Palouse Seniors - Winter 2012

Palouse

Seniors winter

2012

AREA SENIORS HAM IT UP Radio hobby can be crucial link in disasters Page 3 INSIDE • Hospital volunteers: Nearly 200 seniors help Gritman • Bitterroot story: Writing to save a family’s heritage • Beyond hearing aids: Technology can make life easier

Page 4 Page 5 Page 8

A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MOSCOW-PULLMAN DAILY NEWS

2 | Monday, November 26, 2012 |

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Palouse Seniors

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Area seniors ham it up Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWďšşPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Radio hobby can be crucial link in disasters

Most in ARES service are seniors Amateur Radio Emergency Services, which currently has 45 members most of whom are seniors, operates in Latah, Idaho, Lewis, Clearwater and Nez Perce counties, said Don Gardner, district director for ARES. Gardner, who also is emergency management coordinator for Clearwater County, said following the attacks on 9/11, efforts were made to increase coordination and communication among various agencies that respond to emergencies.

In the event of a disaster or unusual emergency, ama-

By Debbie Bryce For Palouse Seniors

MOSCOW – Amateur radio enthusiast Geoff Billin refers to his hobby as “tinkering with technology.�

A member of Amateur Radio Emergency Services, Billin said following his n ON THE retirement COVER: from the Amateur University of radio Idaho he had operator plenty of time Geoff Billin to get involved is a former in the pastime, University which is growof Idaho ing in popuinformation larity among technician. seniors.

He “At that currently point, I realvolunteers ized that havwith Latah ing an electriCounty cal engineerSearch and ing degree, Rescue more money and the and more AARP. time, I could get involved in amateur radio,� he said.

There are a number of reasons that the hobby appeals to seniors — the opportunity to serve their community, a way to meet people of all ages and nationalities, minimal physical activity and, Billin said, it’s fun.

Originally from Ohio, Billin worked as an information technician at the UI for 30 years.

He was introduced to ham radio while he was still in high school and obtained his first license at that time. But over the next year, his involvement waned.

However, his interest in amateur radio was reignited about 15 years ago when he volunteered with Latah County Search and Rescue,

| Monday, November 26, 2012 | 3

Geoff Crimmins/Daily News

Geoff Billin of Moscow has been an amateur radio operator for about 15 years. which used ham radios in their operations.

A hand-held transceiver – a device with the capability to send and receive signals – can be purchased for about $150, but more sophisticated systems with the ability to transmit on several frequencies can run as much as $10,000. The basic set up requires a receiver, transmitter and antenna. “My antenna is strung between two trees, but some people put up towers,� Billin said.

Amateur radio operators

must demonstrate an understanding of operating techniques and federal rules in order to be licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. The process of mentoring new radio operators is referred to as “Elmer.� “The origin is not really known, but essentially, we “Elmer� new members,� Billin said.

Ham radio operators also volunteer their time to conduct

teur radio operators can play a vital role in that, he said.

To become a licensed amateur radio operator requires about eight hours of classroom time, but home study is available. The course includes instruction in terminology and radio operation. Once the course is completed, operators sign a commitment to serve.

In the event of an emergency or disaster, ham radio operators would be called out by county emergency responders.

For more information about amateur radio go to www.arrl.org. – Debbie Bryce

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Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Volunteer to go to the hospital Nearly 200 seniors help Gritman’s healing mission

By Debbie Bryce For Palouse Seniors

Gritman Medical Center in Moscow enjoys a wealth of experience contributed by 180 senior volunteers, says Debi Dockins, director of volunteer services.

“They are a vital part of our operation,” Dockins said.

“We couldn’t do it without them.”

Dockins said some are former patients that were influenced by a volunteer while others just want to stay active.

