attorney for her clients. She coordinates care and checks in on her clients to make sure their needs are met. With their permission, she can even keep the family updated on how their loved one is doing. This is beneficial to adult children who might live out of the area and are dealing with the added stress of distance from their parent.

“Things happen really quickly,” Wargo said. “People fall or get sick.

It can be sudden. No matter how much we think we are prepared for it, we never are.”

She suggests putting a plan in

place before that happens.

Wargo says she can relate to much of what her clients are going through. The knowledge gained from her life experience and work history has benefited her clients.

“I know how the process works and can hold my clients’ hands through what can be a very overwhelming process.”

Wargo runs KPW Care Management and works as a nurse for Geisinger. She currently resides in Eynon with her husband, John and their two rescue dogs, Blu and Mila.

“My grandpa passed away at 86 and was still saying ‘I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,’” Wargo said. “I am the luckiest to be able to sit here and tell you that I know what I’m supposed to do with my life. This is my passion and I love what I do.”

To learn more about KPW Care Management and the services it provides, visit kpwcaremanagement.com.

Washington Watch

BY CHERYL M. KEYSER

LEARNING ABOUT ALZHEIMER’S A new survey shows that a “vast majority” of people want to know about Alzheimer’s, especially if they are, or think they are, at risk for developing the disease. And, they are “eager” to participate in clinical trials and any other opportunities for early detection.

The survey was sponsored by the Alliance for Aging Research, one of many organizations trying to determine the cause and/or cure for this horrible illness.

Although it is commonly thought that those who are afflicted with this disease do not realize it has happened, even in the very early stages this is not necessarily true. One man, who was very verbal, discovered that he had some problems in remembering things that usually came naturally to him. He was tested and found he had the disease. He would become easily irritated and annoyed at even small things – not his usual state. Part of this was due to the illness, but also because he was still able to realize what was happening to him. He is not in a number of programs, such as adult day care, where he remains engaged in life, but the prognosis is not favorable.

For many older adults, the fear of Alzheimer’s comes every morning, questioning their actions throughout the day to check that are remembering and doing the things they want to. Most probably do not have a problem, but they are concerned for their mental health.

“We know medical providers often hesitate to discuss memory issues with patients due to a lack of effective treatment options, or cure, and half of dementia cases are missed as a result,” said Susan Peschin, president and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research.

But, she added, this positive reaction to participate in a study will mean “a significant shift in thinking by the medical community away from avoid-

ance and toward dialogue, diagnosis and help with research options.”

For more information, visit agingresearch.org.

BOTTOMS UP

as having to pay restitution to Medicaid.

For further information, visit justice.gov.

BENEFITS IN JEOPARDY

A recent study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, reported that more than a 10th of adults 65 and older are binge drinkers. It defines binge drinking as five or more drinks at one time for men and four or more for women.

In addition to the obvious effects of drinking too much and too frequently, binge drinking may have other health consequences, such as negative interactions with medications.

Binge drinkers are more likely to be men who are also using tobacco products and cannabis.

For further information, visit medicalexpress.com.

The multiemployer pension program, operated by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), is still running out of money. According to the PBGC, if a remedy is not found, it “will continue to worsen over the next 10 years.”

The program includes some 125 multiemployer plans covering more than 1 million people. As more and larger claims are expected to increase over the coming years, these plans could be facing insolvency as early as the end of 2025.

There is a proposal to shore up the program by creating new premiums, which could raise an additional $18 billion over the next 10 years.

For more information, visit pbgc.gov.

FRAUD AT HOME

CONTROLLING PRICE INCREASES

A 58-year-old personal care aide has been found guilty of defrauding the Washington D.C. Medicaid program out of more than $500,000.

This woman had worked for 12 home health agencies at different times between January 2014 and December 2018. Her job consisted of helping her clients with the activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing and eating. She was to record the care provided on time sheets which would be submitted to the home health agency and then to Medicaid.

But, during the time period noted above, she falsified her time sheets, claiming up to 24-hour days of providing care. She even submitted time sheets when she was out of the country and when one of her clients was in the hospital.

She faces 10 years in prison as well

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has listed some of the proposals being put forward to control Medicare drug spending. However, this is not a final list.

