MSN 341 October/November

e c i R a Sheil

A LIFE OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

Read the full story on page 78

LETTERS

PAGE 2

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Letters

QUESTIONS•COMMENTS•PRAISES•SUGGESTIONS

BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS We picked up y our paper (I think in the Great Falls Airport) just for something to read while awaiting something (our ����� Having looked into several newspapers for seniors, we didn’t expect much of interest or content. But, we were delighted with what we found and read it cover to cover. Your coverage of such a variety

of subjects, making everything interesting and so well-written, was great.

We’ll ������y look for your paper when we visit Montana again (which is every three or four years).

Alan C. Gilbert

LONG-DISTANCE FAN I have been reading y our Montana Senior News since I arrived in Montana to visit my

oldest daughter. It is so interesting, and I enjoyed the poems and jokes. We have nothing like it in Indiana that I know of. I don’t know if newspapers are eligible for media mailing, but if so, you could save a bundle in postage. I added a couple of dollars for postage but realize it is not nearly enough. Thank you for such a lively newspaper.

Sincerely, Mary Stansberry

Contributing Writers

Robert B. Hunt, Publisher

MAILING ADDRESS PHONE WEB EMAIL

PO Box 3363 • Great Falls, MT 59403’ 406-761-0305 or 800-672-8477 montanaseniornews.com info@montanaseniornews.com

Published six times per y ear, our paper is written to serve the interests of mature readers. Our readers are encouraged to contribute interesting material. Any views expressed in editorial are not necessarily the views of the publisher.

This publication does not endorse any particular product or service shown in the advertisements appearing in this paper.

All copy appearing in this publication is copy right protected and may be reprinted only with written permission of the publisher.

Janet Hunt Kathleen McGregor Lisa Gebo Sherrie Smith Jonathan Rimmel

Peter Thornburg Nann Parrett Carol Blodgett

Chief Financial Officer Advertising Sales Advertising Sales Production Assistant General Manager Graphic Designer Webmaster Distribution Managing Editor Digital Specialist

Connie Daugherty Gail Jokerst Bernice Karnop Jack McNeel Dianna Troyer Holly Endersby

Natalie Bartley Dr. Aaron Parrett Randall Hill Steve Heikkila Jeremy Watterson Lisa M. Petsche

© 2017

INDEX Letters to the Editor............... 2

Insurance & Finance............ 20

Entertainment..................... 46

Health & Fitness.................. 66

Book ..................................... 3

Honoring Veterans.............. 30

Holiday Preparation ............ 48

Central Montana................. 74

Puzzles & Games .................. 5

Lifestyle............................... 33

Holiday Happenings............ 54

Travel.................................. 80

Recreation............................. 9

Real Estate .......................... 39

Dining Guide....................... 56

Remember When ............... 13

Senior Discounts................. 42

Caregiving ........................... 58

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS FROM THE EDITOR We appreciate the positive feedback we get from Montana residents as well as out-of-staters like Alan and Mary. Long-distance fans of the Montana

BOOK

Senior News are in luck! We can deliver every issue of the paper to your mailbox with a $10 annual subscription. Just send your check or money order to: MONTANA SENIOR NEWS, PO Box 3363, Great

PAGE 3

Falls, MT 59403. Be sure to include the address where you would like us to deliver the paper, and you will receive six copies of the most entertaining senior newspaper around! MSN

REVIEWS•STORIES•ADVENTURE•HISTORY•ROMANCE•POETRY

Recommended Reading COPPER SKY

By Connie Daugherty

Copper Sky by Milana Marsenich; Open Books, 2017

“The old-time miner knows how it works: Give a man a week in Butte, and the Copper Camp will either capture his heart or send him running forever. The miner knows he doesn’t have much time…Women consider funeral and burial arrangements. They wonder about living in a town like Butte, a town now thick with smoke.”

As I read Milana Marsenich’s Copper Sky, the wind blew smoke in from the western Montana forest ���y It hung trapped in the valley hiding the Highlands, veiling the East Ridge and the abandoned head frames and busy open pit mine from my home on the ���y We became accustomed to the daily air quality reports and warnings.

Marsenich’s descriptions of the 1895 warehouse ��y and of Butte in 1917 are vivid and detailed, and this summer’s skies helped take me back to when smoke in the air and danger underground were routine.

There were no warnings, just reactions and a struggle to survive.

Copper Sky is about that struggle to not only survive but thrive in the rough mining town.

Marsenich’s debut novel is set in 1917 with the country on the edge of war in Europe and the emergence of the labor movement at home. Before the year is over, Butte experienced one of the worst mining disasters in history. Marsenich skillfully and cleverly revisits this one year in history through the eyes of two young women who are also at a crossroads in their lives.

