South Coast Prime Times - November/December 2016

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Prime timeS Nov e m ber / De c e m ber 2 016 • Volum e 12 • Num ber 6

Community investment

Healing together South Coast rail

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N ov ember /D ecember 2016

CONTENTS In every issue

4 From the publisher 26 In brief…

by Elizabeth Morse Read

Prime Living

6

Community healing

by Jay Pateakos

10 Live long and prosper

by Elizabeth Morse Read

18 Good vibes at Vibra

by Jay Pateakos

22

Prime Season

8

South Coast Rail: deja vu

by Steve Smith

24 Magic jeweler

by Jay Pateakos

Good Times

22 What we keep

by Sherri Mahoney-Battles

32 My (heroin) hero

by Paul Kandarian

S o u t h

C o a s t

Prime timeS Nov e m ber / De c e m ber 2 016 • Volum e 12 • Num ber 6

on the cover: Fall River Municipal

Credit Union is staffed by your friends and neighbors, and they’re committed to making your financial future clear and easy. To learn more, go to page 20 or visit frmcu.com. photo credit : Kelsey Garcia kgarciaproductions.com

Community investment

Healing together South Coast rail

Live long and prosper Magic jeweler

Only the best.

For Nancy.

For you.

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To us, it means access to the latest treatment options.

Skilled experts delivering coordinated, compassionate and patient-focused care.

Reducing the time from diagnosis to treatment.

Caring for the whole you.

When Nancy Shand, of Tiverton, was diagnosed with breast cancer, her primary care physician recommended Southcoast Health. Learn more about Nancy’s experience at southcoast.org/cancercare

Southcoast Health established its Southcoast Centers for Cancer Care in order to bring high-quality, world-class cancer care closer to you.

The result? An accredited, award-winning program that’s redefining cancer care in our region.

Quality Cancer Care: Recognizing Excellence

Learn more about the Southcoast Centers for Cancer Care southcoast.org/cancercare

| 877-822-2732

More than medicine.

FROM THE PUBLISHER November/December 2016 n Vol. 12 n No. 6 Published by

Coastal Communications Corp.

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

It’s finally fall, which means it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. As Thanksgiving draws nearer, we have the opportunity to take a breath of crisp autumn air and make note of the ties that bind together our families and communities. It won’t take you too long to find something to be thankful for.

Ljiljana Vasiljevic Editor

Sebastian Clarkin Online editor

Paul Letendre Contributors

Paul Kandarian, Sherri Mahoney-Battles, Jay Pateakos, Elizabeth Morse Read and Steve Smith South Coast Prime Times is published bi-monthly.

Most of the people walking into your local YMCA are focused on their health, but few are mindfully thankful for it. But a small group of them have every reason to be – they’re cancer survivors. On page 6, Jay Pateakos tells us about the Y’s LIVESTRONG program, and the help and support it brings to the community.

On the subject of connecting communities, Steve Smith gives us an update on South Coast Rail, 25 years after its inception. How far along is it? What’s standing in the way of completion now? Will the train ever come to the station? Turn to page 8 to find out.

Copyright ©2016 Coastal Communications Corp.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any means, without written permission from the Publisher. All information contained herein is believed to be reliable. Coastal Communications Corp. does not assume any financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but will reprint that portion of an advertisement in which the typographical error occurs.

Next issue December 14, 2016

On page 22, Sherri Mahoney-Battles shares a personal story of retirement, her mother, and being thankful for every day. You’re going to want to call your loved ones after reading this one.

From little things like a small trinket to massive changes like the shift in seasons, there’s almost too much to take in and be grateful for. Whatever makes you thankful, be it nature, family, or personal achievement, we hope this issue helps you to recognize it, and maybe even share it with others.

In the meantime, we’ll be thankful for you. See you next issue!

Circulation 25,000

Subscriptions $19.95 per year

M ailing address

Ljiljana Vasiljevic

South Coast Prime Times P.O. Box 3493 Fall River, MA 02722

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

Phone (508) 677-3000

Website coastalmags.com

E-mail editor@coastalmags.com

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N ov ember /D ecember 2016

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PRIME LIVING GOOD TIMES

Community healing at the Y

Being a cancer survivor doesn’t need to be a lonely journey anymore.

building strength, endurance, balance, cardiovascular conditioning, and flexibility.

Living strong

Susan Piacenti, YMCA Southcoast’s LIVESTRONG Coordinator, said the basic Jay criterion for the program is that you are a Pateakos cancer survivor over the age of 18.

YMCA Southcoast “There’s no discrimination of cancers recently launched its as long as the person has clearance September sessions of LIVESTRONG, the from their doctors,” said Piacenti. “This YMCA’s cancer survivor exercise program program is exercise-based, so the people in five of its seven locations – Dartmouth, we help run the gamut of those who may Fall River, Swansea, Wareham, and New have exercised before to others where it Bedford. Each 12-week session, free to may be their first time.” cancer survivors, begins anew every JanuThe sessions kick off around a conferary, April, and September, and focuses on ence table where each group member small class sizes that meet for 75 minutes talks about what brought them to twice a week, where participants focus on LIVESTRONG and the struggles they’ve endured along the way. Piacenti calls this the beginning of the bonding for Dara Midwood and Susan Piacenti the group, which ranges from five to twelve participants.

While the first session doesn’t involve exercise of any kind besides vocal cords, the next 23 sessions all include exercises based on what the participant’s needs are. Piacenti said the program is designed to move in a

Chemotherapy atrophies people’s muscles and there’s also so much mental stress in going through a cancer diagnosis,” said Piacenti. “It’s very debilitating and they are coming to us to hopefully feel better, to get back in the saddle, and adjust to a new normal.”

Piacenti said the first 30 minutes of each 75-minute class involves cardio exercises to get the blood flowing and the endorphins coming out. The second 30-minute portion deals with strength training, and the final 15 minutes on stretching and breathing techniques. American Cancer Society Research shows that exercising at least 150 minutes a week will enhance a person’s prognosis and will help people feel better for the long term.

“We needed a way to get this [information] out, so this is why this program was created,” said Piacenti, who encourages the participants to use the YMCA facilities – the pool, exercise classes, and wellness equipment – on their own.

The group setting works wonders for participants, who oftentimes come into the group nervous about what will unfold in the twelve weeks ahead and how they will connect with strangers.

“They leave the group in the end not

The group setting works wonders for participants who are oftentimes nervous about what will unfold in the twelve weeks ahead “slow, steady progression” over the twelve weeks, noting that all people have various ranges of endurance, especially after the many hurdles they’ve faced.

With a YMCA membership included with the twelve weeks, participants are encouraged to get to know their trainer, explore what the Y has to offer, and challenge themselves.

“Fatigue is one the biggest things that brings them to us.

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feeling so alone anymore. Some of them see their families and friends and they don’t understand what they went through, but the people in this group have all been through it and it makes the people in it relatable,” said Piacenti.

“People find a buddy and it’s much easier to keep up with the exercising when you have someone with you who is encouraging you.”

It doesn’t just end after twelve weeks.

Prior to graduation, an exit session helps participants set goals to take with them

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YMCA SOUTHCOAST · ymcasouthcoast.org

This class is a 16 week program designed for older adults of all fitness levels. If you have a chronic condition such as arthritis this class will help you gain strength and independence. You will feel energized physically, mentally and socially. Classes meet three times per week and focuses on strength, flexibility, balance and movement.

at the Fall River, New Bedford & Swansea Y branches

Enhance® Fitness has Arrived

FITNESS FUN & FRIENDS

cal and emotional habits, making the default choices the healthier ones.”

Class sizes run between eight and fifteen individuals who work collaboratively to support and push each other to meet their goals.

Part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-led National Diabetes Program, the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program’s Testimonials from participants over just a year’s time include gratitude for a program that “provided me with the tools to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention ProS weet victory gram runs in a total of 47 states over 252 If you are one of the nearly 80 milYMCAs. Midwood said Medicare plans to lion people at risk for Type 2 Diabetes make the program a wellness benefit by or already have prediabetes, get off the 2018 as they’ve studied the cost savings couch and start doing something about derived from programs like this that preit. Introduced in April of 2015, YMCA vent the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

Southcoast’s Diabetes Prevention ProMidwood said research shows that program, led by a trained lifestyle coach, is grams like the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevena one-year program aimed at working tion Program reduce the number of new together in small groups to learn the cases of diabetes by 58% overall and by habits of healthier eating accompanied by 71% in individuals over the age of 60. moderate physical activity.

“Even losing a couple of pounds helps The evidence-based program’s goal is to to decrease your risk. In our last class reduce the risk of dewe had some people veloping Type 2 Dialose up to 10 percent betes. Participants of their weight and E ven losing a couple work toward reducing others 3 percent. The their body weights of pounds helps to average was about 5 by seven percent and percent,” said Midincreasing physical decrease your risk wood. activity to at least 150 In the end, Midminutes per week. of Diabetes wood hopes the The program includes program empowers sixteen consecutive adults to create lasting lifestyle changes one-hour weekly sessions followed by that will help to improve their overall three one-hour bi-weekly sessions for the health and reduce their chances of getting first six months. The class meets once per Type 2 Diabetes. month for the final six months.