It should be remembered that some 60 million older adults and younger people with disabilities represent 30 percent of retail drug spending.

Among the possible alternatives are: ■ Limiting drug price increases by requiring manufacturers to pay a rebate to Medicare if drug prices increase more than inflation; ■ Allowing the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries; ■ Adding an out-of-pocket limit to Part D and shift responsibility for catastrophic drug costs from Medicare to insurance plans and drug manufacturers; and ■ Using the price of drugs in other countries to help set Medicare payment rates.

For more information, visit kff.org.

Recognizing and dealing with scammers

BY CHERYL M. KEYSER

The phone call goes something like this: “This is the Social Security Administration. The nature of this call today is to inform you regarding a complaint received about your Social Security number. Before we forward this information to the FBI, we would like to speak with you and get some information before we suspend your Social Security number and stop your benefits. Call us as soon as possible at 888-000-000.”

This type of call sends chills down the spine of most beneficiaries.

But do not call; this is a scam.

As Social Security always advises, it will not contact you by phone. If there is a problem, it will send you a letter.

This is just one of multiple scams that are geared to older adults. And, unfortunately, they scare people so much that they fall prey to them and Ple ase se e Scams, Page 16

REMEMBER: 1. Neither Social Security or Medicare will call you for either of your ID numbers.

2. There is no fee for either a Social Security or a Medicare card.

3. Never give out personal information on the phone - no matter how someone tries to coax you.

4. Review your medical bills to make sure you are not charged for services you did not receive.

THE FIVE TOP SCAMS IN PENNSYLVANIA: 1. IRS impersonation 2. Unsolicited phone calls 3. Sweepstake scams 4. Computer Tech Support 5. Financial abuse

—Senate Special committee on aging

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13

New hotline available to grandparents raising grandchildren House Children and Youth Committee Chairman Karen Boback (RLackawanna/ Luzerne/Wyoming) recently announced the creation of a new hotline to help grandparents raising grandchildren access and better understand the resources and programs available to them.

The KinConnector hotline is aimed for families in kinship care situations, including grandparents raising their grandchildren because of the opioid crisis.

“As a result of the opioid crisis, thousands of grandparents are facing the daunting task of caring for their grandchildren while navigating courtrooms and complex child welfare systems, often with little support,” Boback said in a news release.

“This new hotline will give them somewhere to turn to help navigate all the complexities of care so they can provide the best possible support and protection to the children.”

KinConnector was established through Act 89 of 2018. Boback was a co-sponsor of the legislation, which established a kinship navigator program for Pennsylvania.

The Bair Foundation was selected as the kinship navigator through a competitive procurement overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The foundation will work with kinship care families to help them access resources and supports and connect with families in similar situations across Pennsylvania.

“An estimated 82,000 grandparents are the sole caregivers for nearly 89,000 grandchildren in Pennsylvania,” Boback said in the news release. “We must do everything we can to help and assist our senior citizens who raise and provide for their grandchildren.”

KinConnector can be reached by calling 1-866-546-2111. The KinConnector helpline is staffed by social service professionals prepared to help families understand and access local, state and federal resources.

14

ADVERTORIAL

Nursing home costs, Medicaid and annuities

(For a married person who requires long-term care)

BY JAMES J. GILLOTTI CERTIFIED ELDER LAW ATTORNEY*

The Problem Local nursing homes currently cost at least $8,000 per month, sometimes more than $9,000 per month. Such expenses can have a devastating effect on the finances of working-class and middle-class families. When a married client requires long-term care, the concern is how the couple will manage to pay for both the long-term care costs and the other spouse’s living expenses.

In such situations, qualifying for Medicaid becomes important.

Medicaid eligibility Medicaid has financial eligibility rules which must be followed. In addition, there is a five-year lookback rule, whereby transfers of assets during the 60 months before applying for Medicaid generally affect eligibility. Fortunately, in 2005, federal law was changed to provide that funds could be placed in a “Medicaid-Compliant Annuity” to permit the healthy spouse to receive income from that annuity without jeopardizing the unhealthy spouse’s Medicaid eligibility. The rules governing the use of such annuities are strict, however, and the annuity must precisely meet the applicable legal requirements in order to qualify one spouse for Medicaid.