It is a time of change, and these two women are determined to ��y their way through it all. No two women could be more different. Kaly Shane is haunted by the past and nightmares, while Marika Lailich has

dreams and aspirations for the future. When their paths cross, their lives take unexpected and intriguing turns, like the tunnels deep underground in the mines.

Kaly is an orphan who grew up at the Polly May . Life, which had always been hard for her, just got harder as she ���herself living in the redlight district with child.

Marika, an aspiring doctor and healer like her grandmother, is the much-loved daughter of a Slavic immigrant miner and union organizer.

Her close family life has alway s been her refuge (Continued on pg 4)

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(Summer of love continued from pg 3) until now, when she’s faced with an unwanted arranged marriage.

While Kaly struggles to keep herself and her child safe, Marika risks everything as she steps outside the sheltered environment in which she grew up, quietly closing a door behind her.

Both women have something to prove to themselves and to those around them who

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

think they know what is best for each of their respective futures. The two women recognize each other on the street, have exchanged polite greetings, but really have nothing in common except the determination to make a difference in their world.

“She saw Kaly sleeping peacefully in her bed.

Somehow, Marika’s life had intertwined with Kaly’s. It had taken one of those unreal turns and here—in this moment—she relished the turn.”

Over the course of a few day s, Kaly and Marika form a unique—almost sisterly—bond that gives them each the strength they need to face the days ahead.

Then disaster strikes. “The quick, high trill of a mine whistle sounded...Then the shrieks of several mine whistles clouded the air.” The ��y in the Speculator mine would forever color

Butte’s history and change the lives of everyone involved on that day . “The work didn’t stop. Doctors. Rescue squads. Helmet men.

Ambulance drivers. Undertakers. Priests in black robes. Women cooking. People praying. They all worked on…black smoke plumed.” When it was over lives would be changed forever, including the lives of Marika and Kaly.

Copper Sky is a well-researched, engaging story with strong women characters who ��� so much of Butte’s personality—then and now. �����������MSN Milana Marsenich has published several stories and articles, including a short story in the Montana Quarterly Book: Montana, Warts and All: the Best From Our First Decade. She is a graduate of the University of Montana and of Montana State University (a Grizzly-Bobcat hybrid) and lives in Northwest Montana.

Silver Screen, Golden Memories MOON OVER MIAMI—A LINGERING VACATION

By Jacqueline T. Lynch (SENIOR WIRE) Moon Over Miami (1941) arrived in the last few months before Pearl Harbor changed America forever and while World War II had, for nearly two years, been destroy ing the lives of millions overseas.

We were on the edge of that darkness, but everything was okay in Betty Grable’s world.

We were like vacationers lingering over those last few moments on the beach. Our car was packed and we’re ready to head back to our regular lives—but we needed one last look at the ocean, one last deep sniff of the salt air to sustain us.

Betty Grable and Carole Landis play sisters, waitresses in a Texas roadside drivein restaurant, in this Technicolor ��ythat opens with a sprightly song. They are carhops in cowgirl suits. Betty wants to give up this life of milkshakes and burgers to drive to Miami, where she believes she will meet a millionaire at a resort and become his wife. I don’t know what tourist brochure told her that would happen, but she’s convinced she’s got a shot.

If Shakespeare had thought of opening a play like that, he would have done it. It just probably never occurred to him.

Charlotte Greenwood, reliably funny and dear, is their aunt who slings hash in the kitchen. The three of them dream of marrying rich men, and so they take off to Miami to hunt for some. Don Ameche and Robert Cummings, boyhood rivals, are the rich fellows. Since the girls do not want to appear as gold diggers, and because they have very little money between them, Betty gets to pretend to be a wealthy heiress to attract beaus, while Carole plays her secretary. Carole wears un�attering glasses because she is not supposed to outshine Betty , and because secretaries alway s wear unflattering glasses. It’s kind of a rule in Holly wood.

No offense to you secretaries.

Charlotte Greenwood gets to be the maid. Dear, lanky Miss Greenwood had the most eloquent posture in Holly wood—with amazing flexibility and extension of her long limbs, she can

FROM THE STAFF OF THE

make her point or just get a laugh by standing or leaning or taking a deep breath.

Both the dapper, y oung, white-dinnerjacketed rich fellows chase after Betty with her deep-red lipstick and her blonde hair pulled off her face in that impossible and painfullooking upsweep.