“Our hope is to have people stick with Classes, just $429, include weekly this, stay on track, keep the weight off, weigh-ins, food & activity tracking, memand continue to improve their overall bership to the YMCA, and learning tools health. It’s amazing to see the impact just to be successful regarding portion cona little weight loss has on people. Their trol, how to read nutrition labels, and tips self esteem starts to skyrocket – they are on eating out healthily. Program qualifibuying smaller dresses or pants or reduccations include having a Body Mass Index ing the notches on their belts. In this over 25, being over the age of 18, being group setting, they get the strength to do at risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes, or it. We see some of these people meeting being pre-diabetic. after work to keep it up and encouraging “It’s a small and intimate session – a other classmates. It’s wonderful to see.” lifestyle modification program aimed at For more information on the Diabetes teaching healthier eating and how to fit Prevention Program, call 508-996physical activity into your day, mak9622 x 141 or email Dara Midwood at ing your life a healthier one,” said Dara ymcadpp@ymcasouthcoast.org.

Midwood, YMCA Southcoast’s Diabetes Prevention Program Coordinator.

J ay Pateakos has been a freelance writer “This isn’t a diet – it’s a lifestyle balance for more than 10 years including daily and program where you slowly adopt healthy weekly newspapers and monthly magazines. eating habits to lose weight and to keep A native of New Bedford, he currently lives in the weight off. We work on cultivating a Marion and has three children. positive mindset to help break old physi-

Free Y membeship with Senior Whole Health.

For details inquire at the Membership desk.

to strive for the future, continue to stay connected with the trainer or Y Staff, continue to utilize the Y, and to stay connected as a group that has formed lasting relationships.

Since LIVESTRONG’s inception in November of 2011, 450 people have been enrolled in the program with an 85 percent graduation rate. Registration for the January class begins October 1.

For more information on LIVESTRONG, call 508-675-7841 x 125 or email spiacenti@ymcasouthcoast.org

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PRIME SEASON

The approved option

South Coast Rail: Middleborough deja vu This year we are “celebrating” the silver anniversary of South Coast Rail. It has been more than 25 years of wishing, hoping, begging, pleading, cajoling, and planning to restore S teve commuter rail service between Boston and Smith Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford. We’ve been through a myriad of iterations in that quarter century, and at various times rail routes by way of Attleboro, Middleborough, and Stoughton have been favored. Bus options up Route 24 have also been on the table.

The most recent official option has been the Stoughton Route, with two lines running north from Fall River and New Bedford, merging in Berkley at the Cotley junction, and proceeding north through Taunton, Raynham, Easton, and joining the main line in Stoughton. This option has received the official blessing of the

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a critical step for any option.

But are we any closer to a solution than we were 25 years ago? The answer to that question is not entirely clear. A rejuvenated Middleborough route seems to be the fair option at the moment. What is this all about? Let’s try to sort it out.

N ov ember /D ecember 2016

The approved plan utilizes the Stoughton Route, which traverses the environmentally sensitive Hockomock Swamp. This route was chosen as the preferred route

by MassDOT in 2011 and affirmed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the best option with the issuance of their Final Environmental Impact Statement in September, 2013. This conclusion was reached after feasibility and environmental studies that examined over 80 alternative routes to connect the three cities to Boston, including extending the existing Middleborough/Lakeville service to Fall River and New Bedford.

The preferred Stoughton Route would extend existing MBTA service that now terminates in Stoughton. The South Coast Rail trains would run on active freight lines or old rights-of-way that were active lines until 1958. Studies did not find any environmental impacts along this line that cannot be mitigated, and the route has many environmental benefits in the form of greenhouse gas reductions and reduced highway congestion.

Until recently, its estimated cost was $2.3 billion. Now MassDOT says that number is $3.4 billion – an increase of nearly 50% with no project change. Because the cost is responsible for the long delays and is driving the reconsideration of alternatives, this calculation needs to be looked at by an objective third party.

The suggested interim option Proposals have been put forward to create interim service that would follow the same route north from both Fall River and New Bedford as called for in the preferred option, but veer sharply east before Taunton and follow on an existing freight line to join the existing Middleborough/ Lakeville service to South Station.

This route would bypass the Hockomock Swamp (and presumably avoid litigation and hasten project completion) and would utilize existing service for the northern half of the trip.

The analysis On the surface, the Middleborough extension seems attractive because the tracks are in place, the trains today run more than halfway, and it avoids the Hockomock Swamp. But there are several serious issues to be resolved.

Service to Fall River and New Bedford via Middleborough would add distance and increase the trip time. Longer trip times will reduce the attractiveness and result in lower the ridership numbers from 4,750

riders per day projected for the Stoughton route. If the ridership is too low, the MBTA will not operate the service.

Taunton would not be served by the Middleborough option, except for a station on the city’s outskirts. Urban revitalization benefits provide much of the rationale for South Coast Rail, with new business and housing developed around the stations.

The City of Taunton, which has done extensive planning for projected development around the proposed Dean Street station site, would lose out on those benefits.

The longer and more numerous trains passing through the corridor in Quincy and Boston will create capacity issues along that stretch of track The longer and more numerous trains passing through the corridor in Quincy and Boston will create capacity issues along that stretch of track, with substantial backups in the Braintree area. A public-private partnership has been discussed to remove this bottleneck. While that certainly needs to be explored, it is far from certain.

The Middleborough option assumes the use of diesel trains, while the Corps of Engineers has required electric trains on the Stoughton Route. This is a $600 million difference, and saving money with Middleborough diesel trains depends upon the Corps’ approval. That has not been obtained.

The current Middleborough/Lakeville Station would have to be relocated as it would no longer be on the direct route. If the station is to be served, it would become a “two-seat” ride, meaning that passengers would have to transfer to the Middleboro/ Lakeville service. There is always a direct negative impact on ridership when the commuter has to switch trains.

The long wait has been discouraging and participants at recent meetings held by MassDOT have voiced their impatience about getting South Coast Rail done. If nothing else, the state owes us an expeditious resolution of this project.

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PRIME LIVING

Live long and prosper:

planning for long-term care

Eliz abeth Morse Read

November is Long-Term Care Awareness Month. None of us are getting any younger, so it’s a good time to take stock of your health, your finances, your living situation, and your future resources. You want to make your own decisions about how your golden years will be lived, right?

Getting older is a lifelong process. It’s not some “Eureka!” Kodak Moment, like reaching puberty or learning how to ice-skate backwards or giving birth. The aging process is unique to each person, depending on genetics, lifestyle choices, and social environment.

Everyone wants to live a long, healthy, and independent life, but there can be a sudden illness or injury, a job loss, a hurricane, or a divorce and your retirement nest egg can get scrambled overnight. You need to create a realistic contingency plan for your long-term care that doesn’t leave you out in the cold when you’re old.

What is long-term care planning?

Much of long-term care (LTC) planning is just plain ol’ common sense, like getting your teeth cleaned regularly or changing the oil in your car twice a year.

A lot of people think LTC is just another ploy to buy some ridiculous product advertised on late-night TV infomercials.

If you’re suddenly getting all sorts of junk mail, spam emails, and sales calls, then it’s probably related to the newest marketing demographic: long-term care consumers. They’re hocking reverse mortgages, “final expense” insurance, Medicare (Part C) policies, medical malpractice suits,

and nutritional supplements. The AARP generation is being targeted (see sidebar).

Long-term care is the umbrella term for the range of services and support people might need as they get older, whether they live at home, in assisted-living communities, or in a skilled-nursing facility.

At least 70% of seniors will need some form of long-term care, ranging from help with daily chores to very costly end-of-life care.

But not all people over 65 years old will need expensive skilled-nursing support services. More than 90% of all LTC is “custodial care,” the non-skilled assistance needed so that someone can function independently which usually provided in-home. Many healthy seniors will only need occasional help with everyday tasks called “Instrumental Activities of Daily Living” (IADLs) – transportation to appointments, pick-up errands, mowing the lawn, hanging curtains, or changing a lightbulb. At other times, they may need more intensive personal-care assistance with basic “Activities of Daily

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For more LTC information AARP Magazine offers many in-depth articles about the ins-and-outs of LTC options, including “Planning for LongTerm Care: A Resource Guide.” For more info, search at aarp.org.

A very useful tool provided free by the US Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration on Aging (AoA) is the “Eldercare Locator” at eldercare.gov or 1-800-677-1116. The Eldercare Locator connects senior citizens and their families to a range of services offered locally, from adult day-care programs to transportation and home repair services.

Find a Medicaid or Medicare-certified nursing home where you live by using the locator at medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare. It provides detailed information about every certified nursing home in the country. This government website also offers comparisons and locators for hospitals, physicians, dialysis facilities and home health services nationwide.

Living” (ADLs), like bathing, using the toilet, meal prep, or getting up and down the stairs.

Most people want to stay in their own home for as long as possible, so they manage to age-in-place through a combination of personal networks and community services, including those made available through the local council on aging, senior centers, visiting nurses, church programs, virtual villages (see sidebar), and volunteers like Meals-on-Wheels.