The Medicaid-Compliant Annuity (“MCA”) A MCA can be purchased by someone who lives in the community, in order to allow his or her spouse to qualify for Medicaid by reducing the couple’s countable assets. MCAs are most useful in situations where a client is married. They enable the healthier spouse—known as the “community” spouse—to have sufficient income, while allowing the less healthy spouse to qualify for Medicaid to pay long-term care expenses, typically within a nursing home.

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spouse dies before the investment Despite the five-year lookback in the annuity is fully paid back to rule, federal law treats the purhim/her, the remainder is paid to chase of the MCA as a permitted the state, up to the amount that it investment, and the annuity payout stream as protected “income” of the has paid for the institutionalized spouse’s long-term care. Family community spouse (rather than as members are the secan asset that would be ondary beneficiaries. If counted in determining the community spouse eligibility). lives the full annuity When a married couple has funds that exterm (typically four ceed the Medicaid-peror five years), he/she mitted resource limits, receives the entire some of those excess investment back, plus some interest. And, the dollars can be used to community spouse does purchase a MCA for not have to account the community spouse. to anyone for how he/ Note: This technique she spent the annuity is not utilized until the money. husband or the wife Satisfying these requires long-term GILLOTTI requirements is imcare, and is likely to portant because, in continue to need it for a situation where one spouse rethe rest of his/her life.

When Is an Annuity Medicaidquires long-term care and the other Compliant? remains at home, the assets of the In order to qualify as a MCA uncouple are counted—up to a certain der federal law, the terms of the level—in determining whether the annuity contract must satisfy cerinstitutionalized spouse qualifies tain criteria. 1. The income from for Medicaid. However, the healthy the MCA must be payable only to spouse’s income is not counted. the community spouse; 2. the conExample : George and Martha tract must be irrevocable and nonhave $200,000 in savings when assignable; 3. The payment term George is admitted to a nursing cannot be greater than the life exhome. One-half of that amount is pectancy of the community spouse protected for Martha, and George (e.g. you can’t get a 20-year annuity is allowed to have $8,000. Therefore, for someone who is 80 years old); 4. George can become Medicaid eligible when the assets are reduced bePayments must be made in equal installments (i.e., no large balloon- low $108,000. If Martha buys a MCA for $92,000, George should qualify type payment); 5. the annuity cannot be a deferred annuity ( Pay- for Medicaid. Note: the half of the ments must begin a month after the countable assets protected for the community spouse can’t exceed annuity is created).

Finally, the Pennsylvania Depart- $126,420. Some of their other assets are exempt (e.g. the home, one car, ment of Human Services (which burial accounts and Martha’s IRA). runs the Medicaid program here) must be named as the first re*James J. Gillotti is certified by the National mainder beneficiary on the annuElder Law Foundation, as authorized by the ity contract, to a certain extent.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

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15

Good Times Travel Club heads to Lancaster for Christmas preview

BY ED E. ROGERS

The Good Times Travel Club is going to Lancaster for a preview of Christmas.

Details for the Dec. 5 and 6 overnight trip have been arranged

by John Madden of TravelWorld.

Included in the package will be the Sight & Sound Theatre’s “Miracle of Christmas,” dinner at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord, a guided tour of the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside and a stop at the Kitchen Kettle, a collection of 42 shops and restaurants.

The trip will be made in a comfortable WiFi equipped motor coach and the night will be spent at the Tru by Hilton Lancaster East hotel located in the heart of Amish country.

Reservations are being accepted at TravelWorld offices in Scranton (570-342-5790) and Kingston (570288-9311). The all-inclusive rate is $279 per person based on double occupancy and $329 for singles. Full payment is due at time of booking.

The Sight & Sound presentation brings Christmas memories to life telling the Bible story of Christ’s birth with a cast that includes Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepherds, wise men, angels and some 30 furry and feathered creatures.

F R O M P A G E 13

lose money – in some cases, a lot of money.

Although this is a fairly typical one, there are more elaborate ones that reach deeper into people’s lives. For instance, one scam involved a young man who called his grandparents who lived in Pennsylvania. He said he and a friend were in Canada on a fishing trip.