“Now we are starting to get the next generation of

volunteers,” information Dockins said. desk. They “We have help to parents and raise funds children who for medical are working equipment together.” and scholarVolunteers ships, and come from all they put walks of life. their sewSome have a ing, knithealthcare ting, and Debi Dockins background, crocheting Director of volunteer services at while othskills to ers just feel a work on the Gritman Medical Center need to give hospital’s something behalf. back.

Fourteen seniors curSome do counseling and rently volunteer their time community outreach through at Bertie’s Gift Shoppe, said the American Cancer Cherie James, manager of Society.

Gritman’s gift shop.

Gritman volunteers are “It would be difficult to seen throughout the hospital operate the shop without our filling a number of positions volunteers,” James said. at the admitting desk and the James said most volun-

“

They are a vital part of our operation.

We couldn’t do it without them.”

teers work four-hour shifts at the gift shop.

“We work around their schedule,” James said.

“Whatever works best for them.”

Last month Margaret Haggart of Moscow stayed busy unpacking gift boxes shaped like lady bugs. She has volunteered at the Gritman gift shop for the past three years.

“I was looking for something that would benefit the hospital,” Haggart said.

She liked the fact that proceeds from the gift shop fund a number of scholarship programs.

Haggart’s husband, Pete, a retired communications chairman at the University of Idaho, also donates his time at Gritman.

As well as the two hours that she volunteers each week at Gritman, Haggart also donates her time St. James Episcopal Church in Pullman.

Haggart said volunteering

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at the hospital has its own rewards.

“It’s fun and I feel good about it because the money goes to medical related programs,” she said.

To learn more about volunteer programs at Gritman Medical Center contact Debi Dockins at (208) 8836231, or go to gritman.org/ volunteers-auxilary.html.

Debbie Bryce can be reached at bryce.debbi@yahoo.com.

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Senior volunteers needed now more than ever Senior Corps, a program of the quasi-governmental Corporation for National and Community Service, recruits senior volunteers and has mobilized 135,000 of them.

A campaign through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided job counseling and training for 35,000 unemployed Americans — 5,400 of those people found jobs using the skills they learned from the senior volunteers.

Senior Corps matches people older than 55 with projects and organizations that need experienced

volunteer help. The group provides training for volunteers, and lets them choose volunteer projects that meet their interests, talents, experience and availability.

Volunteering is great way to make new friends, and make a difference in someone’s life. In some cases, seniors also receive a tax credit for their volunteer services.

For information about senior volunteer programs go to seniorcorps.gov and be careful to type that address correctly using .gov, because there are some advertisingdriven imposters out there.

— Debbie Bryce

Palouse Seniors

A Bitterroot story MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Author writes to save his family history

By Debbie Bryce For Palouse Seniors

WINCHESTER — Gary Bond said his decision to become a first-time author at 70 was a way to incorporate and preserve his love and knowledge of local history.

On a rainy day last month in Winchester, Bond sat in the community library and signed copies of his first literary endeavor, “Mountain Mayhem” while he chatted with the staff.

Bond looked as if he would as comfortable at a café in New York as he is in the library at Winchester. But Bond, as it turns out, grew up in the wild country he writes about.

The idea for a book started after Bond wrote a short story for his family recounting a story his father, Ralph Bond, had told him about a winter trip into the Bitterroot Mountains in 1919.

“I didn’t want my family history to be lost,” Bond said.

Quiet and unassuming, Bond has an eye for detail.

Making sure the book was historically accurate con-

sumed the majority of his early research and continued as he developed his story line.

“I wanted to make sure Bond the timeline is right,” he said.

“I wanted it be factual.”

Nez Perce words are spelled phonetically throughout the book and he said a 100-year-old English-to-Nez Perce dictionary was a vital tool while writing the book.

Friend Wally Eckard lent him the rare book composed by missionaries.

“It’s about falling apart,” Bond said. “Eckard lent it to me, and I scanned it.”

The story takes off when his father, Ralph, then 18, and a trapper called Zeke met in Weippe.