There couldn’t have been any lacquer shortage in Hollywood during the war. With a pattern of giant stars on her dress and a giant bow in her hair, she is a walking exclamation point. Cummings is the ����y more hapless millionaire’s son, and Ameche is the more suave and savvy.

We know who’s going to end up with Betty when we hear Mr. Cummings sing. He lumbers on bravely , but it’s a good thing he’s rich because he’ll never make any money singing.

However, Ameche’s smooth, gentle tenor is alway s a surprising contrast to his rather gravely speaking voice. He could be the last man in Holly wood sporting a pencil-thin mustache at this period, which was so popular during the Great Depression.

After some trickery and water sports shot on location in Ocala and Cy press Gardens in Florida to give the ��y a hint of travelogue, each girl walks away with her rich fellow, though Miss Greenwood is improbably paired with hotel barman Jack Haley . Miss Grable comes off as a bit of a petulant heel and a spoiled brat, but it’s her movie.

Frank and Harry Condos are the pair of specialty dancers who �� Betty Grable in a couple of numbers and take the lead themselves in the “Seminole” number where a huge troupe of dancers dressed in patterns emulating the traditional clothing of Seminole Indians takes off in a colorful, somewhat stereotyped tribute to something sort of Florida-ish.

It’s a frothy vacation with glimpses of Florida in an era when location shooting was not common. We have a peek at Betty Grable in a white bathing suit, a precursor to her famous image as a war pinup. The movie presents a fantasy of what it might be like to leave your lousy job and travel to an exotic place where every body is having fun. At that time, just before the war, most Americans never traveled even 50 miles from home, so one can imagine ���were the closest a lot of folks came to a pleasure trip. The vacation only lasts 90 minutes, but you can’t beat the price. MSN Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Ann Bly th: Actress. Singer. Star., and several other non-fiction books on history and classic films, as well as novels. www.JacquelineTLynch.com

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

PUZZLE

Puzzles&Games

PAGE 5

PUZZLES•QUIZZES•GAMES•CONTESTS•BRAIN TEASERS•FUN

How Did We Get from Summer of Love to Summer of Bifocals?

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Man, remember those crazy bell-bottom pants that both men and women wore back then?

Well it just so happens that I still have a bell-bottom. Unfortunately, it is now part of my anatomy and closely resembles the Liberty Bell.

Some folks look back at that period of pot-smokin’, free-lovin’ hippies with disdain. But I’ve got to tell y ou, all that wild and crazy behavior sounds pretty darn good to me at certain times nowadays, like when I’m sitting in the hospital lobby waiting to get my colonoscopy.

Sure, I sometimes get a little depressed when I recall all the energy and optimism of my youth. But actually, I’m feeling pretty good about how today has gone so far—it’s already 9 a.m., (Continued on page 8)

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By Michael Murphy (SENIOR WIRE) Can you believe it? It has been 50 years since the Summer of Love! That time in American history when men grew “long beautiful hair,” wore colorful beads and paisley shirts, and still used the men’s bathroom like all the rest of the guys.

San Francisco, of course, was the epicenter of the hippie peace and love movement.

During the summer of 1967, around 100,000 young people walked, hitchhiked, or �oated there, seeking tranquility and free medical treatment for some annoying bug they happened to pick up along the way.

Haight-Ashbury, the center of the drug culture, was the place to be.

It was an area of the city where all the beautiful people badly in need of a bath could “turn on, tune in, and drop out.”

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PUZZLE

PAGE 6

By Florence Paxton Coloring is not just a past-time for kids anymore. It’s a therapeutic, meditative, and just plain relaxing past-time for adults. But We’ve decided to take coloring one step further. Why not relax your brain, AND give your gray matter a workout at the same time? Thanks to reader Florence Paxton for providing the Doodle Puzzle for a little mental workout while you relax.

Thank y ou to all who participated in our Doodle Puzzle Contest in the August/September 2017 issue. The winner of the $25 prize for submitting the correct answers is Eleta C. Creutz.

Congratulations, Eleta!

Doodle Puzzle

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

A $25 cash prize is awarded from each issue of the Montana Senior News to the person who submits the winning answers from the previous issue.

Please mail y our entries for all contests t o t h e Montana Senior News, P . O . B o x 3363, Great Falls, MT 59403, or email to info@montanaseniornews.com by November 15, 2017 for this edition. MSN

Find the 20 items listed below, then get out the crayons or markers and have some fun!

1. Apple Pie 2. Black Cat 3. Blow Bubbles 4. Bow Tie 5. ���� 6. Canned Peaches 7. Cattails 8. Cherry Pie 9. Dinosaur 10. ����

11. Eyeglasses 12. Face Mask 13. Football Helmet 14. Glass of Wine 15. Hot Dog 16. Inchworm 17. Pumpkin 18. Rake and Leaves 19. Squirrel 20. Turkey

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

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Sven and Ole were busy shingling a roof when Sven noticed that Ole was throwing away about half of the nails.

