Living 50+

Changi ng careers after 50 PAGE 7

JUNE 27 AND 28, 2020

ESB’s Spirited 50 Travel Club offers unique experiences for customers PAGE 5 Linda and Larry DeDonder at Kauffman Gardens in Kansas City.

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SENIORS LOOKING TO STAY ACTIVE HAVE WEALTH OF LOCAL OPTIONS Emporia Recreation Center Fitness Classes

YOGA - Wednesday and Friday mornings at 10 a.m.

Enjoy a relaxing series of stretches inspired to help your flexibility, range of motion, balance and posture. This 60-minute yoga-inspired stretching class focuses on breathing techniques and relaxation. Please bring your own exercise mat.

FIT FOREVER - Monday through Friday from 9 - 9:45 am. You are never too old to obtain a healthier lifestyle from exercise. This 45-minute class is designed with the active adult in mind. Participants can enjoy the benefits of strong muscles and joints through moderate weight training. Join us for a variety of exercises that are designed to improve balance, flexibility, joint stability, coordination, muscular strength and support; the skills needed for your daily life activities. Please bring a floor mat and be ready for a head-to-toe workout!

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By Adam Blake

adam@emporia.com

Aging should never be an excuse for lacking an active and healthy lifestyle, and staff at the Emporia’s local fitness centers say they are more than ready and willing to help seniors reach their fitness goals.

“The Emporia Recreation Center strives to keep our community ‘active for life’,” said ERC Wellness Center Supervisor Aaron Hammond. “One of our goals is to bring people together and help them achieve their wellness goals no matter where they are in the journey. Obviously, as a person ages, stability and joint health can become areas of concern and needed care. This can become a real balancing act between being physically active and over-stressing an aging body which is why we offer a variety of classes and programs that aim towards promoting healthy activity for people of all ages.”

In addition to favorites like yoga, “Fit Forever” and “Sit and Sculpt” classes which are included in all fitness memberships — or attended on a daily basis for a $3 drop-in fee — older clients will find the ERC Wellness Center, 313 W. 4th Ave., can also be tailored to a variety of exercise styles — and ages. The center features options for low-impact cardio such as ellipticals, rowing machines and NuSteps as well as a range

of weight equipment allowing visitors the opportunity to work out specific muscle groups and other areas of the body which may not always get the attention they deserve.

Options for activity aren’t limited to fitness classes and exercise machines however, as the building includes several offerings in its gymnasium area. The indoor walking track — access to which is included with a wellness center membership, through a $1 daily drop-in fee, or through a purchasable walking track pass — is a favorite among those looking to escape the summer heat or maintain their fitness routines during inclement weather. Those on the more competitive side are encouraged to participate in indoor sports like table tennis and pickleball — a sport combining elements of tennis, badminton and pingpong that is played on a badminton-sized court with a slightly-modified tennis net.

Despite the organization’s decision to keep the Jones Aquatic Center closed for the summer season, the ERC’s indoor pool will still be ready for regularlyscheduled classes — such as Arthritis Aquatics and Silver Dolphins — as well as lap swimming sessions.

“The Emporia Recreation Center has the only public indoor pool in Lyon County and we are so lucky Please see Active, Page 3

SIT AND SCULPT - Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Get fit and have fun while you use a chair for this 45-minute exercise class. Weights, resistance tubes and balls will be used for resistance along with a chair for seated and/or standing support. This class will consist of a combination of aerobic training, strength building and flexibility exercises.

Emporia Recreation Center Aquatic Classes

ARTHRITIS AQUATICS - Designed especially for people with arthritis or movement inhibiting conditions. Participants will improve and maintain joint movement and flexibility.

SILVER DOLPHINS - Light aerobic activity with mental stimulation. Work your body as well as your mind with the social interaction and activities during class.

For an updated list of class offerings and schedules (which may be subject to change during the COVID-19 pandemic) visit emporiarec.org or call 620-340-6300

Genesis Health Clubs Personal Training

Those interested in beginning a personal training routine are encouraged to call the front desk at 620-3436034 or visit www.genesishealthclubs.com/locations/ emporia/personal-training.html for more information.

To organize a free fitness consultation, visit www.genesishealthclubs.com/free-personal-training-session.html.

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ACTIVE From PAGE 2 to have this resource in our community,” said Jennifer Wegener, ERC aquatics supervisor. “Water supports the body so there is less stress on joints and muscles and water exercises allow for a greater range of motion, which increases your flexibility. It’s really a great option for those with physical limitations on land.

Your body will not overheat in the water so you can exercise longer and really do as much or as little as you want. If you want a harder work-out, you can do more repetitions or swim at a faster pace. It’s really all up to you.”