“Zeke told Ralph of the big money they could make trapping the headwaters of the North Fork of the Clearwater River. The fires of 1910 had forced the furbearers down to the riparian areas of the streams where there was still vegetation,” Bond writes.

That was true but, Zek turned out to be a scoundrel, which led to Ralph’s four-day

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I had an outline for the book, but the plot kind of developed as I went,” Bond said. “I just wanted to keep it flowing. That’s how I write.”

Gary Bond trek out of the Bitterroots through bad weather, wild animals and sparse water.

Bond has three sons and a daughter and said his family loved the short story and told him he should write a book.

A retired forester, Bond said, “I finally had the time.”

Setting a goal of 1,000 words a day, Bond started his book last December and finished in August.

The story sort of unfolded as he wrote.

“I had an outline for the book, but the plot kind of developed as I went,” Bond said. “I just wanted to keep it flowing. That’s how I write.”

Bond credits his love of reading and writing to Nellie Woods, his English teacher at Lapwai High School.

His writing style is very true to his own style, direct

| Monday, November 26, 2012 | 5

and concise.

Bond advises other mature writers to get serious and just get started.

“It’s important to keep your mind active, your body is tied to your mind,” he said.

In keeping with that philosophy, Bond, a resident of Winchester, is already planning a prequel to “Mountain Mayhem.”

“As long as I enjoy it, I’ll keep doing it,” he said.

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Debbie Bryce can be reached at bryce. debbie@yahoo.com

6 | Monday, November 26, 2012 |

Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Gene triples risk for Alzheimer’s disease A look at new management Marilynn Marchione Associated Press

Scientists have identified a new gene variant that seems to strongly raise the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, giving a fresh target for research into treatments for the mind-robbing disorder.

The problem gene is not common — less than 1 percent of people are thought to have it — but it roughly triples the chances of developing Alzheimer’s compared to people with the normal version of the gene. It also seems to harm memory and thinking in older people without dementia.

The main reason scientists are excited by the discovery is what this gene does, and how that might reveal what causes Alzheimer’s and ways to prevent it. The gene helps the immune system control inflammation in the brain and clear junk such as the sticky deposits that are the hallmark of the disease. Mutations in the gene may impair these tasks, so

treatments to restore the gene’s function and quell inflammation may help.

“It points us to potential therapeutics in a more precise way than we’ve seen in the past,” said Dr. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer’s Association, which had no role in the research. Years down the road, this discovery will likely be seen as very important, he predicted.

It is described in a study by an international group published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer’s is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer’s.

Medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.

Until now, only one gene — ApoE — has been found to have a big effect on Alzheimer’s risk. About 17 percent of the population has at least one copy

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of the problem version of this gene but nearly half of all people with Alzheimer’s do. Other genes that have been tied to the disease raise risk only a little, or cause the less common type of Alzheimer’s that develops earlier in life, before age 60.

The new gene, TREM2, already has been tied to a couple other forms of dementia.

Researchers led by deCODE Genetics Inc. of Iceland honed in on a version of it they identified through mapping the entire genetic code of more than 2,200 Icelanders.

Further tests on 3,550 Alzheimer’s patients and more than 110,000 people without dementia in several countries, including the United States, found that the gene variant was more common in Alzheimer’s patients.

“It’s a very strong effect,” raising the risk of Alzheimer’s by three to four times — about the same amount as the problem version of the ApoE gene does, said Dr. Allan Levey, director of an Alzheimer’s program at Emory University, one of the academic centers participating in the research.

at care center in Clarkston

By Vera White Daily News Staff Writer

Nestled in a quiet residential district in Clarkston is the former Clarkston Care Center, a facility that has been on the premises since the early 1950s.

I have been availing myself of treatments there the past few weeks as I recuperated from knee surgery.

Through the years it has operated under the auspices of Eagle Healthcare of Kirkland, Wash.

