Montana Senior News June / July 2012

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Dean Hall doesn’t know the meaning of quit…

By Kim Thielman-Ibes In the winter of 2010, Dean Hall hung up her volunteer ski patrol boots after twenty-five years of volunteer service and was looking for another

door to open, another way to use her emergency medical training (EMT) another way to give back.

Then the Baxendale Volunteer Fire Department rolled by and as they say, the rest is history.

Ever since, Dean, an outdoor enthusiast, has poured her time, energy and newly charged passion 100% into her community fire department.

She originally signed up to work as an emergency responder, putting her 25+ years of EMT to good use.

Today Dean responds in her own truck stocked with two medical bags, a radio, and her Baxendale issued fire department suit to accidents and fires within her district, part of which includes busy Highway 12 west of Helena. Due to her home’s proximity to the highway, often she is the first on the scene of an accident.

“I just do what I’ve been trained to do,” says a modest Dean. Quick on her heels is Baxendale’s rescue chief and a myriad of well-trained volunteers.

Dean did not intend to go to fire school, but after a few months on the job as medical rescue, she realized part of her responsibility was to take care of her fellow fire fighters. To do this right she felt she needed first-hand experience. Typical of Hall, she jumped in with both feet and went to fire school where she learned equipment procedures, fire psychology, wildland fire control, structural fire suppression, utilization of oxygen masks, and even the safest way to climb spindly ladders.

“I’m five-feet tall and of the forty that started fire training, five were women. By the end of training the five women were still standing but the men dropped like flies,” Dean says smiling.

Only eight of the men made it out with the women.

“They kept waiting for me to scream and holler and rip the oxygen mask off my face,” Dean recalls.

What they did not know is that as a scuba diver for a number of years, the (Continued on page 34)

PAGE 2 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Everyone Benefits From Health Insurance Mandate I have been reading Art Wittich’s Referendum 122, which prohibits any state or federal health insurance purchase mandate. Arguments against the mandate ignore the trillion dollar elephant in the room.

Emergency rooms are mandated to care for patients without regard to insurance. Hospitals must care for patients in advanced stages of ill-

ness. These mandates cost the American health care consumer trillions of dollars over the years.

Every family that carries insurance pays $1,000 to $2,000 extra every year to pay for these people who do not carry insurance of their own.

Even if we did not require these people to pay for their own insurance – if we paid it for them – it would cut the cost in half. If they had the medical care to prevent the end stage problems of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, it would cut the cost in half. If they were required to pay for it themselves, it would shift the cost to them – where it belongs – and it would cut the cost in half.

Mike Thomas Helena

Find Your Roots In Darby This Summer The Darby Roots Reunion will be held June 2 thru July 2 for the purpose of reconnecting family and friends of the early Darby Montana Pioneers.

Events will take place at the Darby Club House, Park, and Library.

Events include historic programs, a giant accommodations raffle, BBQ potlucks, a silent auction, and entertainment. There will be tours of the Darby area and a bus tour of the East Fork of the Bitterroot River with narration by long time residents and historians.

For additional information, contact Bonnie Evers at 406-821-3214 or bonevers@q.net. Or

Montana Senior News A Barrett-Whitman Publication

P.O. Box 3363 • Great Falls, MT 59403-3363 406-761-0305 or 800-672-8477 FAX 406-761-8358 montanaseniornews.com email: montsrnews@bresnan.net The Montana Senior News is published six times each year in February, April, June, August, October and December at 415 3rd Avenue North, Great Falls, MT 59401 and is distributed free to readers throughout the state of Montana.

The mail subscription rate is $8.00 per year (6 issues). The Montana Senior News is written to serve the reading interests of mature Montanans of all ages. Readers are encouraged to contribute interesting material. Views expressed in opinion stories, contributions, articles and letters are not necessarily the views of the publisher. The appearance of advertisements for products or services does not constitute an endorsement of the particular product or service. The publisher will not be responsible for mistakes in advertisements unless notified within five days of publication.

All copy appearing in the Montana Senior News is protected by copyright and may be reprinted only with the written permission of the publisher. Advertising copy should be received or space reserved by the 5th of the month preceding the month of publication.

Jack W. Love, Jr., Publisher/Editor Colleen Paduano Kathleen McGregor Lisa Krebs Rhonda Lee Peter Thornburg Sherrie Smith Nann Parrett

Production Supervisor Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Production Assistant Graphic Artist Distribution Admin/Production Assistant Editorial Assistant

Contributing Writers Bob Campbell Connie Daugherty Clare Hafferman Sue Hart Kim Thielman-Ibes Gail Jokerst Bernice Karnop Craig Larcom Liz Larcom Michael McGough Jack McNeel Dianna Troyer © 2012

JUNE/JULY 2012

contact Helen Bibler at 406-821-3444 or helenannbibler@wildblue.net. All interested folks are encouraged to attend.

Loretta Gann Missoula

Stricter Regulation Of Contractors Required We enjoy reading your articles about what concerns seniors. There is one area that we haven’t seen covered. That is the lack of consumer protection in Montana, especially regarding the lack of contractor regulation.

Many people, like us, have had a project go terribly wrong with bad or incomplete work. The

According to an old Swedish proverb, “A life without love is like a year without summer.” Well, summer is upon us, serving as a gentle reminder that the warmth of love is within reach, so make your move! If you respond to one of these ads, you, too, could feel the warm effects of love’s summer glow.

To those who wish to respond to any of these personal ads, simply forward your message and address, phone number, or email address to the department number listed in the particular personal

builder can leave the site, file a lien on you, and sue you. If you countersue, he can file bankruptcy.

Your claims may be discharged and his lien and suit remain as assets.

This is particularly damaging to older people who can never recoup their losses and have lost their life savings and even their homes. Many have had their health affected by the stress and had to give up the fight. Attorneys are expensive and there is no legal help for us.

We encourage readers to tell your story if you have been a victim of this “business plan.”

Pete & Eileen McGovern Bozeman

ad, c/o Montana Senior News, P.O. Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

We will forward your response, including your address, phone number, and/or email address to the person placing the ad. If you answer an ad in this section, there is no guarantee that you will receive a response. That is up to the person who placed the ad. Please make sure you submit your correct address plainly printed, so you can promptly receive responses.

Respond to the ads in this issue, and also sit

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 3

Enjoy The Paper Very Much I am writing to tell you how much I enjoy the Montana Senior News. It has been such a pleasure to read it from front to back. Recently the paper quit coming because of a change in management at the apartments where I live. I don’t watch TV so you can understand how much I enjoy the paper.

There is only one copy at the library and I would like to see more papers into our area.

Ken Vannoster Boulder MSN

down now and prepare your own ad to run in our next issue. There is no charge for this service, and your ad may lead you down the path of true love!

Responses to personal ads appearing in this column can be submitted at any time. However, to place a personal ad in the August/September 2012 issue, the deadline is July 10, 2012.

SWF, 68, attractive widow. I am smart, caring, and can’t wait to fall in love again. If you are 68+, live in Great Falls, and have the same outlook on

PAGE 4 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

life, let’s have coffee. You won’t be sorry that you took the first step. Until we meet‌. Reply MSN, Dept. 28501, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Young 60-ish, funny, and fun SWF looking for gentleman around same age and background.

Love to dance, hike, walk, travel, go to movies, dinner, and many other activities. I am no couch potato, but I do love a good movie and cuddling.

Central/Western Montana area is best for location.

Please send a picture, letter, and phone number, and I will reply. Reply MSN, Dept. 28502, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Jim FOR

SHOCKLEY ATTORNEY GENERAL

STATE LEGISLATURE Past 13 years STATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES Past 13 years Graduate University of Montana RETIRED MARINE Vietman Combat Veteran Former FEDERAL PROSECUTOR 20 Years SMALL-TOWN LAWYER MARRIED TO MARILEE For 43 Years

I WILL ENFORCE THE LAW, NOT MAKE THE LAW shockley4AG.com

Paid for by Committee to Elect Jim Shockley 32 %R[ 9LFWRU 07 ‡ 0DULOHH 6KRFNOH\ 7UHDVXUHU

I am 83 years young, living in Missoula. 5’10�, 185 pounds. I’m a well-traveled Navy veteran of WWII who has lived in New York, New Jersey, Montana, Michigan, and Hawaii. I have an 8-yearold black cat. I wouldn’t trade her for anybody, but I would share her. I have a good selection of CDs. I am also a good cook, and I play a little golf. I don’t own a home. I live in a manor and am very tired of it. I would really like to meet someone I could like and love. Must like piano. I don’t mind traveling if not too far. If you would give me a chance, I will make you happy. Reply MSN, Dept. 28503, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

SWM, 61, seeks companionship with single lady, 61-75, who likes to kiss and cuddle. Looks are unimportant for long-term relationship. A nonsmoker, non-drinker. Please send a picture and phone number. I will answer all replies. Reply MSN, Dept. 28504, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

SWF, 4’8�, 132 pounds, gray hair, blue eyes, freckles. Would like to meet a nice gentleman who likes to fish, camp, hike, take day trips, and sometimes stay at home. Doesn’t drink or do drugs. I own my three-bedroom home in town, so do a lot of walking, as I don’t drive or own a car. I like country western music and used to sing it. Have a good sense of humor and like to make people laugh. I’m a Yankee fan and like to watch baseball on TV. I’m 74 years young and sometimes feel like I’m 80. I can dance, but only to the slow music. If interested, send me a letter with picture, and I will answer all.

Reply MSN, Dept. 28505, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

I am a SWM heterosexual, 60 years young. I have long, light brown hair, blue-green eyes, I am 6

ft. tall, and I weigh 220 lbs. I am a non-smoker and do not use drugs; I casually drink. I enjoy cooking, movies, TV, sports, garage sales, antique and thrift shops, auto and gun shows. I love animals and the outdoors, and I dislike rude people and bullies. I sincerely believe in God and nature’s wonders, but do not believe in harping on any issues. I am very romantic, loyal and monogamous, sensitive and generous, and a good listener and companion. I avoid the wild dating scene and casual relationships.

I am looking for a nice girl to be my soul mate (race unimportant) and enjoy life together. So, if you would like to be there, and not be square‌.

Reply MSN, Dept. 28506, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Northwest Montana area SWM retiree in my 70s, 5’11�, 195#, non-smoker, no drugs, have an occasional drink. I am a country living country boy who enjoys music, dancing, movies, and TV. Let’s go traveling - why not take a chance? Please send photo and phone # or address and I will answer all.

Reply MSN, Dept. 28507, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

SWM, 57, 6’1�, 190# in good shape and Christian, with dark brown hair and eyes. I like travel, outdoor activities, camping, fishing, stargazing, full moons, and sports. I like to dance, horseback ride. Looking for a good woman with high morals, in good shape, with a sense of humor who knows what she wants and is willing to work for it. Someone who can spend a few days in the mountains and then go to a dinner party and look good in heels and enjoy dancing - salsa to country. Looking for a non-smoker, no drugs, and occasional drink okay.

Please send address, phone number, and photo.

Reply MSN, Dept. 28508, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

Soft, cuddly SWF, youthful 62, N/D, N/S, own my Hamilton home. Enjoy camping, singing, dancing, classic rock, art, movies, plays, TV, chivalry, and laughter. I love Jesus and my 12-step program, but I am missing someone special to share life with.

He would be relocatable, affectionate, dependable, stable, romantic, honest, kind, Christian, and N/D, N/drugs, and N/gambling. Do you still believe in forever? That love is not just a feeling, but also a decision involving commitment and action? If so, this fun, attractive, tenderhearted, highly moral, opinionated, nurturing gal may be just the one for you to enjoy mutual TLC, love, and respect. Please send photo and address with letter please. Age, height, and race unimportant. Reply MSN, Dept. 28509, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

SWM, 70-years-old seeking white female 55-70-years-old. Would like to get together for companionship, dining

JUNE/JULY 2012

out, and day trips in the Missoula area. Reply MSN, Dept. 28510, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403.

WWF Christian lady would like to meet a Billings area, Christian, non-smoking, non-drinking

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 5

gentleman in his 70s. I enjoy a simple life of spending time outdoors, watching movies, and going to concerts. If you are interested, I would appreciate a letter. Reply MSN, Dept. 28511, c/o Montana Senior News, Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403. MSN

Celebrating A Constitution That Works

By Bob Campbell On June 15, the delegates that wrote and signed the Montana Constitution will be returning to the House chambers to celebrate the forty years it has served the people of Montana.

While other states are facing uncontrolled debt, our provision requiring a balanced budget at all times has served us well. We will have a $400 million surplus when the new legislature meets in Helena next January. This means there is no reason to cut our current programs or give tax breaks to the upper brackets.

Our Declaration of Rights is still recognized as the strongest protections ever promised a free people. In addition, all office holders are required to hold open meetings with notice for public participation in reaching decisions that affect our lives. It stopped the legislature from its past practice of secret meetings with no record of what votes were taken in committees.

Our Local Government article requires a vote every ten years for citizens to consider improving the form of the government that affects us directly.

This has resulted in more citizen participation in studying the form of local government and placing on the ballot the question of whether a new structure would improve local services.

As Thomas Jefferson noted, a free society

cannot exist without a free quality education for all its citizens. The delegates provided a system of funding public schools and expressly denied any diversion of this money for non-public schools such as the voucher system.

Recently I was speaking to classes at Hellgate High School in Missoula during the annual Law Day program. While waiting in the hallway, I noticed in a dusty trophy case small written note dated September 19, 1932 that said, “I greet the young folks of Missoula. I hope they will always take a deep interest in government. We have good government when we have a great public interest – bad government when people lose this interest. Study your government, think for yourselves, and work for better things.

The note was written by Franklin D. Roosevelt, during his first campaign for president. The note was given to two Missoula High School students who were allowed to interview him while his railroad car was waiting for a freight car to be removed from the tracks near Bonner.

Let us hope the young people in Montana will take his advice and clean up the mess we have left them. The structure is in place for them to make better decisions that can improve the quality of all our lives. MSN

Your Life. Your Death. Your Choice.

No one should suffer when legal options exist.

Options for peaceful dying already exist in Montana, including aid in dying for terminally ill patients.

Payment options while you’re on the go...

EZ Pay Have your monthly payment automatically deducted from your checking or savings account.

Online Make a payment directly from your checking, savings or money market account – or if you prefer – pay using your credit/debit/ATM card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover Card), through our association with SpeedPay Inc.® Phone Call (800) 218-4959 to pay with your checking, savings or money market account. Call (877) 361-4927 to pay with your credit/debit or ATM card.

Mail Send your payment to: NorthWestern Energy c/o Customer Services, 40 E. Broadway St., Butte, MT 59701 In-Person Through our association with Western Union®, you can pay in-person at a convenient Quick Pay location.

The Baxter decision, handed down by the Montana Supreme Court on December HMÄYTLK [LYTPUHSS` PSS 4VU[HUHUZ» YPNO[ [V HPK PU K`PUN >L JHU»[ JVU[YVS L]LY`[OPUN HIV\[ V\Y KLH[O )\[ PM ^L JVTT\UPJH[L LMMLJ[P]LS` ^L THRL P[ TVYL SPRLS` [OH[ V\Y ^PZOLZ MVY [OL LUK VM SPML ^PSS IL RUV^U HUK YLZWLJ[LK 0[ PZ UL]LY [VV LHYS` [V NL[ Z[HY[LK *VTWSL[L JSPW HUK YL[\YU [OPZ MVYT [V YLJLP]L `V\Y MYLL *VTWHZZPVU *OVPJLZ 4VU[HUH HK]HUJL WSHUUPUN WHJRHNL PUJS\KPUN V\Y Good To Go Resource Guide, 4VU[HUH ZWLJPÄJ HK]HUJL KPYLJ[P]L HUK H ]HYPL[` VM V[OLY HK]HUJL WSHUUPUN KVJ\TLU[Z [V KLÄUL `V\Y WYPVYP[PLZ \UKLYZ[HUK ^OV `V\ ULLK [V [HSR [V HUK JVTL \W ^P[O PKLHZ VU OV^ [V NL[ [OL JVU]LYZH[PVU YVSSPUN

Yes. I want to make sure my end-of-life wishes are honored. Please send me the free Compassion & Choices Montana advance-planning package.

Name: __________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Phone: __________________________________________________________ Email: __________________________________________________________ Please send my advance-planning package by email F / by USPS F Yes, I want to stay informed. Please add me to your mail/e-mail list.

You may use my name in letting elected lawmakers know of my support for end-of-life choice.

Mail to: Compassion & Choices Montana, PO Box 1348, Helena, Montana 59624 MSN or complete this form online at CompassionAndChoices.org/MTAD Find out more at: northwesternenergy.com

Compassion & Choices Montana. Care & Choice at the End of Life. 1-800-247-7421 Like us at Facebook.com/CompassionAndChoicesMontana

PAGE 6 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

Our Family is Committed to Yours.

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JUNE/JULY 2012

Emeritus Senior Living Everyone agrees that the “golden years� should be a time of relaxation, comfort, security, and independence. Retirement living can give you the opportunity to relax and enjoy your time while we take care of the housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, and meals. Now you can truly relax and enjoy your freedom.

Call us today to schedule a free private tour and visit our newly remodeled community. We’d love to have you!

(888) 695-8813 1104 Sixth Ave. N., Great Falls R www.Emeritus.com

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Strengthening The Culture Of Urban Native Americans The Mission of the Missoula Indian Center is to support and strengthen the culture of urban Native Americans by promoting and fostering health, education, and economic self-sufficiency. The program goals are to enhance the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being of Native Americans through health and behavioral health activities.

The Center is located at 830 W Central Avenue, in Missoula. Missoula was federally designated as a “medically underserved area in 1992, and a dental health professions shortage area in 2000.� Given the high cost of medical and dental services, the Center is definitely an option for urban Native Americans. Being a non-profit organization that has a volunteer board that sets policy and assists with guidance of the Center makes the Center community based.

Access to services is by far the most important aspect for urban American Indians in the greater Missoula area and the Missoula Indian Center will positively influence their lifestyles. The Missoula Indian Center provides that venue to the community and seeks to be a viable collaborator and provider to meet these varied needs. Missoula Indian Center sees close to 75% of the local urban Indian community. For more information, visit missoulaindiancenter.org or call 406-829-9515. MSN

Shop At Flathead Industries – The Best Thrift Stores In Montana At Flathead Industries located in Northwest Montana’s beautiful Flathead Valley, we serve adults with developmental disabilities. We own and operate several group homes and apartment complexes providing quality housing for our individuals, as well as provide employment opportunities, and prevocational training. We operate three premier thrift stores to supplement our federal funding and provide work for our co-workers with disabilities.

Our Kalispell thrift store, located at the corner of Hwy. 93 and Hwy. 2 [the two longest two lane highways in America] is our largest store with 15,000 square feet of retail space with a newly added “antiques and collectibles� area filled with unique antiques at thrift store prices.

Our Whitefish Thrift Store is located at 223 Baker Ave. and is geared toward the higher end donated clothing and goodies because of the fantastic donation base.

Our Columbia Falls Thrift Store is located right across the street from Smith’s on Mineral Ave. It is the first necessary stop for visitors to Glacier Park with camping equipment and outdoor clothing to match the weather of our beautiful, but moody, world famous National Park.

Mother Nature’s favorite color always has been and always will be ‘green’, so use, re-use, and recycle. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 7

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PAGE 8 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Recommended Reading

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By Connie Daugherty Long Way Home: Journeys of a Chinese Montanan

by Flora Wong with Tom Decker; Wing Shing Company, produced by Sweetgrass Books, 2011 “My father always told us that we would live in China,” writes Flora Wong in the opening pages of her memoir, Long Way Home. “Even his expressions were lively as he described… how we would enjoy a simple life… how we would be close to family and ancestors.” Flora and her family were living in Boston at the time and Flora was admittedly too young to pay much attention to the talk let alone understand the implications it would have on her life.

Born in an American city in 1928, raised mostly in a village in southern China, Flora Lee Wong eventually made her way to Helena, Montana.

Long Way Home is a memoir of this intriguing woman’s life experiences as she navigates the tumultuous world of regional and world wars, and the transitions between Chinese and American cultures. Seeing some of these historic events through the eyes of a shy Chinese woman adds perspective to the history as well as to her story.

Long Way Home is well written in a friendly, almost chatty, style that makes the reading interesting, informative, and inspirational. It is also a good reminder of how our time and place in history sculpts our lives and our personalities.

In 1936, Flora’s father was finally able to realize his dream of moving his wife and eight of his nine children back to China. Flora’s memories of that time are of jumble of sights, sounds, and smells.

One of the most traumatic memories, however, is that her youngest sister was left behind in Boston — adopted by another Chinese family. “At that moment of our departure for China, at age seven, I discovered a reality with no guarantees. Even within my family nothing was assured.”

Flora suddenly found herself living in the land of her ancestors. Although she was Chinese and spoke one of the many Chinese dialects, the isolated, rural setting, of Lin Fong Lei in Guangdong Province was a foreign environment for the American city girl. For the next ten years, the village would not only be her home, but her world.

Read for Prizes with our Adult Summer Reading Program at Missoula Public Library!