In-home services can also be provided by paid home health aides, housekeepers, and handymen.

At the other end of the LTC spectrum is “skilled care” requiring round-the-clock medical/social supervision for the rest of someone’s life. In insurance lingo, “intermediate” LTC is everything else inbetween – like an acute need for skilled care after falling and breaking your hip, but mostly you just need rides to the pharmacy or someone to install your window air-conditioner.

Cover your assets The quality of your future long-term care is a function of good financial planning over your lifetime. As my 93-year old father would say, “Keep all your ducks in a row.”

In addition to paying taxes, most people pay for car, home, health, and life insurance – protecting their assets. We squirrel

money away for college expenses, family emergencies, and retirement nest eggs by building up our credit ratings, 401(k) accounts, investments, and home equity, hoping that we won’t need to cash them in to pay for our daily needs as we get older.

Sure, there’ll be Social Security, pension/annuity checks, and Medicare when you turn 65, but would that really be enough to live on comfortably if you lived to be 100? According to FinancialWellness.com, everyone should be saving 15% of income every year for LTC costs.

But very few of us do.

Won’t Medicare and Medicaid pay for my long-term care?

Nope. Many people mistakenly assume that Medicare will pay for all their longterm care needs. Medicare only pays for skilled/rehabilitative care for a maximum of 100 days, whether in a facility or while recovering at home. Medicare does not pay for non-skilled assistance with ADLs or those IADL out-of-pocket expenses (like lawn-mowing), which constitute the vast majority of long-term care services most people will need as they age-inplace.

Medicaid would cover most LTC costs for people with very limited income, virtually no assets, nor personal support networks. But Medicaid doesn’t pay for LTC if you’re still living in your own home – only if you’ve moved out of your home. So if your goal is to protect your assets, live independently in your own home, and still leave something for your children, then relying on Medicaid to pay for your long-term care is not a good plan.

Taking a gamble If a catastrophic event changed your life overnight, you wouldn’t want to have to liquidate your portfolio or sell your home to pay the LTC bills. So what about buying long-term care insurance? Or reverse mortgages?

Long-term care insurance (LTCi) is only an affordable option if you’re younger, healthy, and relatively wealthy – in many

It takes a (virtual) village Back in the day, your extended family, neighbors, and church took care of you as you got older. But the nuclear family cradle-to-grave living model disintegrated post-WWII, when children started moving out-of-state, parish churches shut down, and neighborhood networks moved out to the malls.

However, that primal urge to “love thy neighbor” is still alive and well on the South Coast. The virtual village movement, which started in Boston in 2002, pays homage to its live-at-home elder citizens, ensuring that their individual needs are met and that they remain functional members of the larger community. These nonprofit grassroots programs provide simple services like unclogging a sink or picking up prescriptions, organizing local get-togethers, stopping by for friendly visits, and providing access to low-cost (or no cost) services like lawn care and rides to church. As an example, Dartmouth has set up a “Coastal Neighbors Network” that links senior citizens to volunteer transportation, pre-screened local service providers, and repairmen. To learn more about virtual villages, go to vtvnetwork.org.

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The longevity economy Thanks to advances in public health, we’re all living longer these days, and the tsunami of aging Baby Boomers is starting to seriously impact the real estate and service sectors, from housing design to healthcare delivery to hospitality services.

In 2015, the booming “assisted-living industry” had a $5 billion financial impact on the Massachusetts economy, plus paying more than $200 million in state and local taxes. By 2025, almost 20% of the state’s population will be over 65 years old.

According to the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association (Mass-ALA), the average cost of an assistedliving apartment in the state is about $63,000 per year – compare that to over $125,000 living in a nursing home. cases, people over 60 with chronic health issues are ineligible to even apply. If nothing else, LTCi policies are designed to help you protect financial assets and your inheritance plans.

LTC insurance can indeed cover many of the costs that Medicare or private insurance don’t cover, but policy premiums can mushroom as you get older or if you develop certain health conditions.

Like every other kind of insurance, LTC insurance is an actuarial crap-shoot, and unlike life insurance pay-outs, LTCi is not inheritable upon death unless you purchase a hybrid life insurance/LTC insurance policy.

Likewise, reverse mortgages, which are basically home-equity loans, are often advertised as a way to pay for LTC costs.

But for many cash-strapped people over 62 years old, reverse-mortgages can be a risky solution of last resort.

Some life insurance policies may allow you to withdraw quick-cash loans against the death benefits, cash in the policy at a discount, or even convert the policy into a long-term care insurance policy (called “viatical settlements”). You’d be better off working with a certified financial advisor or estate attorney who can help you plan your financial future wisely.

A new place called home If you don’t want to end up living in government-subsidized senior housing or a nursing home in Outer Mongolia, but it’s becoming a struggle to live on your own, here are a few other living arrangements to consider.

If you don’t need skilled-nursing care or personal-needs care, you could move in with a family member or into an adult foster-care household, or else “homeshare” your house with a trusted boarder

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who’d help you out with everyday housekeeping. Or you could sell your house and move to an active-adult or assisted-living community. Moving to an assisted-living community would provide the medical, social, and physical support needed every day, while still maintaining a private residence and some independence.

At the high end, you could move into a continuing-care retirement community (CCRC), also known as “life-care community,” which offers the full range of independent-living/assisted-living/skilled nursing care services under one roof, oftentimes in multi-story buildings. CCRCs ensures that healthy, independent seniors will not have to move again if their health or mobility declines. CCRCs also offer a full menu of in-house amenities, concierge services, activities, and dining, and 24/7 medical staff and security on site (see caring.com or call 1-800-973-1540).

But before you settle down in a new location, carefully consider what your access

to local resources and activities will be – the library, parks, shops, entertainment, public transportation, and senior services.

For help, search the Eldercare Locator at eldercare.gov.

Home alone If you’ve ever wondered where all your federal/state/local tax dollars trickled down to over the years, then go visit your nearest senior center, council on aging, and library.

Once you become a card-carrying senior citizen, the local senior center should become your aging-in-place information hub – they can hook you up to everything from hot meals to yoga, tax help, free dental care, fuel assistance, day-trips, handyman referrals, Medicare advice, and shopping runs.

And check out your library, another treasure trove of aging-in-place benefits.

Many libraries offer free lectures, discussion groups, computer tutorials, discount museum passes, and comfy reading rooms.

Regional support agencies for at-home aging residents provide a wealth of information about free or low-cost services available throughout the region – start by contacting Coastline Elderly Services (coastlineelderly.org or 508-999-6400), Bristol Elder Services (bristolelder.org), or the Southeast Center for Independent Living (secil.org).

Likewise, nonprofit community action agencies like P.A.C.E. in New Bedford can help fixed-income seniors with fuel assistance funding and home weatherization

Senior-proof your house When your “get-up-and-go” has got up and gone, you don’t want to be the only one left living in a high-maintenance multi-story McMansion. If you’re determined to age-in-place comfortably and safely, then you need to “senior-proof” your surroundings.

Make sure that your home is re-designed for someone who’ll be getting older, when balance, reflexes, stamina, and vision gradually weaken. Turn outdoor stairs into ramps or elephant steps. Make sure there’s a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor. Retrofit bathrooms so that there’s a shower stall instead of a tub, and install safety grab-bars. Put up railings in hallways and doublerailings on stairs. Replace twist-knob fixtures with D-shaped handles or latches.

Create an open floor plan with wider doorways and lower cabinets. Install non-slip flooring and eliminate fall hazards. Upgrade visibility with nightlights, motion-sensor lights and under-counter lighting. Certified Aging-in-Place universal design specialists can help you senior-proof your house (go to aarp.org/ homedesign).

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(paceinfo.org or 508-999-9920). M.O. Life Inc. provides free medical transportation for seniors within the greater New Bedford area (molifeinc.com or 508-9925978). S.H.I.N.E. (or S.H.I.P., in some states) counselors are trained volunteers who help seniors with Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance issues – contact your nearest senior center or go to longtermcare.gov.

And if you’re determined to live in your home for a long time, then take advantage of the MassSave energy program (masssave.com) – free energy audits, rebates, discounts, and low-cost loans for retrofitting your house to make it more heat and energy efficient.

The Southcoast Visiting Nurses Association (southcoastvna.org or 508-993-3200) provides a full range of in-home medical, rehabilitative and hospice support 24/7 throughout southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay Rhode Island. The VNA bills Medicare or your insurance company directly.

The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a range of long-term care in-home services for veterans and military families caring for disabled veterans, whether or not their disabilities are service-related.

Call 1-800-827-1000 or visit longtermcare.gov/veterans-affairs.

Many national health-related organizations, such as the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) or the American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org), offer support services, including for caregivers – contact your local chapter.

For those without nearby family or friends, home-care services are also available through private companies, ranging from home-helpers to personal care aides. The assigned staff are screened, trained, insured, and bonded, and can be scheduled 24/7, depending upon your needs and budget. On the South Coast, there are agencies like Home Instead Inc. (homeinstead.com or 508-984-7900) and Helpful Hands Inc. (helpfulhandsinc.net or 1-888-636-441).