They were arrested by the local police for fishing in an illegal area. In order to be let free, the grandparents had to send $2,500 to the police via Western Union.

The grandparents immediately went to their bank and withdrew the money. After they had sent the money, a second call came from the young man saying that he needed another $2,500.

The grandparents once again went to the bank, withdrew the money and

16

The Sound Millennium Theatre features a 300-foot wrap-around stage that surrounds the audience on three sides. Special flying rigs allow angels to fly over the audience from a 45-foot-high grid above the stage.

The musical score is a combination of original songs and holiday classics written and arranged by music veteran Tom Howard and recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles. All vocals are performed live on stage.

Prior to going to the theatre, the Good Times group will have dinner at the famous Shady Maple Smorgasbord that has been serving authentic Pennsylvania Dutch foods including Shoofly pie, whoopie pie, potpie and scrapple since 1929.

The Good Times group will leave Scranton at 9 a.m. and from WilkesBarre a half hour later for a three hour ride to Lancaster where they’ll check into the Tru Hotel by Hilton.

The hotel, which opened two years ago, has a fully equipped fitness center and indoor heated pool.

After checking in the group will go to the included dinner at the Shady Maple and then to the theater for the much-heralded Christmas show.

The second day will begin with an included build-your-own breakfast

at the hotel featuring a toppings bar loaded with 30 sweet and savory toppings for cereal, bagels, yogurt and more.

Following check out the group will leave for a guided two-hour tour through picturesque Amish farmlands in Lancaster County.

Then it will be off to the Kitchen Kettle famous for its little boutique shops, crafts, souvenirs, tasty Amish treats and unlimited samplings of homemade jams and jellies packed fresh by the Amish.

The shops should be filled with Christmas gift items providing a treasure hunt with everything from hand carved signs, to handmade quilts and leather goods, boots and so much more.

Following a lunch on your own at one of the Kitchen Kettle restaurants, the group will head back to Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Mr. Madden urged people interested in what promises to be an exciting two days to make reservations quickly. It is not necessary to be a club member to participate.

The Lancaster adventure is one of several short duration trips planned by the club. In October two Vermont autumn foliage trips have been sold out with more than a hundred people signed up.

sent it via American Express. Only then did they decide to call the parents, only to discover the young man was not in Canada. The whole story was a hoax, but unfortunately, there was no way to reclaim the money or even track the people behind the scam.

How to deal with scammers has been the subject of four hearings by the Senate Special Committee on Aging since the beginning of this year.

Each has taken a slightly different tack, from con artists who steal tax refunds to robocallers.

Sen. Bob Casey (R-PA.), Ranking Member of the Committee, along with Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), have introduced legislation to try to prevent older adults from losing money to scams.

More than $3 billion has been lost annually by older adults because of

scams.

“These criminals coerce and threaten legal action against our elder loved ones if ‘payment’ is not made immediately, often through a wire transfer or gift card,” said Casey.

The Stop Senior Scams Act (S. 149) calls for a federal advisory council to develop model educational materials to train employees of retailers, financial institutions, and wire transfer companies to identify and stop fraud by these unseen individuals.

The legislation is supported by companies from AARP to Walmart to MoneyGram.

Protecting oneself is not easy.

Calls such as the one noted above, were recorded on a message machine, and even if the phone had been answered, there was no live person, only

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the recorded voice. The point was to scare the individual into using the 888 phone number and return the call.

Then, not only would the scammer know who was calling, but would also give instructions as to where to send money.

The first thing to do when receiving an unwanted call such as this, is not to panic. If it is a person, ask for details and hang up. If it is a recorded message, get the phone number. Then either call or e-mail Social Security or the Senate Aging Committee to report the incident. For the former, call 1-800269-0271; for the latter, call 1-855-3039470.

For further information, visit the website of the Senate Special Committee on Aging at aging.senate.gov. For Social Security, visit ssa.gov.

A local legend

BY EDGAR KEARNEY

The brilliant autumn afternoon shone postcard pretty Nov. 14, 1964 when West Scranton’s native son Cosmo Iacavazzi captained his Princeton Tigers into the legendary Yale Bowl for a battle of the Ivy League unbeatens.