June 1-August 1, 2012

Missoula Public Library 301 E. Main Missoula, MT 721-BOOK www.missoulapubliclibrary.org

Several chapters of Long Way Home are dedicated to Flora’s life in rural China — at first the struggle to adapt, then the familiarity of the culture and environment. She shows how their lives were sculptured not only by the traditions of Chinese culture, but also by the world events — the war between Japan and China, WW II, and the growth of the Communist party in China. She tells about working the land, about difficult times and happy times, about the simplicity of daily life and the complex interface of Chinese traditions and a fast changing world. Fear and uncertainty were a big part of everyday life for Flora and her family.

“My reaction to the hazards — the conflicts and the financial hard times — was to separate myself from the problems,” she recalls.

In 1947, Flora’s life changed again. “One afternoon… Mother took me aside to tell me… I was engaged to be married. Her announcement came in the most matter-of-fact tone as we stood in the kitchen.” Like her sisters, without question she entered into an arranged marriage. Marriage, it seems, was her mother’s way of getting her children out of the poverty and politics of China and back to the safety and security of the United States.

“Mother” would meet with the local matchmaker, and in the traditional Chinese fashion, all arrangements were made. The bride-to-be and groom usually did not even meet until just a few days before the wedding — occasionally not even then. She recalls her sister Edith’s wedding, 10 years before her own, where a rooster stood in for the groom who was living in Mississippi. “In keeping with her relocation strategy, Mother sent brothers Robert… and Kenneth… along with Edith” who emigrated to America soon after her “live fowl marriage.”

With that memory, Flora was delighted to have a live groom for her own wedding, even if he was a stranger and 22 years her senior. Her love for Charlie Wong began the moment they met and grew over the years of their marriage.

Unlike her sisters who immigrated immediately after their weddings, Flora and Charlie spent the first year of their marriage living in China with Charlie’s family. It was a happy time for both of them, but finally Charlie had to return to Helena

JUNE/JULY 2012

to manage his business — a Chinese grocery store. Flora was left behind to navigate the political maneuvering and restrictions of immigration. It was nearly four months before she would see her husband again. “More time passed and that word, ‘pregnant’ came up again in my letters.” Weeks and months of separation passed as Charlie and Flora communicated by letter. “All this time, Mother and I had never discussed childbirth, neither its cause nor its effects.”

Young, naïve, and much unprepared, a pregnant Flora finally left for Montana, her younger sister Joyce in tow. They landed in San Francisco on December 6, 1948. “After more than a decade, we were back on our former home soil with papers in order.” Flora was suffering with a relapse of malaria, but happy to be reunited with her husband and literally days after her arrival in Helena, their first daughter was born. Ten months later, she gave birth to a son who died a few days later. And the following year her youngest sister, Dorothy came to live with them. Flora’s life was a physical and emotional roller coaster.

She would eventually discover, however, that she and her younger sisters had escaped China just in time. “The Communist part ushered in an era in which if you had money or valuable land, your neighbors viewed it as a crime. And the Com-

munists gave people the means to act.” Flora’s mother, who remained in China despite her family’s urgings, would become a victim of her neighbor’s actions.

Meanwhile, Flora’s life settled into a happy and busy routine centered on her family and friends. She and Charlie had more children. She helped in their store, Wing Shing Grocery, she gradually learned English, she became an expert seamstress, and she came to discover herself as a person. Then in 1968, Charlie died. Flora was devastated. “Here I was, alone, at age thirty-nine with five children and a long list of fears and reservations,” she recalls.

Flora not only survived, but also thrived over the next years. One day she decided she wanted to learn to swim. Years later, she found herself competing and winning in the Senior Olympics. “Sports remind me you can’t quit when you are tired; you quit only when the job is done… I discovered this lesson in other ways early in China, whether dealing with war, hard labor or saying goodbye.”

Long Way Home is Flora Wong’s amazing story of all these life lessons and of finally finding a home to call her own. “Helena, Montana is not my birthplace, but I feel like it should have been,” she writes. “For more than sixty years, I have lived in this distinctive place.” MSN

2012 Kalispell Senior Softball Program Going Strong For the third year in a row, the senior softball program of Kalispell is hosting the State Senior Olympic Softball Tournament. The tournament is open to all softball teams in the 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+ and 70+ age brackets. The tournament is being held at the Conrad Complex July 13-15, 2012.

Teams are guaranteed a minimum of five games and will compete using national senior games rules. Teams from outside Montana can still represent the state of Montana by finishing in

the top three places in each age bracket. In 2011, a Canadian team coached by Jim Warren represented Montana in the national games in Texas.

Teams desiring to compete in the Senior Olympics portion of the tournament pay $14 per player to Montana Senior Olympics in Great Falls and the entry fee of $250 to Kalispell Senior Softball. All other teams pay $300 to Kalispell Senior Softball.

For additional information, please call Jim Valentino at 406-837-9994. MSN

If you have difficulty understanding words clearly over the phone, just fill out this form!

You may qualify for free assistive telephone equipment through the

Montana Telecommunications Access Program!

The Montana Telecommunications Access Program (MTAP) provides FREE assistive telephone equipment to those who qualify, making it easier to use the phone to do business or keep in touch with family and friends.

Yes, I want to learn more about MTAP!

Equipment available through MTAP includes: Amplified (louder) telephones Captioned telephones Loud bell ringers TTYs (text telephones) Artificial Larynxes Much, much more!

Return form to: MTAP P. O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604

Name: ____________________________________

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of Public Health and Human Services

For more information just mail us this form or call toll-free:1-800-833-8503

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 9

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Dying With Debt: Will Your Children Inherit Your Obligations?

By Jim Miller In most cases when a person with debt dies, it is their estate, not their kids that are legally responsible. Here is how it works.

When you die, your estate – which consists of the stuff you own while you’re alive (home, car, cash, etc.) – will be responsible for paying your debts. Whatever is left over is passed along to your heirs as dictated by the terms of your will, if you have one. If you don’t have a will, the intestacy laws of the state you reside in (see mystatewill.com) will determine how his estate will be distributed.

If, however, you die broke, or there isn’t enough money left over to pay your unsecured debts – credit cards, medical bills, personal loans – then your estate is declared insolvent, and your creditors (those you owe) will have to eat the loss.

There are, however, a couple of exceptions that would make your kids legally responsible for your unsecured debt after you pass away: if your son or daughter is a joint holder on a credit card account that you owe on, or if they co-signed on a loan with you.

Secured debts – loans attached to an asset such as a house or a car – are another story. If you have a mortgage or car loan when you die, those monthly payments will need to be made by your estate or heirs, or the lender can seize the property.

Untouchable Assets – You also need to be aware that there are some assets, such as 401(k) and 403(b) accounts, brokerage accounts, and some life insurance policies that creditors cannot get access to. That’s because these accounts typically have designated beneficiaries, and the

money goes directly to those people without passing through the estate.

Tell Your Kids – If you haven’t already done so, you need to inform your kids and the executor of your will of your financial situation so there are no surprises after you die.

If you do indeed die with debt, and you have no assets, settling your estate should be simple.

Your executor will need to send out letters to your creditors explaining the situation, including a copy of your death certificate, and that will probably take care of it. But, your kids may still have to deal with debt collectors who try to guilt them into paying.

If you have some assets, but not enough to pay all your debts, your state’s probate court has a distinct list of what bills get priority. The details vary by state, but generally, estate administrating fees, funeral expenses, taxes, and last illness medical bills get paid first, followed by secured debts and finally credit card debts.

Get Help – If you have questions regarding your specific situation, you should consult with an attorney. If your need help locating one use findlegalhelp.org, a consumer’s guide created by the American Bar Association that offers referrals and links to free and low-cost legal help in your area based on your income level. If you don’t have internet access, call the Eldercare Locator at 800677-1116 for referrals.

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. MSN

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How to Track Down Financial Assistance Programs

By Jim Miller Locating government benefits and financial assistance programs is actually easy to do thanks to two key resources created by the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). Here’s where you can turn to for help.

Online Search – If you have access to the Internet, the easiest and most convenient way to search for benefits for seniors is at benefitscheckup.org.

Created by the NCOA 10 years ago, BenefitsCheckUp is a free, confidential web-based service that helps low-income seniors and their families identify federal, state, and private benefits programs that can help with prescription drug costs, health care, utilities, and other basic needs. This site contains more than 2,000 programs across the country.

To help identify benefits that could help your mother-in-law, you’ll need to fill out an online questionnaire that asks things like her date of birth, zip code, expenses, income, assets, veteran status, and a few other factors. It takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Once completed, you’ll get a report detailing all programs and services she may be eligible for. You can also apply for many of the programs online, or you can print an application form, fill it out, and mail it in.

Eldercare Locator – If, however, you don’t have Internet access you can also get help over the phone by calling the Eldercare Locator (800-6771116), which will assign you a counselor to review your mother-in-law’s situation, and provide you with a list of possible programs she may be eligible for, and who to contact to get the ball rolling.

They can also mail you a free copy of the booklet “You Gave, Now Save Guide to Benefits Programs for Seniors,” that provides a general list of the programs, how you can apply, and where you can get more information.

Types of Benefits – Depending on her income level and where she lives, some of the different benefits that may be available to your mother-in-law include: Food Assistance – Programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can help pay for her groceries. The average monthly SNAP benefit is currently $119 for seniors living alone. Other programs that may help include the Emergency Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

Health Assistance – Medicaid and Medicare Savings Programs can help or completely pay for out-of-pocket health care costs. And, there are special Medicaid waiver programs that provide inhome care and assistance.

Prescription Assistance – There are hundreds of programs offered through pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and charitable organizations that help lower or eliminate prescription drug costs, including the federal Low Income Subsidy known as “Extra Help” that pays premiums, deductibles, and prescription copayments for Medicare Part D beneficiaries.

Heating and Cooling Assistance – There’s the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), as well as local utility companies and charitable organizations that provide assistance in lowering home heating and cooling costs.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – Administered by the Social Security Administration, SSI provides monthly payments to very low-income seniors, age 65 and older, as well as to those who are blind and disabled. The average SSI payment is around $500 per month.

In addition to these programs, there are numerous other benefits such as HUD housing options, home weatherization assistance, tax relief, various veteran’s benefits, transportation, respite care, and free legal assistance.

Send your 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. MSN

Have A Hot Summer At The Missoula Public Library Check out what’s “Between the Covers” this summer at the Missoula Public Library’s adult summer reading program. Catch up on your reading and have the chance to win prizes for doing so! You will get a reading log that asks you to read a romance, a ghost story, a mystery, a book with a “dark” title, etc.

You read three and earn a free beverage from Civitella’s Espresso Bar downstairs in the library. Read five to put your name in the drawing for a fabulous “Between the Covers” gift basket. As part of the summer reading program, there are also programs involving the night sky, ghosts, and romantic dinner and wine pairings, movies outside the library, and other special events.

Grab a flyer at the library, call 406-721-BOOK, or visit www.missoulapubliclibrary.org for more information. All programs are free and open to the public. And don’t forget that Missoula Public Library has well over a hundred book chat kits that you can check out for your book chat group – for free!

You get 10 copies of each title plus a discussion guide and other interesting information regarding the book. These are all new popular titles hƩp://www. missoulapubliclibrary.org/readerscorner/book-chat-bags. Call the reference desk to reserve your copy. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

Summer Activities Along The International Selkirk Loop Article and photos by Natalie Bartley For uncrowded experiences, take a drive on the North America’s only designated multi-country scenic loop this summer. The International Selkirk Loop National Scenic Byway travels 280 miles through Idaho and Washington in the United States, and through British Columbia in Canada.

The Selkirk Mountains serve as the anchoring theme and constant scenery.

Twelve different highways provide access to the Selkirk Loop. Excursions off the main loop are identified as Super Side Trips, which highlight themes and each town’s natural beauty.

Access the Selkirk Loop in Idaho at Sandpoint on Lake Pend Oreille, at the junction of US 95 and 2. Check out the restaurants, and shops. After refueling, head north on US 95/2 toward Bonners Ferry, the official location of International Selkirk Loop Headquarters. It is the best place to gather information.

A few miles north of Sandpoint is Schweitzer Mountain Resort. Starting on June 25, this ski resort converts to a warm weather playground, and the Great Escape Quad ski lift starts transporting visitors to the top of 6,400-foot Schweitzer Mountain. The scenic ride provides a panoramic view of your upcoming road trip below. Two countries and three states are visible from the summit. A single adult ride costs $10, and seniors pay only $8. The lift runs until early September and provides access to over 20 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.

Heading north, the highway becomes Idaho 1, and after the Canadian border, Highway 21. Creston, British Columbia is about ten miles north of the border and is the gateway to the Orchards Galore Super Side Trip on Highway 3 heading east. This route is a cornucopia of fresh fruits for snacking and locally made wine for gift giving. Farms offer “pick-your-own” and roadside fruit stands. Raspberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots, nectarines, and apples are in abundance, depending on the month. Reconnect with the Selkirk Loop south of Creston.

West of Creston, on Highway 3, is the 17,000acre, Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area and Interpretation Center that is open May through October.

Watch for any of the 265+ bird species in the area by using one of the two viewing towers or while canoeing in the wetlands.

If you can tear yourself away from fresh fruit, wine, and wildlife, more adventures are ahead. North of Creston on Highway 3A, the Selkirk Loop travels beside the 90-mile long Kootenay Lake, the third largest lake in British Columbia. Talk about incredible scenery! Look to the west, where the Selkirk Mountain Range serves as a backdrop to the glittering lake.

Further north on Highway 3A, the road ends at the ferry terminal at Kootenay Bay. Another Selkirk Loop

highlight is riding the free ferry across the width of the lake to Balfour at the entry to Kootenay Lake’s West Arm. Departures occur frequently during the day. The ferry takes all types of vehicles, offers food service, and lasts about 40 minutes.

From Balfour, the Selkirk Loop heads south on Highway 3A towards Nelson, British Columbia. Alternatively, head north on Highway 31, for a detour on the North Kootenay Lake and the Silvery Slocan Super Side Trip.

After a chilly morning ferry ride, we warmed at the Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort about about 12 miles north of Balfour along Highway 31. The outside pool affords views of Kootenay Lake while you soak in the warm healing waters. One unique feature of the hot springs is the cave where visitors wade or float on their stomachs through this u-shaped

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Sylvan Lake

Adventure Awaits In

Custer State Park Roaming bison, trout-filled mountain lakes and streams, granite peaks that soar to the sky, the howl of a coyote on a starry night. Custer State Park covers 71,000 acres in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Every inch is your playground. From sunrise-tosunset, you’ll find activities to fill your day and great restaurants for every appetite. At night retire to the comforts of home at www.CusterStatePark.com CAMPING RES.: 800-710-2267 or www.CampSD.com LODGING & ACTIVITIES: 888-875-0001 or www.CusterResorts.com Photos Courtesy SD Tourism

one of our four lodges or camp beneath the stars at one of eight campgrounds. Whether you’re seeking the solace of nature or exciting outdoor adventure, you’ve come to the right place.

A South Dakota State Park Entrance License Is Required

grotto in near total darkness. Built in the 1920s, the pool and caves were renovated in later years. Overnight accommodations include complementary passes to the hot springs, which are open year-round.

Once back on the Selkirk Loop south of Nelson, the scenic byway continues south on Highway 6, then becomes Washington 31 and 20, and ultimately returns to Sandpoint via Idaho 2. Border Crossing Information: Bring your passport - you will need it at the border crossings. Pets must have current rabies certificate issued within the past 36 months.

You can read in advance about border crossing requirements at www. britishcolumbia.com/information/details.asp?id=4; www.cbp.gov; and www. passportinfo.com.

Detailed information on the International Selkirk Loop is available in a 64-page Travel Guide at visitor centers, www.selkirkloop.org, or 1-888823-2626.

Natalie Bartley is a Boise-based author of the newly released Best Easy Day Hikes Boise guidebook and the Best Rail Trails Pacific Northwest guidebook, available at outdoor retail shops and bookstores. MSN

Theodore Roosevelt National Park: Discover the Secrets of the North Dakota Badlands Article & Photo By Bernice Karnop You drive right past Theodore Roosevelt National Park as you cruise through North Dakota. If you can stop at the overlooks on I-94, you’ll see the erosion sculpted landscape and you might see bison grazing on the National Grasslands along the highway. However, if you want to enjoy the “grim beauty” of the badlands as the 26th President did, you will invest some serious time here. He described the badlands as “so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth.”

The historical, geological, and biological secrets of the Badlands are revealed in the visitor centers, along the back roads, and out on the trails that cross this National Park.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is split into the North Unit and the South Unit. Between the two is the remote Elkhorn Ranch where Theodore Roosevelt spent most of his time. There are three Visitor Centers, two scenic drives, half a dozen short hikes, and some long trails suitable for serious hikers and horseback enthusiasts.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit The entrance to this unit is at Medora, only 24 miles east of the Montana border on I-94. The Visitor Center on the western edge of Medora is open year round and is a good place to start your visit.

Outside, under a gnarled cottonwood tree you can tour the small but sturdy Maltese Cross log cabin, where TR spent his first Dakota months.

You catch a glimpse of the young Roosevelt by seeing where he lived, his sturdy rocking chair and his writing desk.

Inside the Visitor Center sit down and watch the new video that opens your eyes to breathtaking scenery enhanced by storms and sunlight during each season of the year. You’ll change your mind about the badlands being bad as you watch the unusual landscape, the persistent delicate wild flowers and the big game that thrive in this seemingly inhospitable environment.

The museum displays a model of the Elkhorn ranch house, some of Roosevelt’s personal ranching items and an unusual wooden sculpture of TR on a horse.

The large petrified stump of a cypress tree gives you a peek into the geology of the area and how different this place looked 60 million years ago. In the Petrified Forest, there are remains of dawn redwood, magnolia, and ginkgo, as well as date and palm trees. The Petrified Forest is a 16-mile hike or horseback from the scenic loop in the South Unit or you can hike in from the west boundary.

The bookstore covers the natural features, the birds, wildlife, history, and people of the area. David McCullough’s book, Mornings on Horseback, tells about the family, the childhood, and the early life of Roosevelt and shows how his experience in Dakota Territory formed his character.

The 36-mile loop drive that starts here will take you through grasslands and prairie, river bottoms, and forested slopes as well as the flood plain that helps trees like the cottonwood. Fairyland features like cannonball concretions, porcelanite, and rain

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 15

pillars fire the imagination. Interpretive signs explain both the natural and historical features. Wildlife to watch for includes wild horses, prairie dogs, bison, and mule and white tail deer.

The Painted Canyon and Overlook Visitor Center is right off I-94 about 10 miles east of Medora and is open from April 1 through October. Here you will find panoramic views that will have you digging for your camera. You can stop here for a quick look if you must postpone a longer visit. There are restrooms and picnic tables, and bison occasionally visit the grounds.

Elkhorn Ranch Roosevelt’s Elkhorn ranch is 35 miles north of Medora in the cottonwoods along the Little Missouri River. There’s a cutoff on the scenic loop drive, but the road is passable only part of the time. Be sure to ask a ranger before you start. This area is deliberately left undeveloped so visitors can experience the quiet beauty that Roosevelt valued so much.

Roosevelt partnered with two other men on the Maltese Cross ranch in 1883. The following year he established his own open range cattle operation, the Elkhorn. This was the place that he considered his Dakota home.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit The North Unit is between Grassy Butte and Watford City on U.S. 85. To get there, Exit I-94 at Belfield and drive 50 miles north.

Like the South Unit, you’ll find a Visitor Center with exhibits, books, and a video. Rangers are available to answer questions and tell you about weather Silverwood & Wild Wave packages available and road conditions. The Scenic loop through the North Unit is 14 miles long with turnouts, interpretive In room 42” flat panel TVs Bilingual staff signs, and hiking trails of various lengths.

HD cable programming In room Refrigerator Watch for longhorn cattle grazing here, the kind of livestock that Roosevelt ran in these breaks and FREE Breakfast 24 Hour pool & spa coulees. MSN

Take Time To Visit The Center Of Western History Bismarck, the Capital of North Dakota, was just toasted as one of America’s “Top Ten Western Towns” in True West magazine, winning the recognition for good reason – it’s a great place to visit, particularly if you like western history.

Bismarck and Mandan straddle the Missouri River where the Northern Pacific railroad line stalled in 1872, and George Custer’s 7th Cavalry was posted the following year to Fort Abraham Lincoln, which had been a Mandan Indian Village a century previous. Custer’s rebuilt house and four other fort buildings share Fort Lincoln State Park with a restored Mandan earthlodge village.

Lewis and Clark pushed through in 1804, before wintering with the Mandan Indians 30 miles north. The explorers are remembered throughout the area, notably on the Lewis and Clark Riverboat taking daily excursions on the Missouri. And the Mandan, Sioux, and other Indian nations aren’t just remembered at Five Nations Arts – there their artwork comes to life.

BismarckMandan is booming these days, blossoming with hotel rooms and new restaurants (and old diners like Kroll’s, where the slogan is, “Sit down und eat!)

It’s growing fast, but will never forget its past.

For more information, visit www.fortlincoln. com/five_nations_art.aspx or call 701-6634663. MSN

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PAGE 16 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

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Theodore Roosevelt’s Public Land Legacy Inspires an Impressive Bucket List

By Bernice Karnop It seemed like an odd quote when I saw it at the Visitor Center at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. In fact, I initially dismissed it as a bit of North Dakota hyperbole.

“I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota.” Theodore Roosevelt.

