JULY 2016
plus! The magazine for active, mature lifestyles
9 PAGE
Garden Paradise
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INSIDE 2
The Savvy Senior: New MIND diet may help prevent Alzheimer’s
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ADRC in need of volunteers
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Easier access to hearing loss treatments urged
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A moment in time. Manitowoc woman remembers Lincoln High’s first outdoor graduation
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Finding peace. Manitowoc war veterans return to Vietnam decades later
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Puzzles
JIM MILLER
Syndicated columnist, NBC Today contributor & creator of SavvySenior.org
New MIND diet may help prevent Alzheimer’s
Dear Savvy Senior, I’ve heard that there’s a new diet that can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. What can you tell me about this? My 80-year-old mother has Alzheimer’s and I want to do everything I can to protect myself. — Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned, It’s true! Research has found a new diet plan – called MIND diet – can have a profound impact on your brain health as you age, and can even lower your odds of getting Alzheimer’s disease. The MIND diet takes two proven diets – the hearthealthy Mediterranean diet and the blood-pressure lowering DASH diet – and zeroes in on the foods in
Brandon Reid, editor Herald Times Reporter 920-686-2984 breid@manitowoc.gannett.com
THE MIND MENU The MIND diet has 15 dietary components. The emphasis is on eating from 10 brain-healthy food groups, and limiting foods from five unhealthy groups. Here’s a rundown of the healthy foods you should work into your diet: • Green leafy vegetables (like spinach and salad greens): Eat at least one serving per day. • Other vegetables: At least one other SAVVY SENIOR CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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each that specifically affect brain health. The MIND diet, which stands for “Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay,” was developed by Martha Clare Morris, a nutritional epidemiologist at Rush University Medical Center, through a study funded by the National Institute on Aging. The study followed the diets of nearly 1,000 elderly adults, who filled out food questionnaires and underwent repeated neurological testing for an average of 4.5 years.
It found participants whose diets most closely followed the MIND recommendations had brains that functioned as if they were 7.5 years younger, and it lowered their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by as much as 53 percent. And even those who didn’t stick to the diet perfectly but followed it moderately well reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s by 35 percent.
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ON THE COVER: Garden paradise Manitowoc’s Bill Seidl makes name for himself in peony world
Cover Photo: Bill Seidl, 84, poses for a photo with two kinds of hybrid peonies that he created at his garden on Wednesday, June 15. The yellow hybrid is called Number 109 and Seidl is inclined to name the one in his hand Mirusia, after Australian soprano Mirusia Louwerse. YI-CHIN LEE/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
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SAVVY SENIOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 vegetable a day. • Whole grains: Three or more servings a day. • Nuts: Five 1-ounce servings a week. • Beans: At least three servings a week. • Berries: Two or more servings a week. • Fish: Once a week. • Poultry (not fried): Two times a week. • Olive oil: Use it as your primary cooking oil. • Wine: One glass a day. And the five unhealthy food groups you should limit include: • Red meat: Eat fewer than four servings a week. • Butter and margarine: Less than a tablespoon daily. • Cheese: Less than one serving a week. • Pastries and sweets: Less than five servings a week. • Fried or fast food: Less than one serving a week.