Waiting for them with high hopes of wrecking the Tiger juggernaut were the Yale Bulldogs and the equally touted fullback Chuck Mercein, a future New York Giant.

After an illustrious career at West Scranton High, the scholar-athlete chose Princeton from among many prestigious colleges that came knocking, Notre Dame and Penn State among them.

That afternoon both teams took the field undefeated, the Tigers 7-0 and the Bulldogs 6-0-1. At game’s end only the Tigers remained so thanks largely to the West Sider’s 185 rushing yards and two fourth quarter’s touchdowns that provided a 35-17 triumph and the Ivy League championship. The next Saturday the Tigers wrapped up the season

by defeating Cornell to log Princeton’s perfect campaign.

Fifty years later that team was honored during halftime of the PrincetonHarvard game. On that day, Cosmo remembered the 1964 clash as one of his most memorable.

“First and foremost, it was the game that won the Ivy League championship up there at the Yale Bowl in front of 73,000 people. ... I had one of my best games. ... It was the game of the season for us.”

It was 2002 when the fullback from West Scranton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame with a class that included other greats Dan Marino, Ronnie Lott, Reggie White, Kellen Winslow and Napoleon McCallum.

In an article that appeared in Town Topics, a Princeton, New Jersey, publication, Bob Casciola, the Princeton coach who recruited Iacavazzi, remembers his prize catch this way: “Cosmo was driven and committed in everything he did. It was contagious, his presence added to everything we

did. In practice he would sprint 40 yards on every play, not to be a showoff but because he thought that was the right way to do things. A player like Cosmo comes across once in a coach’s career, maybe twice if you’re lucky.”

Iacavazzi, who played one season as a back-up with the New York Jets, has applied his drive and charisma to a variety of pursuits since college, including engineering, working in finance on Wall Street, starting a cable television company, serving as the mayor of Hillsborough, New Jersey, and running a property management company.

Recalling that he worked from 7 a.m. straight through to 2 a.m. the next day at times during his Princeton career to master his coursework, Iacavazzi believes that football paved the way for his later success.

“I’ve learned some indelible lessons from football, they were imprinted on me early,” said Iacavazzi, who currently lives in Mercer County, New Jersey.

Among those who taught him lessons early was a football legend in his own

right, the late Sam Donato of Dunmore who produced one championship team after another at West Scranton High School during the 50s, often at the expense of his scholastic alma mater in Bucktown.

“My high school coach Sam Donato had the greatest influence on me other than family members,” Cosmo said.

“Sam taught me that you give your best effort all the time no matter what you are doing so that’s what I did. I’ve never been that big or fast so I thought I’ll just give it my best effort, that was my edge. I was taught a framework to create success through football that has stayed with me.”

Now Cosmo spends a lot of spare time on the golf course, often with his wife, Marion – his high school sweetheart – and just a few weeks ago played in the annual tournament of the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Green Space DUANE CAMPBELL

new buds lined up to keep them in abundant bloom, no matter how much ood gardeners approach their I cut bouquets, until heavy frost shuts craft scientifically, create the them down. right soil, place the plants Dahlias are easy enough for the knowledgeably, fertilize carefully, train beginner to be successful. In spring and prune properly. plant the tuber an inch or two deep in Then Mother Nature takes over and decent soil and full sun. They’ll take has her way. half day exposure, but the more sun, I have never understood the peculiar the more flowers. combination of sun and water and Though they’ll grow in normal temperature that makes some years garden soil, a little effort pays off great for some plants, other years extravagantly. They love rich soil with terrible. Nevertheless, beset by a poor lots of compost and supplemented year, I’ll offer up the unusual growing every few weeks with a liquid 15-30-15 conditions of that season (and every fertilizer. season has something unusual) as an Dahlias are usually purchased excuse. And when conditions are on the in spring, when boxes with enticing nose and the garden bountiful, I credit pictures fill the big box stores, and my skill. some may still have a few left at half This summer, I have been especially price. Don’t be seduced into buying skillful with dahlias. Normally the them. The pictures may still be fresh, queen of the fall garden, this year but the tubers are not, after the it’s an empress, with large, luscious flowers covering seven-foot plants and Ple ase se e Green, Page 19

G

Giant blossoms in vibrant colors – what more can you ask of a flower?