However unlikely it seemed at first, I think citizens today can take him at his word. Certainly, we can wonder whether he would have become our conservation President. He came to Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt and while he was there, he saw the damage inflicted by the European settlers.

The last of the great bison herds were gone. Habitats of small mammals and songbirds were being destroyed by overgrazing. He understood that the country was losing something that would be difficult to replace.

“We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron , the oil and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.” TR.

He wasn’t just concerned about the misuse of the land. He understood the intrinsic value of natural beauty to the human spirit. He called the Grand Canyon a natural wonder unparalleled throughout the rest of the world.

“I want to ask you to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it.

The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” TR. We of the new century stand amazed at his accomplishments in the area of conservation and preservation. Politics was no less contrary (believe it or not) then than now. Who else in the maelstrom of democracy would have had the power and the determination to preserve so much public land if he had not? During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt protected approximately 230,000,000 acres of public land!

He created the U.S. Forest Service. He established 51 Federal Bird Reservations, four National Game Preserves, 150 National Forests, five National Parks, and, through the 1906 American Antiquities Act, he proclaimed 18 National Monuments. (Continued on page 21)

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Theodore Roosevelt’s Public Land- continued from page 16 “We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.” TR How did this wealthy New Yorker come to fall in love with the seemingly desolate Badlands of North Dakota? It’s cold in the winter, hot in the summer, windy most of the time. The cowboys would have thought him an oddity, with his round spectacles, expensive gear, and habit of reading voraciously and writing long into the night.

He came to North Dakota to hunt, and he did.

But he came at a time of deep grief. His beloved wife, Alice, died of undiagnosed Bright’s disease shortly after giving birth. A few hours earlier his mother, whom he adored, had died unexpectedly of what was said to be typhoid fever. He was 28 years old.

The light is gone from my life, he wrote while he was in North Dakota, and he inscribed an X on the calendar across the day they died, Valentines Day, 1883.

He submerged himself in the “strenuous life” of cattle ranching. He rode miles on his horses. He sat on the veranda of the Elkhorn Ranch, listening to the rustling leaves of the cottonwood trees.

And he began to heal in this wild and lonely place along the Little Missouri River.

Today Americans can appreciate that we had a leader in Roosevelt, one who saw America as a natural treasure and a glorious heritage to enjoy.

If you visit the places TR set aside in America and add the sites that honor him, you will have a full list of places to visit that stretch from sea to shining sea.

The National Parks he created include Crater Lake in Oregon, Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. He added land to Yosemite National Park, so you can visit it, too. He fought unsuccessfully to make the Grand Canyon a National Park but he declared it a National Monument, preserving it until it was added to the National Park system.

He created Sullys Hill in North Dakota, now

managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Platt National Park in Oklahoma, which is now part of the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, His National Monuments include Devil’s Tower, El Morro, Montezuma Castle, Petrified Forest (now a National Park) Chaco Canyon, Lassen Peak (now a National Park), Cinder Cone, (now a part of Lassen Volcanic National Park), Gila Cliff Dwellings, Tonto, Muir Woods, Pinnacles, Jewel Cave, Natural Bridges, Lewis and Clark, (later given to the state of Montana), Tumacacori, Wheeler (Colorado – later given to the Forest Service), Mount Olympus, (now Olympic National Park), and Chalmette Monument which is the site of the Battle of New Orleans, now part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park.

In the list of places that honor Roosevelt are Mount Rushmore, Theodore Roosevelt Island in the middle of the Potomac River in Washington D.C., his birthplace in New York, and his Sagamore Hill home in that state.

And what about Theodore Roosevelt National Park? In 1947, President Truman signed a bill creating Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, the only National Memorial Park in the country, to honor an individual. In 1978, President Carter signed a bill that changed it into a National Park, recognizing the land as well as the former president, as worthy of the designation.

We can we imagine how pleased Theodore

Roosevelt would have been. Today this island of nature in the Northern Great Plains changes only as the forces of wind and water rearrange its surface.

“It is also vandalism wantonly to destroy or permit the destruction of what is beautiful in nature, whether it be a cliff, a forest, or a species of mammal or bird.” TR MSN

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JUNE/JULY 2012

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PAGE 24 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

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Historic Crail Ranch in Big Sky celebrates 110 years of ranching history In the spring of 1902 at the age of 60, Augustus Franklin Crail moved his wife and three children from Bozeman up the rough logging road to Gallatin Basin and established a 160-acre homestead in the area now known as Big Sky, Montana.

For more than 50 years, the Crail’s raised wheat and ran cattle and sheep in the open meadow now largely taken up by the Big Sky golf course.

The small cabin – the first quarters of the Crail family of five – and the larger main cabin built by the Crail’s before 1914, are maintained by the non-profit Big Sky Community Corporation as a homestead museum open to visitors during the summer.

Big Sky is located between Bozeman and West Yellowstone on highway 191. If you are travelling to southwestern Montana this summer, be sure to visit Historic Crail Ranch. The buildings are open and free guided tours are available on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-3 p.m. during July and August. Other times, the grounds are open for self-guided walking tours.

For more information about the remarkable piece of Montana history that is the Crail Ranch, please visit www.crailranch.org or call 406-9952160. MSN

Learn About Pondera County War History Some of the most interesting history is still not available by a quick search on Google. Much of local history is either in old trunk waiting to be found, buried in public record, or preciously stowed in the minds of those who lived through era.

Luckily, in Pondera County our local museum showcases some of the most interesting facts that you cannot learn in school or by searching the Internet. One of the fascinating facts I recently learned by visiting the museum is that Pondera County had a naval ship named after the county because of its top sales in the course of the War Bond Drive during WWII. Pondera was the first county to top its quota in the 5th War Loan Drive, and it was among the top ranking in all other drives and sales of war bonds.

The USS Pondera, APA-191, was a Haskell-class attack transport, and it had the capacity to transport 1,500 men along with their combat gear each trip to hostile shores. The ship was launched on July 27, 1944, and was commissioned on September 24, 1944. The ship stayed commissioned until June of 1946 and eventually was scrapped in 1974.

Come visit the Pondera Transportation and Historical Museum at 401 S. Virginia in Conrad or call 406-278-0178 to learn more about our distinctive local history. MSN

MOLLI Summer Adventures in Science: Connecting the Circle The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at The University of Montana, affectionately known as MOLLI, is a membership organization dedicated to promoting lifelong learning of older adults from all backgrounds through personal enrichment classes with an academic focus. A wide range of stimulating classes is offered for six weeks three times a year, along with other special programs such as field trips, special member events, and a two-day interactive science camp for grandparents/grandchildren.

The Summer 2012 Adventures in Science: Connecting the Circle interactive day camp takes place July 16-17. Kids 6-12 years and their grandparents learn from each other through scientific exploration in both classroom and field experience at The University of Montana. Instructed by experts, kids 6-8 years learn about edible bugs or nature’s copycats (biomimicry) and kids 9-12 years learn about bones and stones (anthropology); bees; or explore the amazing human body and brain.

Note: grandparent and grandchild relationship is optional. Learning teams consist of one 50-plus adult and one 6-8 or 9-12 year-old child. Cost is $100 per pair, plus adult must purchase $20 annual MOLLI membership. To learn more visit www.umt.edu/molli . To register call 406-243-2905. Priority registration deadline is July 2 with final registration deadline July 9.

Janie Spencer is the Director for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at The University of Montana (MOLLI). For more information, call 406.243.2905 or email molli@umontana.edu. MSN

Veterans’ Art On Display In Helena The Montana Veterans Foundation invites you to visit its newest veteran service program. The Gallery at the Montana Veterans Foundation provides an opportunity for veterans from around Montana to showcase their artistic talents. The Gallery will also provide an opportunity for veterans from our Willis Cruse House and students of our Veterans Recovery Workshops to display their work and interact with the local community.

Artwork media include paintings, sculptures, woodwork, tapestries, leather, horsehair crafts, and much more. Items of The Gallery are for sale to the public and profits go to support veteran outreach services provided by the Montana Veterans Foundation.

If you are a veteran or know of a veteran artist, we encourage you to contact us; we would be delighted to showcase your work! The Gallery is located at 318 Fuller Avenue in downtown Helena next to Sweet Grass Bakery. Stop by today or call 406-459-2667 for more information! MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 25

Classic DVDs – Politics, Comedy, and Culture

By Mark Fee Martin Luther said, “The devil hates to be laughed at.” He was right.

Humor is an effective tool, even in the most ludicrous and tumultuous times.

I have been disappointed with many film and television comedies for some years because political correctness strained the humor. Once Hollywood knew how to laugh at itself and took controversial themes about politics and culture and turned them into non stop hilarity. The Marx Brothers’ A Day at the Races (1939) is still one of the funniest films ever made. The Bob Hope and Bing Crosby road pictures of the 1940s kidded other cultures and spy movies.

There are hundreds of classic comedies and satires worth watching and guaranteed for big laughs. Some are fall-on-your-face funny, deliriously loony, and off-the-wall. One of my favorites (and Academy Award winner 1968), Mel Brooks’ The Producers (1968) lampoons Hitler and Nazi Germany. Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) with Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland, pokes fun at the French Revolution.

In these unpredictable and catastrophic times, comedy is the perfect antidote to stress and anxiety. So grab a bag of popcorn and have a laugh with some of my favorite comedies and a few sleepers.

Has it really been 21 years since What About Bob? (1991) was released?

Time flies doesn’t it? Bill Murray plays an ambitious psychoanalyst’s (Richard Dreyfuss) worst nightmare. Dreyfuss gives Murray a copy of his soon to be national bestseller and leaves for a vacation. Murray can’t let go and follows the psychiatrist and his family to the family resort. Murray befriends the family. Dreyfuss goes crazy. An absolute gem and one of Murray’s best films. Rated PG; 3 1/2 stars.

In the slap stick and hilarious, Zorro the Gay Blade, (1981), George Hamilton plays Zorro and his twin brother, Bunny Wigglesworth. Zorro breaks his leg and can’t defend the peasants of Old California. Bunny saves the day.

Hamilton and director Peter Medak spoof the Tyrone Power classic, Mark of Zorro (1940). Although the film does not always work, some of the scenes are hysterically funny. Rated PG; 2 1/2 stars.

In Walt Disney’s The North Avenue Irregulars (1978), a young minister and group of unorthodox women, tackle corruption and gangsters in a small town. Susan Clark, Barbara Harris, and Cloris Leachman are hilarious as the women. Edward Hermann plays the anxiety ridden and baffled minister.

A treat for the whole family and one of Disney’s best. Rated G; 3 stars.

In What’s Up Doc? (1972) Barbara Streisand steals Ryan O’Neal from Madeline Kahn and turns a research conference into a rollercoaster of laughs.

The Peter Bogdonavich classic is even better on DVD than it was in theaters.

Streisand plays Judy Maxwell. Maxwell is a devious prankster who befuddles Ryan O’Neal, as Howard Bannister, a skittish research professor engaged to Eunice Burns (Madeline Kahn). Bannister and Eunice are visiting San Francisco for a conference. The film is a masterpiece of comic timing with an unforgettable script. Rated G; 3 1/2 stars.

In Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland, play mismatched twins. The film is set during the French Revolution. One set of twins is aristocratic and arrogant. The other set is poor

and dim witted. Gene Wilder is a sadistic nobleman and his twin, Donald Sutherland, wants to be the Queen of France. An extremely funny film with huge laughs. Rated PG; 3 stars.

In Mel Brooks’ Academy Award winning, The Producers (1968), Zero Mostel hires Gene Wilder to help him raise money for the worst musical of all time. Mostel is a lecherous and scheming producer. Wilder is his accountant. Mostel has to find a play to lose money and get out of debt. Wilder and Mostel discover Springtime for Hitler. The musical is an unexpected hit. The film is hysterically funny. Rated PG, 4 stars Elvis Presley and a family of homesteaders, overcome impossible odds to start a fishing business in the delightful Follow That Dream (1962).

Presley plays Toby Kwimper, a disabled Army veteran. Arthur O’Connell is Pop Kwimper. O’Connell and his mixed family, including Toby, two adopted children, and their babysitter, run out of gas in Florida, so they decide to start a business. They have to outwit a pompous state representative, the mafia, and a seductive social worker. The film is a sleeper and rollickingly funny – super family entertainment. Elvis sings a few memorable tunes. Rated G; 3 stars In Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), Tony Randall becomes an unlikely sex symbol and boyfriend of Jayne Mansfield. The film is an uproarious spoof of Hollywood and television advertisements. Randall has to find the right sponsor for a new lipstick. Mansfield says, “Yes.” But, with a price.

Randall has to act the part of her boyfriend. An extremely funny, droll film that never lets up. Not rated; 3 stars.

Until the next time, laugh more, worry less, and enjoy these hilarious DVDs. MSN

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PAGE 26 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 27

The Charles M. Bair Family Museum and Home The Bair family ranch house is a visual record of memories that began when Charles M. Bair came west as a conductor on the Northern Pacific Railroad, made his fortune in the Yukon Gold Rush, and became one of the largest sheep ranchers in the world. Eclectic art and furniture gathered in New York, Portland, and Europe by daughters Marguerite and Alberta fill the 26-room home.

The Bair Art Museum sits adjacent to the family home near Martinsdale and features original paintings by Charles M. Russell and Joseph Henry Sharp, Edward S. Curtis photogravures, Native American artifacts and rugs, and a range of works

by European and American artists.

The Bair family collection represents a major

cultural and historical legacy of Montana and the West, and celebrates the unique interests of this visionary and philanthropic family.

The Bair Barn features a display of family photos, sheep ranching history, and family memorabilia. The Museum Gift Shop offers unique items including books by Montana authors, baskets, jewelry, and pottery. Docent guided tours of the Bair home are on the hour and last approximately 45 minutes. Handicapped accessible, walkers are also available.

The museum and home are located between Harlowton and White Sulphur Springs near Martinsdale. Call 406-572-3314 for hours of operation and directions. MSN

Acclaimed Artists Featured At Big Sky Classical Music Festival The second annual Big Sky Classical Music Festival will feature three nights of incredible music scheduled for August 10-12, 2012. The entire weekend will be free and take place outdoors in beautiful Town Center Park.

Opening the festival on Friday, August 10, is the world-renowned Boston Brass. For 26 years, Boston Brass has set out to establish a one-ofa-kind musical experience. Through over 100 performances each year, the members of Boston Brass play to audiences at concerts, educational venues and jazz festivals.

On Saturday, August 11, the Enso String Quartet will bring its award-winning sound to Big Sky. With a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance, the New York-based

Enso String Quartet has quickly become one of the country’s most exciting young ensembles.

Closing the festival on Sunday, August 12, will be the Imani Winds. The Grammy-nominated ensemble’s extensive touring schedule has brought them to most of this country’s major concert venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Disney Hall, and Kimmel Center.

Well-known composer and educator Eric Funk will again serve as the festival’s Music and Artistic Director. To find out more about this amazing free weekend of music, please visit www.bigskyarts.org or call the Arts Council of Big Sky at 406-995-2742. MSN

Friends can be said to fall in like with as profound a thud as romantic partners fall in love.

– Letty Cottin Pogrebin

BAIR MUSEUM

Step into Montana History!

B I G

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August 10-12, 2012

Visit the beautiful new state-of-the museum and the sprawling family ranch home; it’s a visual legacy of a proud family heritage!

Alberta Bair and artist Will James

Town Center Park Big Sky, MT Featuring Music & Artistic Director Eric Funk And free performances from:

Boston Brass August 10

From exciting classical arrangements, to burning jazz standards, and the best of the original brass quintet repertoire, Boston Brass treats audiences to a unique brand of entertainment that captivates all ages.

Enso String Quartet August 11

With a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance, the Enso String Quartet has quickly become one of the country's most accomplished and recognized young ensembles.

Imani Winds August 12

More than North America's premier wind quintet, the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds has established itself as one of the most successful and genre-blurring chamber music ensembles in the United States.

All shows are free! Special hotel rates available.

Presented by the Arts Council of Big Sky

www.bigskyarts.org

The Charles M. Bair Family Museum 10am -5pm, 7 days a week, Memorial Day through Labor Day $5 adults, $3 seniors.

The Museum is located on Hwy 294, just 1 mile south of Hwy 12 between White Sulphur Springs and Harlowton.

Martinsdale, Montana www.bairfamilymuseum.org (406) 572-3314 info@bairfamilymuseum.org

PAGE 28 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Now Is The Time To Visit All-important China Article By Andrea Gross / Photos by Irv they arrange a date for their children. It is a lowGreen tech eHarmony.

I am reading the newspaper when I realize My husband and I deliberately chose an that there are almost as many articles about itinerary that included two free days for personal Beijing as there are about Washington, D.C. That exploration. In Beijing, we go to the Art District, is when it hits me. If one of the main purposes where world-class galleries occupy Communist— and pleasures — of era factory buildings. travel is education, One heart-stopping then I have to go to exhibition focuses on China. I need to learn prostitution; another more about the country has a disturbing diswhose actions will afplay of soldiers toting fect the way I live and, machine guns cammore importantly, the ouflaged by flowers. way my children will There is no thought live. suppression here.

After some reIn Shanghai, the search our travel energy is palpable. agent books us on a We walk along the 12-day tour to Beijing riverfront, through a and Shanghai that inshopping thoroughcludes air from San fare, and over to a Francisco; all meals, public park that has admissions, and transcarnival-style rides. portation within China; After visiting a marguide service; and, as I ket, we go to an acrosoon find out, very nice batic show. Our days hotels. I do the math. are packed.

Why, I can visit China During our free Beijing’s streets are a mix of old and new. [Photo by Irv for not a lot more than Green] day, we explore two I would have to pay for contrasting neighboran all-inclusive two-week vacation in California. hoods: a working-class area filled with small, I take a deep breath and sign on the dotted line. slightly grubby shops and the French ConcesIn Beijing our guide leads our small group to sion, which has upscale boutiques and trendy the must-sees: Tiananmen Square, where Mao restaurants. proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of Our guides are remarkably forthcoming.

China in 1949; the Forbidden City, which was They criticize their government but at the same home to 24 emperors; and of course, the Great time make clear that they admire it. They say Wall, which was designed to protect the country that a U.S. style democracy could never work against foreign invaders. in China because there are too many people.

To learn about more current endeavors, we They speak to us about China’s one child visit a jade factory, a silk factory, a tea plantation, policy, religion, education, medical care, the and herbal medicine museum. lack of a social safety net and, most of all, how But my favorite moments occur when we hard they have to work in order to survive. “We mingle with ordinary folks, like the 76-year-old work much harder than people in America,� says woman who hosts us for lunch. She shows us Chang.* her home, which is in a hutong, one of Beijing’s We are amazed at their misconceptions. fast-disappearing old neighborhoods.

Chang owns a condominium, can afford to fly The next day we visit a park where we see his family from his village on the Yangtze to seniors doing tai-chi, dancing, fencing, and Shanghai for a holiday, and has a car that he matchmaking. Their children, explains our guide, bought new two years ago. His daughter has a work such long hours that they do not have time new iPad as well as an iPod. I tell him that this to search for a spouse. Therefore, the parents is more than many people his age in the United must help. They make big signs proclaiming States can afford, and yes, they work as many their child’s attributes and network with other or more hours than he does. parents. If the seniors spot a potential match, Another guide dreams of living on Wisteria

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Lane, the home of ABC’s Desperate Housewives, and we realize how television shapes Chinese views of the United States as well as our views on China. This, says my husband, is why it is important for people to travel, to see things for themselves.

We are aware that we saw only two cities, and we spoke with only a handful of people. We did not visit the countryside, which, despite China’s rapid urbanization, is still home to the majority of the population. We did not visit the factory towns that are churning out goods that are flooding the world’s markets. That will have to wait until next time.

But in the meantime, we treasure the glimpse we got of a country that is, and will continue to be, a major player on the world’s stage. *Name has been changed. MSN A typical Shanghai neighborhood is filled with multi-unit dwellings and small shops.

[Photo by Irv Green]

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PAGE 30 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

M O N TA N A

SENIOR LIVING GUIDE Making a Plan

By Karen Powers, The Goodman Group

When mapping out plans for our lives we always have a Plan A, the thing we really want to happen and assume will happen. If we’re smart we then make Plan B, a viable alternative that would be just as acceptable. Then there is Plan C – notorious for its lastminute scramble, and only reserved for when things get desperate.

• Is my family nearby and available to help?

• Can I or do I want to live with my family?

You are making the right choice.

• As I continue to age, how will my requirements change?

• What can my finances support?

Make a Plan B for multiple levels of senior living, from independent to assisted living to skilled nursing so all of your bases are covered. Research and personal visits to these different types of Apply this to senior living communities are a must. choices. It is acknowledged that to most people, when considering Good sources are the internet, their future care options, Plan A is phonebooks and local senior to stay at home! In reality, however, publications and organizations.

Compile a list and start touring. sometimes home is not always the safest or the most convenient As you visit, be sure to ask option. Loneliness, the inability to questions that will define the drive, needing a bit of assistance quality of your life in that with daily life and the high expense community. Services, resident of in-home care are all reasons to impressions, and level of care start thinking about Plan B. provided are important factors.

Take good notes and take home Plan B is your reliable, viable and read all the printed informaback-up plan when you find that living at home is no longer the best tion the community can provide. option, or your care needs exceed what you, a spouse or your adult children can help with. Plan B is researching and choosing a good senior living community that is to your liking, before it’s too late (having to rely upon the dubious last-minute scramble of Plan C).