Live long and prosper – plan ahead for your long-term care. Keep those ducks in a row.

Elizabeth Morse Read is an awardwinning writer, editor and artist who grew up on the South Coast. After 20 years of working in New York City and traveling the world, she came back home with her children and lives in Fairhaven.

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amilies often come together from long distances during the holiday season. If you haven’t seen a loved one in person for a while, changes with your loved one may be more apparent than when you see them every day. Here are some things to look for during your visit to evaluate whether or not your loved one is safe and healthy at home. Has your loved one lost or gained a lot of weight? Does your loved one appear to be clean and well groomed? Does she have any unexplained bruises? How does the house look in comparison to previous visits? How is your loved one's’ mood? Is your loved one taking needed medications as prescribed? Is your loved one repeating herself and asking the same questions multiple times? Is there anyone new spending a lot of time with your loved one? If so, why? Elders living alone are more susceptible to fraud and abuse.

If you are concerned about anything you see, you should talk with your loved one. A doctor’s appointment scheduled when someone can attend with the elder is a good idea. If no one can go along, ask your loved one to sign a HIPAA release at the doctor’s office so someone in the family can follow up on the appointment. Call Coastline Elderly Services or Bristol Elder Services to see if your loved one can be evaluated by a social worker and possibly receive some home health care services. Make sure your loved one has a valid signed Health Care Proxy and Durable Power of Attorney so that someone can help with medical and financial decisions if needed. But most of all, enjoy your visit.

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Therapists (l - r): Michael Crowley, student intern PT, M arissa Beaulieu, PT, A manda Falcone, OT, and patient Roberta Hill

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at Vibra

For most healthcare facilities, the focus generally lands on getting the patient back to a baseline level of functionality. But at Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Massachusetts, it’s about getting their patients “back to better.”

Care Unit”, Gouveia said.

According to Pamela The plan is based on integrated interGouveia, P.T., Director of Rehab Services, each patient is evaludisciplinary teamwork that includes medicine, nursing, respiratory and wound ated and screened by Vibra’s clinical team, care specialists, hemodialysis clinicians, and receives an individualized multidisnutrition, psychology, and case manageciplinary care plan, developed with input from the patient and family. This plan ment. Common diagnoses treated at Vibra includes the frequency and duration of include chronic obstructive pulmonary services from occupational, physical, and disease, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, speech therapists, while restrictive lung and chest It’s hard in the also taking into account wall diseases, respiratory the patient’s prior level insufficiency secondary to of function and current beginning but it gets prolonged medical and/or medical issues. surgical illness, neuromusbetter in time– Patients and families cular disease, traumatic leaving the STACH brain injury, and spinal I’m living proof (Short-Term Acute Care cord injury.

Hospital) to come to Vibra Hospital often “A patient’s hospital course is affected by have an expectation of a rehabilitation their medical issues. The role of the rehab center, but LTACHs (Long Term Acute team is to engage the patient and plan Care Hospitals) like Vibra offer a unique intervention based upon how the patient and unfamiliar medical experience for is doing on any given day,” said Gouveia. most people. “The complexity and acuity “Therapy frequency and duration are of these patients often mirror an Intensive adjusted based upon the patient’s tolerance

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and response to treatment. Typically, as medical issues and tolerance to therapy improves, the patient’s progress accelerates.”

Gouveia said patients may receive a combination of all three skilled therapies (physical, occupational, and speech), be involved with their progressive upright mobility program, and/or receive restorative/ maintenance or augmented treatment with rehab aides under the direction of licensed clinicians. Patient Roberta Hill said, “Physical therapy does work and I love it here. They take their time with me.

It’s hard in the beginning but it gets better in time – I’m living proof.”

Back to better “Intervention often starts in the patient’s room, not in a gym, as a way to optimize the patient’s ability and tolerance for treatment, which can be adjusted on any given day based on the patient,” added Gouveia.

“As an example, being on a respirator does not exclude one from participating in therapy. LTACH clinicians, as compared to STACH clinicians, have a unique skill set, specializing in rehab for the medically complex patient.”

Vibra focuses on patients with critically chronic conditions and admits patients directly from emergency rooms, physician offices, and skilled nursing facilities, working toward preventing readmissions. Vibra manages chronic care patients in its LongTerm Complex Medical Care Unit (CCU), Acute Rehabilitation Unit, or Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit. The Pulmonary Rehab Unit includes ventilator rehabilitation and intermittent positive pressure ventilation, arterial blood gas laboratory services, pulmonary function testing services, and diagnostic laryngo tracheoscopy for evaluation and monitoring airway integrity.

“Ventilator-assisted patients are provided state-of-the-art technology that enhances both safety and ventilator-weaning potential. Adaptations to the ventilator system are also frequently made, while promoting patient communication and mobility for clinical and social activities.”

Once a patient no longer requires hospital levels of care but still needs therapy, they may be discharged to the next level of appropriate care, like a skilled nursing facility or home with services. Said Gouveia, “Hence our vision here at Vibra Hospital – getting every patient back to better.”

For more information on Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Massachusetts, go to vhmass.com or call 508-995-6900. Vibra Hospital is located at 4499 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford.

Getting You Back to Better Vibra Hospital of Southeastern Massachusetts provides safe, high-quality, cost-effective medical and rehabilitation care to our patients and their families with the goal of improving quality of life and maximizing function.

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Membership has its rewards at FRMCU Board of Directors and Senior M anagement

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id you know that Fall River Municipal Credit Union was founded by Municipal Workers?

Originally known as the Fall River Municipal Employees Credit Union, FRMCU has helped its members meet their financial goals since 1930. From basic savings and loans to the latest electronic services, there are accounts that work for every member.

From its humble beginnings at the Pocasset Fire Station to the current organization with four convenient locations and six Rite Aid ATM locations, FRMCU is committed to providing members with products and services that fit their needs and secure their financial future.

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Most people know what products and services they are looking for when they shop for a financial institution. Whatever their needs are, FRMCU is there to help.

The people at FRMCU know that consumers want low fees and good customer service. They want to bank at a place that makes them feel like their needs come first.

There are so many advantages to choosing a credit union. Those advantages, like low interest rates for auto loans, personal loans, and mortgages are very important. FRMCU offers personal assistance along with these great loan products. This is very comforting to members who are making important purchasing decisions like buying a new home or car. When members are pre-qualified, it gives them peace of mind knowing what they can afford before they shop for these items.

FRMCU knows that people have a variety of choices when it comes to choosing a financial institution in the South Coast.

That is why, at FRMCU, they do their best to make sure that the products and services they offer are what members really need to make their lives easier.

With services like Member Link Plus Online Banking, OneClick Online Bill Pay, and FRMCU Mobile Banking, members can do their banking in a free, fast, easy, and secure way.

FRMCU is also concerned about their member’s financial wellness. It sponsors a weekly radio show, CU Wednesdays on 1480 AM WSAR, that covers all sorts of topics including finance, com-

munity, and physical wellness. It offers products like Savings Accounts, IRA Certificate of Deposits, and Holiday and Vacation Clubs designed to help members save for their retirement, holidays, or a tropical vacations.

FRMCU truly cares about and values its members, and wants to help members save money anywhere they can.

FRMCU does this is through forming partnerships with companies and organizations that want to help bring affordable services to FRMCU members. That is why they have partnerships with Bearingstar Insurance and Liberty Mutual Insurance.

FRMCU members who have insurance with these companies receive discounts on their auto and homeowners insurance.

Let’s not forget FRMCU’s younger members. The Sid Saver and Blue Star Accounts were designed for those youngsters who are saving for their futures.

FRMCU developed the Sid Saver Bank At School Program for elementary schools to encourage the importance of savings. For young adults age 14-18, FRMCU has the Blue Star Account. This account offers an ATM Card that teaches the importance of budgets and managing finances. The Credit Union also offers six scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

Because FRMCU is interested in its younger membership, it created the FRMCU Junior Advisory Board which is comprised of local high school juniors and seniors. The Credit Union gets its input to find out what young people expect from their credit union.

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FRMCU is also proud of its partnership with MassHousing.

FRMCU and MassHousing share the same vision: making homeownership possible for those who want it. For those who dream of homeownership, it is not that far out of reach. The Mortgage Team at FRMCU is ready to help make that dream of owning a home a reality through a variety of Mortgage and MassHousing Programs.

In an effort to help members stay comfortable and save on their energy bills, FRMCU is partnered with Mass Save to offer Heat Loans. This program provides members with an energy audit of their homes and interest-free loans for projects to make their homes more energy efficient.

FRMCU will continue to focus on its members and the communities they live in. It participates in many local events, like the JA Bowl-A-Thon, Salvation Army Turkey and Clothing Drives, and the Citizens for Citizens Operation Christmas Toy Drive, to name a few. There is also a Dress Down Day each month to support local charitable organizations as chosen by the employees. The Board, Senior Management, and Staff consider it an honor to do what they can to help these local charities and organizations.