Sven asked, “vy are ya trowing avay all dose nailes”?

“Vell, dey got da heads on da wrong ends”!, relied Ole. “Ole, you sure are stupid. Dose nails are for da udder side of da roof!”

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Summer of Bifocals? - continued from page 5

and I have not misplaced my car key s even once.

When I was a young man during the Summer of Love, it was not uncommon for me to arrive home after a wild night out on the town just as the sun was rising.

Now, during the long summer JOIN HOST DIANE BECK OF evenings 50 WINDERMERE REAL ESTATE FOR y ears later, I find my self ONE-HOUR SHOW heading home from a “night out” about the time the sun is setting.

In the 1960s some hippies dropped out of society to form what they considered utopian communes. There, the young people sat around naked and weaved entire bouquets of �owers into their hair. l can’t imagine doing that now at my age. I have hardly enough hair left to hold one dandelion, and eliminating the naked part is self-explanatory.

A popular catchphrase for my generation back in the 60s was “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” We baby boomers have had to update the saying periodically as time passed. Last I heard, the most recent version of the expression for my age group is, “Don’t trust anyone over 115.”

With over 20 years in Montana real estate, Diane's one-hour show features Around the time of the Summer of Love, a lot of young people were information about commercial and residential real estate. totally into LSD. Now those same folks are a lot more concerned with their PSA. • Is It Time to Sell Your Home?

• Legal & Financial Considerations As a young guy, I had perfect eyesight. Yet, just to be cool, I wore specs with rectangular or round lenses like the rock stars. Of course, those lenses • How to Market Your Home • Are the Kids on Board? were just for looks and were made of regular glass.

• Best Ways to Downsize • How and Why to Stage a House For the last 10 years I’ve been wearing those nerdy magnifying glasses • Best Mortgage Options • Tax Implications of a Sale which I need so I can read the restaurant menu and never accidentally order the fried pickles again.

Worst of all, I recently had to purchase a pair of glasses with bifocals to help straighten out my vision since all the baseball players on TV look like they’re carrying a Siamese twin riding piggyback. And these glasses are ��nitely not cool—they’re more like the glasses included with a Find a station near you at: Gramps Halloween costume.

MontanaRealEstateRadio.com It just so happens that I also graduated from high school in 1967, at the start of the Summer of Love. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll were all CURRENTLY AIRING IN: part of being a senior back then. Not so much as a senior today, though I Billings, Missoula, Butte, do keep some Gas-X handy.

Great Falls, Kalispell, Whitefish, I ���� thought about attending my 50th class reunion. But then I said Columbia Falls, Big Fork, Polson... to myself, “Are you nuts? Hell, half of the guys who go to that probably and more soon to follow!

2800 S. Reserve Street • Missoula, MT won’t even survive the trip!” Besides, I needed to stay home and do more 406.360.7654 exciting stuff, like walk the dog and water the lawn.

Yes, I have to admit that l miss some aspects of the Summer of Love.

But as Bob Dylan sang, the times are �����y “a-changin,” and there just isn’t a whole lot that we can do about that. MSN

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

RECREATION

PAGE 9

Recreation

LOCAL PEOPLE•LOCAL STORIES•LOCAL FUN•LOCAL BUSINESSES

Get Fit—and Stay Fit—for Hunting

By Holly Endersby Climbing a steep trail or wading through thick brush with a full pack and heavy ��� is no walk in the park. But it doesn’t have to be excruciating, either. No matter what kind of hunting you do, getting in shape—and staying that way—is a must, especially as you get older.

Being fit allows y ou to enjoy the scouting, tracking, and packing out that make hunting challenging and rewarding. But getting fit isn’t something that happens overnight. Like hunting itself, it takes commitment, time, and

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effort. As always, check with your doctor or health professional before starting any phy sical �������� Ed Elliott is the owner, and one of the professional ����� personal trainers, at Rudy ’s Gy m in McCall, Idaho. Elliott is 70 y ears old but phy sically looks and acts y ears y ounger.

He attributes this to life-long physical activity but more so to weight training.

“You lose 5 percent of your muscle mass every 10 y ears or so past 35 to age 50. From then on, it’s 1 percent a y ear,” he explained. “You may weigh the same as y ou did in high school or college, but unless y ou consistently weight train, y our body composition has changed to a higher ratio of fat to lean muscle.”