Involve your family and loved ones and their opinions. This decision can be as much emotional as it is pragmatic. Be sure to keep your top choices for the various levels of care you might need and a letter of instruction in a place where your family can find it.

This all prevents leaving your To get started on your Plan B, spouse or your children to deal think about your future and ask yourself some important questions. with choosing the dubious options Do yourself a favor and give them a of Plan C because your wishes were not made known. lot of thought when you answer.

To tell the truth, most people • How is my health? do not regret moving to a senior • What is the likelihood that I living community, the quality of will require assistance? life, opportunities, and peace of mind that people experience make • Is my house situated so I can them wonder why moving was get around easily? never Plan A in the first place.

At some point, we all need help for ourselves or someone we love and we have to make the choice.

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JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 31

Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine Lures Modern Day Miners Article & Photo By Bernice Karnop You won’t find Gold Fever in a medical text, but Russ Thompson acknowledged its reality when he named his Gold Fever Rock Shop at the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine near Helena. Here at the Spokane Bar infected folks pay for the back breaking privilege of using a pick and shovel to dig gem-bearing gravel, shake it through screens, wash it in a bathtub, and painstakingly pick though it with tweezers.

The lure of mining, as Thompson says, “Is you are always an inch from a million dollars, or a million inches from one dollar.” This family operation is the largest producer of gem quality natural sapphires in the United States that is open to the public.

Russ Thompson, 65, has owned and operated the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine and Gold Fever Rock Shop for 34 years. He knows mining, he knows his customers, and he completely enjoys both. With a throaty chuckle, he says, “You get the fever, I get the gold.”

Russ’s great grandfather was one of those who came during the Montana gold rush in the early 1860s. Occasionally he has to enforce the miner’s code even today. It happened when one fellow accused another of getting into his gravel.

“We were about to have an old-fashioned shovel fight when I intervened,” Russ says.

More often, the spirit of the gold rush shows up in more appropriate ways. Recently Noah Steffel from Wisconsin triumphantly held up a blue-green gem the size of a thimble to show off to anyone within shouting distance. He estimated its size at five carets.

The 21-year old, his dad, Jim, and cousin, Nick, drove 24 hours straight through to get to the Spokane Bar by mid-April. The first day they dug in the Mother Lode Pit, shaking out the over burden, bagging the gravel and throwing it in the pickup. The next day they began washing it cupful by cupful. Before 10 a.m. they’d found two large gems and a big handful of smaller ones. They were having a blast.

These guys are aware that the raw gravel they dig has not been disturbed for millennia. The gems they spy have not been touched since the Missouri River transported and deposited them

But even that is only a temporary cure.

While people like the Steffels relish the full mining experience, others let Cass do much of the hard work. He digs and concentrates the gravel using a homemade trommel wash plant. The trommel discards the big rocks and the sand, trapping the heavy gravel to be bagged and searched through for sapphires. Visitors buy bags of the concentrate, which they can wash on site or at home. The concentrate also sells through their web site, www. sapphiremine.com.

There are four major deposits on both sides of the river ranging from two feet below the surface, to 50 feet. The bags are marked so you know where it came from. They don’t “high grade” any of the

on the bedrock of these ancient terraces, washing away softer material in natures own sluice box.

“We’ve done things like this before but there’s no comparison. This is ten times more fun,” says Jim, who learned of the Montana sapphire mine from a treasure show on television. “We talk about it all winter.”

The lure of the gems is strong, but the remote beauty of the place also calls the adventurers. You are at the end of a gravel road where grassy hills clumped with sagebrush and juniper roll away to grand views of the Big Belt Mountains, the Elkhorns, and the Continental Divide. The Missouri River, flowing wide and slowly because of Hauser Dam, keeps its secrets buried like the sapphires while a meadowlark shouts his from his perch on a weathered fencepost.

And what happens if you catch the mining fever? Cass, Russ’s son, who operates the mine, says there’s only one cure. “Get out and mine.”

PAGE 32 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

concentrate. If you find it, it’s yours. Each summer people find stones that appraise at $20,000 to $30,000. The largest one ever found was 155 carats.

Color variations would fill a big Crayola box – 495 different shades. Other treasures you might find in a bag include citrine, garnets, agate, jasper, and petrified wood. Rarely people find topaz, ruby, and diamonds. Gold, which was what early territorial Governor Samuel T. Hauser was looking for when he mined these terraces with Chinese laborers in 1865, is found in tiny bits. The nuggets stayed farther up in the mountains at Confederate Gulch and Diamond City.

While early day mining damaged the land, today the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine doesn’t pollute anything, boasts Cass.

They use no chemicals and no explosives. Reclaimed pits are planted with trees and native grass. They like to point out the environmentally responsible activity to

the busloads of schoolchildren who visit.

People from all over the world come to get their hands dirty at the sapphire mines. There are tour groups from Japan, Taiwan, Norway, Sweden, and beyond. Engaged couples come to search for stones for their rings. Most are hobbyists, and many of them return year after year. One returnee is now 100 years old.

They’ve been featured in National Geographic, Rock and Gem, Lapidary Journal, and in virtually every rock hound book. The easiest best place for you to find information about the sapphires and the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine is at www.sapphiremine.com. Friend them on Facebook for current information, or call them at 406-227-8989.

Best of all, this is a perfect place to feed your grandchildren’s inner rock hound. Russ knows the value of starting early. His dad was an excavator and he followed along gathering pretty rocks. He went on to get degrees in mineralogy, geology, and paleontology from the Montana School of Mines, the Colorado School of Mines, and the University of Nebraska.

But the best reason to go is that it is so much fun. Jim Steffel has an exciting job, but it doesn’t compare with a visit to the Spokane Bar Sapphire Mine and Gold Fever Rock Shop. “You can’t do anything this exciting and fun any other place,� he insists. MSN

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Article & Photo By Connie Daugherty “I’m not competitive – I never have been,� insists Judy Palmquist of Helena. It is clear that this friendly, petite 62-year-old woman gets more joy from helping others get physically fit than from beating them at a contest.

And for most of the years that she has been teaching she concentrated, not only on women’s fitness, but also on functional fitness for everyday living and for everybody. Now she mostly works with people who have limitations – hip or knee replacements, arthritis, fibromyalgia, back issues. Her goal as she works with clients – individually or in a class – is to one day say, “Yes, they’re not hurting!�

Judy is a certified Pilates instructor with a physical therapy focus and not only believes in the importance of exercise, but lives it and insists that there is some sort of exercise, however simple, for everyone. Her genuine gentle enthusiasm is contagious. Her eyes light up when she talks about the successes of her students whether it’s Pilates on the reformer machine or a hike up Mount Helena.

You would never guess that she has been dealing with back and neck pain for 20 years herself. “I think that makes it easier for me as an instructor to understand what others are going through,� she says. She understands the limitations, but she also firmly believes in the possibilities and the healing power of a physically fit body. “People just feel good about themselves and that’s huge!� she says. Instinctively rather than intentionally, and just because she cares so much, Judy provides a holistic experience – body, mind and spirit – for her clients.

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to do with her life. “Things just happen for me,� she says.

She recalls her first experiences with anything that resembled an exercise class. “I had four kids at home and I couldn’t just leave the house,� she says.

So she turned on the TV and exercised in her basement with Charlene Pricket.

Sometimes her children would join her.

It was fun. Then she learned that doing all that jumping and dancing on concrete was horrible for her joints and her back.

So she bought a rebounder and bounced on that. Still not the best alternative. Her husband decided she needed a better option so he bought her a membership at a women’s health club. She was excited, but nervous. “It took me a week just to decide what to wear,� she laughs. She recalls how week and although they had help, it was still a bit she almost sneaked into her first class and hid overwhelming.

When they decided it was time to move on, Judy in the back row hoping she wouldn’t bump into anyone as she followed the instructor’s steps. “I found herself at loose ends. She had always been remember that feeling when I see someone new interested in fashion and had been instrumental in come into a class,� she says. “It’s a big step for adding the exercise clothing line to Fitness is my Business, so she decided to open her own boutique most people.�

Before long she was in the middle row and of women’s clothing and accessories – Legends then the front row, she made new friends and Clothing for Women. “We wanted women to realize discovered she had “a sort of natural ability for that every day they are creating their own legend,� it.� She had only been going to classes about she says. They decorated the store with pictures a month when owners of the health club asked of strong, unique women like Janette Rankin. Her her to teach a class. The timing was perfect, her whole family got involved either as cheerleaders youngest daughter had just started kindergarten, or as participants. It was great fun. But it was also time consuming. “I was working six days a week,� and she had some time during the day.

From then on Judy was hooked, not only on she recalls. She missed her fitness connections, exercise, but also on teaching. “I just like people,� but most of all she missed time with her family – she says. She developed her own style of teach- she had a grandson by then. So she closed the ing. She also worked with another instructor to business and looked for the next experience.

She decided to return to what she bring the trademarked, “Young at Heart� classes to the health club and also taught a Forty-Plus loved – this time with the physical therapy and Fit Again class. She taught there until it also focused Pilates training, encouraged by a local physical therapist. “The classes were closed.

Judy knew there was no turning back – she pretty intense.� She recalls especially the had discovered her passion. “I was just led into the anatomy classes – learning all the muscles business,� she says. And although the path has and parts of the body and how they connot been direct, Judy has been doing some sort of fitness instruction for about 20 years earning a several certifications including personal trainer, and awards along the way.

She worked for Cross Roads for several years. Then she and another instructor, Mary Kay Bennett, decided to open their own business called Fitness is my Business focusing mostly on midlife and senior women with classes like low-impact aerobics, and back friendly stretches and strength building and of course the “Young at Heart� classes. She contracted with the HELENA AREA TRANSIT SERVICE M–F Except Holidays state to teach a “healthy back� class for state Office Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. employees. They hosted group lunches for Curb to Curb Service 6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. the women in their classes. They received the “Women Helping Women� award from EAST VALLEY HELENA CHECK POINT ROUTE the Helena Business Group. Along the way, 7 a.m.–11 a.m. they added a small line of exercise clothing, 7 a.m.–6 p.m.

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JUNE/JULY 2012

nect. But she loved it and soon she was back in the physical fitness business.

“I was coming here for treatment for my neck,” she says of the chiropractic clinic where she now works part-time. One thing led to another and the doctor asked Judy if she would teach some classes to some of her patients.

With each business and class, Judy finds herself bonding with the women who come. A personal trainer contract develops into a friendship. The women in her classes connect, become friends, they share their problems and in doing so help each other develop healthy minds and spirits as well as bodies. “It’s a social thing,” she says. Whether it’s simply two people hiking together, or meeting to do weights, a class of three or four on the Pilates reformer, or a low-impact aerobics class of twenty, something happens when these women come together.

But that sense of acceptance and belonging can only happen in the right atmosphere and Judy sets the atmosphere and serves as the catalyst. Just as she seemed to have a natural affinity for exercise, she also has an instinctive ability to connect with others. “I’m usually very aware of others’ feelings,” she admits. “You have to be willing to get inside just a bit. That’s just good teaching,” she says. She takes the time because she sincerely cares about the whole person.

Helena’s Judy Palmquist understands that functional fitness forever includes exercise for the body and inspiration for the spirit – and she provides plenty of both for everyone she meets. MSN

Dean Hall Firefighter (continued from front cover) pesky protective mask was near second nature for her.

“I just sort of took to fire training,” Dean adds. “Not that I’m an adrenaline junkie, but it helps.”

Dean has learned much about fire fighting and emergency medical care while on the job, but perhaps her greatest lesson is what she has learned about her fellow volunteers.

“It’s such a dangerous business, I have a lot more respect for fire and especially for the people that fight them,” Dean says with admiration. “They leave their house to protect yours, it’s crazy. These men and women are truly amazing.”

Dean notes that they could not pay her enough to do this job, yet she spends nearly every waking hour volunteering in some capacity for the Baxendale Fire District, which covers 91 square miles west of Helena and includes 1,000 people and 400 homes. MacDonald Pass, off Highway 12 lies in the center of the district.

Baxendale, like most fire departments across rural Montana runs on volunteers and is mostly funded through various fundraisers. Volunteers put in immeasurable hours training.

“It never stops,” Dean adds. “It can’t stop and then you have to run to the calls when your pager goes off.”

Dean is one of two EMTs at Baxendale, and most calls require a medical response. She also serves as president for the Baxendale Fire Department’s non-profit association, planning appreciation dinners, retirement parties, and perhaps most impor-

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in 1980, Dean continued the adventurous lifestyle they had lived together. She spent five summers on lookout in the Scapegoat Wilderness, started with the Big Sky Volunteer Ski Patrol at age 47 (she had never skied a day in her life prior to this), and learned how to sky dive. Dean keeps a picture of herself parachuting taped to her refrigerator door. “There are times that I think, ‘I can’t do that,’ and then I look at that picture and know I can do anything.�

With such an adventure-filled life, people often ask Dean Hall what has been the best time of her life. “My best time is today,� she replies. MSN

Step Back Into Time At Jefferson County Museum

A Fair of the Heart: Jefferson County Fair & Rodeo

Welcome to the Jefferson County Museum!

We are located at 9 North Main in Clancy, Montana just 10 miles south of Helena. The Jefferson County Museum is situated in an 1898 school building that features original bronze ceiling tiles, windows and doorframes, and one restored maple floor. The other room is left as it was in the 1950s.

Jefferson County has a rich mining, railroad, and ranching history. We have several ghost towns in the county, including Elkhorn and Comet. The museum displays old photos and historical items.

We have an expanding military display and a kitchen collection from the 1900s to the 1950s. Be sure and see our Indoor barn, a one-ninth scale model of a local 1929 barn.

Twice a year the museum features various loaned exhibits. Until June 15, we have an exhibit from Lee Silliman of Missoula containing 50 black and white photos of backcountry Yellowstone. In September, we will have 40 of Lee’s photos of Jefferson County ghost towns.

The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from one to 6 pm and our museum director, Ashley Hanna will be there. If you need further information, please contact Ashley at 406-437-1875 or Sherry at 406-933-5528. As we are a non-profit county museum, admittance is free. Come and enjoy the old time view! MSN

The Jefferson County Fair and Rodeo is August 23-26 at the Jefferson County Recreation Park one-half mile south of Boulder, Montana. Known as “A Fair of the Heart,� the fair is affordable fun for the whole family.

Local cowboys and cowgirls compete at the Wrangler Roundup starting at 4 pm on Friday, August 24. There is no admission fee for Friday events.

Saturday features a parade at 1 pm, live bands, carousel rides, and fair exhibits from pets to petunias. There is no fair admission fee and $2 per car parking. The fast-paced Boulder NRA Rodeo starts Saturday at 5 pm, $6 for adults, $3 for kids. A beef barbecue starts at 4 pm Saturday. A real barn dance starts at 8 pm with live music by Helena’s Insufficient Funds, a chance to kick up your heels for $1.

Sunday features a breakfast, a dog show, and more live music. A kids’ stick horse rodeo at 11 am is followed by a free kids’ treasure hunt in the straw. The second day of the Boulder Rodeo starts at 2 pm.

For a schedule, go to www.jeffco.mt.gov or call 406-461-6701. For rodeo information, call 406-2254316. MSN

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Dean grew up in Reed City, Michigan playing in the Manistee National Forest, hunting with her dad, swimming in the lake and rowing the boat so her dad could fish. She moved to Montana when she was nineteen-years old and several years later met the love of her life.

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JUNE/JULY 2012

How to Make the Most of Your Doctor’s Visit

By Jim Miller You’re right. Studies have shown that patients who help their doctors by providing important health information and preparing themselves for appointments tend to get better care than patients who don’t. Here are some simple things we can all do to help maximize our next visit to the doctor.

Before Your Appointment - Gathering your health information and getting organized before your appointment are the key steps to ensuring a productive meeting with your doctor. This is especially important if you’re seeing multiple doctors or are meeting with a new physician for

the first time. Specifically, you need to: Get your test results – Make sure the doctor you’re seeing has copies of your latest X-ray, MRI, or any other test or lab results, including reports from other doctors that you’ve seen. In most cases, you’ll need to do the leg work yourself which may only require a phone call to your previous doctor asking them to send it, or you may need to go pick it up and take it yourself.

List your medications – Make a list of all the medications you’re taking (prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements) along with the dosages and take it with you to your appointment.

Or, just gather up all your pill bottles and put them in a bag and bring them with you.

Gather your health history – Your doctor also needs to know about any previous hospitalizations, as well as any current or past medical problems, even if they are not the reason you are going to the doctor this time. Genetics matter too, so having your family’s health history can be helpful. The U.S. Surgeon General offers a free web-based tool called “My Family Health Portrait” (see familyhistory.hhs.gov) that can help you put one together.

Prepare a list of questions – Make a written list of the top three or four issues you want to discuss with your doctor. Since most appointments last between 10 and 15 minutes, this can help you stay on track and ensure you address your most pressing concerns first. If you’re in for a diagnostic visit, you should prepare a detailed description of your symptoms.

During Your Appointment – The best advice when you meet with your doctor is to speak up.

Don’t wait to be asked. Be direct, honest, and as specific as possible when recounting your symptoms or expressing your concerns. Many patients are reluctant or embarrassed to talk about their symptoms, which makes the doctor’s job a lot harder to do. It’s also a good idea to bring along a family member or friend to your appointment. They can help you ask questions, listen to what the doctor is telling you, and give you support.

Also consider taking some notes or ask the doctor if you can record the session for later review. If you don’t understand what the doctor is telling you, ask him or her to explain it in simple terms so you can understand. And if you run out of time and don’t get your questions answered, ask if you can follow up by phone or email, make another appointment, or seek help from the doctor’s nurse.

Savvy tip: The National Institute on Aging offers a booklet called “Talking With Your Doctor: A Guide for Older People” that provides great information including a variety of questions to ask that can help you be a more informed patient. To get a free copy mailed to you, call 800-222-2225 or visit www.nia.nih.gov.

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. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

If I Need A Total Knee Replacement, What Are My Options?

By Chris Al-Aswad When a surgeon considers a patient for a total knee replacement, she takes into account the patient’s age, lifestyle, and damage to the joint. In addition, a surgeon’s decision to use one procedure over another, or one type of implant over another, often depends on that surgeon’s training and clinical situation. Each implant design has advantages and disadvantages, but whichever implant your surgeon decides to go with, it’s good to know that total knee replacement surgeries offer among the greatest success rates of all orthopedic operations.

Nevertheless, we advise you to research your options so that you can intelligently discuss with your surgeon what approach will be best for you.

What happens in knee replacement surgery?

A total knee replacement (http://bonesmart.org/ knee_replacement.php) replaces the damaged bearing surfaces in your knee that are causing pain. At the lower end of the femur (thighbone), the bone is trimmed to accept a specially shaped metal component and the upper end of the tibia (shinbone) likewise is trimmed to accept a metal tray. Into this tray will be fitted a plastic bearing.

The metal components can be secured to the cut bone surfaces by the surgeon’s choice of bone cement or a non-cement method called “bone ingrowth.” The majority of knee replacements are generally cemented into place. You can ask your surgeon about this one option. “What type of fixation will you use to hold my knee in place?”

The outer surface of the femoral component is shaped to allow the kneecap (patella) to slide up and down in its groove. The surgeon may choose to retain the natural kneecap or re-surface it. You can ask your surgeon about this. “Will you be replacing my kneecap or retaining it?

The cruciate ligaments are major ligaments inside the knee. They provide support to and stabilize the movement of the knee. In total knee replacement surgery the CL can be kept or removed and this choice depends on their condition, the type of knee implant, or the type of surgery the surgeon likes to do. This is another option you can ask your surgeon about. “Will you be removing or retaining my cruciates?”

Sometimes the deterioration of the knee joint is such that total knee replacement can be avoided and your surgeon may suggest resurfacing or partially replacing components of your arthritic knee.

Preserving healthy bone stock is especially important to younger and more active individuals. In the

last section of this article, we will talk about when a total knee replacement may not be necessary.

What are the different types of implants?

The plastic bearing in your new knee joint will be either fixed or mobile-bearing. This means that the polyethylene insert is either clicked onto a stationary platform (fixed) or able to move on a rotating metal base (mobile). Most people get a fixed-bearing prosthesis that reduces knee pain and may last for many years. If you are younger, more active, and/or overweight, sometimes a doctor may recommend a mobile-bearing or a rotating platform knee replacement designed for longer performance with less wear.

In addition, there is the medial pivot implant that replicates the rotating, twisting, bending, flexion, and stability of your natural knee, so it feels more like your natural knee. This design “stays put” or is more stabile during normal knee motion as opposed to sliding forward slightly in flexion.

Custom or special needs implants are another option when choosing an implant. This will depend on whether your skeleton is smaller or bigger than average. Research shows that regular-sized implants may overhang on the bone and lead to soft tissue interference or mid-flexion instability in those people with narrow femurs.

Maybe a total knee replacement isn’t necessary. A surgeon will be able to preserve part of the knee through resurfacing or partially replacing components of your arthritic knee.

Partial Knee Resurfacing is an innovative procedure designed to provide quicker recovery and improved surgical outcome. This is for patients with damage confined to only one part of the knee that can be resurfaced without compromising the healthy bone and tissue surrounding it. The implants are usually custom-made implants using CAD (computer-aided design) from a special digital imaging of the knee.