Late this summer, Eagle sold its 10 facilities to Prestige Care and Rehabilitation of Vancouver, Wash., which operates 45 sites in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, as well as Lewiston Rehab in the Lewiston Orchards. Prestige took over management on Oct. 1.

“We built a new wing at Clarkston in March,” said administrator Dan Knapp, who started at CCC in July and stayed on with Prestige in that position this fall.

Knapp, 51, has spent

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Prestige currently employs 96 people and houses 70 people, with a capacity for 87 residents.

“We probably have a couple of people here from up on the Palouse,” he said.

In addition to long term care and hospice, Prestige offers a full range of therapy — physical, occupational, and speech.

“We are on the cutting edge of health care,” Knapp boasted. “We have an excellent rehab program that helps people get transitioned easily.”

I echo Knapp’s sentiments about therapy as the staff is very professional and the workout equipment superior.

For additional information, contact Knapp at (509) 758-25 23.

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Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Ham

from Page 3 the exams.

Once radio operators are licensed, they are issued a call sign — Billin is known on the air ways as KC7QCS. There are currently 210 licensed ham radio operators in Latah County.

Amateur operators are accountable to the FCC and violations, including unlicensed and inappropriate use, can result in fines and criminal prosecution.

“That rarely ever happens,” Billin said.

However, the federal agency can be slow to act, so in most cases, operators police themselves. Ham operators can locate abusers using antennas.

Billin demonstrated his transceiver by calling a fellow operator in Moscow, but he said by using a repeater the broadcast distance can be substantially increased.

A repeater is typically located on a mountain, the device picks up signals from the valley and transmits them on a slightly different frequency.

“If conditions are set up correctly, I could talk to someone in California,” Billin said.

Similar to Skype — transceivers can also be connected to the Internet to transmit pictures.

Ham radio operators are often called on to assist with large scale events such as the annual Bloomsday Run in Spokane. Volunteer operators assisted with communications between aid stations to ensure the safety of the 50,000-plus runners.

ARES members also provided crucial support for wildland firefighters working in remote areas.

“Where cell phone service is spotty, hams get out,” Billin said.

“Amateur radio is a hobby, a lot of people have fun with it, but in the event of an emergency, it provides a vital link.”

Local ARES members meet weekly and conduct annual emergency drills to hone their skills and coordinate with local agencies.

“Normally regular radio communication works fine, but that equipment might fail,” Billin said.

“If something goes wrong, radio repair people are called, but in a disaster, help is not always available, that’s when hams are

FYI: There are currently 740,000 licensed ham radio operators in the US and more than 3 million worldwide. called on.”

The term ham radio was originally a derogatory term for amateur radio operators – according to Wikipedia, in 1909 Robert A. Morton overheard an amateur radio transmission that included the comment, “Say, do you know the fellow who is putting up a new station out your way? I think he is a ham.”

Billin said amateur radio operators consider themselves “unpaid professionals.”

“We know as much, or more than some of the professionals,” he said.

Debbie Bryce can be reached by email at bryce.debbie@yahoo.com.

| Monday, November 26, 2012 | 7

Tell your story

Nonprofits can get four chances to explain their good work for seniors

By Vera White Daily News staff writer

Thanks to Krista Kramer, independent living coordinator for Disability Action Center Northwest in Moscow, for her columns this past year on that organization’s behalf.

This edition features Krista’s last column.

For the past several years, our quarterly editions of Palouse Seniors have offered free column space each year to one nonprofit group on the Palouse to help raise awareness of the good works done by them on behalf of seniors. We

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also allow space for a photo or two.

We’re now looking for a group to take over for 2013. The first edition is tentatively scheduled for February.

The series kicked off four years ago with contributions from The Friends of Hospice and Family Home Care & Hospice. In 2010 we had features from Friendly Neighbors of Moscow and last year Pullman Senior Center was the featured organization.