OTHER BENEFITS One of the best things about the MIND diet is that it’s easier to follow than most other diets and you don’t have to stick to it perfectly to gain the benefits, which makes it more likely you’ll follow it for a long time. And the longer you eat the MIND way, the lower the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Another advantage is that the MIND diet can help you lose some weight, too, if you keep your portions in check and are careful about how the food is prepared. It’s also important to understand that even though diet plays a big role, it’s only one aspect of Alzheimer’s disease. So get regular exercise, if you smoke, quit, and learn how to manage your stress to lower your risk even more. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
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ADRC
Aging and Disability Resource Center
ADRC in need of volunteers BY CATHY LEY The ADRC of the Lakeshore is looking for volunteers in a number of areas. Do you have a few hours per month to give? Please consider joining us! “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead Deliver a smile: Want to make a difference with those who need you the most? Deliver a hot, nutritious meal to an older, homebound adult. Routes are available Monday-Friday. Routes typically take one hour. Bring sunshine (and a hot meal) into the life of another. Nourish your community. Nourish your spirit: Do you enjoy working with a group of friendly volunteers and older adults? Volunteer to help at our Senior Dining Sites. Meals are served at locations throughout the county. Volunteers assist with set-up, meal serving and clean-up typically between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Days of service vary. Nurture independent healthy neighbors: Interested in health, wellness and prevention? Volunteer to help learn or run an educational or exercise-based class for older adults or adults with disabilities. File and phone for independence and choices: Enjoy the office environment? Good with computers? Help us out at our offices throughout our two counties. Learn more. Call today and speak with Kim Novak: 1-877-416-7083. Senior Farmers’ Market Vouchers still
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available Senior Farmers’ Market Vouchers will again be distributed by the Aging & Disability Resource Center of the Lakeshore. The Farmers’ Market Vouchers are valued at $25 and are redeemable for Wisconsin-grown fresh produce, fruit and herbs from participating vendors for Manitowoc and Kewaunee County seniors. to 11:30 a.m., Saturday, July 16, at LesTo be eligible, a person must be 60 ter Public Library in Two Rivers. or older, income for a single person June’s theme is “Wheel of Fortune,” cannot exceed $1,832 per month and a with special guest star, “Vanna White.” couple’s income cannot exceed $2,470 How good are you at solving the Wheel’s per month. Bring proof of income and puzzles? Will you win a prize? Wheel of photo ID. Fortune Trivia will see how much YOU Call the ADRC of the Lakeshore at know! 877-416-7083 for more details. Vouchers Lakeshore Memory Cafés are a prowill be distributed on a first come, first gram of the Dementia Friendly Comserved basis. munity Committee – a partnership of Lakeshore Memory Café many local organizations that have Have you heard about the Lakeshore joined to make Manitowoc County Memory Café? more dementia-friendly. For more Memory Cafés welcome those ex- about the program, or if you would like periencing early-stage dementia, mild to volunteer for the committee, call Kim memory loss or cognitive impairment, Jacquart Franzen at 877-416-7083. and family and friends of those affected. Be on alert for IRS phone scam It’s a great opportunity for lively discusWe have received a number of calls sions, information gathering, refreshfrom customers who have received ments, camaraderie and lots of creative phone calls from someone representing fun. themselves as the IRS. The following inWe have a dementia specialist pro- formation comes to us courtesy of the fessional on hand to answer questions Greater Wisconsin Agency of Aging and an enormous wealth of experience Resources, Inc. among participants to be shared. Be on Alert! We’d be delighted if you would join The end of tax season is a prime opus. Upcoming sessions will be held from portunity for scammers to target you. 10 to 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 6, at Scammers will target people who owe Manitowoc Public Library; and from 10 the IRS money and make threatening
phone calls or demand information from you, like your Social Security Number. These people are NOT Social Security, IRS or government employees. According to the Social Security Office, requests from a government agency will come in writing, and legitimate Social Security, IRS or government employees will NEVER call you to demand immediate payment; demand that you pay a debt without the ability to appeal the amount you owe; require a specific means of payment, such as requiring you to pay with a prepaid debit card; ask you for your personal information or credit or debit card numbers over the phone; or threaten you with arrest or deportation. If you receive one of these calls and are unsure what to do, hang up immediately. Do not give out any of your personal information. You can also request a number and extension, as government officials have valid telephone numbers and extensions. After verifying the information is correct, you can call back. Do not feel pressured to provide any information over the phone, especially if you feel uncomfortable.