Another option is a partial knee replacement (also called a unicompartmental arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty). This involves putting a smaller implant on just one side of the knee where the damage is limited to that part rather than replacing the entire surface. A partial knee replacement is done if part of the knee joint is damaged by arthritis and the other compartments have healthy, normal cartilage.

Whatever your situation, carefully compare your options in consultation with your physician in order to get the best outcome. MSN

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 37

PAGE 38 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Recommended Vaccinations

By Jim Miller Most people think that vaccinations are just for kids, but adults, especially seniors, need their shots too. Here’s a breakdown of what vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends for adults age 50 and older, and how they’re covered by Medicare.

Influenza (flu): While you already know that seasonal flu shots are recommended to everyone age 50 and older, you may not know that seniors over 65 now have the option of getting a new high-potency flu vaccine instead of a regular flu shot. This vaccine – known as the Fluzone High-Dose – creates

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a stronger immune response for better protection. All annual flu shots are covered under Medicare Part B. Pneumococcal: Pneumonia causes more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, many of which could be prevented by the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. Everyone age 65 or older needs to get this one-time vaccination, as well as those under 65 who smoke or have chronic health conditions like asthma, lung and heart disease, diabetes, or a weakened immune system. This vaccination is also covered under Medicare Part B. Zoster (shingles): Recommended for everyone age 60 and older, shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash that affects more than 1 million Americans each year. All Medicare Part D prescription drug plans cover this one-time vaccination, but coverage amounts and reimbursement rules vary depending on where the shot is given. Be sure you check your plan. If you aren’t covered you can expect to pay between $150 and $250.

Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis): A one-time dose of the Tdap vaccine which covers tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) is now recommended to all adults. If you’ve already had a Tdap shot, you should return to getting a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster shot every 10 years. Most private health and Medicare Part D plans cover these vaccinations, but if you have to pay, they cost between $20 and $100.

MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella): Anyone born during or after 1957 that is unsure about their immunization history should receive the MMR shot.

A blood test can tell whether someone has had any of these diseases or has received the MMR vaccine, but a test costs approximately $100. If you’re unsure about your immunity, getting a booster shot is more cost-effective (around $50 and is usually covered by insurance) and isn’t harmful, even if you’re already immune.

Hepatitis A: This is a two-dose series of shots recommended to adults age 50 and older that have chronic liver disease, a clotting-factor disorder, have same-sex male partners, illicit injectable drug use, or who have close contact with a hepatitis A-infected individual or who travel to areas with a high incidence of hepatitis A. These shots cost anywhere from $60 to $300, but are covered by most health and Medicare prescription drug plans.

Hepatitis B: This three-dose series is recommended to adults 50 and older who are on dialysis, have renal disease or liver disease, are sexually active with more than one partner, have a sexually transmitted disease or HIV. These vaccinations are covered under Medicare Part B. (Cont’d on p. 40)

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 39

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PAGE 40 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

(Cont’d from p. 39) Meningitis: Adults 55 and younger who have never been vaccinated, have had their spleen removed, have certain blood deficiencies or plan to travel to parts of the world where meningitis is common, should receive the meningococcal conjugate vaccine. Adults 56 and older should receive the polysaccharide vaccine. Covered by most health and Medicare Part D plans, this shot will cost around $100 to $150 if you have to pay out-of-pocket.

To help you get a handle on which vaccines are appropriate for you, take the CDC “What Vaccines Do You Need?” quiz at www2.cdc.gov/nip/ adultimmsched. Also, talk to your doctor during your next visit about what vaccinations you should get.

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. MSN

Domestic Violence and Elder Abuse Domestic violence is an escalating pattern of violence or intimidation by an intimate partner, which is used to gain power and control. More than one in ten women over age fifty suffer from physical, sexual, or verbal abuse perpetrated by a family member. Domestic violence is under reported by older victims. Most reported elder abuse involve an adult child as the abuser, but more rigorous research indicates that majority of abusers are spouses/partners.

Women are reluctant to report abuse for a variety of reasons, and many of the reasons get more intense as victims age. Older victims are often completely dependent upon their abuser for their care. Some fear that they will end up in a nursing home. Many may see surviving, or sticking with, their 30, 40, 50 or 60-year marriage as the major accomplishment of their life.

Indicators of domestic violence are similar to those associated with physical abuse and/or

sexual abuse.

• Bruises, broken bones, abrasions, or burns may be a sign of domestic abuse.

• Personality or behavior changes – strained or tense relationships with caregivers.

The following patterns are also characteristic: • The frequency and severity of injuries are likely to increase over time.

• Victims often experience intense confusion and disassociation.

• Violent incidents are often preceded by periods of intensifying tension and followed by periods of apparent contrition on the part of perpetrators.

• Violence rates tend to be higher in women without consistent insurance and women with less formal education.

There is help. If you or someone you know is abused or at risk of being abused, call The Friendship Center at 406-442-6800 or the Aging Services Help Line at 1-800-551-3191. MSN

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PAGE 42 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Navigating Your Options For A Whiter Smile (NAPSI) - Here is something to smile about: There are more products to whiten teeth now than at any time in recorded history. These remedies range from do-it-yourself at-home products to professionally diagnosed and applied solutions.

They can be found through your dentist, at grocery stores, the middle of a mall, online, or through countless infomercials. People now see a white smile as synonymous with being healthy, attractive, and successful. With so many new products available and ever-changing technology, how do you know what product or service is the safest and most effective for you?

Every search for a brighter, whiter smile should begin in the dentist’s chair. “Because of the wide variety of options available offering white teeth, many people believe they are equipped to selftreat their teeth with over-the-counter whitening solutions,” says Dr. Arthur Tomaro of Exceptional Dentistry. “While these solutions are appropriate in some cases, it is imperative that patients first seek advice from

Associated Dental Care of Helena, PLLC

a dental professional to determine if there are pre-existing conditions or potential problems that need to be addressed before undergoing any teeth-whitening procedure.”

Once you have consulted your dentist, you will be better equipped to choose a solution based on timing and price. While professional in-office solutions are more costly, they offer almost immediate results. Over-the-counter solutions offer budgetfriendly pricing, but results are limited and can take weeks and even months. Professional take-home solutions, such as custom tray whitening, offer quick results and let you whiten your teeth on your own schedule.

There is a variety of sources to help simplify whitening. One, Teethwhitening.com, provides reviews, answers questions, and offers suggestions from an internationally renowned panel of dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants. For more information about various teeth-whitening products and procedures, visit www.teethwhitening.com. MSN

Solutions To Tooth Loss

By Dr. Ingrid McLellan, DMD Losing a tooth can pose significant problems to your oral health, regardless of whether the tooth was lost due to disease or trauma. The remaining teeth can shift, changing your bite. The jawbone will resorb from where the tooth was lost, and additional forces will be placed on the remaining teeth.

Fortunately, there are several options to replace a missing tooth (or teeth), helping to counteract these problems.

There are four basic ways to replace missing teeth: a fixed bridge, a partial denture, a complete denture, and implants. ssociated A fixed dental bridge can be likened to a bridge that you would walk or drive across. The supports for the bridge are crowns on either side of the ental are space, and the space is spanned by a pontic, or prosthetic tooth. When only OF HELENA one or two teeth are missing in an area, a bridge can be a good option.

A partial denture is considered when several teeth, but not all of the teeth, Associated A i t d Dental D Care of Helena, PLLC in one jaw are missing. It is a removable metal and acrylic prosthesis that is (formerly Kiesling Dental Associates) made to replace the missing teeth and that clips onto the remaining teeth. !"! >_bdX <Qcd 3XQ^SU 7e\SX CdU 5 $$# %%"& www.associateddentalcareofhelena.com facebook.com/helenadentist A complete denture is used when all of the teeth are missing on one or both jaws. While it replaces all of the teeth, some people find complete dentures difficult or uncomfortable to wear and experience decreased function compared to their natural teeth.

An implant is essentially a titanium post that is placed in the jawbone beneath the gums. It can be used to replace single or multiple teeth with crowns and bridges, or it can be used to anchor dentures.

As you can see, there are many ways to replace a missing tooth. If you have lost all of your teeth, dentures may be the best option to replace them.

While this may give you your smile back, you may not have the ability to bite THERAPY CENTER at and function that you once had. We have all seen those commercials on television for denture adhesive where the actor bites into an apple or corn WESTVIEW HEALTH CARE on the cob without their dentures coming out of place. Or perhaps you have dentures and you are tired of messing with the “goop” we know as denture adhesive. Is there another option to get that same stability, comfort, and peace of mind? That is where implants enter into the world of dentures.

If your dentures are not completely stable, talk to your dentist about the possibility of getting implants placed unYour health – our commitment to you, from day one. der the denture. With a special attachment, the implants can be used to retain the denture and create that feeling of stability. Not only will it help increase your ability to bite and chew, but it can improve your speech and help you to live the active lifestyle you are used to.

If you have any questions about replacing missing teeth, contact your dentist. He or she will be able to discuss what options would be best for your oral health.

Ingrid S. McLellan, The Montana Heart Center at Community has always believed when it comes to heart health, defense is the best offense.

DMD can be reached But for the times it isn’t enough, we’re here to provide all aspects of cardiac care. It takes only seconds for a heart attack at Associated Dental or stroke to occur, but it takes years of experience to be able to offer best-in-class cardiac care. From nuclear imaging Care of Helena, 406to personalized cardiac rehabilitation programs.

443-5526 or by visiting If it’s cardiac care, of course it’s Community. Visit communitymed.org/cardiology www.associateddentalcommunitymed.org/cardiology careofhelena.com. MSN Community Medical Center is an independent, local, non-profit hospital.

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 43

Your Life, Your Death – Your Choice.

Submitted by Patrick Johnson, Montana Coordinator, Compassion & Choices, No one should suffer when legal options exist. Options for peaceful dying already exist in Montana, including aid in dying for terminally ill patients. The Baxter decision handed down by the Montana Supreme Court on December 31, 2009, affirmed terminally ill Montanans’ right to aid in dying. Montanans who value self-determination at life’s end have joined Compassion & Choices Montana to protect the Baxter Supreme Court decision, which affirmed the principle that end-of-life medical choices are private, between you and your doctor, and enable terminally ill adults to request medication to bring about a peaceful death.

We cannot control everything about our death.

But if we communicate, we make it more likely that our wishes for the end of life will be known and respected. It is never too early to get started.

Effective communication with those who will be called upon to make decisions on our behalf is key to the likelihood that our wishes are carried out. Visit us online at CompassionAndChoices. org/MTAD to order your free advance-planning

package Montana-specific advance directive, and a variety of other advance-planning documents to define your priorities, understand who you need to talk to, and come up with ideas on how to get the conversation rolling.

Compassion & Choices Montana offers a free End-of-Life Consultation service at 1-800-2477421. Our professional staff and volunteers help thousands of clients each year by listening without judgment to their fears and guiding their search for a peaceful, humane death. They help clients with advance directives, local service referrals, and pain and symptom management. They offer information on self-determined dying when appropriate and provide emotional support through a difficult time.

For additional information, contact CompassionAndChoices.org/ G2G or email Patrick Johnson at PJohnson@ CompassionAndChoices.org. MSN

Screening and Diagnostic Mammography

By Michelle Weaver Knowles A mammogram is an x-ray of the internal structures of the breast and it is the best tool that we have for detecting abnormalities in the breast. Finding a lump in your breast, noticing breast discharge, or receiving a call back for “additional views” following your screening mammogram can cause stress.

To help understand mammography, here is a simple description of the breast and its basic internal structures. The breast goes through many changes each month in response to hormones and it changes as we age, become pregnant, or breast feed. The internal structure of the breast consists of fat, connective tissue, lobules, and ducts. Eighty percent of the size of the breast is from fat and connective tissue. To picture this, think of a cluster of grapes. The grapes would be the lobules and the vines would be the ducts. In mammography, we need to be able to see through all of this tissue. Lobules (grapes) sitting on top of each other can make it difficult to see all of the tissue between and it can look like overlapping tissue. Imagine one grape sitting on top of the others.

This is where compression helps, when we flatten out the tissue, we are spreading out the lobules so that we can see everything.

A screening mammogram is ordered when there are no known problems. Two x-ray views or pictures of each breast are taken while it is being briefly compressed between two paddles.

The radiologist then looks at your pictures and assigns a score called the BIRADS score. If the radiologist assigns a score of zero, this means that he or she needs additional pictures/information to be more confident that the questionable area is clearly a normal finding. At this time, women are sent a letter in the mail from their mammogram facility stating additional views are needed. Mammography facilities are required to send out this letter to the patient through the Mammography Quality Standards Act and to the patient’s healthcare provider.

A diagnostic mammogram may be ordered at this time if you have breast pain, discharge, or more information is needed from your screening mammogram. Additional pictures are taken of the area in question and spot compression,and magnification views may be done. The radiologist will talk to you about the preliminary findings from the diagnostic views and/or recommendations for follow-up.

The good news is eighty percent of suspicious findings on mammogram are related to non-cancerous conditions. There are many benign processes in the breast. Mammography combined with yearly breast exams by your healthcare provider and monthly breast self-exams are the best tools we have to promote breast health.

Michelle Weaver Knowles RNC BSN is a certified Breast Health Navigator for Montana Breast Health at Community Medical Center. She is a 12year breast cancer survivor. MSN

Taxes are paid in the sweat of every man who labors.

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

PAGE 44 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Article & Photos By Bernice Karnop Clear skies and blooming trees welcomed folks to the 44th Governor’s Conference on Aging in Helena recently. The holistic themed conference fixed a spotlight on Aging in Good Health: Mind, Body, and Spirit, with workshops on good habits of eating, exercising, and keeping your mind alert.

These things are not new, but it is never too late to put them into your daily routine.

Acting your age was not on the agenda. “Actually I don’t know how to act my age. I’ve never been my age before,” quipped Chair Gladys Considine.

No one would accuse the centenarians at the conference of acting their age. The ten who attended were sharp, spry, and beautiful. They laughed at the odd twists and turns in their lives, and had everyone laughing with them.

Workshops featured speakers that shed light on the secrets to living the quality of life evident in the centenarians. Dr. Brian Sharkey, retired professor of exercise physiology from the University of Montana, pointed out how exercise helps you avoid heart disease, improves your immune function, relieves mild to moderate depression, and helps preserve cognitive function, and activities of daily living. He encouraged listeners to find an exercise

they like, to set goals, and enjoy the progress they make. He recommended the web site ExerciseIsMedicine.org for more information. You can also order his books on line from Amazon.com Just type in his name, or his books, Fitness and Health, or Fitness Illustrated.

You can Google anything, as Dr. Sharkey reminded people. Helpful web sites came up in every workshop. Seniors can no longer use the excuse that they lack a computer or computer skills. Danci Bardash from Montana State Library told about the technology tools available at local libraries.

Libraries received a major grant that expanded high-speed technology to libraries across the state and purchased equipment that helps individuals with challenges of vision, mobility, or dexterity.

Check it out at www.MTlibrarynext.org.

This is a year of deep concerns about services and the Affordable Care Act. The 50+ age group continues to grow and its needs are growing as well. A lot of misinformation clouds the issues of Social Security and health care, according to Max Richtman from the Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. He reminded people that according to the recent Trustee’s Report Social Security can pay everyone every cent until 2033.

That leaves plenty of time to fix the problems without disrupting service.

The past three years the Governor’s Advisory Council brought two or three conferences to different corners of the state but always planned to come back to Helena. They used this conference to recognize people who serve seniors in the Aging Services department, the directors of Area Agencies on Aging, and others. They reminded us that every one of us can advocate for vulnerable people in Montana in this election year.

Anna Whiting Sorrell, Director of the Department of Health and Human Services challenged listeners to speak up. “Solutions come from you because you’re there,” she said. “What works in Glendive doesn’t work in Missoula. You make the difference.”

Our thanks for another good conference to the 2012 Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging: Gladys Considine, Chair, Betty Aye, Beverly Barnhart, Connie Bremmer, Cecelia Buckley, Marvin Carter, Jessie James-Hawley, Lauren Kippen, Mary Lou Miller, Alex Ward, and Jolynn Yenne. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 45

When people see a need in their communities, they start looking for a way to meet it.

The Honorary Women’s Council in Browning was founded in 1999 by the late Dorothy Dragonfly. When she passed away Gloria McClean, Janice Christian, and Flora Running Crane continued to help people find the resources they need. This is the first all women’s council on the Blackfeet reservation and their goal is to be an advocate for all men, women, and children.

Coming to Helena for the GCA brought back memories for Flora Running Crane, 86, who lived and worked here in the 1970s. While her husband, a World War II veteran was at Fort Harrison she worked with the United Indian Association and developed an Indian Center. Later she moved to Missoula and taught Blackfeet culture and language classes.

She grew up with the language because her mother only spoke Blackfeet. As a young girl, she learned from the old people in the hospital where she visited and listened to their stories. Although she spent 20 years off the reservation, she never forgot the language. “I lived on the tip of the old life, and it makes me lonesome sometimes to remember it,” Flora says. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Rosie Truitt from Roundup had her eye on a beautiful ruby ring at the silent auction.

Rosie was the high bidder and she took the ring home with her the next day. Rosie is shown with Governor’s Advisory Council member Jolynne Yenne from Kalispell. [Photo

by Bernice Karnop]

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JUNE/JULY 2012

Frances Elvira Wilson Leding, age 102, could be the poster child for the conference theme Aging in Good Health; Mind, Body, Spirit. Frannie was born in Arkansas in 1910 and was one of 10 children. She married an underground coal miner and lived in several states, going to wherever there was work.

They ended up in Butte, a fun and friendly town back then, with families from all around the world. Frannie started working when she was 59 and retired from the Belmont Center when she was 100. She still lives alone and has total recall of her memories.

Other Centenarians attending the Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Conference on Aging were just as amazing as Frannie. Madeline Roesler, 103, came to Montana in 1910 with her family to homestead near Lavina. Harry Buchanan, 100, arrived with his family in 1917 and homesteaded northeast of Poplar. Rose Nagengast, 100, was born in Saskatchewan but moved to Roundup where her family raised wheat. She spent time in St. Thomas Orphanage and explored becoming a nun. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I had a crazy life,â&#x20AC;? she says, with a good-natured grin. Lee Corneilius, 100, made everyone laugh by attributing his long life to clean living in Butte.

Four of the honored Centenarians turn 100 this year. Mable Laurence, who owned her own restaurant in Butte and worked into her 90s; Jessie Potts, who was born in New Hampshire; Alberta Halthom, who retired to Montana after living in several states; and Mary Favero. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dad came from Yugoslavia and helped build Old Faithful Lodge. Margaret Ping was raised in Hardin but her job took her to a number of places overseas. She returned Billings to retire. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

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Roger Ala, Helena, left, who retired from the Aging Network, came to the Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Conference on Aging to visit old friends and to learn about Social Security and Medicare. Don Harrington, right, is a retired teacher from Butte High school who served in the Montana House of Representatives for 24 years and the Senate for 8 years. He enjoyed a reunion in Helena recently with other members of the Montana Constitutional Convention. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be a crime to repeal the new health reform act,â&#x20AC;? Harrington states. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It benefits Medicare, saves money, and gives people more help.â&#x20AC;?

Roger knows it takes more than an opinion to make things happen. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All citizens need to voice a unified opinion and to speak out in order to be heard by politicians,â&#x20AC;? he said. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

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Susan Carter usually picks up The Montana Senior News at Hardee’s restaurant in Laurel, but she found this copy at the Governor’s Conference on Aging. No matter where you pick up yours, you can count on seeing informative articles, stories about interesting Montana people, and jokes to make you laugh. We thank the Governor’s Council on Aging for recognizing the Montana Senior News as an advocate for older Montanans this year. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Duane Ludke, left, couldn’t wait to get his hands on the $1,000 mini grant check for the Hot Springs Center roof repair. “When we get the roof fixed we will have lots of buckets to give away,” he said. Ever vigilant Conference Chair, Gladys Considine, told him to bring them along next year and she’d give them away as door prizes.

Other $1,000 winners were Sun River, for medical equipment storage and Rapelje Senior Center for an air conditioner. According to their proposal, it’s uncomfortable when the air conditioner doesn’t work and when it does, you can’t talk because it squeaks so loudly.

The Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, represented

by Max Richtman and Janet Witt, (center and right in the photo), has donated to Montana’s mini-grant program since 1995. Other donations come from Governors Advisory Council on Aging members, and from other organizations and businesses. Conference attendees contribute by purchasing raffle tickets for items donated by the Council. Montana’s small communities have completed many worthy projects because of this seed money. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 47

PAGE 48 MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

JUNE/JULY 2012

Would you like to tame the wild, wild web? The posse at the library will help you. Bring in your Nooks, Kindles, or iPads and technology specialists will answer your questions. If you don’t have the gadgets, they’ll show you how to use the computers at the library. They have equipment to help people with low vision, low dexterity, physical impairments, and low literacy. They have adjustable height desks to accommodate wheelchairs or walkers. You can also learn from the technology workshops at the library that are geared novice users.