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Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Going beyond hearing aids Newfangled technology can make life easier

W

ith your hearing reading and hearing aids as aids on the bedside the tools for communication table, would when someone has a you know if your hearing impairment. smoke detector goes But only about 30 off during the night? percent of the English Do your family language is visible on members retreat to the lips. another room when “Bath” looks just you turn the TV vollike “math” so lip ume high enough to reading is a conhear it? tinual guessing game.

Krista According to the Hearing aids amplify Kramer Hearing Health the sounds closest to Foundation, 20 perthe listener, but may cent of Americans not improve speech 12 and older have a heardiscrimination in many enviing impairment significant ronments. Sign language enough to effect communica- requires both people in the tion. By age 75, 47 percent conversation to learn a secof people have a significant ond language. Writing notes hearing loss. is slow, and most people Many people think of lip won’t write everything they

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would normally say to you.

Each of these communication tools has a role for people with hearing impairments, but there are many more tools available.

Phone communication is usually one of the first places people notice they have difficulty hearing. Since World War II, people who are deaf have been able to type back and forth across the telephone wires using a teletypewriter or TTY. That option has now evolved into texting and everybody does it. With Braille output, someone who is totally deaf and blind can use the telephone, so don’t let hearing loss stop you.

Amplified telephones are available that include tone control, volume control, ringer tone and volume control. Audio jacks or speakers, which allow sound input to both ears, can also increase speech discrimination.

And for those who understand better when they can see the other person’s face, using Facetime or Skype brings “phone” conversations face-to-face. For the deaf community who use sign language, videophone technology and video relay services now allow distance communication in their primary language for the first time in history.

Telephone calls can now be captioned, just like captioning on the TV, allowing people to read the information they aren’t sure they heard. Free relay services, such as CapTel, provide realtime captioning of phone calls, using either a computer or a specialized phone to display the text.

Captioning once required transcriptionists to listen

www.

and type what they heard, but voice recognition systems have improved dramatically and can be used in many situations. I use Dragon Dictation, a free app on my iPhone, instead of writing notes. And Google is making progress on automatic captioning for YouTube videos.

Closed captioning has been a feature on every television with a screen larger than 13 inches produced since 1993. Just turn it on and read what is being said.

The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 includes requirements for captioning Internet video content, too.

People with hearing impairments can request real-time captioning or sign language interpreters as a reasonable accommodation for doctor appointments, educational needs, or other business interactions. The Americans with Disabilities Act gives people the right to communication access for the services of businesses whether those businesses are public or private, but you must ask for what you need.

Assistive listening systems can help bridge the distance between a sound source and the ears of a person trying to listen.

Devices such as a PockeTalker, a small microphone/amplifier with volume control, allow you to turn up the volume to your ears without chasing everyone else from the room.

Systems that use FM, Bluetooth, or infrared signals, allow listeners to receive sound directly to their ears from a source across the room (or down

the street for FM signals.)

Smoke detectors, doorbells, alarm clocks, motion detectors, telephones, baby cry monitors or caregiver call buttons can be integrated with alerting systems that will flash lamps, vibrate your bed, or set off a signaler you can wear in your pocket or on your wrist. There are also low cost apps for using your iPhone as an amplifier or alerting system.

I purchased an AlertMaster system for my grandfather, who wasn’t sleeping well because he was always worried that if my grandmother needed assistance during the night, he wouldn’t hear her once he took his hearing aids out. We set up the doorbell button by her chair, which would set off a vibrator under his pillow, so she could call for help at any time.

They both slept better.

Hearing assistance equipment can help bridge so many communication gaps, once individuals get past the barriers to adopting “newfangled technology.” Studies show that the average person with a hearing impairment waits seven years before getting hearing aids.

Power tools and automobiles were once newfangled technology too. Having the right communication tool to get the job done can keep you connected and participating fully.

Krista Kramer is an independent living specialist for Disability Action Center-NW in Moscow and manages a demonstration and loan library of equipment for people with hearing impairments. For more information about hearing assistance equipment or other disability related questions, call (208) 883-0523.