For those of you who are looking for an institution that is focused on you and your financial needs, FRMCU is the Credit Union you’ve been waiting for.

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GOOD TIMES

What we keep My mother found her postal career in her forties when my brothers and I no longer needed her full-time care.

Sherri M ahoneyBattles

Mom loved her job as a postal clerk, and would often work more than sixty hours per week. The job often demanded she work holidays and she would rise well before the sun to make a 4 am shift. She was often tired and stressed, but enjoyed the camaraderie and her paycheck.

My father had taken an early telephone company retirement, and we would often commiserate about the demands of my mother’s postal job and talk about her impending retirement. There was always the promise of time spent together in her later years. She hemmed and hawed about retirement – worried about the financial impact, the lack of structure to her day – and then finally took the leap. She was sixty-three.

One day I was rinsing vegetables in the kitchen when I got the daily afternoon call from my mother. I tucked the phone under my chin while I continued rinsing. Her doctor had found something she didn’t like, and mom was headed for more tests. Surely it was nothing, I told her, but I had stopped rinsing the vegetables.

All the dreams I held of my mother in her later years began crumbling that day. More testing led to surgery, chemotherapy, doctor’s visits, and a brief remission. One August day as I was picking berries

22

near my home a thought, unbidden, pushed its way into my head. My mother will be gone soon, it said.

Her cancer was resistant to additional chemotherapy, and after a brief hospital stay we brought her home in hospice care. For thirteen days I sat beside her and listened to her breath until one beautiful September day there was none.

My mother had just turned sixty-five. What amazed me the most that day when she drew her final breath was the sound of cars that continued to drive by and of birds that continued their songs. Did they not know I wondered?

wallpapering assistant, cutting and pasting my way into adulthood.

When I had my own daughters she would come to visit toting her sewing machine and a basket of fabric, and she would spend days with my daughters making blouses or bags. One of my favorite

She had the uncanny ability to find some good in everyone she knew My mother was a pioneer woman, and we marked the seasons of our childhood picking berries that she baked into pies. She gardened, canned, and pickled anything she could get her hands on when most of her friends were embracing the modernday convenience of prepared foods. She sewed, crafted, and wallpapered with a cup of instant coffee in one hand and a cigarette in another.

We mixed wallpaper paste by hand on her dining room table in a huge white bowl with a wooden spoon, and I was her

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pictures is of her and all her granddaughters modeling blouses that they had each just finished sewing.

Sometime in her thirties she gave up cigarettes for a different addiction: running. She ran in pouring rain, blizzards, and after climbing four-thousand foot mountains. In her forties and fifties she ran in marathons, often taking home trophies and prizes, but she would always say it was easy to win in her “women over the hill” category.

My mother was a woman fueled by kindness and

compassion, and one of her favorite sayings was that if you had nothing good to say then you shouldn’t open your mouth. She lived by that saying, and when she was angry with someone we would often try in vain to goad her into saying something negative about that person.

She had the uncanny ability to find some good in everyone she knew.

When my brothers and I were grown and gone and she stopped liking what her baking was doing to her figure, she shared her baked goods with friends at the post office.

Any vegetables she grew that didn’t get eaten by her family or the groundhogs were put out on the well in a basket by the road with a sign that read “free.” When someone finally took her basket, she started putting her vegetables on paper plates. I asked her one day why she didn’t try to sell her vegetables, and she told me that Clarence down the road made his living as a farmer.

She didn’t need the money she said, but his family did.

In the last year or two of her

life, as she struggled through the chemotherapy and came to terms with her cancer, she worked on two new projects.

She learned how to cut old woolen clothing into strips that she hooked into rugs. She would design patterns using pictures of the horses, sheep and the barn from our farm to create beautiful primitive hooked rugs.

Her second project (which we discovered when we brought her home with hospice) was a large collection of family photos that she had spent months carefully assembling in chronological order into photo albums. These photos were a visual journey through her life, depicting the people and the family that she loved so much.

I spend much of my time dwelling in a house of numbers, so I tally the days, months, and years since she’s been gone, and I walk through life trying to carry a basket full of things she’s left behind.

It’s a basket full of tolerance, kindness, and compassion with no room for things like grudges and spite. It’s not always an easy basket to carry.

A few years ago I lost my office manager in the middle of a busy tax season, and I found myself stressed and yelling at one of my daughters when she needed my help. And so I work on forgiveness for myself and others since it’s one of those things that I carry in my basket.

Last year, six years after my mother’s death, my father married a beautiful sweet woman with only one flaw: she isn’t my mother. My basket of kindness tipped precariously as I struggled to accept this woman in my father’s life.

I often meet with clients beginning to think about retirement. They hem and haw as they try to decide whether to retire or work a few more years. They’d like more time to spend with family and

grandkids, time to travel and see the world, but are confident in their belief that they will have plenty of time. We work through their numbers while the quiet voice in my head says, “how much time?”

Sometimes I will be out shopping or out to dinner, and I will see a woman that reminds me of my mother. I will stare or follow for a few moments unabashedly trying to picture my mother as she would have been in her seventies and eighties.

Recently we spent the weekend with my father and his wife at his cabin in the mountains. Early one morning when I woke I heard her voice downstairs as she spoke to my grandson. Her voice was remarkably like my mother’s voice, and I was content to lay there for a few moments feigning sleep holding on to what sounded like my mother’s voice.

Just last week as I woke my grandson from a nap, he yawned, stretched, and then smiled, and in that unguarded moment of sweet innocent sleep he smiled a smile reminiscent of my mother’s smile.

Our youngest daughter recently bought a house not too far from our own that bears an uncanny resemblance to my mother’s house, and just a few weeks ago she called to ask if I would help her make pickles with the abundance of cucumbers from her garden.

I grabbed my canner, some jars and headed over. In her kitchen we peeled, sliced, laughed and made pickles – just like the pickles I used to make with my mom.

That, my friends, is what we keep.

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PRIME SEASON

The jeweler and his

magic Jay Pateakos

If there were ever jeweler to lean on for jewelry repairs or unique design work, Tiverton’s Studio By the Sea owner Peter Tirpaeck would be that rarest of finds.

Tirpaeck, a full-service jeweler since 1985, calls the work he does his own special “magic.”

That magic takes center stage just about every day when a potential customer walks into his Tiverton shop, clutching a prized family heirloom or trinket and humbly asks, “Can you fix this?”

The answer is always yes.

“The magic relates to experience. I take on everything.

Families come in with their precious jewelry that is broken and I have the experience to fix it. I see what needs to be done and I can actually do it.

It’s like reverse-engineering,”

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said Tirpaeck. “There are so many things from this trade that you can’t learn from a book – you have to engage in it yourself. It’s interpretive science here.”

The magic goes beyond jewelry repair into constructing unique, one-of-a-kind designer pieces.

“We can have a conversation and I can take what you envision and make it threedimensional,” said Tirpaeck.

“I actually see them before I make them. It’s about real quality shining through and someone enjoying what they are doing – having confidence in what they are doing.” 

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All of the repair and design work is performed by Tirpaeck. As a local service, he also repairs eyeglasses and changes watch batteries.

We recently sat down with Tirpaeck, seeking to discover some secrets behind his magic.

You obviously enjoy your role as a Jeweler and a designer. How have you grown into your profession?

With over three decades of experience, I have accumulated a large amount of knowledge and insight, which is so important in this trade.

The skills I have mastered have come through a process known to me as “experientia docet,” a Latin-rooted term for knowledge and skill acquired

through experience. This means that I am eager to take on complicated and intricate tasks as the time and effort I devote to repairing and designing becomes as precious as the piece itself. My hope is that each time you wear one of my creations you will be rewarded with a sense of being a part of this unique process.

Q

It sounds like you have a diverse set of skills.

Can you tell us about some of your national accounts?

Over the last several years I have developed dozens of original designs and manufactured thousands of pieces for retailers such as Vineyard Vines and Allen Edmonds.

I have a fine working relationship with two notable factories in Providence and Q

together we have produced a wide array of bronze belt buckles and sculpted bottle openers to the national markets.

Are there any specific examples that stick out to you?

Many times when I sit down with a customer, the pieces they lay out on the table all have a story. This aspect is very important and I have combined many smaller pieces from older items and created a family coin. These coin pendants are assembled from relics from the past and create a three-dimensional story that will be cherished and retold for years to come.

Another example of a legacy piece is when I create wedding bands using new gold rings that I have embellished with gemstones or features that are sourced from a past generation’s possession.

A final example would be a very common scenario where there is a large older ring or brooch that I convert into a series of earrings or pendants that are then gifted to the next generation of nieces, granddaughters, or children. Fashioning jewelry items in this manner is a great way to give that special gift at Christmas or for a birthday.

Q

Can you tell us about some examples of how you accommodate customers with your design process?

Nearly every customer that I speak to has a drawer or box of broken or obsolete jewelry items. Often these pieces are out of style, or the wrong size, or perhaps they are missing stones. These items are relics from the past, yet they still possess real value. I have a process that I call “redirection” where I cut up older pieces of jewelry into separate components, and then I rearrange them into an entirely different design. These Legacy pieces are always an attractive way to leverage what you own and at the same time preserve and enhance your jewelry.