The Library isn’t just books anymore. High speed broadband Internet access is available at more than 45 libraries across the state because of a $3 million grant to the Montana State Library according to Danci Bardash, (shown) who led this workshop titled Connect @ the Library. Go to www.MTlibrarynext.org and find out how much you can access free from your home computer, with your library card. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

DRIVEN BY

When an individual turns 65, they receive a bewildering amount of information from Medicare. Winnie Greenshields, 70, and Ruth Pomeroy, 85, from Kalispell, are volunteers with the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). They hold workshops in the Flathead that demystify the program and help people get started on the right track. They make it into a game and give chocolate kisses for right answers. Their purpose is to eliminate fraud and errors by teaching individuals to read correctly their Medicare statements and confirm the services received. If services charged appear to be fraud, people are urged to report it to the police and to Medicare.

Winnie, who directs the program in Kalispell, created a power point presentation on Understanding Medicare that won her a trip to Washington, D.C. She was one of only ten people in the nation to receive this honor.

Ruth, who worked in fiscal services at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula before she retired, finds SMP an easy fit for her skills.

It’s satisfying because she sees people come in bewildered and leave feeling confident. It not only keeps her busy, it helps her stay young.

[Photo by Bernice Karnop]

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JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 49

Sandy Jankowski, an AARP volunteer at the GCA, testified at the Legislature this year. “I stammer and shake, but I do it,” she says. Sandy realizes that the Legislators listen to ordinary citizens differently from how they listen to professional lobbyists.

Sandy is a microbiologist who now works for Montana Public Health.

She identifies organisms that local hospitals in the state don’t recognize.

“It’s like I go to work every day to solve puzzles,” she says with an enthusiastic grin. The government also makes sure she is aware of bioterrorism organisms. “People don’t realize all that the government does for us,” she says. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game every day, and that’s the way baseball is.

– Bob Feller

Pamela Munyan, Roundup, had her name drawn for this beautiful basket made and donated

by Governor’s Advisory Council’s Jessie JamesHawley of Fort Belknap. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

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Evelyn Havskjold from Havre is shown with Gladys Considine, and Charlie Rehbein. She was one of five Area Agency Directors honored for having served for more than 15 years – in her case 29 years. Also honored were Lori Brengle, Glendive, 38 years; Karen Erdie, Roundup, 31 years; and Jim Atkinson, Kalispell, 19 years. State workers Brian LaMoure, who Gladys dubbed “Mr. Communication” and Aging Services Chief, Charlie Rehbein, whom she called “Mr. Aging,” were acknowledged for 25 and 28 years of service respectively. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Anna Whiting Sorrell, right, Director, Department of Public Health and Human Services, recognized special guest, State Senator Carol Williams, left, for her advocacy at the past legislative session. Carol, who was described as an “activist, educator, policy maker, grandmother, and fifth generation Montanan,” fought for the Health and Human Services budget and made a measurable difference for vulnerable people in Montana. Anna is passionate about standing up for people who don’t have a voice.

“We are our brother’s and sister’s keepers. We are interdependent,” she said. [Photo by Bernice Karnop] Many people wonder if naturopathic treatment could ease their symptoms without all those pills. Dr. Jeff Roush is a naturopathic physician who practices with Dr. Nancy Aagenes at Natural Medicine Plus in downtown Helena.

The two explained how they work with traditional medical doctors to give individuals the best possible care from both disciplines. “Prevention is the best cure,” says the Naturopath, and one way they treat people is by educating them in healthy habits. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

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Nutritionists Minkie Medora (shown) and Debra Misner encouraged conference goers to “Eat a Rainbow every day.” The rainbow on the chart is made of vegetables and fruit, and we need five to nine servings of them every day. These foods are generally high in nutrition and low in calories, so they’re good for older people who need to decrease calories and increase their nutrition. The darker the color, the better the produce is for you.

People need to drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Just by paying attention to how much you drink you may avoid a long list of ailments. [Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Wally Daeley is retired from the Silver Haired Legislature now, but they called him back to be recognized for his work. Wally served on the Silver Haired Legislature for 18 years and the National Silver Haired Congress for 11 years. JoAnn Daeley says she went with him to Washington, D.C. many times but he was so busy she didn’t see much of him.

Instead, she met many interesting spouses and visited many of the historical sites. This lady from Lambert was so good at helping people find their way around that some people thought she was a tour guide.

[Photo by Bernice Karnop]

Man blames fate for other accidents but feels personally responsible for a hole in one.

– Martha Beckman

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All cancer services are located at our downtown Billings campus, for the most comprehensive care in the region.

For an appointment, call 238-2501 or 1-800-332-7156.

Learn more at www.billingsclinic.com/cancer

Where it all comes together.

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 51

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 53

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By Bernice Karnop doing much of anything right. She gave him some Lew Savik, a race walker from Kalispell, has pointers, and his technique improved and his speed been competing in Montana Senior Olympics for increased. close to two decades. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s participated in four of When the Montana Senior Olympics was the biennial National Senior Games. held in Kalispell, Lew competed for the first time.

This is what keeps him When he turned 55 and coming back. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Senior qualified for the National Games are lots of fun Senior Games, he went because everyone there to Tucson, Ariz. He went comes to compete, but just to see what it was they come to have a good like but he did well, even time too. So win, lose or with the stiff competition draw, you have fun with compared to the State people youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re competing Games. with.â&#x20AC;?

After that first time, The 27th Annual his competitive spirit from Montana Senior Olympic high school days kicked Games are in Great Falls Kalispell race walker Lew Savik checks his time as in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I thought rather than June 7-9, 2012. The sign he crosses the finish line at last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Montana Se- just going there to see up deadline is May 30, but nior Olympics in Great Falls. He attends the games how I can do, I should to have fun but he also competes hard to grab the even if you didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sign up, gold. [Photo by Bernice Karnop] be competing to win,â&#x20AC;? he you can participate in the says. He has placed each race walk clinic for beginners Thursday afternoon, time since then, but still hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come in first. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It may June 7, which Lew says is open to all comers. never happen, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay,â&#x20AC;? he says. It makes Lew found out how importance of proper tech- him train harder. nique at the National Games in Orlando. He came He and his wife have been amazed to see in second but then was disqualified on a technical what good athletes compete at the National Senior violation. He made the adjustments and the next Games. They watch people in their 70s and 80s two times he was at Nationals â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in Louisville and sail over hurdles as if they were young. They saw in Houston â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he placed second and third. women in the 65-70 age play aggressive basketball Lew started race walking a number of years and dive for grounders in the softball games. ago when the jar of running began hurting his Women in that age group never had an opporback. He thought he was doing fine until a race tunity to compete in anything, because nothing was walker from Colorado told him he really wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available to them. They show off the tremendous

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JUNE/JULY 2012

talent they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a chance to use when they were young. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were very, very good,â&#x20AC;? he says.

Each athlete gives everything theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got, physically and mentally, according to Lew. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You are going to compete hard because the instincts are to do the best we can, mentally and physically.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I do.â&#x20AC;?

He encourages people who qualify to go to the Nationals, even if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just once, to see so many who compete so well and so long. At Houston, the last games he attended, there were three athletes more than 100 years old.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Montana Senior Games winners qualify to go to the Nationals in Cleveland, Ohio, July 21-August 5, 2013. Lew isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going this time as they save to go every four years and make it into a fun, extended vacation. Still with transportation and lodging, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expensive and participants pay their own way. Montana is always represented at the National Senior Games. Dallas Roots, from Big Timber took a gold medal last year in menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s horseshoes in the 65-69 bracket.

While competition motivates Lew to exercise with more intensity, a much different event got him thinking seriously about his health in the first place.

Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Shirley MacLaine

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After high school, he participated in city sports like volleyball, basketball, and softball. Then he developed an allergy that turned into asthma. He couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t walk up four steps without wheezing. A chiropractor x-rayed his back and discovered his problems were caused by a vertebra. After eight treatments his asthma completely went away and hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come back. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been exercising ever since for his health and to keep his weight under control.

These activities donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just benefit Lew. They also have a big effect on hundreds of kids in Kalispell. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worked the finish line for high school athletics in Kalispell for 41 years, and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done a youth track program for around 400 grade school boys and girls each spring for 20 years. The youngsters not only have his coaching but his example to go by.

Even more rewarding, is Lewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and grandkidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love of track. He beams as he talks about a granddaughter who has the longest triple jump in the state this year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fun, when she does that,â&#x20AC;? he says.

We can only imagine how much fun it is for her to watch her granddad breaking track records at the Montana Senior Olympics. MSN

Making Timeless Art: Barry Chandler and Janet Haarvig Article By Gail Jokerst Photo Provided by Barry Chandler When Barry Chandler proposed to Janet Haarvig 20 years ago, he made her a promise: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to starve to death,â&#x20AC;? he told his future wife. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can at least grow a garden here in Montana and that ainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easy.â&#x20AC;?

To many, that may sound like an odd marital pledge. However, considering Barry and Janet are artists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; his medium is stone; hers is music â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is understandable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unequivocally, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a marriage made in heaven if two married artists can make a living with their art. But it works better to have one steady breadwinner, preferably an insured breadwinner,â&#x20AC;?

JUNE/JULY 2012

quips Barry, who has forged a business by chiseling words and images into rock for private and public spaces. “The creative life is not for the faint of heart. There is a high supply of creativity and a low demand for it so you have to want to live this lifestyle.”

Fortunately for Montanans, Barry and Janet, a cellist equally adept at bowing Celtic and classical scores, have chosen to pursue their respective callings despite the drawbacks.

Janet’s career channels her talents in multiple directions. She teaches music in the Missoula school system, which requires her to live in the Garden City weekdays while Barry resides in Proctor where his art studio is located. In addition, she performs with the Glacier Symphony & Chorale, participates with the String Orchestra of the Rockies as she has for 26 years, composes her own scores, collaborates with other musicians on their work, and gives private cello lessons.

“From low bass lines to gorgeous melodies, the cello has it all,” says Janet, who was raised in a music-loving family where her mom sang and played piano and her dad, “just played the stereo.” She picked up her first cello in fourth grade and ever since has dedicated herself to stretching her musical borders.

“Cellos take a lot of technical facility to play difficult music. You have to practice to get it into your muscle memory. You have to listen really well. There are no frets so it’s up to your ear to direct your hands,” she explains. “Your bow is like your artist’s palette of colors. The more skilled your bow, the more textures and colors you can create.”

Originally from Chicago, Janet moved to Montana in 1985. For her, coming to Montana was coming home.

“It nourishes my soul to see eagles flying, to smell the pine needles in the woods, and to hear a chorus of frogs in the country,” says Janet, who finds composing extremely satisfying. It is something that stems from her sense of playfulness and reflects her deep love of the natural world.

“Creating and teaching music is a rich life and keeps a person young. I feel alive when I’m writing and playing music. The melodies come to me easily while I’m improvising. The work comes when turning those melodies into compositions for an orchestra,” admits Janet. “You have to fill in all those parts.”

Although she now plays a cello handmade in Missoula, prior to commissioning it she owned a 1770 English cello she considered her best friend for 30 years. Because the proportions were not quite right for her, Janet eventually switched to the contemporary instrument, which she adores.

“After I die, this cello will go on for 250 years

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 55

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and many cellists will play it and enjoy it,” says Janet, who believes the language of music crosses the boundaries of time.

Barry’s business, Written In Stone, also has a sense of longevity to it and merges his many interests and abilities. Part wordsmith, part sculptor, part inventor, Barry carves artwork and words into native Montana rock he finds around the state to fashion individualized landscape and household accents for each client. He has crafted everything from an 8-ounce custom paperweight sent to Sweden to the seven-ton Memorial Row Monument at the University of Montana, which stands a couple hundred feet from his Grizzly emblem that lies in front of Adams Field House.

“Every piece I create goes beyond materials to meaning. Each takes into account who the piece is for and what it means to them,” says Barry, an avid quote collector. “You have to ask yourself, ‘What is the project intended to do?’”

Among his many projects, he has designed architectural and hearth features, engraved poetry on stepping stones, created garden art, fashioned address rocks, and inscribed favorite quotes on river rock.

“Words are like a vessel. One sound can hold all this value and meaning. The vision is sculpted in the process of finding the words. When it comes time to put a word on the stone, it’s got to be the right word,” explains Barry, who loves the challenge of capturing a feeling or emotion verbally and visually in rock. “Most people just ache to be good at expressing themselves and I love helping them to do that. I’m their connectivity tool.”

His customers are not necessarily aiming for the icon status of the Lincoln Memorial. But by having their chosen words and images carved into rock, the substance and symbol of strength and longevity, they are saying, “This is important and I want it to last as far as possible into forever.”

For him to approach every project fresh, takes flexibility and versatility as well as humility. As this

fourth-generation Montanan says, “I have to stand out of the way and let other people’s expressions flow through me. I’ve been surprised by how much I enjoy what I do. It’s unlimited in both its meaning and execution.”

So, how do two very independent dedicated artists manage their mostly long-distance relationship? Very successfully by both of their measures.

“We have the best of both worlds with a house in town and a beautiful place in the country. It’s sweet when we get back together. I appreciate him more. We have a lot to talk about, my husband and I. There’s me discussing how to teach better,” says Janet. “And there’s Barry discussing his equipment and getting it to work better. We talk about spiritual issues and how the middle class is on the way out. We enjoy each other and our time doing our own work. Barry does not play an instrument but he is an amazing careful listener. His instincts where things should go are very good,” adds Janet, whose eye for balance, contrast, and form are skills her husband appreciates in his work when he needs a second opinion.

“When I met Janet, I was attracted by her creative spirit. I was inspired in every way: romantically, personally, artistically. I recognized a kindred soul,” says Barry, whose sense of inspiration derived from his marriage to Janet has only grown through the years.

“We have respect for each other and for each other’s creativity, dreams, and goals. I’ve learned to temper my zeal and give Janet space to work out her compositions and trust she will. No two people create exactly the same.”

Aspiring artists or anyone looking for a new path in life, would do well to heed these words of Barry’s that both he and Janet have lived by, “Find something you’re passionate about and never look back.”

For more information, visit www.writteninstone.org, email proctor.mt@gmail.com, or call 406-849-6600. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

Copper Village Museum & Arts Center Bring your lawn chair and come enjoy the three day Art in the Park festival at the Beautiful Washoe Park, sponsored by the Copper Village Museum & Arts Center in Anaconda July 20-22, 2012. Art in the Park is one of the finest art, craft, music, and food festivals in Montana.

There will be 80 juried art and craft booths including fine art, photographs, sculpture, stained glass, wood decorations and furniture, clothing, jewelry, antler art, and many more wonderful items for you to look at. Twenty food booths offer a delectable variety of ethnic fare for your pleasure while you listen to a great schedule throughout the weekend of seven fantastic bands for your listening enjoyment.

Other events include: • September 29 – Annual Oktoberfest at Friendship Park adjacent to Copper Village Museum & Arts Center featuring German food, accordion music, and outstanding arts and craft vendors.

• February 13 – Annual Chocolate Elegant Dinner Out. • Early Spring 2013 – Annual Art Auction.

Exhibits in our beautiful new gallery will offer an array of treasures to view. Exhibits are changed every 6 weeks. Our Historical Museum offers copper mining history and artifacts from past life in this valley.

The historic city hall – now Copper Village Museum & Arts Center is located on the corner of Cedar Street and Commercial and has been renovated. Come visit us and see the new changes! Call 406-563-2422 for more information. MSN

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 57

Savor the Ancient History of Montana

Ancient Indian Rock Art dating back as far as 400 AD

7eYTUT D_ebc :e^U ° CU`dU]RUb ! Q] GUT ° Ce^ D_eb Y^S\eTUc Q^ UQci ! ]Y\U XY[U ceYdQR\U V_b Q\\ QWUc Book a tour: 406-428-2439 or 406-366-3835 ggg RUQbWe\SX ^Ud ²6bQdUb^Ydi _V GQb³ 2__[ 34µc RQcUT _^ Y^V_b]QdY_^ S_]`Y\UT Vb_] dXU " % " ' 1bSXU_\_WYSQ\ 4YW >_g 1fQY\QR\U see website for details Beargulch Pictographs is located on the Lundin Family Ranch 25 miles SE of Lewistown & 15 miles SW of Grass Ranch in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains.

Enjoy Montana’s Artistic Tradition At Kalispell’s Hockaday Museum The Hockaday Museum of Art is a prominent visual arts museum and cultural resource for adults, children, and families throughout northwest Montana. It serves as the “Artistic Gateway to Glacier National Park,” and a forum for Montana’s artistic tradition and creative cultural vision.

The “Crown of the Continent” permanent exhibition highlights the timeless magnificence of Glacier National Park in paintings, photographs, books, and artifacts dating back to the turn of the century. Rotating exhibitions feature nationally renowned and locally acclaimed contemporary Montana artists and offer a deeper examination of the arts, culture, and history of Montana.

Second Thursdays of every month are Senior Tour & Tea Days at the Hockaday. Seniors enjoy free admission all day, with light refreshments, and a docent-led gallery tour at 10:30 am. Senior Tour & Tea Days are sponsored

by The Daily Inter Lake, Medical Arts Pharmacy, Sykes Pharmacy, and Walgreens Pharmacy, Kalispell.

The Hockaday Museum is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization funded by private and corporate contributions, grant awards, and proceeds from fund-raising events. Please consider the Museum in your giving plans, knowing that your gift will help carry Montana’s art legacy forward for generations to come.

Visit us at www.hockadaymuseum.org or call us at 406-755-5268. We welcome your inquiries.

MSN

Friendship is Love, without his wings.

– Lord Byron

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Learn About Glacier National Park At The Glacier Institute The Glacier Institute was founded in 1983 by passionate scientists who wanted to share their love of the Crown of the Continent. Glacier Institute offers outdoor education programs that have evolved and improved over the past 28 years. During this time, we are proud to say that the Institute has educated over 25,000 Flathead Valley elementary school students and countless adults.

The Glacier Instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to serve adults and children as an outdoor education leader with Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest at its center. Emphasizing field-based learning experiences, the Institute provides an objective and science based understanding of the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ecology and public impact. Through this non-advocacy approach to outdoor education, participants can be better prepared to make informed and constructive decisions regarding conservation and stewardship in the future.

Glacier Institute Discovery School Programs serve thousands of local youth with a three-day immersion learning field trip. Trips to Glacier National

Park are a first time visit for half of the children. We deliberately post a fee that undercharges the school groups so that all Montana schoolchildren are able to come. This automatic scholarship system requires and approximate $100,000 subsidy per year.

Learning in nature has lasting benefits beyond brain development and function. Youthful experience in the outdoors builds a lifelong affinity for nature â&#x20AC;&#x201C; empowering the next generation to care about these special places and take the steps necessary to ensure their protection. Learning about our environment from the confines of a classroom is no substitute for true immersion in the outdoors.

The Glacier Institute is proud to bring all ages to our public lands to learn and embrace. Our hope is to continue to offer these programs indefinitely in Northwestern Montana.

For additional information or to learn how you can support these programs, visit www.glacierinstitute.org or call 406-755-1211. MSN

Step Back Into Time At Bear Gulch Pictographs Home of the Central Montana Fair

July 25-28, 2012

Country Western Singer â&#x20AC;&#x153;JOHN ANDERSONâ&#x20AC;?

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Deep in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains 25 miles southeast of Lewistown and 15 miles southwest of Grass Range, there is a premier rock art site quietly nestled in a beautiful valley. Bear Gulch Pictographs dates back as far as 400 AD. The family has continually strived to preserve this one-of-a-kind world treasure since 1919, receiving two conservation awards from the Oregon and Montana Archeological Societies.

Macie Ahlgren gives tours at 10 am Wednesday through Sunday from June-September. Tour includes an easy 1-mile hike, suitable for all ages.

Check out our website at www.beargulch.net and book a tour at 406-4282439 or 406-366-2835. Be sure to ask about the book Fraternity of War and CDs available which were compiled from information gathered from the full recording and Archeological dig done from 2005-2007. Currently we have many projects in the works including new trails, camping area, and new visitor center. Plan your vacation and spend a day or even a week! MSN

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An elderly couple was celebrating their sixtieth anniversary.

The couple married as childhood sweethearts and had moved back to their old neighborhood after they retired. Holding hands, they walked back to their old school. It was not locked, so they entered, and found the old desk they had shared, where Andy had carved, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love you, Sally.â&#x20AC;?

On their way back home, a bag of money fell out of an armored car, landing at their feet. Sally quickly picked it up and, not sure what to do with it, they took it home. There, she counted the money - fifty thousand dollars!

Andy said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to give it back.â&#x20AC;?

Sally said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Finders keepers.â&#x20AC;? She put the money back in the bag and hid it in their attic.

The next day, two police officers who were canvassing the neighborhood looking for the money knocked on their door. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pardon me, did either of you find a bag that fell out of an armored car yesterday?â&#x20AC;?

Sally said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No.â&#x20AC;?

Andy said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lying. She hid it up in the attic.â&#x20AC;?

Sally said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe him, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting senile.â&#x20AC;?

The officers turned to Andy and began to question him. One said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tell us the story from the beginning.â&#x20AC;?

Andy said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterdayâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?

The first police officer turned to his partner and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re outta here!â&#x20AC;? MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

Close Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Good Enough And Other Pithy Observations On Golf

By Patrick M. Kennedy If you are new to the gameâ&#x20AC;Ś or considering taking it up to fill that extra time on your handsâ&#x20AC;Ś follow the bouncing ball. Golf is such an all-the-rage yet controversial pastime, the best we can do here is summarize and categorize information, quote the experts, and allow the ball to drop where it may. Just remember, before you proceed into this world, standing on a golf course does not make you a golfer any more than standing in a garage makes you a hotrod.