.com/palousenews

Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWďšşPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

| Monday, November 26, 2012 | 9

The ‘$5 doctor’ practices medicine from bygone era Physician’s routine has changed little in 60 years

By Marha Irvine Associated Press

RUSHVILLE, Ill. — Patients line up early outside his office just off the town square, waiting quietly for the doctor to arrive, as he has done for nearly 60 years.

Dr. Russell Dohner is, after all, a man of routine, a steady force to be counted on in uncertain times.

Wearing the fedora that has become his trademark, he walks in just before 10 a.m., after rising early to make rounds at the local hospital. There are no appointments. He takes his patients in the order they sign in — first come, first-served.

His office has no fax machines or computers. Medical records are kept on hand-written index cards, stuffed into row upon row of filing cabinets.

The only thing that has changed, really — other than the quickness of the doctor’s step or the color of his thinning hair — is his fee. When Dohner started practicing medicine in Rushville in 1955, he charged the going rate around town for an office visit: $2.

Now it is $5.

This in an era when the cost of healthcare has steadily risen, when those who don’t have medical insurance often forgo seeing a doctor. But not Dohner’s patients. He doesn’t even accept medical insurance — says it’s not worth the bother. “I always just wanted to be a doctor to help people with their medical problems and that’s all it’s for,� the 87-yearold family physician says. “It was never intended to make a lot of money.�

Being a doctor, helping and providing a service — that has been his goal since he was a boy.

One of seven children, Dohner grew up on a farm just north of Rushville, outside the little town of Vermont, Ill. His father had hoped he’d take up farming, too. But young Dohner had other ideas, inspired by

the town doctor who’d treated him when he had seizures as a child. “I remember waking up and seeing the doctor there and thinking, ‘That is what I want to do,’ � he says.

After serving in the Army in World War II, Dohner went to Western Illinois University, paying for his education with funds provided by the G.I. bill.

In the early 1950s, he attended Northwestern University’s medical school. He had his sights set on becoming a cardiologist and thought about staying in the big city. But when a doctor in Rushville asked him to put off his heart specialist studies to practice medicine back at home, he agreed to do so, at least for a little while.

Then that doctor left town. “So I couldn’t very well leave,� Dohner says. “That’s just the way it worked out.�

It was a sacrifice, yes. His young wife didn’t want to stay in such a small town, he says, and so their marriage ended.

He never remarried and instead dedicated his life to his work, only leaving this small central Illinois town for medical conferences over the years, never taking a true vacation.

Even when the medical profession changed around him, he was always on call, ready to drop everything for a patient.

Carolyn Ambrosius, now 69, recalls how her mother went to an obstetrician in Springfield when she was pregnant at age 41, a rarity back then. The doctor there told her that either she’d survive or the baby would, but not both of them — a prognosis her mother refused to accept.

So she went back to Rushville. “God’s going to take care of us — and Dr. Dohner,�

Ambrosius remembers her mother saying.

And the doctor did, coming to their home each day to check on her during the pregnancy, and often staying to eat meals with the family after he’d completed his exams.

“I’m not sure if he remembers,� Ambrosius now says.

(By now, the story is vaguely familiar to Dohner. He’s delivered a lot of babies in Rushville — “nearly the whole town,� by some estimates.)

But her mother did survive. “And my baby brother is now 52,� Ambrosius says, standing outside Dohner’s office on a crisp fall day after coming in for a check-up.

Stories like that are common around this town, a quaint place with cobblestone streets around the main square and majestic old mansions, some of which have seen better days.

It’s the sort of place where patients give their doctor a gift or bring baked goods to say thank you. The walls of Dohner’s office hold items such as a homemade clock adorned with shiny beads, embroidery, cards, photos and paintings, including one of the doctor fish-

ing, once a favorite pastime.