Easier access to hearing loss treatments urged With costs, risks high, advisory group calls for change LAURAN NEERGAARD ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Treating hearing loss shouldn’t be such a pricey hassle. That’s the message from a prestigious government advisory group that’s calling on Medicare and other agencies to find ways to make better hearing more affordable and accessible for millions of older Americans. One proposal: Allow over-the-counter sales of simple devices for mild hearing problems as an alternative to full hearing aids — much like consumers with vision problems today choose between drugstore reading glasses or prescription bifocals. A recent report says action is important because hearing loss isn’t just a struggle for individuals but a growing public health problem, putting untreated seniors at extra risk of social isolation, depression and even dementia. “This is not something to be ignored,” said Dr. Dan Blazer of Duke University, who was chairman of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that studied the problem. Yet, only a fraction of people who might benefit from hearing aids use them, and one reason is the price — averaging about $4,700 a pair including all the fitting services, the report found. Insurance coverage is very limited, and Medicare doesn’t pay for hearing aids, only diagnostic hearing tests. The panel urged Medicare to evaluate options to provide coverage of hearing aids and other care, while acknowledging that Congress has long refused to lift that restriction. “We know this is a reach,” Blazer said. But “Medicare needs to have this on their radar screen.” Hence the panel’s bigger focus on other recommendations: The Food and Drug Administration should allow over-the-counter sales of simple wearable devices to ease mild hearing problems, offering a first-step option for people who can’t afford or aren’t ready to make the leap to hearing aids. There are consumer electronic products
that can amplify sound in various ways, costing from $50 to $500, but the FDA hasn’t considered them hearing treatments. Hearing tests aren’t part of routine check-ups, but they should be, including the Medicare annual wellness visit. Many providers charge fixed prices for hearing aids that include both the devices and all the professional services to fit and adjust them, but itemizing those prices would better allow consumers to choose the treatments that best fit their needs. Consumers should be told before purchasing that some hearing aids can be programmed only by certain providers, limiting their ability to switch care. And consumers should have access to their hearing tests so they can shop around, much like people can go to one optometrist for a glasses or contacts prescription but buy elsewhere. About 30 million Americans have hearing loss, a problem that increases as people pass middle age — and the population is graying rapidly. Thursday’s report urges more research about the effects of untreated hearing loss on people’s physical health, including links to cognitive dysfunction and dementia, saying a better understanding is critical both to insurance decisions and to families’ decisions to seek care. How could hearing loss be related to dementia? “Your brain constantly has to deal with more garbled sound,” said Dr. Frank Lin, an otolaryngologist at Johns Hopkins University, a co-author of Thursday’s report. That extra work by the brain “comes at the expense of our thinking skills,” and the reduced auditory input might even lead some parts of the brain to shrink, said Lin, who has long studied the link and is preparing to study the bigger question: whether treating hearing loss reverses that risk. It’s not clear whether the recommendations will be adopted. University of Miami audiologist Robert Fifer, who wasn’t involved with Thursday’s report, criticized its assumption that self-
treating hearing problems could be done as easily as choosing reading glasses. It takes precision to tune sound-amplifying devices to target just the frequency someone needs to hear speech rather than merely making background noise louder. But Fifer welcomed calls for providers to be reimbursed for what’s called rehabilitation, training people to make the most of what hearing remains, regardless of whether they’re using a hearing aid. TIPS FOR OTHERS The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine posted some rehabilitation tips Thursday for talking with someone who has hearing loss: Speak face-to-face and more
slowly rather than loudly — shouting distorts speech. Reduce background noise such as TVs or music. And don’t just repeat a missed statement; rephrase it, which gives listeners more opportunity to figure out the words they miss through context.