Also remember, it is a game for perfectionists. You must get the ball into the hole, not once, but 18 times. Close is not good. Consequently, it becomes the source of aggravation and the accumulation of bent drivers and putters.

There are so many off-the-wall rules, antidotes, quotes, personal tales, techniques, training hints, and philosophies, the only useful revelations may possibly come by stuffing them all into a ball washer and letting it spit them out.

One basic rule for domestic safety is never go golfing with your wife and never go golfing with your husband because here we see the nubbin of an endless debate. One realistic rule followed by most golfers is never to go golfing with your goldfish unless you take your SCUBA gear or you train it to retrieve your balls from the #%$&*^ pond. This reveals a sparkle of sanity in an insane distraction. As one unknown duffer said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent most of my life golfing... the rest Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve just wasted.â&#x20AC;? This goes a long way in describing the commitment and madness of some to a hobby of following a small, white ball around the world - no matter where it lies.

Now letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s put golf in perspective. The most elegant and successful pursuer of this insanity, Tiger Woods, has broken it down a bit for us. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.â&#x20AC;? And the bowler Don Carter says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the advantages bowling has The all ll new w

over golf is that you seldom lose a bowling ball.â&#x20AC;?

Honesty has a dubious existence in golf.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all heard of, thought about, seen it, and maybe done it - kicked a ball from behind a tree or pile of cow dung to get a shot at the flag.

Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest hackers of all time, exposed why he and others are so successful. He is a great teacher of the tricks of the trade, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have a tip that can take five strokes off anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s golf game; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called an eraser.â&#x20AC;? Many aficionados support this revelation that golf is a lot of walking, broken up by disappointment and bad arithmetic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it fun to go out on the course and lie in the sun?â&#x20AC;? jibed Bob Hope.

The best advice before the first golf lesson is to learn how to stand and to move like a pretzel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have you ever noticed what golf spells backwards?â&#x20AC;? asks Al Boliska, but do you know it also stands for Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Lunatic Fun. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only time my prayers are never answered is on the golf course,â&#x20AC;? observes Billy Graham.

Exercise, fun, socializing, and entertainment are the overriding goals of golf - with restrictions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you drink, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drive. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even putt,â&#x20AC;? said the well-known expert, Dean Martin. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I play in the low 80s. If itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s any hotter than that, I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t play,â&#x20AC;? admitted Joe E. Lewis. Then there is the exercise. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Golf is golf. You hit the ball; you go find it. Then you hit it again,â&#x20AC;? long time professional duffer, Lon Hinkle, simplifies the absurdity.

There you have it. There are so many expert quotes and dehumanizing rules and reasons not to take up the sport of golf, that you may be disheartened, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be. There are also many more reasons to fulfill this dream, such as. MSN

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Thoughts On Women Over 50 Submitted by Julie Hollar Brantley In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 50.

“As I grow in age, I value women over 50 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: A woman over 50 will never wake you in the middle of the night & ask, ‘What are you thinking?’ She does not care what you think.

If a woman over 50 doesn’t want to watch the game, she does not sit around whining about it. She goes and does something, she wants to do,

and it’s usually more interesting.

Women over 50 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they will not hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 50.

Once you get past a crinkle or two, a woman over 50 is far sexier than her younger counterpart is.

Older women are forthright and honest. They will tell you right off if you are rude.

Yes, we praise women over 50 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 50, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress. Ladies, I apologize! MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

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St. John’s Expands Locations St. John’s Lutheran Ministries of Billings has been the church at work in the world for 50 years, offering employment and services to seniors, adults, and children, fulfilling our mission “to provide living opportunities within nurturing environments of hope, dignity, and love.”

With support from various congregations across Montana, St. John’s has expanded this mission to four additional locations.

Laurel: The Crossings, an independent living, assisted living, and memory care community, which opened in 2008, is currently home to more than fifty residents. For information, please call 406-628-1200.

Red Lodge: St. John’s newest community, The Willows, features two 12-apartment assisted living homes. The Willows is currently accepting new

residents. Please call 406-446-1020 for information.

Billings Heights: The WyndStone is a 22-acre independent living community, currently under development. For information or to make advance reservations, please call Mark at 406-655-7700.

Hamilton: St. John’s is privileged to manage Sapphire Lutheran Homes, a vibrant independent and assisted living community offering both subsidized and upscale senior living. Please call 406-363-2800 for information.

St. John’s is grateful to local ownership churches that provide sponsorship, support, and resources for all of these projects. For more information, visit www.sjlm.org or call David Trost at 406-655-5623. MSN

Any Marriage Can Be Odd

By Bill Hall I confess that when I see television news reports of two men getting married to each other or two women, I do not understand the attraction.

I also confess that when I see men marrying women and women marrying men I do not understand what most of them see in each other either.

Half the time when I attend a wedding, I see some stunning woman in a spectacular dress with an intelligent look on her kisser willingly hitching herself to some scrawny kid with ratty face hair and a silly grin on his face. From my vantage in the audience, they just don’t match up right.

That is mostly because young women of the same age as their grooms tend to be about 10 years more mature than the lads they wed.

Mind you, I was that same sappy kid when I was that age. As young men, we just are not built

to mature as rapidly as the women we love. I don’t know why it is when we propose that they don’t throw us back in the river and let us mature for a few more years.

But women that age are flawed as well. Women of 21 or 22 or so marry these goofy male kids and seem not to notice that anything is amiss.

Or maybe it is just the maternal instinct asserting itself. Maybe young women think they can get a better result in a marriage if they start shaping their young men while those boys are still malleable and teachable.

Granted, part of how great our brides look by comparison with us is that the script for a classic wedding is slanted, designed to present women in a flashy fashion while upstaging the geeky manchild they are marrying. Women are expected to wear fabulous white gowns while practically cov-

JUNE/JULY 2012

ered in flowers. The bride is surrounded by other attractively dressed women who stand up with her drawing even more attention to the star of the show.

Then they dress the groom and his bizarre supporting cast in deliberately dark suits called tuxedos.

The combination leaves the audience with a vision of what looks like a bevy of Hollywood starlets on one side of the preacher and a row of inebriated penguins on the other side.

But if that makes brides and their groveling grooms happy, then it is no skin off my ego. I do not know what she sees in him, but it is their lives.

I feel the same way about gay people getting hitched. They cannot do any worse than half the heterosexual couples can. But the gay couples we see getting married in television news clips are not at first glance exactly the picture of a perfect marriage themselves.

On the one hand, two women getting married look promising at first glance. Women are so attractive. They look better in flashy clothes. But weddings between two men seem mostly to involve both partners wearing tuxes – dull background black traditionally used to obscure secondary players in heterosexual wedding rituals that let female stars shine. But a marriage of two males creates a show made up entirely of drab penguins.

Of course, none of that is any more ridiculous than most hetero weddings. So who am I to scoff?

However, when I am invited one day to a gay wedding, I will sit there as usual grumbling under my breath at the odd pairings the same as I do at straight weddings. I will be sitting there saying, “No,

no, not him. He’s not grown up yet.”

Or “No, no, not her. She’s chewing gum at her own wedding. She’s not ready for prime time.”

To my surprise, I am frequently proven wrong on such judgments. And I am glad to be wrong.

After all, I have learned in my own marriage that outer appearances are misleading. From the outside, my wife and I do not even remotely fit together. She’s a looker and I’m an old bearded guy who misplaced his hair.

But we have learned the happy fact that we look a lot alike on the inside. And I can’t begin to tell you how gratifying that is.

So do not listen to me, you straight and gay couples who look so odd at the beginning of your marriages. If you have it together on the inside and finally grow up, then you have found the fountains of joy and love and I wish you the gallons of their magic that everyone deserves.

Hall may be contacted at wilberth@cableone.net or at 1012 Prospect Ave., Lewiston, ID 83501. MSN

Some days are better than others Submitted by Jim Meade When my doctor asked me about what I did yesterday, I told him about my day.

“Well, in the afternoon, I waded across the edge of a lake, escaped from a mountain lion in the heavy brush, marched up and down a mountain, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand, and jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake.”

Inspired by my story, the doctor said, “You must be an awesome outdoorsman!”

“No,” I replied, “I’m just a very bad golfer.” MSN

Golf is a day spent in a round of strenuous idleness.

– William Wordsworth

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Gardening With Others

By Clare Hafferman Experimentation is one of the reasons that we garden and we part with the coin to do it. There is no better example than an old friend and her husband attending something called “Tomatomania,” where they could learn about over 300 varieties of the plant that’s on the top of everyone’s “let’s try that” list.

Investigate any seed catalog and find new flowers and vegetables for our short summers, or order imported seeds from different countries that will let us pick or eat flavors or flowers that have been around longer than we have been gardening.

It makes me think of the bridal verse, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”

Growing something unusual is a good way to introduce gardening to others. You can begin with a youngster or maybe an older soul who just needs something unique to keep them at it.

Something easy and intriguing is to plant seeds from lemons, grapefruit, or oranges and see them sprout. Kids and even adults like doing this, and when it’s successful, you will have a grapefruit tree about five feet tall with glossy, green, leaves that when pressed will emit a nice citrusy smell.

It will not bear fruit but as a potted plant, it makes an attractive oddity to keep or give away.

You can start a small desktop garden if you look in a thrift shop for an abandoned goldfish bowl or other clear glass container. If there is a lid that fits, get that too. This will be the start of a terrarium.

Terrariums originated in the 19th century as Wardian cases, glazed boxes that were filled with plants shipped by explorers back to England from all corners of the world. Gardening was a

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concentrated art in that era and having one’s own terrarium reflected that.

To create one of these, you can put commercial charcoal or small pebbles or gravel in the bottom of the container. Add potting soil, a little peat moss, and mix in a little sand. Some of the plants listed to grow slowly are common ivy, portaluca, pick-a-back plant, maidenhair fern, button fern, or dwarf mother-in-law’s tongue. You can add a small coleus for color. A large brandy snifter with a dwarf cactus and succulents makes a garden you will not have to water often.

Other experimental plants that are beneficial to grow and that elicit attention from an older gardener or a novice include alpine strawberries, and Cestrum nocturnum (a type of night-blooming jasmine). , Nicotiana slyvestris (an annual tobacco plant that smells good and sometimes attracts hummingbird moths.)

The alpine strawberries can be started from seed and will produce small, sweet berries that come on almost all summer. They do not grow from runners, but can be divided to make more plants.

Mine have been around a ground level birdbath for many years.

The instructions for Cestrum nocutrnum say plant the seeds as soon as you get them. For the nicotiana, its seeds are the “fine as the hair on a dog” so cover them lightly. Give the cestrum light from an east window, mist it, water it, occasionally fertilize it, and be rewarded once it blooms.

Gardening in the edible world is one way to attract those grandkids that would like to “dig in.”

Carrots that they can pull, wash, and eat, or potatoes they can dig, and not to forget, some eater’s favorite, sit in the patch and pick peas off the vine

JUNE/JULY 2012

to eat right then, are all the kind of medicine that a good garden provides. And not to forget dessert that comes from the raspberry patch, a row of strawberries, or a transparent apple tree that will let you teach your next lesson, how to cook with what they learn to grow.

The kind of childhood that most of us had consisted of either in town or out on the farm. Your

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 65

family grew some, if not almost all of what went on your dinner table. You knew where your vegetable soup came from and no doubt, you helped grow it and pulled the weeds out of the row. In the order of events, that old pendulum has swung back to start over with that idea. Any knowledge that you as a gardener possess can be shared with others.

You pass it on and they pick it up. MSN

Taking Care Of Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Friend Submitted by Jim Meade A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white, stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like motherof-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Excuse me, where are we?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is Heaven, sir,â&#x20AC;? the man answered. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wow! Would you happen to have some water?â&#x20AC;? the man asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Of course, sir. Come right in, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have some ice water brought right up.â&#x20AC;? . â&#x20AC;&#x153;Can my canine friend come in, too?â&#x20AC;? the traveler asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sorry, sir, but we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accept pets.â&#x20AC;?

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After a long walk and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Excuse me!â&#x20AC;? he called to the man. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you have any water?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeah, sure, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pump over there, come on in.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;How about my friend here?â&#x20AC;? the trav-

eler gestured to the dog. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There should be a bowl by the pump,â&#x20AC;? said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, and then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What do you call this place?â&#x20AC;? the traveler asked. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is Heaven,â&#x20AC;? he answered. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Well, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s confusing,â&#x20AC;? the traveler said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hell.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.â&#x20AC;? MSN

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JUNE/JULY 2012

Why Is Dad Doing That?: Unwanted Behaviors Alzheimer’s Patients Exhibit… and How to Deal with Them No doubt about it: when someone you love is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or some other cause of dementia, it is a crushing blow. Not only must you face the fact that your loved one has a degenerative (and ultimately fatal) condition, you also have to deal with a plethora of increasingly strange behaviors. Mother tells the same story fifty times a day and wanders the house all night.

Or Dad compulsively loads and then unloads the dishwasher.

If you feel confused, worried, frustrated, or even angry about the bewildering behaviors exhibited by your family member, congratulations. You are normal. And now, says Nataly Rubinstein, it is time to come to terms with a hard truth: the real source of your negative reaction is not necessarily the patient. It is you.

“One big reason these behaviors are ‘unwanted’ is because they disrupt your life,” points out Rubinstein, author of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias: The Caregiver’s Complete Survival Guide (Two Harbors Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-9361981-3-9, $17.95, www.AlzheimersCareConsultants.com). “Sure, many behaviors are unhealthy and dangerous for you and your loved one. Other times, though, it’s not the actual behavior that’s causing so much trouble — it’s our reaction to that behavior, based on the mindset we’ve locked ourselves into.”

In short, she says, we believe that the way we think things should be is the only way (or at least the only right way). Thus, we limit our options when it comes to dealing with the patient. What’s more, we do not want our relationship with the person to change, even though it has changed dramatically

and forever.

“Being a caregiver for someone with any form of dementia, whether you live with the patient or not, will change your life,” Rubinstein asserts. “And sometimes, the new normal is more a problem for you than for the patient.”

While every case of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is different, Rubinstein says there are practical ways for caregivers to successfully deal with the behavioral changes that result from a patient’s memory loss. Read on to learn about several “problem” behaviors that caregivers often have to deal with: PROBLEM: Compulsive Behaviors (Dad keeps taking everything out of his wallet and putting it back in.) Your loved one with Alzheimer’s may constantly check to see if the door is locked, empty or rearrange wallets or purses, pack and repack clothing, etc. These things are all manifestations of anxiety.

SOLUTIONS: First, ignore the behavior and remember that although it seems strange to you, it is probably not doing any real harm. Plus, if a behavior is not reinforced, it may stop. In general, do all you can to help the patient cope with his anxiety. Speak in a calm, gentle voice, and do not be afraid to touch or hug.

PROBLEM: Repeating (My wife asks me the same question over and over again.) At their cores, Alzheimer’s and dementia are diseases of forgetting. As these illnesses progress, patients live increasingly “in the moment,” and they lose the ability to think and process information.

SOLUTIONS: It will take patience on your part, but it is usually best for everyone if you answer the

JUNE/JULY 2012

same question or listen to the same story repeatedly. Handling repetitiveness in this manner does not hurt you, it helps your loved one, and it can prevent much more serious episodes of agitation, confusion, or aggression.

PROBLEM: Toileting Problems (Dad has started peeing on the couch, in the bathtub, and even out in the yard!) It is common for Alzheimer’s patients to struggle with incontinence. Sometimes they simply do not realize they need to use the bathroom, cannot make it there in time, or may have forgotten the location of the bathroom or what its purpose is.

SOLUTIONS: First, realize that it’s okay to feel extremely reluctant to take on this particular cleaning task. Second, make a doctor’s appointment to ensure that another medical condition or medication is not the cause. Establish a regular bathroom routine and encourage the patient to go instead of asking whether he needs to.

PROBLEM: Refusal to Bathe (Mom insists that she took a shower this morning, but I know she has not bathed in several days.) An Alzheimer’s or dementia patient who once paid scrupulous attention to her grooming and beauty rituals may gradually begin to “let herself go.” No matter the reason (even if it is somewhat logical), refusal to bathe is a major issue for those who live in close proximity with the patient.

SOLUTIONS: Know that forcing someone to bathe when she does not want to is not an easy or one-size-fits-all task — and acknowledge that you are not being unreasonable in insisting that this happen. If appropriate, try to reason with your loved one by telling her that you will have visitors or must go to a doctor’s appointment and that you know she will want to look her best.

PROBLEM: Wandering (My husband walked out the door and was halfway down the street before I noticed!) When people wander — whether they are experiencing memory loss or not — it is usually because they are looking for a safe or comfortable place.

SOLUTIONS: Wandering is a behavior change that is imperative to address, because becoming lost or being unaware of surroundings can have dire consequences. Buy your loved one a Safe Return necklace or bracelet through the Alzheimer’s Association. You might also change locks, install a security system in the patient’s home, or make use of baby gates.

PROBLEM: Paranoia (My mother thinks that I am trying to poison her.) Paranoia boils down to fear. And people who are suffering from memory loss have a lot to be afraid of.

SOLUTIONS: Dealing with paranoia is tricky. The best things you can do are to remember that your loved one is not trying to hurt you, and to try not to take things personally. Know beforehand that rational explanations and clarifications probably will not work. It is always a good idea to schedule medical appointments to check for other illnesses.

PROBLEM: Hallucinations (My father keeps talking to someone who is not there.) Hallucinations are closely related to paranoia. A hallucination is a misperception of reality, often sparked by changes in the brain that cause the patient to see, hear, feel, or smell something that no one else does.

SOLUTIONS: If your loved one’s hallucinations are not doing any harm, do your best to live with them and not allow them to become a bone of contention. Keep in mind, too, that changes in environment or medication can trigger hallucinations.

PROBLEM: Aggression and Violence (My once-loving husband is increasingly nasty to me when I talk to him and try to help him complete tasks.) For individuals suffering from a form of memory loss, many actions, requests, and events can trigger a volcanic moment.

SOLUTIONS: As with paranoia, try not to take aggression personally.

People suffering from dementia are often frightened and in survival mode, and they lack other outlets for relieving stress. Your behavior can either fuel the fire or help extinguish the flames. It is important to remain calm and reassuring, and to approach reality as your loved one sees it.

PROBLEM: Sleep Problems (Mom wakes up frequently at night, and as a result we are both tired and cranky all day.) As we age — whether we are suffering from Alzheimer’s or not — the quality of our sleep tends to change. Individuals can wake up frequently due to the need to go to the bathroom, pain, anxiety, restless leg syndrome, or even a confusing environment.

SOLUTIONS: First, make sure that your loved one is physically comfortable in terms of her clothing, temperature, lighting, mattress, pillows, etc.

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 67

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Her mental comfort might be a bit trickier. Try to minimize stress around the clock, stick to a routine, and provide reassurance rather than giving orders. If your loved one sleeps too much, limit daytime naps and try to get outside so that the sun can influence circadian rhythms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ultimately, while you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t change the progression of the disease from which your loved one is suffering â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or even greatly influence his or her behaviors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; you can take steps to minimize the stress both of you feel as a result of behavior changes,â&#x20AC;? says Rubinstein. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Remember that educating yourself is one of the smartest things you can doâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and never be afraid to ask for help and support if you feel that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re having trouble handling things yourself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Also, keep in mind that while many of the behaviors that result from memory loss can be difficult to deal with, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean all the joy is gone from your life and that of the patient,â&#x20AC;? she adds.

About the Author: Nataly Rubinstein is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified geriatric care manager specializing in Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease and other dementias. For sixteen years, she was the primary caregiver for her mother, who was diagnosed with dementia. Nataly also worked for several years at the Wien Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, ranked among the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top hospitals for geriatric care

by U.S. News & World Report.

About the Book: Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Disease and Other Dementias: The Caregiverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Complete Survival Guide (Two Harbors Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-9361981-3-9, $17.95, www.AlzheimersCareConsultants.com) is available at bookstores nationwide, from major online booksellers, and at www.AlzheimersCareConsultants.com. MSN

Medical Alert Devices That Can Help Keep You Safe Dear Savvy Senior, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m interested in getting my mother, who lives alone, a medical alert device with a wearable SOS button that she can push in case she falls or needs help. What kinds of devices can you recommend and how much do they cost?

Searching Daughter Dear Searching, Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wide variety of medical alert systems on the market today that can help keep people safe, while living in their own home. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a breakdown of some different styles and prices to help you choose.

Monitored Alerts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The most popular medical alert systems available today are the ones that will connect to a 24-hour emergency monitoring service when she needs help.

These units come with waterproof â&#x20AC;&#x153;SOSâ&#x20AC;? buttons â&#x20AC;&#x201C; typically in the form of a necklace pendent or bracelet â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and a base station that connects to her home phone line.

At the press of a button, your mom could call and talk to a trained operator through the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s base station receiver, which works like a powerful speakerphone. The operator will find out whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wrong, and will notify family members, a neighbor, friend, or emergency services as needed.

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested in this type of alert, there are literally dozens of services to choose from. One of the most widely used is the Philips Lifeline Medical Alert Service (lifelinesys.com, 800-380-3111) which costs $35 per month, plus an $82 start-up fee. Phillips also offers a new Auto Alert option (for $48 per month) that has fall detection sensors in the SOS button that can automatically summon help without your mom ever having to press a button.