These days, though, it takes all his energy just to rise before 7 a.m. to head to the hospital, then to his office and back to the hospital, where the “Doctors’ Dictating Lounge,� named for his father, is set up with a desk and a cot for the occasional nap.

On Thursdays, Dohner closes his office at noon, but even then, he heads to the local nursing home to visit residents. On Sundays, he sees patients before church and stops by the hospital afterward.

He’s there, indeed, like clockwork. But as much as townspeople have grown to count on him, they also worry, as he’s become increasingly frail. “He’s going to be dearly missed, not just in town but the three- or four-county area around the town, you know,

because people come from all over just to him,� says Robert Utter, a 37-year-old emergency medical technician who’s been a patient since he was a small boy.

The doctor’s staff is aging, too. One of his nurses, Rose Busby, is 86. His secretary, Edith Moore, who grew up living next door to the Dohner farm, is 85. “You been here before?�

Moore asks many patients who step up to the office window to sign in throughout the day.

Though she may not remember everyone, she’s not surprised when they answer, “Yes.� “Everybody in the world has been here before,� she says, somehow managing to find each patient’s index card in the filing cabinets that run down the hallway. “They’re full,� she says.

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10 | Monday, November 26, 2012 |

Palouse Seniors

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

Aging drivers present new challenge 8,000 Americans turn 65 every day Joan Lowy Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Baby boomers started driving at a young age and became more mobile than any generation before or since. They practically invented the two-car family and escalated traffic congestion when women began commuting to work.

Now, 8,000 of them are turning 65 every day, and those retirements could once again reshape the nation’s transportation.

How long those 74 million people born between 1946 and 1964 continue to work, whether they choose to live in

their suburban houses after their children leave home or whether they flock to city neighborhoods where they are less likely to need a car will have important ramifications for all Americans.

If boomers stop commuting in large numbers, will rush hours ease? As age erodes their driving skills, will there be a greater demand for more public transportation, new business models that cater to the home-bound or automated cars that drive themselves?

It was the boomers who made “his” and “hers” cars the norm when they started building families and helped spread a housing explosion to the fringes of the nation’s suburbs. Traffic grew when boomer women started driv-

“

Baby boomers have always been an active generation who want to go places, so we don’t see them sitting in porch rockers upon retirement,” said Gloria Berquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “They will want the freedom and mobility of a vehicle.”

Gloria Berquist Vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers ing to work like their husbands and fathers. With dual-earner families came an outsourcing of the traditional style of life at home, leading to the emergence of daycare,

W

the habit of eating out more often and the appearance of more and more cars and SUVs. This generation “has been the major driver of overall

Health n a m h it

growth in travel in the United States and that has had a tremendous impact over the past 40 years in how we have approached transportation planning,” said Jana Lynott, co-author of a new report by the AARP Public Policy Institute, an advocacy group for older Americans, on how boomers have affected travel in the U.S. The report is an analysis of national surveys by the Federal Highway Administration of Americans’ travel patterns since 1977.

The most recent survey, conducted in 2009, included over 300,000 people in 150,000 households.

As a result of changes over the last four decades, driven in part by baby boomers, the number of vehicles in the

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Palouse Seniors U.S. has nearly tripled, the report said, and total miles traveled has grown at more than twice the rate of population growth.

Since 1977, travel for household maintenance trips — a category that includes doctors’ appointments, grocery shopping, dry cleaning and the like — has grown fivefold. The average household ate out once a week in 1977. By 2009, the average household was eating out or getting meals to take home four times a week.

But what really caught transportation planners flatfooted was the soaring growth in traffic congestion in the 1980s after large numbers of women started commuting alone in their cars, said Nancy McGuckin, a travel behavior analyst and co-author of the AARP report.

Highway engineers, who hadn’t anticipated the consequences of the women’s movement and dual-earner families, had just finished building the interstate highway system only to find it insufficient to meet the demands of the new commuters, she said.

Now that boomers are beginning to move into a new phase of life, their travel patterns and needs are expected to change as well.