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Lincoln High School holds its first outdoor graduation ceremony on June 13, 1934. (Courtesy of Manitowoc County Historical Society)
Virginia Rosinsky, 99, poses with a portrait of herself from about 80 years ago and her 1934 Lincoln High School diploma. (USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
A MOMENT IN TIME Manitowoc woman remembers Lincoln High’s first outdoor graduation SARAH KLOEPPING
USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
MANITOWOC - Virginia Rosinsky remembers Lincoln High School’s first outdoor graduation ceremony like it was yesterday. Of course, yesterday was actually more than 80 years ago. “It’s a long time ago when you think of it,” said the 1934 graduate, who will turn 100 in October. Still, Rosinsky recalls her ripe-peachcolored dress — though she would have preferred blue — and being in the first pair to walk down the school’s steps at the start of the ceremony. “I was afraid I might trip or fall, but I got through it pretty good,” Rosinsky said. “Graduation was very nice. They never had anything else like that before.” The tradition of an outdoor graduation began out of necessity. The Class of 1934 was the largest in the school’s 10year history, and the auditorium was no
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longer large enough for graduates and their guests. Commencement was a special day for those 311 students — and even more so for Rosinsky, the first in her family to attend high school at all. Her father, a riveter for Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., and her mother didn’t have any formal education beyond primary school. Rosinsky’s two older sisters, Adeline and Grace, decided to get jobs rather than continue to high school. “I wanted to be the one that could go to high school,” said Rosinsky, known then as Ginny Brixius. “I kind of looked forward to it. I suppose I wanted some kind of a nice job. In our family, nobody was like that. I wanted to be the only one.” And Rosinsky’s family was excited for her. Grace styled Rosinsky’s hair for the ceremony. Adeline loaned her shoes. Rosinsky didn’t think her parents would attend graduation, since they
usually avoided pomp and circumstance. This time, though, they proudly sat in the audience as their daughter got her diploma. Even though Rosinky’s dress wasn’t the perfect color, it was special because it was new. Growing up during the Great Depression, anything new was a luxury, especially with two older sisters and two times the hand-me-downs. “Very seldom I got clothes, because we didn’t have any money at all,” Rosinsky said. “At that time, hardly anybody was working and nobody had any money. They were all very poor.” The tradition of an outdoor ceremony has continued every year since Rosinsky first began walking down the school’s staircase. Rosinsky’s two younger brothers, Kenny and Donald, followed in her footsteps and also graduated from high school. And her only daughter, Kathryn,
graduated from Lincoln in 1960. The ceremony was “more peppy” by then, and the celebration afterward was more extensive. “Nowadays, they all go out and they don’t get home til in the morning,” Rosinsky said. “We couldn’t do that then. We just ate ... soda and popcorn, and then I had to go home.” She attended a couple class reunions throughout the years, most recently the 65th. “They all aged quite a bit,” Rosinsky said. Perhaps Rosinsky remembers her graduation so well because it meant so much. On display in her room at Shady Lane Nursing Care Center is a senior portrait, and she still has her diploma. “I guess just to show that I graduated. That you’re a little bit intelligent,” she said with a laugh. Sarah Kloepping: 920-686-2105 or skloepping@htrnews.com
Finding peace
Manitowoc war veterans return to Vietnam decades later SARAH KLOEPPING
USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
Ed Hansen’s first tour in Vietnam lasted a year and a half. He collected images of jungles obliterated into fields, military camps growing faster than trees, and people who feared for their lives. “That first day in country set the tone for the next 19 months of my life,” the Manitowoc resident said of his time serving in the Vietnam War. “I would never be the same again. The imagery from the next days would slowly be stored in my mind. The pictures have never faded, the mental images that will not dim until I, too, fade away.” For nearly 50 years, those were the only
images Hansen recalled when he thought of Vietnam. In April, he, along with fellow war veteran Dave Mrotek, toured the country again — this time only for 11 days. “I came away (from the war) feeling a little bit betrayed by my country,” Hansen said. “Either we shouldn’t have fought the war to begin with or we should have fought it to the end. And we didn’t do either of those. Going back, meeting the people I fell in love with again, seeing this beautiful country and how prosperous they are … it was healing.” Hansen, who grew up hearing stories about his five uncles serving in World War I, knew he wanted to join the military. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1968 and
Old photos of Dave Mrotek during his service in the army during the Vietnam War. YI-CHIN LEE/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
stayed in the military until 1980. About 10 years later, he joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard, where he remained for 21 years, retiring as a command sergeant major in 2010.