According to Elliott, a well-rounded physical fitness program includes cardiovascular exercise, which can be any thing from brisk walking outside to stair machines or tread mills.

In addition, he recommended 30 minutes of weight training, three times a week.

Elliott emphasizes compound moves when he coaches his clients, so they engage more of the large muscle groups than with a single muscle exercise, like a bicep curl. Having strong core muscles, for example, helps a person recover if they start to fall, so think of weight training as a safety measure as well.

I am a 68-year-old hunter, and phy sical activity is essential to me. My morning begins with 40 minutes of y oga, focusing on balance and strength poses, and exercises that activate my core muscles. I like front and side planks, because they engage my core muscles and a��������� Like most people my age, I have some chronic issues to

Writer Holly Endersby gets her moose for the season.

contend with. Every day, I hike three to �� miles on forest trails.

One change I’ve made is walking with trekking poles. The poles keep my weight evenly balanced between both sides of my body and help my weaker leg, which has a permanent joint injury, to carry the same burden.

I’ve had to adjust my hunting pack so that I can attach my ��� to it, otherwise carrying a ��� over my shoulder is awkward with the trekking poles. Once in the area I intend to hunt, I compress the poles and stow them in my pack for the hike out.

Another change I’ve made is walking daily with a weighted backpack. A 10-pound bag of sugar ��y nicely in my pack and gives my shoulders enough of a workout that carry ing a hunting pack in the fall is easy . That and upper-body free weights with a simple weight bench machine help keep me in hunting shape.

As a woman of Scandinavian descent, osteoporosis has raised its ugly head in me as well. Again, weight-bearing exercises help slow down this nasty development.

Be sure to ask y our doctor what exercises y ou should and should not do. For example, on the advice of a phy sical therapist, I avoid movements that crunch my spine, like sit-ups, and substitute plank poses instead.

Elliott noted that the biggest obstacle to older people getting in shape is their denial about how much exercise they really get.

“They might say they are an avid hiker, but when y ou ask them how many times they ’ve hiked in the last three months, it might just be ��y times, ” he said. “It’s a critical psychological hurdle for most older (continued on pg 10)

RECREATION

PAGE 10

people to just walk into a gym. The majority of them have exercise equipment at home they don’t use.”

The best way to get in shape for hunting is to incorporate moderate, prolonged cardio exercise with weight lifting and additional ���������� nce options, such as yoga.

Sorry folks, there are just no shortcuts here.

If y ou are sedentary and want to hike miles every day you hunt in the fall, you won’t be a happy camper when you have your elk or deer ������ Research suggests it takes about 12 weeks to see moderate improvement in ����Don’t let that discourage you: rather, use it as motivation to get moving!

“You didn’t gain weight and get out of shape overnight,” Elliott said. “And y ou won’t get ��overnight either. But by adding consistent weight training to your program, you will see

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

some noticeable improvement within a month.”

As y ou age, y ou can’t expect nature or a magic pill to take care of you. Your quality of life depends on making choices to keep moving.

But we all accumulate injuries or conditions as we age; just don’t use them as excuses to not exercise.

Cross training can help avoid muscle strain.

If y ou ty pically use a bike, switch to a ski machine or stair climber a couple times a week.

Or take a nice long walk.

“If you have a shoulder injury, then focus on leg exercises until the shoulder heals,” Elliott recommended. “Or if y ou have a leg condition, focus on upper body and appropriate core exercises. Find options, not excuses, to continue to exercise when you are healing from an injury.”

But it’s not just time in the gym or on home equipment that counts: it’s effort and intensity.

Most people don’t work hard enough during their workouts, which is why a personal trainer is such a big help.

An effective ����program will gradually and sy stematically challenge y our body . You may experience some minor discomfort as your muscles respond to the increasing energy demand, but prolonged or intense pain is not to be expected. If that happens, check in right away with both your doctor a�������ch.

A note to older folks: stay hy drated when exercising. Drink water before you feel thirsty, even in the winter and especially during your hunt.

Be committed to an effective fitness program, and y our love of hunting will continue to motivate you to stay in shape …all year long! MSN

Stepping Out Solo with Safety in Mind

By Natalie Bartley

trip alone. She wanted to experience a solo adventure after she heard Solo camping is one of my favorite ways to vacation. It allows for her husband talk about his solo trips. To determine if she liked camping freedom of choice. I get to go where I want, when I want, and change on her own, Ellie decided to try a short, one-night trip, rather than my mind at any time. Camping alone builds self-con�� ce and creates committing to a multi-night solitary exlifetime memories. perience. She backpacked on a trail in the Recently , adventurous women shared Boise National Forest and set up her tent their thoughts and tips with me so that for the night. others might safely follow in their footsteps.