People tend to travel the most between the ages of 45 and 55, but taper off after that. “With this immense slug of the population sliding off their peak driving years, we would have to expect total travel might go down a bit,” said Alan Pisarski, author of the Transportation Research Board’s comprehensive Commuting in America reports on travel trends.

If millions of baby boomers start driving less, it would reduce gas tax revenues, which is used to help states maintain highways, subsidize public transit and fund other transportation repairs and improvements. Federal gas tax revenue is already forecast to decline as mandatory auto fuel economy improvements kick in.

There are signs boomers may already be slowing down.

MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS

The rate of growth in travel in the U.S. began slowing in 2006. Actual miles traveled dropped sharply during the 2008 recession and now appear to have leveled off.

But boomers could defy expectations again by remaining more mobile into their retirement years than past generations.

“It doesn’t matter whether they were in their 20s and 30s or approaching retirement, they are still traveling more than those who came before them or those who came after them,” Lynott said of boomers.

Most boomers live in the suburbs and are expected to remain in the homes where they raised their children even after they become empty nesters. The housing bust has also trapped many older boomers in large homes whose values have fallen, sometimes below the balance of their mortgages.

A shift in the housing market with long-term implications may already be occurring as leading-edge boomers appear less interested in agerestricted communities than their parents, according to a recent report by the Urban Land Institute, a land-use think tank.

“They are not looking to retire early and are not seeking to isolate themselves among the elderly,” the report said.

Baby boomer Diane Spitaliere, a 58-year-old who recently retired after working 38 years at the Federal Aviation Administration, said the idea of moving to a retirement or assisted living community “is just very unappealing to me.”

If there comes a point when she is no long able to live alone in her single-family home in Alexandria, Va., she’ll probably move close to family members in New York, she said.

Stuart Peskoe, an engineering manager, said he and his wife also want to continue living in their single-family home in the Boston suburbs after they retire, even though their children are grown and live in other states. They don’t

want to leave their friends and they want to keep the extra rooms for when the kids visit.

But he’s not sure how they would get around once they lose their driving skills.

There’s no nearby public transportation.

The Internet and delivery services may help the couple cut back their driving trips, said Peskoe, 58. “UPS and FedEx have this pretty good deal going with Amazon and Netflix,” and the local grocery store delivers online orders, he said. “More and more we don’t have to leave the house if we don’t want to.”

Automakers are banking on boomers being able to stretch out their driving years with the aid of safety technologies— like adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning systems and blind-spot monitoring — that are becoming more common in cars. The transportation needs of millions of boomers

aging in the suburbs may build greater public acceptance of automated cars that drive themselves. Some states already permit road testing of these vehicles.

“Baby boomers have always been an active generation who want to go places, so we don’t see them sitting in porch rockers upon retirement,” said Gloria Berquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“They will want the freedom and mobility of a vehicle.”

Demographers have noted an uptick in retirees moving to central cities where they’re less dependent on being able to drive. Because there are so many boomers, if a significant number move to central cities, it could drive up housing costs and force cities to make greater accommodations for the elderly, such as more benches at bus stops or a slowing of the timing of pedestrian crossing lights.

But the history of boomers

| Monday, November 26, 2012 | 11 has been that they often do the unexpected.

Charles and Pamela Leonard, both 65, recently gave up their careers and traded their home in downtown Atlanta, where they could walk to restaurants, grocery stores and public transportation, for a small farm near Lexington, N.C., where they grow organic medicinal herbs.

Pamela Leonard said the couple isn’t sure what they will do when they are no longer able to drive except, “I will not drive until my children have to take the car away. That was an issue with my mother, and I hope I’ve learned from that.”

“It’s very hard to know how you will deal with old age until you get there,” she said.

“But I think more options, creative options, are going to become available.”

Follow Joan Lowy at www.twitter.com/ AP_Joan_Lowy

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Palouse Seniors

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