Q

How does this reQ direction process work exactly?

You would make an appointment and come in with your dormant treasures and I provide a free assessment of what you have. Next, we discuss what you would like as an end result and then together we design and discuss how I will make it happen. Oftentimes, I can create a piece without the customer having to purchase any new material at all. What was once a dormant batch of jewelry hidden in a drawer becomes a stunning item of adornment that can now be worn and admired.

All of the examples above share a common theme, Tirpaeck noted, that when you incorporate what you already possess into a new design, you add value to what you own.

Also, the money that you save by doing so will open you up to many other possibilities.

Visit Studio by the Sea and engage yourself in designing jewelry that preserves the heritage and symbolism of items near and dear to you and yours.

Studio by the Sea is located in the Historic Tiverton Four Corners at 3879 Main Road.

Visit studiobytheseari.com or call 401-639-4348.

OPEN year round, 7 da ys a week Complimentar y Gift Wrapping!

Partners Village Store and Kitchen 865 Main Road, Westport, MA 508-636-2572 • 9:30 am - 5:00 pm www.partnersvillagestore.com follow us on facebook & twitter

cafe • gifts • bookstore • cards • jewelr y clothing • specialty foods • to ys • candy

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E xtra! E xtra!

In brief…

Eliz abeth Morse Read

Welcome back to Autumn, the Goldilocks season – not too hot, not too cold.

After this year’s miserably hot and humid summer drought, the cooling temperatures will make daily life livable again. Stop and smell the pine trees!

What we’ll lack in natural sunlight during fall, we’ll replace with candles, bonfires, Yule logs, outdoor lighting, and fireplaces. We’ll start bringing our social events indoors – holiday fairs, music, theatre, food events, lectures, and church bazaars.

Kick off this year’s fall season by indulging in all the local festivities with your family and friends. Enjoy Halloween, the harvest, the foliage, and the traditional feasts and religious celebrations. But remember our veterans and our not-sowell-off neighbors as you give thanks for your blessings and bounty – don’t forget to share with the forgotten.

Make sure to turn your clocks back an hour on November 6, to vote on November 8, to honor our veterans on November 11, and to get your flu shot!

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Seasonal to-do List

What would the Thanksgiving season be like without a visit to Plimouth Plantation? While you’re there, visit Plymouth Rock and Mayflower II. Plan a day-trip by going to plimouth.org or calling 508-746-1622.

Mark your calendar for New Bedford’s Downtown Holiday Stroll December 3-4 and the New Bedford Preservation Society’s Holiday House Tour December 10-11! For details, visit downtownnb.org.

Don’t miss the special events at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House in New Bedford! Learn how to make hassle-free hors d’oeuvres with Chef George Karousos on November 2, how to add color to your interior design with Susan Sargeant on November 16, or listen to the Spindle City

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River Rats on December 12! For more info, go to rjdmuseum.org or call 508997-1401.

Experience the 105th Annual Medieval Christmas Pageant on December 13 at St. George’s School in Middletown.

For details, call 401-847-7565 or visit stgeorges.edu.

Bristol Community College’s Multicultural Committee will sponsor a free event on October 24, “Winning the Vote: A Brief History of Voting Rights.” For more info, contact farah.habib@bristolcc. edu or Nancylee.devane@bristolcc.edu.

“Artisans by the Bay” will be on exhibit at the Hotel Viking in Newport on November 27, from 10 to 4, offering unique crafts for sale by local artisans.

There’s a must-see exhibit, “Inner Light: The World of William Bradford” at the Whaling Museum in New Bedford through May 2017. For more info, visit whalingmusuem.org or call 508-997-0046.

Trick or treat!

Wear your costumes on October 22 for the free “Dr. Handy & the Wonderfully

South Coast high-fives…

For all you South Coast highway commuters, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is gradually expanding its “Real Time Traffic System (GoTime),” which displays not only the distance to your destination, but also how long it will take you to get there, based on up-to-the-minute traffic conditions. The system is already operational on Route 24 and parts of Route 140, and signage along Route 195 should be working by November.

Signage throughout the state should be operational by the end of this year, along with a mobile application.

The recently passed Massachusetts energy legislation calling for 1,600 megawatts of windgenerated power between 2017 and 2027 could jumpstart the offshore wind industry along the South Coast.

Denmark-based Bay State Wind is also considering the retiring Brayton Point coal plant in Somerset as an 800 MW connection point for wind power generated by offshore turbines. Stay tuned...

New Bedford is poised to become the major staging and deployment hub for the offshore wind industry in southern New England. Three potential windpower developers have signed nonbinding agreements to lease 26 acres of the city’s bustling Marine Commerce Terminal. Developers plan to build hundreds of wind turbines over the next decade on leased federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard.

Bristol Community College has been awarded $200,000 by the state to study workforce development for the emerging offshore

Wicked Witch” at the Handy House in Westport! For more info, call 508-6366011 or visit wpthistory.org.

Boooo! Visit the Ghoulie Manor on Galleria Mall Drive in Taunton! For dates and info, go to ghouliemanor.com or mahauntedhouses.com.

wind industry – one of the fastestgrowing industries in the country. The funds will help BCC to create training, health, and safety programs that would help maximize local employment.

BCC’s award was part of $700,000 distributed to nine academic and research institutions statewide, including UMass Dartmouth and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Ocean Server Technology of Fall River, a global leader in underwater robotics, has set up its new business on Watuppa Pond, where it frequently tests its products.

OST started as a research project at UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

UMass Dartmouth has achieved National Tier 1 designation in the latest US News & World Report “Best Colleges” ranking, up from its previous designation as a regional university. UMD is ranked #220 among national universities now.

In addition, UMass Dartmouth’s Charlton College of Business undergraduate programs earned a #150 ranking among the US News “Best Business Programs.”

When the US Olympic athletes marched in the closing ceremonies of the Rio Olympic Games, they were wearing Polo Ralph Lauren shirts made by Fall River’s New England Shirt Company!

In a special issue of Time magazine, the Oxford Creamery in Mattapoisett was listed as one of the “240 Reasons to Celebrate America Right Now.” The Ocean Spray cranberry-cooperative business model on the South Coast was also mentioned as a reason to celebrate.

Mwa-ha-ha! Don’t miss a trip to Fall River’s Factory of Terror! For dates and info, visit mahauntedhouses.com or call 508-324-1095.

Take the kids to “Boo at the Zoo” at the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford! For dates and info, call 508-9916178 or go to bpzoo.org.

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Sandpiper’s management team meets the community Sandpiper Healthcare held an end-ofsummer cookout on September 9 at Clasky/ Common Park to introduce the team to the New Bedford COA seniors and residents from their four local facilities. Sandpiper is the Massachusetts division of Skyline Healthcare which has been serving seniors for over 20 years. The four facilities are Bedford Village, 9 Pope St., New Bedford; Rockdale Care and Rehabilitation Center, 1123 Rockdale Ave., New Bedford; Dighton Care and Rehabilitation Center, 907 Center St., N. Dighton; Highland Manor, 761 Highland Ave., Fall River.

Pictured is Sandpiper Healthcare's management team. From top, back to front. Scott Nickerson, Administrator for Rockdale Care and Rehabilitation Center; Tina Viera, Director of nurses at Bedford Village; Kim Aldrich, Director of Marketing; Sue Peternel, Admissions Coordinator; Nancy Lordan, Regional Administrator; Tracy Faris, Director of Nursing at Rockdale Care and Rehabilitation Center; Maggie Stratigakis, Administrator for Bedford Village.

Do you dare to visit the famous Lakeville Haunted House? For tickets and info, visit lakevillehauntedhouse.com or call 508-923-0053.

at Frerichs Farm in Warren on weekends!

For more info, call 401-245-8245 or visit frerichsfarm.com.

Mark your calendar for the annual Halloween Horribles Parade on October 30 in North Fairhaven! For details, go to fairhaventours.com or call 508-9794085.

The annual Christmas Festival of Lights at the LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro begins on November 24 – more than 300,000 lights illuminating 10 acres! For details, visit lasalette-shrine.org or call 508-222-5410.

Take the family downtown to AHA! Fall River Night on October 20 – the theme is “Moons & Monsters/Eats & Treats.” For more info, call 508-294-5344 or go to ahafallriver.com.

Go on the Creepy Critters Night Hike on October 28 at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth! For details, call 508-990-0505 or visit lloydcenter.org.

Head for the Silverbrook Farm in Acushnet on weekends for the Harvest Festivals or the Great Pumpkin Festival on October 22! For more info, call 774202-1027 or visit thesilverbrookfarm.com.

Get lost in the Corn Maze at Escobar Farm in Portsmouth! For details, go to escobarshighlandfarm.com or call 401683-1444.

Take the kids to the Pumpkin Palooza

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Let there be light!

Starry, starry night! See the night-sky through the telescopes at UMass Dartmouth’s Observatory on November 5 or December 3, weather permitting. Free.