When she heard sounds in the dark forKatja Casson, of Hailey, Idaho, ���est, her mind conjured up visions of a bear ted her four-door passenger car for solo mauling her or a man attacking her in the camping. She removed her back seat, built tent. She tossed and turned for hours until a platform for sleeping, and stored camping she got control of her mind and convinced supplies under the platform. She included herself to relax. a cook stove, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, Johnson advised, “Keep those irrational vehicle emergency ���y ��� aid kit, water thoughts in check; they are a time wastcontainer, non-perishable food, headlamp, er for enjoy ing why y ou are out there.” and hiking gear. Casson said, “It takes time ��������� s.”

Proactively prepare for real animal or huShe was concerned about safety, includman encounters by having a whistle, pepper ing phy sical safety , and had her windows spray, and information. Being safe includes tinted a bit darker, so people could not easily using intuition. If something doesn’t feel see into the vehicle. She increased her peace right, change the situation.

Site selection for safety is a key when solo of mind by increasing her knowledge about camping in your tent or vehicle. Many forest gear, campsites, and destination activities.

Four-footed companions make ideal travel buddies for solo camping service and state park campgrounds have adventures. Photo by Natalie Bartley Managing fear can be a challenge for the hosts who live onsite in their recreational solo camper. In addition to physical safety, vehicles. Consider selecting a campsite near Boisean Ellie Johnson said she had to manthem and alerting them you (continued on pg 11) age her self-talk on her �rst backpacking

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS (Stepping Out continued from pg 10) are there. It’s comforting to know the hosts are keeping an eye on you. You can also prepay for your campsite on the internet, identifying a location you prefer and eliminating the uncertainty that comes with not knowing where you might sleep.

A solo camp trip might include the company of your four-footed buddies. Dogs make ideal travel companions. They are happy about all of your destination choices. With their sharp hearing, they alert y ou when strangers and animals are nearby. Plus, there is something soothing about having a canine companion.

When I leave home for a solo camping trip, I provide my loved ones the details of my journey and expected return time. I use my credit card for gas and food en route to my destination. If I ever were to go missing, my family and the police could access my purchasing history , re-creating where I was at what time and narrowing the search area.

At trailheads, I sign in at the trail registration boxes in case they need to locate me.

During my solo outing, I update my location via text, email, or phone contact with folks back home. Cell coverage is surprisingly

RECREATION

widespread, even in mountainous and remote areas. Locals or other visitors can suggest ���������������� available.

Consider how much information y ou are giving out to strangers when y ou are alone.

You might talk about where you’ve been while withholding where you are going. Some gals camping alone tell inquisitive strangers that companions will be joining them soon. Other women wear wedding rings to ward off unwanted advances.

Camping and traveling alone provides a silence unavailable when traveling with another person or a group. The lack of distractions play s a safety role, allowing for increased attentiveness.

In the book Trail Safe: Averting Threatening Human B ehavior in the Outdoors, the author Michael Bane presents a model for awareness useable in outdoor and urban settings. “The Awareness Color Code” involves four colors representing levels of awareness.

If we are unaware of our surroundings, the model assigns the color white. We are in a white level of awareness when we are preoccupied with using our cell phone while hiking.

The Question of Golf

By Dan Ryan (SENIOR WIRE) There it sits: Your golf ball, all shiny and dimply and benign. It isn’t bouncing, spinning, or otherwise moving at all. It isn’t being hurled at you at high velocity.

It is well within reach, and no one else gets to touch it. It’s your ball, just passively lying there, waiting for you to have your way with it. Hey! How hard can this be?

If you’re a golfer, you know how this ends. If you’ve never picked up a club or teed up a ball, consider what the word “golf” spells backward, and you get the picture. The truth is, golf is an excruciatingly ����� game, mastered only by a few rare freaks of nature who are able to make a living on the PGA tour.

And the rest of us? Well, let’s just say most golfers have much less in common with the likes of Jordan Spieth or Jason Day than we have with Rodney ������ in the classic golf comedy, Caddy Shack, when Chevy Chase sadly tells him, “You’re not...good.” Mark Twain �� ed golf as a “good walk ruined.”

According to professional golfer Ray mond Floy d, “They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken.” Countless other wags have bemoaned the �����y of the game in volumes of stories, jokes, and anecdotes. Ever since that ��� bored Scotsman discovered that thwacking a rock into a rabbit hole isn’t as easy as it looks, golf has been scorned, skewered, and lampooned by the very people who play it. It became such a frustrating distraction in 15th century Scotland that the king prohibited its play . Innumerable golf clubs have been flung into lakes, snapped against trees, and permanently tossed into dusty closets.