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Regular peonies, such as the ones in this photo, are at the peak of blossom in Bill Seidl’s garden Wednesday, June 15. Seidl, 84, is passionate about peonies and he even create hybrid peonies on his own. YI-CHIN LEE/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
GARDEN PARADISE Manitowoc’s Bill Seidl makes name for himself in peony world
ANN GROTE-PIRRUNG
FOR USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
MANITOWOC - A stroll through Bill Seidl’s garden on Manitowoc’s west side is part science experiment, part exotic botanical tour and all beauty. Since 1971, Seidl, a retired math teacher, has been transforming an acre of former farmland filled with quack grass and ragweed into his personal garden of paradise. Seidl lives about 2 miles away, but his garden is where his heart lives.
“I bought it (the land) because I wanted to grow shrubs and trees, and in my little 50-by-100-foot lot at home you couldn’t grow very much,” Seidl said. And while he fulfilled his original plan, planting many trees and shrubs and some perennials, shortly after he began working his garden, it took a floral turn he wasn’t quite expecting. “I became interested in peonies, among many perennials,” Seidl said. When asked why peonies, he simply replied, “They’re beautiful flowers.”
Seidl estimates he has around 400 peonies in his garden, including vibrant yellow peonies, which first made an appearance on the peony scene around 1968. Seidl has made a name for himself in the peony world, having developed different hybrids of peonies. “If you put my name on the internet followed by the word ‘peonies,’ you will find quite a few references to me,” Seidl said. “I originated a lot from seeds, and then I’d would give them a garden name and if they were good
enough, they would be registered with the American Peony Society.” A perfect peony doesn’t happen overnight. It takes about four to five years for a peony seed to bloom. “That’s why there’s not very many people doing that,” Seidl said. If the resulting plant is good enough to warrant a personalized name, Seidl allows other people to grow them and he presents interested parties with a plant or a division. Plants that have originated in Seidl’s AGE CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
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garden have ended up as far away as The Netherlands. When speaking about the flowers, shrubs and plants in his garden, Seidl is just as likely to use their botanical names as he is their more common names. He said he’s picked up his knowledge “by osmosis. I picked up little by little … you can read so much on it and make yourself just as smart as a college graduate when it comes to that,” he said. The transformation of Seidl’s garden was a gradual thing. He’d cleared an area each year. “It took me 10 years to plant the whole thing,” Seidl said. Originally, he had the whole area planted in rows, but now half of his garden is more artistically planned with a serpentine path winding throughout. His garden goes way beyond peonies and shrubs. Clematis, cacti, unusual trees, like a weeping pine, magnolia trees, gingko trees formed into an arch, cedar and pine trees, allium, and much, much more fills his land. “I once made a list of the plants in the garden and I could fill up a whole page in no time,” said Seidl, who keeps a huge loose-leaf binder — his plant locator book — that outlines where every plant in his garden resides. And it is always changing. “Sometimes I eliminate things and add new things,” he said. One of the newest things Seidl has added to his garden is hybrid maple trees. “They are unlike the huge Norway maples that we have lining all the streets in Manitowoc,” he said. “These are called Korean maples.” Seidl explained that Korean maples are a hybrid with a Japanese maple. “Both trees have finely divided foliage,” Seidl explained. “So the hybrids have more of that. But the thing is the Japanese maple in this area doesn’t thrive. But the Korean maple is hearty.” Seidl has nurtured his hybrid maple from a 6-inch seedling into its present
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A pink swirl hybrid peony flower in Bill Seidl’s garden Wednesday, June 15. Seidl created this hybrid and has had it for about 15 years. He has never sold it or given it away to anyone, yet. YI-CHIN LEE/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
7-foot height. “It’s looking very, very good. The leaves are red in the spring covered with silvery bristles. It looks beautiful,” he said. Seidl said that for some reason he has a lot of trees nobody else seems to have. “I have a Chinese elm over there … very big, but small leaves,” he said. “I don’t know if anyone else around here has it. Maybe they don’t think it hardy … but it’s hardy in my garden.” Seidl’s gardening season usually begins in April and ends in mid-November. “In the winter, I read about plants, talking about plants and organizing pictures that I may have taken in the summer,” he said. Winter also gives him time to peruse nursery catalogs. “I’m always looking for new stuff,” he said. “When I go through catalogs, I find a lot of things that are on my wish
list. If I were younger, I’d buy them. It doesn’t pay to buy a 2- or 3-foot tree – no matter how much you like it – if you’re 84 years old!” His gardens have attracted much interest and many visitors through the years. “Every garden club in the area has
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been here at least once, and I was on the garden walk twice,” he said. “I think I’ll be on it in 2017 if I last that long.” No matter your age, an acre garden full of plants, trees, flowers and shrubs is a lot of work. Seidl’s reason for putting in the time and effort is simple: “I love all plants,” he said.