Accompanied children welcome. For more info, email ahirshfeld@umass.edu or call 508-999-8715.

Blithewold Mansion and Gardens in Bristol will start to “sparkle” for Christmas beginning November 25! For info, call 401-253-2707 or go to blithewold.org.

Don’t miss the annual tree lighting on Bowen’s Wharf in Newport on December 3! For more info, call 401-849-2243 or go to bowenswharf.com.

Get ready for the Christmas Festival at Edaville Railroad in Carver! Take the kids on train rides through the 17 million lights illuminating the park! For more

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info, visit edaville.com or call 508-866-8190.

Food, Feasts and Festivals Don’t miss the free Fall Family Festival at Shipyard Park in Mattapoisett on October 29!

Plan ahead for Fairhaven’s “Old-Time Holiday Fair” on December 10! For details, go to fairhaventours.com or call 508-979-4085.

Mark your calendar for the “Made in Lakeville” Holiday Crafts & Gift Sale on December 3! For more info, go to lakevillearts.com.

Don’t miss the Holiday Fair and Wreath-Making Workshop at the Soule Homestead in Middleboro on December 3. For details, call 508-947-6744 or go to soulehomestead.org.

Don’t miss Newport Restaurant Week November 4-13! Call 401-845-9123 or go to discovernewportrestaurantweek.org.

Be a Good Neighbor

The Marion Council on Aging has launched a weekly “Memory Café” for those suffering memory disorders and their caregivers. Held every Wednesday from 11:45 to 2:15 at the Marion Music Hall, the café offers lunch, activities, and

music in a relaxed, supportive environment. The program is free (donations appreciated) and open to non-Marion residents. For more info, call the Marion COA at 508-748-3570.

Watch “The Newport Nutcracker” at Rosecliff Mansion on December 1-2, performed by The Island Moving Company.

For complete details, call 401-847-4470 or go to islandmovingco.org.

Make the holidays brighter for families in need by attending the 11th Annual Kickoff Dinner to benefit the Salvation Army of Fall River and New Bedford on October 15 at White’s of Westport. For tickets and info, contact Manuela Cimbron at ela@tetreaultinsurance.com or 508-995-8365.

Listen to the performances of the TriCounty Symphonic Band at Tabor Academy in Marion! There’s “Shades of Blue” on October 23, “Scholarship Showcase” November 25, and the Children’s Christmas Concert with the Sippican School Choir on December 11. For details, go to tricountysymphonicband.org.

Fall River native Robert Sullivan, a resident of Berkley, has started Pet Food Aid, a nonprofit organization that collects pet food donations and distributes them to food banks throughout Bristol County.

Volunteers and donations are appreciated.

For more info, call 774-204-5227 or visit petfoodaid.org.

Concerts at the Point in Westport will present the Fred Moyer Jazz Trio on October 16, and Johannes Fleischmann & Anastasya Terekova on November 27. For details, go to concertsatthepoint.org or call 508-636-0698.

Don’t miss TEDXNewBedford at the Zeiterion on November 4! For details, call 508-994-2900 or go to zeiterion.org.

Learn how to protect yourself and those you care for at the lecture, “Elder/ Consumer Fraud for Caregivers” on November 9 at the Unitarian Memorial Church in Fairhaven, sponsored by SouthCoast Progressive Voices. For more info, go to uufairhaven.org.

If you’re concerned about the environment and sustainability issues here on the South Coast, check out ecori.org.

Browse through the Oxford Book Café on Saturdays from 9 to 1 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in North Fairhaven.

Coffee, homemade snacks, used books on sale, and WiFi. To learn more, visit goodshepherdfairhaven.com or call 508995-1219.

Thanks to a grant from UMass Dartmouth, “Black Spaces Matter” will present a year-long series of events and lectures highlighting New Bedford’s abolitionist history and its historic buildings.

Class(ical) acts

The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra will partner with the South Coast Chamber Music Society for “Whirlwind,” which will be performed on November 15 at St. Gabriel’s Church in Marion and on November 16 at St. Peter’s Church in Dartmouth. For details, call 508-9996276 or go to nbsymphony.org.

Enjoy the 2016-2017 season of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra! Classical concerts like “Powerful Beauty” on October 15 and “Villains & Heroes” on November 12 will be performed at the Zeiterion. Plan ahead for the “Holiday Pops” on December 17. For details, call 508-999-6276 or go to nbsymphony.org.

The “Arts in the Village” Concerts Series at Goff Memorial Hall in Rehoboth presents The Euclid Quartet on November 5. For a complete schedule, call 508463-5384 or visit carpentermuseum.org.

All the world’s a stage

Don’t miss “Appropriate” through November 6 performed by Trinity Rep in Providence! For info, call 401-351-4242 or go to trinityrep.com.

It’s all happening at the Zeiterion in New Bedford! Don’t miss political satirists Capital Steps October 19, Jay Leno October 23, the Halloween Movie Spookathon on October 29, Brian Regan November 3, or “A Christmas Carol” December 10! For details, call 508-994-2900 or go to zeiterion.org.

Curtain time! “Born Yesterday” will be performed November 10-13, 17-20 by Your Theatre in New Bedford. Plan ahead for “Christmas on Broadway” December 8-11. For details, call 508-993-0772 or go to yourtheatre.org.

Find out what’s on stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center! Don’t miss “The King and I” October 30-November 6! For details, go to ppacri.org or call 401-

421-2787.

Enjoy a dinner-theatre night out at the Newport Playhouse! “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” will be performed through November 20. “Nana’s Naughty Knickers” will be performed November 25-December 31. For more information, call 401848-7529 or go to newportplayhouse.com.

Check out what’s playing at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren! “Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune” runs through November 13, “Prelude to a Kiss” from November 18-December 11. Call 401-247-4200 or go to 2ndstorytheatre.com.

Heavenly Voices

Listen to classical and sacred music in one of those most spectacular venues in New England. The “Music at Saint Anthony’s” recital and concert series in New Bedford will present guest organists on November 13 (same day as the church bazaar). On December 18, the Spirit of Song Ensemble will perform a Christmas Cantata. For details, visit saintanthonynewbedford.com or call 508-264-8010.

Plan ahead to hear “Christmas in Song” performed by the Newport Navy Choristers on December 9 at St. Lucy’s Church in Middletown. For more details, visit newportnavychoristers.org.

The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra will partner with the South Coast Chamber Music Society for “Whirlwind,” which will be performed on November 15 at St. Gabriel’s Church in Marion and on November 16 at St. Peter’s Church in Dartmouth. For details, call 508-9996276 or go to nbsymphony.org.

The South Coast Community Chorale will perform its Christmas concert, featuring Mozart’s “Missa Longa” on December 11 at Good Shepherd Parish in Fall River. For details, go to sccchorale.com.

The Newport County Orchestra’s Christmas Concert will be performed at Salve Regina University on December 3.

For more info, call 401-341-2295 or go to salve.edu.

Listen to the music

Mark your calendar for the monthly Paskamansett Concert Series at the Dartmouth Grange Hall. There’s Fellswater Celtic Ensemble on November 12.

For more info, call 401-241-3793, or visit

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Remember our veterans Don’t miss the Veterans Day Parade in Fairhaven on November 11! For details, go to fairhaventours.com or call 508-979-4085.

Find out who’s on stage at the Providence Performing Arts Center! Don’t miss Jackie Evancho November 27. For details, go to ppacri.org or call 401-421-2787.

Head for downtown Providence to see WaterFire’s “Salute to Veterans” on November 5. For details, go to waterfire.org.

Check out the schedule at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence! There’s Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire on October 22, the RI Comic Con November 11-13, Trans-Siberian Orchestra November 20, WWE Holiday Tour November 26! For more info, call 401-331-6700 or visit dunkindonutscenter.com.

Visit Battleship Cove in Fall River. For a schedule of commemorative events, go to battleshipcove.org or call 508678-1100.

Day-tripping

Ahoy! Check out the span of maritime history and culture at the Marine Museum of Fall River. For more info, visit marinemuseumfr.org or call 508674-3533.

Don’t miss the special exhibit of rarely seen Impressionist works at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum from October 21 to June 11. For more info, call 401-454-6500 or go to risdmuseum.org.

Relive American military history at Fort Taber-Fort Rodman in New Bedford! For info, visit forttaber.org or call 508-994-3938.

paskamansettconcertseries.weebly.com.

Even more at the Z! Don’t miss Australian BeeGees October 21, Mariza on October 22, Michael McDonald November 16, Kansas November 18, Samantha Johnson November 25, and A Christmas Celtic Sojourn December 15! For details, call 508-994-2900 or go to zeiterion.org.

If you’re a fan of Americana and roots music, check out the Salon Concerts at the Wamsutta Club in New Bedford. For details, go to wamsuttaconcerts.com.

The 10th season of the Stone Church Coffeehouse at the First Congregational Church in Bristol will feature Brooks Williams on October 29 and Neptune’s Car on November 12. For info or tickets, call 401-253-4813 or 401-253-7288.

Listen to the Spindle City River Rats perform on December 12 at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House in New Bedford! For more info, call 508997-1401 or go to rjdmuseum.org.