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Yet, golf remains a passion for legions worldwide, from millions of weekend hackers to the singular Mr. Spieth. Why? What is it about this game that has a hold on so many? Why do so many people engage in what, at times, can only be described as self-abuse?

While common threads run through nearly every golfer’s passion for the sport— the pleasing outdoor (Continued on pg 12)

PAGE 11

The book indicates most people usually are in this low level of awareness.

He suggests a green level of awareness when outdoors. Green represents being relaxed and aware. We are enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells, yet nothing is alarming us. Because we are alert, we observe more. Perhaps we notice fresh animal tracks. This observation might step us up to the next level of awareness.

The color yellow represents when something alerts us, such as hearing a rustle in the woods or seeing a person acting oddly . We quickly become more vigilant.

We are in the red color of awareness if in a dangerous situation. This is when we need to be completely alert and set to respond. An action may be required, such as �nding and using an escape route.

Regardless of the setting, keep “The Awareness Color Code” in mind as y ou walk along an urban street or set up a tent at a campground. Intuition and awareness help y ou safely and confidently travel on solo adventures. MSN Natalie Bartley is a Boise-based author of trail guidebooks Best Easy Day Hikes Boise and the newly updated Best Rail ������������ .

RECREATION

PAGE 12

(Question of Golf continued from pg 11) environment, the phy sical and mental challenge, the camaraderie—every duffer tees it up because, at some unpredictable point, they experience a moment of personal satisfaction that is unique to them.

Golfers play for reasons they may have in

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

common with others, but ultimately are purely their own. As a friend of mine once pointed out, ����is much like dying; others may be present as you’re doing it, but in the end, you do it alone.

So perhaps it is in that highly personal moment of impact, when you strike the ball with

whatever y ou have to bring to that moment, that the question answers itself. Or maybe it’s answered more plainly by these words of A.A. Milne: “Golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad.”

MSN

Start Training Now for Long Walks Under Crisp, Crunchy Autumn Leaves

By Wina Sturgeon Adventure Sports Weekly

(TNS) There’s something almost sensual about walking in the woods when the colorful tree leaves fall to the ground and crunch under foot or bike tires. It’s like a gift given to the explorers of wilderness beauty.

Unfortunately , even though y ou may have once been an avid hiker, time takes its toll on us all. A rutted and rocky terrain is no longer as easy to navigate. If you haven’t been hiking for a few years, but plan to start again, try going in a group and beginning at a lower level than you were when you last hiked. This tactic helps you regain footing, and y ou’ll quickly , and safely , get to the level you were at previously.

Going on a group hike is a safer approach than going alone. If by any chance you sprain an ankle, someone will be there and can apply an Ace bandage, so you can walk back to your vehicle without making the injury worse. Don’t

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underestimate a strain or sprain. If you ignore it, you could suffer stretched ligaments that will eventually cause the area to become unstable or loose.

Once a doctor has advised proper care for a sprain or strain, it usually involves rest, elevation of the injured body part, and the application of ice for 10-20 minutes every hour for at least a few days. The sprained limb will be weaker during the healing process, so stay away from strenuous activities for at least six weeks

before resuming your usual sports activities. If you’ve been sedentary for more than a matter ����������������L Just remember, carry more water in y our backpack than y ou think y ou’ll need, carry a compass and learn how to use it, and take a �����������������y MSN Wina Sturgeon is an active 55+ based in Salt Lake City, who ���B news on the science of anti-aging and staying youthful at: adventuresportsweekly.com. She skates, bikes and lifts weights to stay in shape.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

REMEMBER WHEN

PAGE 13

Remember When

GREAT STORIES FROM BACK IN THE DAY

The Indomitable Lady of Lake Five: Centenarian Edna Ridenour

By Gail Jokerst Meet Edna Ridenour, 101 and as sassy and sharp as the day she graduated from Columbia Falls High School. Her’s was the class of '34 with, coincidentally, 34 students and a school motto of “WPA, here we come!” The sole survivor of that class, she has never smoked, never drunk liquor, and never missed either one.

Back then, Ridenour’s family lived in Coram, Mont., on the country lane that would eventually bear their last name of Seville. She and her nine siblings attended one-room schools until they were old enough for high school. After graduating, she married her best friend’s brother, Harold, her partner for 59 years.