VETERANS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 “The realization at 19 is not all of us are getting out of here alive, but I guess being naive and young, I knew it wasn’t going to be me,” he said. “There were weird things that happened in my tour where I always felt like the hand of God was either pulling me or pushing me out of harm’s way. “We would move and minutes later, where we just were would get mortared or rocketed. If somebody hadn’t yelled, ‘Hey let’s go,’ we would have been there, and who knows what would have happened?” Hansen did see soldiers die, though, on both sides. Some of the 58,000 Americans lost in the war were comrades of his. “I was a 19-year-old boy. We were all mostly boys, and we all got to know what death looked like and what it smelled like — copper,” he said. “War never leaves you. The scars are always reminders, but most are hidden because they are on your soul. No human being should ever have to slaughter another human being. I don’t believe that is what God wants of us.” American troops were trying to bring democracy to South Vietnam, and many
citizens Hansen spoke to during their visit forgive the military for pulling out of the war early and still believe in building a society like the United States. “Everybody is an entrepreneur. When you go through a village, it’s just shop, after shop, after shop,” Hansen said. “We went some places and saw kids, and I could swear these are my grandkids. They were dressed like Americans. They all had … smart phones. They’re all doing pictures. They’re all texting. “We went there to fight a war to make their lives better. Now, you come back and they’ve made their lives better. And some of that is still the influence we brought to them. I was just amazed.” Mrotek, who also spent a year and a half in Vietnam after being drafted in 1969, said he’d always wondered what happened to the families and children he interacted with while in Vietnam. “It was beautiful country, but it was war-torn. You ... end up hoping they had a better life after we left,” he said. “It was nice to go back and see it was much better now.” During the trip, Hansen and Mrotek,
along with two friends, visited sites such as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a Vietnam War-themed bar with an upside-down helicopter being used as a fan, and took a row-boat tour through the winding waters of the Mekong Delta. They also made stops at some of the locations where they were stationed, including at the monument on Hamburger Hill. The battle site looked much different to Hansen compared to the first time. “When we were there, the jungle was all blown up and battered,” he said. “We burnt some incense and did an offering ... and did a little ceremony in respect of all those who died there.” Some remnants — like a building or two — still remain from the war, but largely the landscape has reclaimed its territory. “I would recommend anybody who served in Vietnam go back,” Hansen said. “Maybe we didn’t win the war on the battlefield in the sense that some people think, but ... we won it in the hearts and minds of most people because the freedoms we have, are the freedoms they still want.” Hansen and Mrotek returned from Viet-
Vietnam War army veterans Dave Mrotek and Ed Hansen share stories of their recent trip back to Vietnam at Hansen’s house earlier this month. YICHIN LEE/USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN
nam with new images they’ll never forget. Performers demonstrating traditional Vietnamese dances. A local woman teaching the group to make rice paper. Panoramic views of the emerald waters and thousands of towering limestone islands in Ha Long Bay. “The trip was very rewarding,” Mrotek said. “It was closure for me. I wanted closure.” Reach Sarah Kloepping at 920-686-2105 or skloepping@htrnews.com.
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Creating A Community of Caring ... When Shady Lane, Inc. was founded in 1951, its goal was to serve our community with a range of care at a reasonable cost under the direction of community leaders. Community leaders envisioned a not-for-profit organization dedicated to offering best care practices. Today, our board of directors is drawn from community leaders, we serve without stock holders, only stakeholders, and are dedicated to the needs of our community.
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