Get back to your musical roots at Common Fence Music in Portsmouth!

There’s Wild Ponies on October 15, Martin Grosswendt October 22, Patty

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of Blues November 26, Glen Phillips December 15, and more! For a complete schedule, visit narrowscenter.com or call 508-324-1926.

Larkin November 5, A Gathering of Fiddlers & Fishermen November 19, and plan ahead for Aine Minogue’s Winter Solstice Concert December 17! For more info, call 401-683-5085 or visit commonfencemusic.org.

Enjoy live jazz on Saturdays at Greenvale Vineyards in Portsmouth through December 10! For more info, call 401-847-3777 or visit greenvale.com.

Head for the Sandywoods Center for the Arts in Tiverton! There’s Willie J. Laws Band October 15, The Kennedys October 22, Alan Reid October 28, Magnolia Cajun Band November 5, Silly Little Planet November 8, Francisco Pais November 19, Abbey Rhode November 26, and lots more! For a complete schedule, call 401241-7349 or go to sandywoodsmusic.com.

The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River has a fabulous lineup. There’s The Yardbirds October 15, Todd Snider October 18, Asleep at the Wheel October 20, Greg Brown October 29, Samantha Fish November 9, Girls, Guns & Glory November 11, Los Lobos November 17, Tom Rush November 19, Roomful

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Enjoy FREE family fun and entertainment on AHA! Nights in New Bedford.

The November 10 theme is “Made in NB: Celebrating Arts Month.” The December 8 theme is “City Sidewalks.” For details, go to ahanewbedford.org or call 508-9968253.

Time traveling

October is Archeology Month in Rhode Island! Visit historic cemeteries, buildings, and archeological digs throughout the state. For details, visit preservation. ri.gov.

Return to the Middle Ages at King Richard’s Faire in Carver, weekends through October 23! For more info, call 508-8668600 or visit kingrichardsfaire.net.

If you’re interested in the history of Japan-America ties, plan a visit the Whitfield-Manjiro Friendship House in Fairhaven, where it all began. Go to wmfriendshiphouse.org or call 508-995-1219 for details.

To celebrate the centennial of the National Park Service, the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park will offer free admission on November 11 this year. For more info, go to nps.gov/nebe.

Visit the Whaling Museum! For more info, visit whalingmuseum.org or call 508-997-0046.

Explore 18th- and 19th-century life at

the Handy House in Westport. For more info, visit wpthistory.org or call 508-6366011.

Great outdoors

Register now for the 4-mile Pell Bridge Run/Walk fundraiser in Newport on October 23! For more info, visit pellbridgerun.com. If you can’t make that, then register for Grumpy’s Cranberry Harvest 5K Walk/Run in Wareham on November 5! For details, visit grumpy5k. racewire.com.

Bye-bye razor . . .

Hello laser!

Visit Mass Audubon’s Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Center in Attleboro! For more info, call 508-2233060 or visit massaudubon.org.

If you live near Fall River, get outside and enjoy the fall weather! Explore nature trails or historic landmarks, join a walking group. Learn more at walkfallriver.org or call 508-324-2405.

Enjoy the trails, wildlife and scenery of the Mattapoisett River Reserve – leashed dogs welcome. Hike, fish, picnic, bird-watch, cross-country ski. For more info, go to savebuzzardsbay.org.

Take a walk through the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown! EcoTours for all ages. For info, call 401-846-2577 or visit normanbirdsanctuary.org.

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Sagres Restaurant

Jog along the Harbor Walk, a 3⁄4-mile pedestrian/bike path atop the hurricane dike in New Bedford’s south end. Explore the Acushnet Sawmills public park and herring weir in the north end of New Bedford! Canoe/kayak launch, fishing, trails. For info, visit savebuzzardsbay.org.

First & finest in Portuguese Food — Since 1975 —

If you’re near Newport, stroll through Ballard Park! For info, go to ballardpark. org.

Wander through the urban greenspace of the Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens in New Bedford. Call 508-6364693 or visitthetrustees.org. Or take a walk through the city’s Buttonwood Park and Zoo! For info, call 508-991-6178 or visit bpzoo.org.

Go on the Turkey Trot November 19 or one of the Local Beach Walks on November 20 at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth! For details, call 508-990-0505 or visit lloydcenter.org.

Monday - closed, Tue-Thu 11:30-9 Fri-Sat 11:30-9:45pm, Sun 12-9pm

177 Columbia St. • Fall River, MA (508) 675-7018

CYD’S CREATIVE KITCHEN DINNER TO YOUR DOOR

$7 Entrees or Salads On a special diet? Let us do your cooking!

ORDER ONLINE:

Keep up to date on all local events at coastalmags.com!

www.CydsCreativeKitchen.com or call 508-998-6212 to schedule delivery ($2 charge)

2331 Acushnet Ave. • New Bedford, MA S ou th C oast P r ime T imes

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GOOD TIMES

My (heroin) hero

My son Paul stuck out. All six-foot-three of him.

He sported a rancid t-shirt and shorts, wearing his green-dyed Paul mohawk hair spiked up K andarian and making him appear much taller. He was talking to men in suits and ties, including United States Senators from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, movers and shakers in Washington.

There were others, too, including the regional heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, along with addiction experts, health officials, and local cops. They were part of a recent series of events in Rhode Island for “Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week,” bringing together people to talk about the addiction epidemic that is killing people across the country in record numbers.

It was an odd position my son found himself in. An addict in recovery, he laughed that if two years ago when he was scrounging for money for a fix (including stealing from me), he’d be sitting side by side with law enforcement officials, he’d have crapped his pants.

But there he was, not only with them, but as guest speaker, talking to the audience about the positive story of his ongoing recovery. And as his father who lived the nightmarish hell of our existence for far too long, I could not have been prouder.

Every day, we read about addicts overdosing and dying. Every day addiction claims the life of, on average, 129 souls.

Every day we hear and read and see and weep over these stories. Every day we wonder what we can do.

We can start by addressing the crisis as a disease, one that is killing more Americans each year than car crashes or guns. By starting that conversation, we can lift the stigma that is too often associated with addiction.

For more than a year now, I’ve been part of a traveling play, “Four Legs to Stand On,” written by Rhode Island playwright and New York University drama therapy

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graduate Ana Bess Moyer Bell, a show culled from stories she gathered in her area that included deaths of people close to her.* I helped her write the end of the play when my character, the father, gives an angry, desperate, anguished speech, a work of technical fiction but with words being every angry, desperate, anguished word I said to my son during those dark years we shared.

The story we present offers no solutions, but gives permission to think and talk about the disease of addiction. After the 35-minute play, we hold talkbacks, and they have been heart-wrenching and positive all at once, allowing people impacted by addiction to identify with our message.

For the most agonizing split second of my life, I didn't know if he was dead or alive.

We did one recent show at the Alley Theater in Middleborough, and the talkback that followed was the most powerful we’ve had yet. It included one mother who buried her son nine days earlier.

Her composure, her calm, her resolve in speaking out and helping others was one of the most compelling, empowering things I have ever witnessed.

And things like that happen at every show we’ve played, across Rhode Island and now Massachusetts, in areas said to be the epicenters of addiction, and there are many. There were 48 overdose deaths in New Bedford in 2015, 36 in Fall River, 14 in Taunton – where my son and I live, and where Paul could have easily been another number in the lethal chain.

Because there was that time I came home to find him in bed, dried vomit spilling out of his mouth and down his chest. For the most agonizing split second of my life, I didn’t know if he was dead or alive.

N ov ember /D ecember 2016

He’s in a much better place now, having availed himself of treatment at the VA Hospital in Providence. He is an Army infantry veteran, having gone to war and seen its horrors, buddies killed and blown up, things no human being should ever see. I say that not as an excuse for addiction, but a powerful reason.

He got help, he got clean, and he remains that way. And now he is speaking out about the power of recovery, a process that never ends. I stop just short of calling his a success story, which it is, but in recovery, success indeed happens one day at a time.

At the Rhode Island event, Paul spoke of his addiction, his feeding the disease, his burning bridges and becoming something he never thought he’d become. It started the way it does for many: with prescription, legal drugs, easily obtained in this, the most prescribed nation on earth. He spoke of the disease’s progression to much cheaper heroin, his neardeath experiences, his determination to beat back the grip addiction had on his entire being.

He talked of all this in a very composed manner, speaking from the heart, in a way I found surprising and elegant and natural. People came up to him after he spoke, congratulating and encouraging him, offering other speaking engagements to tell a story that must be told.

Every day we hear of people succumbing to the disease of addiction. But every once in awhile, we hear stories like my son’s. In those stories, there is hope.

And in me, there is immense pride in this big young man with green spiked hair and a spirit that is back where it belongs. He is helping others as he helps himself, which points to the overarching message in this battle: we are all in this together and together we will win, even if it’s one story at a time. *For more information on “Four Legs to Stand On,” visit www.coaast.org

Paul K andarian is a lifelong area resident and has been a professional writer since 1982, as columnist, contributor in national magazines, websites and other publications.

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