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summer growing season is spent in a plastic bag.

Nevertheless, this is the time to shop for the very best bargains in dahlias, and here’s how you do it. Visit a friend’s garden and say (you should practice this at home), “My, what a beautiful dahlia. Where did you buy that? I’d like to buy one for my garden.”

Your friend will almost certainly offer to give you a tuber as soon as the season ends.

This works for three reasons. First, because no one ever takes my advice to put the plant’s source on the label in the ground, if they label them at all, so your friend probably has no idea where it came from.

Second, dahlias multiply. A single root planted in spring results in a clump several times the size in fall. It doesn’t take long to run out of space to grow them. Or store them.

Third, dahlia tubers aren’t hardy.

They have to be dug up in fall after hard frost kills the tops and stored over the winter. Since there won’t be enough space to plant all of them next spring, most gardeners think, “better you store them than me.” So you shouldn’t be hesitant to hint broadly.

Maybe that friend is one of those gardeners who treat dahlias as annuals and just let them die in the ground over winter. Maybe even you are one of those. Sad. What kind of gardener doesn’t love an easy, sweat-free job on a sunny, crisp day in fall. It’s really simple. After hard frost completely kills the top growth, wait a few days until it collapses. Then cut if off, leaving six-inch stubs. Lift the clump with a spading fork. Big, isn’t it? Shake it to knock off the bulk of the soil; it’s not necessary to get it all off.

The tuber clump needs two or three days to dry. Place them upside down (that’s important) in a sunny spot in warmish temperatures, if you can arrange for the right weather.

Otherwise take them inside or into the garage. If you have an old house with a cool, damp basement, just throw them in a box. In a newer house with a tiled furnace room, it is better to store them in a plastic grocery bag with some wood shavings or kennel bedding for packing material. The books say use peat moss. Don’t.

Another problem with a furnace room or anyplace in the habitable part of the house is temperature. You want it as cool as possible; in warm temperatures they will sprout too early

in spring. If you don’t have a cool spot inside, an attached garage that doesn’t drop below freezing works fine. If you think it might get too cold at night, put them in the picnic cooler; you won’t need it much for a while anyway.

Now head over for the similarly impaired friend who has the dahlia you covet and show them how to do it.

It isn’t necessary to divide your clump until next spring unless you want to break some off to trade.

Besides price, there are other reasons to shop this way. You get to see the plant in full bloom instead of trusting the package description. You get to see the real color instead of the sometimes unreliable pictures.

For some reason, the people who write the package copy think all dahlias grow to 48 inches. Every package says the same thing; I’m pretty sure the blurb writers have never grown a dahlia. In my experience, most four-foot dahlias are six or seven feet tall. That means that, for best results, they should be staked. Traditionally this was done by pounding a tall stick in the ground at planting time and tying it up every few days, but I’ve found it much easier to use tomato cages, especially the greatest cages of all, ones you make from concrete reinforcing wire. Or you can just let it sprawl, in which case it might actually be four feet tall.

Concrete reinforcing is heavy wire woven, welded actually, into a grid with six-inch squares. It comes in sheets of various sizes, but I prefer the kind that comes in five-foot-wide rolls. Cut off six squares (bolt cutters work best), Grandkids don’t much appreciate the flowers, but they love a maze. leaving naked prongs at one end. Form it into a cylinder and fasten it with the prongs. It is the best support for tall plants and lasts forever. There are some in my garden that have been there for 30 years or more.

One thing the package rarely tells you but you can check in your friend’s garden is the stem length. Since dahlias are so perfect to cut and bring indoors, you want long stems. Otherwise you have these huge dinnerplate flowers shlumping with their chins on the rim of the vase like sullen teens at the dinner table.

If you must actually purchase dahlias in spring, don’t get the cheap mixed bag. This is a lesson I have learned often but never very well. So if anyone wants some really ugly dahlias, a whole row, all in the same muddy rose and cream color, drop by my garden in November. Bring a big bag.

There is no better flower for an easy bouquet than dahlias.

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