Along the same lines of personally-tailored exercise, Emporia’s Genesis Health Club, located at 1007 Commercial St., employ several personal trainers looking to provide unique fitness plans and enthusiastic assistance for those looking to lose weight, gain muscle or even simply recover from a past injury.

Personal Trainer Basil Kessler, who belongs to the 50-plus age club himself, recognizes exercise can often be a deeply personal experience, but hopes new clients also realize Genesis staff — and fellow customers — make it their goal to keep the atmosphere non-judgmental and lighthearted.

“Exercise is very personal in the same kind of way that politics and religion can be,” Kessler said. “I find that women are often more open to getting feedback than men are, but no matter who walks in the door, our goal is to provide them with the most helpful information and the best options for getting them where they want to be. I always, always stress to my clients

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— especially those with limited mobility or those looking to work through an injury — that they should look into getting recommendations from their doctors or a physical therapist first. That information helps both of us greatly in the long run.

There are so many sources of exercise and fitness information out there nowadays, and it’s important for people to realize that some of those might be great, but some might not be so good as well.”

One of the pervading “myths” — and pet peeves — Kessler tries to combat is the simple belief that movement is that same as exercise. While better than living life from the couch, Kessler is a firm believer in variety and trying new things.

“Especially among the older population, you’ll hear people express, ‘Well, I mowed the lawn today, so I got my exercise in’ or ‘I spent some time in the garden pulling weeds, so I don’t need to move anymore today,’” Kessler said.

“Yeah, those things are obviously better than nothing, but calling them your exercise is a bit misleading. Your body is programmed to adapt to routine, so variation in exercise is key. You need to work out different muscles groups. With older people, you need to still pursue things like low-impact cardio. We don’t always think of it this way, but our bodies are systems.

If one part of the system isn’t perform-

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ing the way it should be, that can cause a whole host of problems elsewhere.”

In addition to being personal, Kessler believes that exercise — no matter how fit or experienced the individual — is always a process in one way or another, which is why he encourages clients to take pride in the “little victories.”

“You’ll have people come in trying to target certain areas of their body — the

belly is a big one for guys and the triceps are a big one for women — thinking they can melt away fat or build muscles just by doing one particular thing,” Kessler said.

“I blame a lot of that on the exercise and diet ads on TV. It’s just not realistic, and anybody who has stuck to a fitness routine in their life can tell you that it’s a process, sometimes a very lengthy process, to get where you want to be. I don’t think that should be automatically discouraging, though.

“Our main message that we try to get out there to everyone is simply, ‘Do it for yourself.’ You’ve got to take a proactive approach in taking care of your body.

Your body is just that — your body — so comparing yourself to others really isn’t helpful. Everybody starts at a different spot in their fitness journey, and not everyone may have the same goals. The important things to realize are that it’s never too late to start as well as realizing the importance of keeping after it after you start, no matter how slow that progress may come.”

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ESB’S SPIRITED 50 TRAVEL CLUB OFFERS UNIQUE EXPERIENCES FOR CUSTOMERS

By Ryann Brooks

brooks@emporia.com

For more than 35 years, ESB Financial’s Spirited 50 Travel Club has offered unique experiences for senior account holders.

According to Carolyn Davis, ESB’s former marketing officer, the club first began in 1985 when then-President Howard Gunkle returned from a Kansas Bank Association conference.

“A president of a Lawrence bank had told him about a new concept in banking services for senior citizens his bank had begun,” Davis said. Gunkle and Davis discussed what such a program might look like locally, settling on a no-service-fee account — called LX-tra — for customers ages 60 and older.

While a number of merchant discounts for account members were offered for account holders, the biggest highlight of the account would be sponsored trips designed for seniors.

But Davis’s first trip did not go entirely as planned. Initially organizing an overnight stay in Paris, Arkansas with a stop in Carthage, Missouri to tour the Precious Moments Chapel, the trip didn’t garner much interest. The eight customers who signed up for the trip to Arkansas were

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Dave and Carolyn Meierhoff often take their daughters Lisa and Susan to the Kansas City Royals games.

given an alternate day-trip to the Crown Uptown Dinner Theatre in Wichita instead — and loved it.

“Mostly day trips were planned from then on, first selling out one busful and later two,” Davis said. ESB worked closely with Stan and Karen Sommers of International Tours to plan more fun activities.

Please see Travel, Page 6

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ACTIVE From PAGE 5 Fred Harder, ESB vice-president, joined the travel group as a coordinator in 1987. In 2001, Karen Sommers became ESB’s VP of marketing upon Davis’s retirement, and several years later the qualifying age on the bank’s senior accounts was lowered to 50.

The LX-tra account was rebranded to The Spirited 50, and the travel group has continued to thrive over the years.