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 69

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Alzheimer’s Dementia or

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Does it seem to be getting worse? If so, St. Peter’s Behavioral Health Unit can help. Our program is designed to help stabilize the symptoms and treat the conditions quickly and safely in a secure environment.

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Some other major players in the industry that are a little less expensive (under $30 per month) include LifeFone (lifefone.com, 877-849-8942), LifeStation (lifestation.com, 877-478-3390), Bay Alarm Medical (bayalarmmedical.com, 877-722-9633), Alert1 (alert-1.com, 888-919-3692), LifeGuardian (lifeguardianmedicalalarms.com, 800-378-2957) and MedicalAlert (medicalalert.com, 800-800-2537).

One other unique product worth consideration is the MediPendant (getmedipendant.com, 888-216-0039) which runs under $35 a month.

This system allows your mom to speak and listen to the operator directly through the SOS pendant, versus the base station speakerphone, which often makes for easier communication.

No-Fee Alerts – If you’re looking for a cheaper option, consider a nofee medical alert device that doesn’t have professional monitoring services.

These products, which also come with an “SOS” button and a home base station, are pre-programmed to dial personal contacts (relatives, friends, caregivers or 911) if the SOS button is pushed. Most devices store about four phone numbers, and the system dials each number, one-by-one until a connection is made.

If you like this style, the Freedom Alert made by LogicMark (logicmark. com, 800-519-2419) is a good product that allows you to speak through the pendent. The purchase price is $300, with no ongoing monthly fees.

Also check out Telemergency (telemergencysystems.com, 888-558-7420), which offers a variety of no-fee medical alert devices that cost under $190.

Mobile Alerts – If your mom is interested in a device that works outside the home too, several mobile products will let her call for help anywhere.

These pendent-style devices, which fit in the palm of your hand, work like little cell phones with GPS tracking capabilities.

To call for help, your mom would simply push one button, and an operator from the device’s emergency monitoring service would be on the line to assist her. And because of the GPS technology, they would know her exact location, which is critical in emergencies.

Top products to check out in this category include the new 5 Star Urgent Response sold by GreatCall (greatcall.com, 800-733-6632) for $50 plus a $35 activation fee and $15 monthly service fees, and MobileHelp (mobilehelpnow.com, 800-800-1710) which runs between $37 and $42 per month.

You also need to know that Medicare and most other insurance plans don’t cover medical alert systems, although in some states Medicaid will if your mom receives Medicaid-funded homecare services.

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. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 71

submits the entry that our staff selects as the featured quiz or puzzle in the “Contest Corner” for that issue. Be creative and send us some good, fun, and interesting puzzles!

The second $25 prize goes to the person who submits the correct answers to the featured quiz or puzzle from the previous issue. When there is a tie, the winner is determined by a drawing.

Please mail your entries to the Montana Senior News, P.O. Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403, or email to montsrnews@bresnan.net by July 10, 2012 for our August/September 2012 edition. Be sure to work the crossword puzzle on our website www.montanaseniornews.com.

Sometimes a well-said sentence captures a feeling we’ve all had but could never quite put into words. This month’s winning quiz by Frank Vejtasa is Thoughtful Quotes from Famous Folks, which provide snippets of wisdom that really zing. We ask you to you name the famous person behind each quote.

Congratulations to Kathleen Moscatello of Choteau who submitted the winning answers to the Billboard Rockin’ Chart Toppers of the 60s quiz that appeared in our April/May 2012 issue. Thank you, Kathleen.

Two $25 cash prizes are awarded from the “Contest Corner” in each issue of the Montana Senior News. One prize goes to the person who

Thoughtful Quotes From Famous Folks Created by Frank W. Vejtasa, Circle, MT Below are 15 quotes, along with a list of the famous people who said them. On a numbered sheet of paper, match each quote with the correct person, and send it to us. The winner will receive a $25 cash prize. Good luck!

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Answers to Billboard Rockin’ Chart Toppers of the 60s

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JUNE/JULY 2012

Fred Cerra Is Whitefish’s Go-to Man For Household Repairs Article & Photo By Gail Jokerst Unlike some people who have bought gasfueled barbecues, Kay Lorenz realized soon after taking home her purchase that she had made a big mistake.

Not because something was amiss with the new grill – there was nothing wrong with it. But because she didn’t have a clue how to hook up the gas or assemble the grill.

Newly divorced with limited skills in the realm of household repairs, Kay turned to a hardware sales clerk she knew and trusted, Fred Cerra, to seek his advice.

“After I bought the barbecue, I thought who is going to put this in for me? I was in a tough spot. When I told Fred about my problem, he said, ‘I til after ft 5 o’clock.’” ’ l k ’” can do it for you if you can wait until This Whitefish grandmother was so elated, she remembers telling Fred, “I can wait forever if you can do it.”

That incident occurred 12 years ago and launched Fred on a career path he never dreamed he would someday tread – professional handyman.

While he continued to sell plumbing supplies at Nelson’s Ace Hardware in Whitefish, Fred discovered his after-work and weekend hours kept filling with similar requests from Kay’s friends, both married and single. Anytime she heard someone mention a need to replace a leaky faucet or unplug a drain, she had a stock answer, “Go ask Fred at Nelson’s. I’ll bet he can do it for you.”

The requests came so abundantly and often, Fred thought if this many people needed odd jobs

done, he would start his own business. So eight years ago he gave up his post at Nelson’s to become a full-time handyman. It is a decision he has never regretted.

“Every day is different and I never get bored. It’s the most interesting job I’ve ever done.

I can set my own schedule and take time off when I want, though it seems like I never do anymore. My reputation has spread by word of mouth.

I don’t advertise,” adds Fred.

Anyone who doubts the veracity of his comment about being well occupied has only to hang around this mustached man for a few minutes to know just how busy he is.

All day long, you hear strains of Sweet Home Alabama, Fred’s cell phone ring tone, hi wherever h accompany him he happens to be rekeying a lock for a new owner or assembling a piece of furniture.

From the start, his goal was, “to be fair and fast. That’s how I maintain business,” says Fred, who studied wildlife biology at Colorado State University before heading north to Montana in 1981 to construct his own log-cabin home. “I try to run my business by asking myself, ‘What if this was

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JUNE/JULY 2012

my mom?’”

Fred grew up in Chicago, where his mom owned an apartment building and where he taught himself to do household repairs. Those skills acquired and honed through the years served him in good stead when he built his dream house and when he waited on customers with plumbing problems, who shopped at Nelson’s. They also served as his bedrock when he branched out into his own handyman business.

Although he became increasingly proficient in various areas of household repair, Fred realized he had to set some limits on which jobs he would accept or his life would spin out of control.

“One of the hardest things about this line of work is to learn to say no to people. I want to help everyone but I can’t do every job I’m asked to do. It’s not worth it to get in over your head. I’ve regretted taking some jobs but there weren’t too many I couldn’t finish. I can hang a picture and put up a shelving unit,” he adds modestly, “but I’ll recommend carpenters, s h e e t rockers, tile men, and electricians.

You make a mistake with plumbing and you

get wet. You make a mistake with electrical work and you get a new hairdo.”

Early on in his handyman career, Fred learned some valuable lessons. He discovered he preferred not to do any task that included perching on a roof. He left hardcore plumbing jobs to licensed plumbers. And he avoided undertakings requiring too much time. He also trained himself to bring all the right parts – and then some – along with him before closing the doors of his van and driving off to his destination.

“If you come all the way out to a site, you want to be sure you have everything you need to do a job. You also have to be a quick thinker. Sometimes, I have to be very creative to find solutions to fix problems,” says Fred, whose motto is: “If it ain’t fixed, don’t break it – Call Fast Freddy’s Repair.”

Considering how independent some Montanans are, Fred has found that particular character trait has provided him with plenty of opportunities for employment and opportunities to be creative.

“Many homeowners in outlying areas are doit-yourselfers and not always by the book,” notes Fred. “I get to deal with what the owners did.”

As an example, he cites an incident when he was called to work on a sink-pipe repair job in someone’s home. To Fred’s surprise, when he lay under the sink gazing up at the plumbing, he realized that gas supply lines had been installed to carry the flow of water. To fix the problem, he had to replace all the gas lines with water lines.

“It’s been a great way to earn a living,” says Fred, who is especially thankful for the ladies’ bathrooms in the bars of Whitefish. Few people can make the claim he does about those all-important comfort stations. “They put my two kids through college.”

The virtues of having a capable handyman to call on cannot be overstated. As Kay Lorenz says, “Single women my age are constantly hunting for people like Fred to do things for them. I don’t think Fred has ever failed to fix anything for me: lights, doors, smoke alarms. He is one of the kindest people you could ever hope to meet. He’s just a dear man. To have someone like Fred to help, it’s a miracle.” MSN

The Deaf Wife Brian feared his wife Peg was not hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told Brian there is a simple informal test he could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

“Here’s what you do,” said the doctor, “Stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”

That evening, Peg was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and Brian was in the den. He thought, “I’m about 40 feet away, let’s see what happens.” Then in a normal tone he said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”

There was no response. So Brian moved closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from her and repeated, “Peg, what’s for dinner?”

Still there was no response. Next Brian moved into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from Peg and asked, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”

Again, there was no response.

So, Brian walked up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away and again asked, “Dear, what’s for dinner?”

Again, there was no response. So Brian walked right up behind her and said, “Peg, what’s for dinner?”

“For crying out loud, Brian, for the fifth time, chicken!” MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

Keeping Alive A Vanishing Art – Buckskin Tailor Elaine Snyder Article & Photo By Gail Jokerst In the 1970s when adventurers eager for the open road headed west in their VW vans, many toted along beloved guitars and backpacks. But not Elaine Snyder. When Elaine departed the East coast for her odyssey to Montana, the one item she made sure to take was her trusty old Necchi sewing machine.

Considering that Elaine won that workhorse in a state fair sewing competition, learned to tailor during her 4-H years, and went on to graduate from Ohio State with a degree in clothing design and textiles, you can understand why she says, “That sewing machine was part of me.”

After college, Elaine worked as an assistant buyer in New York City’s sophisticated fashion world and spent countless hours happily exploring art museums. However, the Big Apple never felt like home to this Ohio farm girl. It was not until Elaine set foot in the Flathead for the first time that she instinctively knew she had found the place where she belonged.

“I fit in with the landscape and decided to stay,” recalls Elaine, who had intended to rely on her tailoring talents to earn a living wherever she ended up. But never did she imagine that she would one day become a buckskin clothier. Like so much in life, it happened serendipitously.

“I had made myself a wool jacket in the fall of 1974. A musician friend, who was a hunter, saw it and asked if I could make him a Western shirt out of hides,” recollects Elaine. Having been thoroughly schooled in tailoring basics, Elaine relished the challenge despite her lack of experience with buckskin and her

lack of a mentor. She realized she would have to learn to prepare the hides, which included how to correctly stretch hides and lay pattern pieces on them.

By Elaine’s current standards, that first shirt was definitely rustic. But for this seamstress it was an education and a revelation — a quest that lured her to become better acquainted with the wardrobe of Montana’s past and how to recreate it. Since the musician eventually outgrew his shirt, which looks as rugged as the mountain men who once wore this type of garment, Elaine got it back from him.

Fashioning it taught her many lessons.

“You have to practice – keep practicing and then be willing to see things through to completion,” she says. “In the beginning, there are no mistakes – just learning experiences. So don’t judge yourself harshly. You can turn mistakes into challenges and create something different from them. Leather is very forgiving like that.”

As an example, Elaine points out how some hides include markings that she has to make disappear. She does not question her decision to use that par-

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JUNE/JULY 2012

ticular hide but trusts her intuition to figure out how to handle the flaw. Typically, she views blemishes as opportunities to incorporate beautiful asymmetric detailing such as beading, silver buttons, or braiding into a garment or handbag.

“You have to accept the hides as they are and not as you want them to be. You learn to deal with the holes and discolorations and design them into things,” explains Elaine. “Leather lets you do that.”

Elaine’s extensive background in garment construction plus her love of history provided the ideal tools to pursue her career. Today, she sells her fantastically handsome one-of-a-kind vests, jackets, dusters, and pocketbooks through art shows, her studio and web site, gift shops, and galleries. She also makes capes, dresses, and shirts – all custom designed and sized. Most of her clients are baby

boomers that know and appreciate leather craftsmanship, though she sometimes sells to younger rodeo riders. Occasionally, she notices a gal on television wearing one of her “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” jackets or a guy wearing one of her buckskin vests. Like a mother who intimately knows what her own child looks like, Elaine instantly recognizes one of her creations.

“I use lots of historic designs and draw on books to research designs and how people wore clothes. The bulk of what I do is classic Western.

Things like fringed jackets or princess-line vests with a Western yoke in front or back plus antler, silver, or buffalo-nickel buttons,” says Elaine, who works with traditional hued brown and tan hides as well as lush jewel-toned red and blue hides, all sourced within the United States. Over the years, she has created her wearable art out of deer, moose, elk, and eland hides as well as buffalo and antelope hides.

“It’s very challenging yet satisfying to transfer hides into a garment shaped to fit somebody. You have to buy the hides in sets because you can’t duplicate the color,” notes Elaine. “As soon as I see a set of hides, I know immediately what I want to do with them, though it may be years before I

get around to making that item.”

When someone custom-orders a garment, Elaine takes precise measurements and copious notes so she can sew it to specification. About the only thing that skews the finished product is when a husband wants to surprise his wife with one of Elaine’s vests, dresses, or jackets.

“I could write a book about all the men who think their wife is a size 10,” remarks Elaine. “That may have been her size when they met, but it’s often not her size any longer.”

Given Montana’s reputation as a roughn’tumble state with strong ties to its ranching and rodeo past, you might expect Elaine to have many compatriots around Big Sky country, who are also known for authentic buckskin creations.

While some custom rendezvous-style clothing and rodeo wear are available, finished leatherwork like what Elaine creates is scarce. The reality is that fine quality handcrafted leather garments, and the people who fashion them, have gone the way of the grizzly – they are around but are not as plentiful as in the past.

That makes Elaine one of the few buckskin clothiers in the West, as well as one of the most accomplished. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the Montana Arts Council when they chose their first round of 11 inductees to the Montana Circle of American Masters in Visual Folk and Traditional Arts in 2009. According to the Arts Council, Elaine was chosen as a buckskin tailor, “in recognition of artistic excellence for a body of work and contribution to the preservation of the state’s cultural heritage.”

“I was really elated when I won the award,” remembers Elaine. “It was one way for me to earn recognition for what I do. There are no ‘tailoring societies’ out there to honor work in my field.”

As noted by the Arts Council, Elaine has diligently spread the buckskin gospel by teaching students and by giving talks at Kalispell area schools. She educates her acolytes about the history of hide and fur clothing as well, explaining that they are the (Cont’d on pg 78)

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 77

Happy Fourth of July

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JUNE/JULY 2012

Buckskin Tailor Elaine Snyder - continued from page 76 oldest garments in the world and the way that indigenous peoples clothed themselves.

“Creating buckskin garments is one of many art forms in the West but it can only be taught one on one, not in groups like saddle or boot making.

People have to learn how to shop for and work with hides then how to turn them into products,” says Elaine. “Making purses is a relatively easy way to get started. Clothing is more difficult. It has to fit a real body. But when you can size people correctly and make something outrageously nice that really becomes them and fits them, that makes it all worthwhile. That’s the art form.”

For more information, visit www.buckskinclothier.com or call 406-755-0767. MSN

Back in the day, kids didn’t sit inside playing video games all summer. It was all about cowboys and Indians, a good game of chase, riding horses, and lazing by a crick while gazing at the clouds.

This issue’s winning Remember When contributor is Norma Anderson of Butte, who fondly reflects on her memories of spending quality time with pals, both human and equine. Thank you and congratulations to Ms. Anderson for winning our $25 Remember When prize.

Remember When contains our readers’ personal reflections, contributions describing fictional or non-fictional accounts from the “Good ol’ Days,” or reflections on life in general. Contributions may be stories, letters, artwork, poetry, etc. Photos may be included.

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We look forward to receiving your contributions for our August/September 2012 issue. Mail your correspondence to Montana Senior News, P.O. Box 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403; email to montsrnews@bresnan.net; or call 1-800-6728477 or 406-761-0305. Visit us online at www. montanaseniornews.com.

By Norma Anderson, Butte In our youth as pre-teenagers, we were fortunate to own a horse purchased for $25 to $50.

Although we lived on the flat near the swamp in the town of Butte, we had no real pasture to keep them, but staked them out with a long rope on vacant lots to graze. They also mowed the lawns at our homes, or we were lucky enough to rent a small pasture.

Although several of us were fortunate enough to have a horse, no one owned a saddle, and we rode bareback from dawn until dusk. Our jeans were so soaked with sweat from the horses’ backs, by the end of the day, they could stand alone. It took several washes in an old wringer washer to get them clean, and boy did they stink!

Our favorite place to ride was Timber Butte, south of town, where we divided into two groups, one cowboys and one Indians. There was a lot of brush, rugged terrain, and huge boulders in the area that could hide a horse and rider. The rider, when found, had to be tagged at a full run to catch them, or until one of us gave up.

With hours of riding and play over, we would rest the horses and water them at a spring, then let them graze as we lay on our backs, looking at the clouds overhead in a sapphire blue sky and tried to see how many shapes we could identify.

A few evenings we rode our horses to the drive-in theater, crawled through the fence to turn up all the speakers in the back row, and returned to our hoses to lie on their backs and watch the movie.

We loved our horses. They transported us to places we might never have seen. They were the wind beneath our wings that shaped us as kids, and they became life-long companions.

Life was good. MSN

JUNE/JULY 2012

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS PAGE 79

We Had Better Water The Family Tree...

By Bill Hall Who do you think you are?

That’s the clever name of an NBC series that researches the family tree of different celebrities each week, showing them where they came from even if it’s not who they thought they were.

The search for unknown family branches is something of a fever among millions of people.

That can be exciting if you find a colorful criminal or somebody famous in your ancestry.

However, researchers in my family have achieved fairly dull results. You dig up my roots and, for generations, it is farmer, farmer, farmer, farmer, farmer.

But at least our line did not starve out. And there is nothing better you can say about farmers than that they kept the family fed.

However, today’s families, including mine, are almost all gone from the farm. They have had to find other work in recent generations just to keep the groceries coming. Going to college to learn a trade or a profession used to be quite feasible. But today in the United States of America, a higher academic or technical education is becoming a promise broken, a dying dream.

The gradual collapse of higher education for the masses in America saddened me again the other night while watching a recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are? The subject was the Broadway and Hollywood actor Rita Wilson, also known as the wife of uber-famous actor Tom Hanks.

Unlike most episodes of the ancestry program, Wilson’s quest was not for relatives across the generations but for information on the early life of her immigrant father. He had been unwilling to talk about it before he died a couple of years ago.

It turns out he did not want to share his pre-USA life because he went through hell in Bulgaria during and soon after World War II. The first time he tried to flee Bulgaria, he was declared an enemy of the state and placed in a Communist labor camp where prisoners were shot if they tried to escape. He courageously tried anyway and managed to succeed.

In the course of the television program, Rita Wilson found her father’s 91-year-old halfbrother who had also been in the labor camp.

He shared a letter her father had sent after reaching America. The father was astonished

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at how incredibly true it was that America was the land of opportunity.

“Never in my life before have I seen such high-paid work as in America,” he wrote.

He was especially boggled by how easy it was in America to get an education that might move you up life’s ladder.

“At night time I go to school and I’m learning English quickly. Once I finish this class, I will start a new one to learn about radio and television equipment. All schools are free here. You can even become a doctor if you have the brains.”

I remember well that former America of the free education, the door constantly left open to learning for all, including me. I remember when state colleges were free, and I was given an absolutely free college education.

So were most of the rest of the members of my generation. All that was asked of us in return was that we use the greater earning power our free education had given us and pass the same gift of education on to the following generations.

But no. We were too cheap. Today as a consequence, our children and grandchildren are charged extortionate rates of tuition and forced to go tens of thousands of dollars into life-blighting debt to receive what we received as a golden gift from our parents’ generation.

Our parents, who survived a depression and helped win a war against darkness, are called “the greatest generation.”

We are also the greatest generation – the greatest generation of selfish skinflints, a spoiled generation educated for free that now refuses to give the same ladder of success to following generations.

We are so tight about passing on the favor done for us by the greatest generation that we now cannibalize the future of our own children and grandchildren.

Let us hope none of the younger generation starts digging into genealogy to find out what we were like. They will find evidence that asks a question for spongers who think they are so special that they deserve to ignore a solemn debt.

Who do you think you are?

Hall may be contacted at wilberth@cableone.net or at 1012 Prospect Ave., Lewiston, ID 83501. MSN

Introducing

The Gallery at the Montana Veterans Foundation The Montana Veterans Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of its newest veteran outreach program! The Gallery at the Montana Veterans Foundation will showcase artwork made by Montana’s very own veterans. While they all come from various backgrounds and have served in different ways, they have joined together to showcase their unique gifts and talents for the benefit of veterans in Montana. Artwork mediums include paintings, sculptures, wood work, tapestries, and leather and horsehair crafts.

Proceeds from The Gallery go to support veteran service programs of the Montana Veterans Foundation

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