“We are always treated with nothing but kindness and respect,” Carol Mathis, a long-time traveler and customer with ESB, said. “They take care of all the logistics, so we just enjoy ourselves.”

Mathis said she and her husband Merlin first started joining the excursions in 2011 — about the time she retired. It’s been a great way for the couple to enjoy new experiences together and spend time with friends.

“We have been able to try restaurants we have never heard of and never known existed,” she said. “The activities are always age-appropriate for us, too.”

Mathis said she particularly enjoyed a trip up to the C. W. Parker Carousel Museum in Leavenworth one year. The site, sponsored by the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, features a number of antique carousels and artifacts on display and includes a working ride as well.

“We did get to ride on the carousel,” Mathis said. “We had a wonderful time.”

Other trips Mathis and her husband have enjoyed have been trips to the theater — including “Hamilton” and “War Horse.”

“I would encourage people to take advantage of these trips with ESB,” she said.

Barb Haag of Olpe said she also enjoys the trips. Haag joined the travel club in 2012, about a year before she retired, because she had been hearing about the trips from other people in the community.

“I just decided I was going to take a day of vacation and see what it was about, and I have not regretted even one of them,” she said.

Haag is a fan of the arts and theatre and takes the opportunity to travel to shows and events her husband, Harry, might not be interested in. He has joined her for a few excursions here and there, she said, but mostly she enjoys spending the time with her daughter or friends.

“If we are going to the New Theatre Restaurant where we get a meal and we see a show, or we’re seeing a Broadway show, those are my treasured trips,” she said. “A lot of it has to do with the fact that, at my age, this is stuff I wouldn’t get to do on my own. I maybe need my

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daughter to go with me, or my husband to go with me. But, over the years I’ve had friends who have also joined and it’s a good time to get together with them and for me to meet lots of other people, too.”

Dave and Caroyln Meierhoff agreed that the trips are well worth the expense, and most of them are more affordable than you might think.

“We normally go places that we would not go to on our own,” Dave Meierhoff said, adding that a trip to the Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden was an unexpected favorite for the couple.

“We’ve done the dinner train in Abilene where the Brookville Hotel served chicken. We’re NASCAR fans, so we’ve taken trips to the Kansas Speedway.”

Meierhoff said the couple, who have been taking the trips for about 10 years now, bring their daughters Susan and Lisa along as guests to the trips to see the Kansas City Royals. The Spirited 50 Travel Club rents out the George Brett Lounge for those game outings, making those trips extra special.

Just like the trips, business with ESB has become a family affair for the Meierhoffs.

“Our two daughters, one of them just turned 50 so she joined [the club],” Meierhoff said. “Our other one is almost 50 and she’ll join.”

Sommers said she and Harder like to plan trips that are memorable for their customers that they can look back on fondly. While the group has taken longer trips, such as a Christmas stay in Branson, Missouri and a week in Great Britain, typically day trips are the most popular events.

“We like to plan unique experiences that people don’t normally get to do on their own,” she said. “Our travelers prefer shorter day trips. They are more affordable and people have a chance to travel more than once a year.”

Harder said the group likes to try out

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Carol and Merlin Mathis enjoy a night at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in 2017.

upscale restaurants and dining experiences. They have eaten at some restaurants in the region that many of their guests had never been to or even heard of before.

That makes it even more memorable.

“We’ve eaten at Fogo de Chao [in Kansas City], the AVI Sea Bar and Chophouse [in Wichita],” he said.

The travel club also gets some local perks, such as tickets to the first ESU Summer Theatre show and reception each year, along with a host of other gatherings throughout the year.

This year, however, there are some changes.

While the group was able to have it’s St. Valentine’s Roaring 20s party in February, the ESU Summer Theatre performance has been canceled this year due to the pandemic. Sommers said they have also canceled their trip to Kansas City to

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Barb Haag and Gladys Heermann stand in front of a KC streetcar.

see a stage production of Disney’s “Aladdin,” which was supposed to take place in April.

Haag said she was especially disappointed about missing “Aladdin” this year, though she understands the need to be cautious moving forward with planning future trips. She knows that once the trips start again, they will have been well worth the wait.

“It’s just something really wonderful to look forward to,” Haag said. “We just need to wait a little bit longer.”

Harder said they are still hoping to be able to get in a Royals game — that trip, originally scheduled for May 6, has been rescheduled. They will make more adjustments as needed in the coming months.

The Spirited 50 Travel Club is open to all ESB Financial account holders ages 50 and older. Call 340-9925 for more information.

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FAITH OVER FEAR

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Changing careers after 50

By Ryann Brooks

brooks@emporia.com

Not many people would leave a comfortable job working in the corporate sector to start a program, especially just a few years away from retirement.

But at 55, Chris Nicholas — a graduate of Emporia High School — recently tossed his fear aside and did just that.

Nicholas, now based out of Joplin, Missouri, has started putting together a faithbased program to end veteran suicide. It’s a topic close to his heart. Nicholas is a veteran of the US Army, enlisting and serving in the 82nd Airborne infantry division for four years.

“I got my college money and got out,” he said. “I went to school at Auburn University, and I got a degree in engineering.

My first job out, I found myself taking apart refueling, repairing and putting back together nuclear reactors as an engineer, and then I made the change into appliances, and I worked at GE Appliances Maytag.”

Nicholas spent 18 years working in the corporate sector when, in February 2005 — at the height of the Iraq War — he decided to reenlist. He joined the Tennessee National Guard. By April, he had been sent overseas.

“I was there in [Ramadi, Iraq] from 2005-2006,” he said. “It was the worst

fighting of any kind during the Iraq war and before I left for Iraq and then coming back from Iraq, I was different.”

Nicholas, who had been married for 20 years, found himself withdrawing from that relationship. It was hard for people who hadn’t experienced combat to understand what he was going through. He wanted to go back, to be with his brothers on the battlefield.

“I spent my first year back from Iraq waking up everyday wishing I was back over there, not for the fighting, but for the brotherhood and the camaraderie,” he said.

“For that love we had for each other.”

Nicholas said after his first marriage dissolved, he would rush into a second marriage in 2017. That union was also ill-fatNicholas ed. He found himself struggling.

“I was in a very dark place,” he said.

“Luckily, one of my fellow brothers saved me. I’ve lost more more friends to suicide since we got back than we lost in combat.

That one friend that helped save me actu- edge, the skills, the abilities and the ally took his own life.” strength that we get from God. Once we put that together, we can identify ways to Ending Veteran Suicide overcome the things that they are going Nicholas felt as though he had been through, because fear blinds and confuses given a second chance to do something and paralyzes us. But if we have that spirit positive. Over the last three years, he has of love, that positive energy, our eyes are been developing a open, we have a clear picture, and we are program to end veter- able to identify the best decision that we an suicide by working need to make based on the information with other agencies that we have.”

While COVID-19 has slowed down and resources.

“My goal is to do some of his work in the last few months, everything that I pos- Nicholas has been working with a number sibly can to stop vet- of organizations to ensure that he is able eran suicide because to reach people in need.

“We are just now getting to the point it’s actually getting worse and not better,” where we can look at setting up a 501(c) he said. “The latest (3), but there are so many organizations statistics show that doing work with veterans and I am workwe’re losing more ing with their directors to help them in now than we ever any way that I can to help them as we roll out our program,” he said. “We are workhave.”

He is also put- ing with the VFW, American Legion, Iraq ting together a book, and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and “Coming Back From we are now getting to the point where we the Edge of the can start setting up more seminars. So, Abyss,” which focuses it’s taken longer than I thought, but there on using the skills and is no lack of opportunity.”

Nicholas encourages local veterans strength one can get from God to make it organizations to reach out if they are inthrough today.

“You cannot control fear; fear has to terested in learning more about his probe managed,” Nicholas said. “The only grams by calling 731-499-2549 or emailway to manage that is through the knowl- ing chrisanicholas@gmail.com.

ANNUAL COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENINGS ARE RECOMMENDED FOR MEN AND WOMEN OVER 50 As the human body ages, screening for various conditions and diseases may need to occur more frequently. Routine doctor visits may not be a part of most people’s image of the perfect retirement, but such checkups can save lives and make one’s golden years much more enjoyable.

The World Health Organization notes that cancer is the leading cause of death across the globe and that colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the world. A 2017 study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention concluded that risk factor modification, screening

and treatment all have considerable potential to reduce colorectal cancer mortality by 2030.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends that men and women between the ages of 50 and 75 be screened for colorectal cancer every year. Doctors screen for colorectal cancer in various ways, and many of these screenings need not be conducted annually. However, the USNLM recommends that all men and women between the ages of 50 and 75 receive a fecal occult blood, or stool-based, chemical, or FIT, test every year. The FIT test every year. In addition, men and is a simple test that adults can conduct in women should receive a fecal immuno- the privacy of their own homes.

Doctors may recommend additional screenings for colorectal cancer. Upon making such recommendations, doctors will discuss patients’ screening options, which include an assortment of tests, and then recommend which test might be best for the patient. The USNLM recommends men and women receive stool DNA tests every three years, flexible sigmoidoscopy tests every five years and double contrast barium enemas every five years. Virtual colonoscopies (once every five years) and colonoscopies (once every 10 years) also may be recommended.

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