Much has changed in Ridenour’s world since her family traveled from Colorado to Canada and then into Montana by covered wagon. The most noticeable difference for her is the loss of farmland to development throughout the Flathead. “All the growth along Highway 2,” she �������������������

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Yet some things have remained stable.

For instance, she lives in the same home at Lake Five that her father-in-law had built and that she and Harold moved into shortly after they were married. In true Montana style, they added onto it through the decades as their family grew and as resources became available.

“Harold’s father, Photo courtesy of the Ridenour family James Henry, took over anywhere.” an 80-acre homestead at Lake Five, relinquished Edna’s youngest son presented her with her by a Spanish-American War veteran. To prove ��� snowmobile. She was so thrilled with the up, there had to be a house, barn, and fence built.

Christmas-morning surprise, she jumped into Trees had to be cleared, stumps ripped out, and the driver’s seat wearing her pajamas, housethe land tilled to grow a crop of barley. It took coat, and slippers and disappeared down the years to do all the required improvements,” reroad faster than you can say “Mario Andretti.” membered Ridenour. “The timber was so thick, In fact, snowmobiling also happens to be they couldn’t see through it. They couldn’t even one of two issues that have created some neightell there was a lake back there.” borhood challenges for her. But as Ridenour’s One of the things she has especially apprecison, Bud, remarked, “She’s always steered her ated about her Lake Five home is witnessing the own course for all the years she’s been there.” change of seasons there. “I like that it’s not the In this instance, it was a request from local same year-round. I like snow, the spring stuff snowmobilers wanting to use Lake Five to raise coming to life, and in the fall to see things put money for y outh activities in the Bad Rock to bed again.”

Canyon area that caused the friction. Ridenour While some folks can’t wait to escape the felt the fundraiser was worthy enough to take cold, Ridenour has the heat from her neighbors, though she did alway s been an unadmit, “I was in doo-doo clear up to my knees abashed admirer of over that one.” winter. She regularly Another challenge she faced was insuring cross-country skied the public would have access to Lake Five, from Lake McDonald which is ringed by private land. She and her Lodge to Avalanche five children count that among her most Creek in nearby important legacies.

Glacier National Park, “It was something Harold and I discussed ice-skated on Lake and felt strongly about,” remarked Ridenour.

Five just steps from “We always wanted people to be able to use the her front door, and lake. Most of the locals learned to swim here.” even became a snowThrough what turned out to be a long promobile enthusiast. cess of selling—as well as donating some land “Probably the and working in cooperation with the Montana most exciting thing Wildlife Federation and Fish, Wildlife and I’ve ever done is wear Parks— the family’s wishes ����came true out two snowmoin 2011, when Paul’s Memorial Fishing Access biles,” she recalled. was established.

“You could take them

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REMEMBER WHEN

An avid lifetime reader, Ridenour’s addiction to books began soon after she learned how to string letters into words and words into sentences. “I’d sneak paperback Westerns that the guys in the logging camps left behind and tuck them into my bloomers,” she recalled. She still reads any Western she can get her hands on, along with anything by James Michener or Ivan Doig. Admittedly, she isn’t fussy about her reading material. If it keeps her interest, that’s good enough.

Another pastime that brings her joy is watching the birds that inhabit the family homestead. “I quit feeding them when the bears are out and start again when they go in for the winter,” said Ridenour, whose bookshelves hold a collection of titles dealing with avian ����cation and behaviors. “Chickadees, jays, grosbeaks, hummingbirds, and nuthatches all come to the feeders,” she noted. “It was the nuthatches, though, that really surprised

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

me. I couldn’t believe those little meatheads could make that much noise.”

When asked about advice she might offer to today ’s teenagers or politicians, Ridenour was quick to respond, “I don’t give advice; I let people make their own decisions. And besides that,” she added, “there are two things I don’t discuss—religion or politics.” But she does make one tiny concession when considering if she has ever had any heroes. “FDR,” she proclaimed. “He was a danged good Democrat and did a lot for this country to pull us out of the slump we were in.”

Economically, her family was as hard hit as her neighbors when FDR began his presidency.

And they were times Ridenour has never forgotten. “If we didn’t have potatoes, we’d have starved to death. That’s one thing you can grow here,” she said. “We also raised tomatoes and corn, but they were never as dependable.”

Looking back over a lifetime of memories, one in particular stands out for Ridenour.

“One Christmas when Harold and I were really hard up, we made sure we had one gift to

put under the tree for each of our kids, so they would have something to open. He asked me what I wanted, and I told him an ivy plant,” she said. “I’ve given away a lot of little plants from it through the years to a lot of people, and it’s still around here yet!”

Recently, Ridenour was among 11 Flathead residents over the age of 100 who attended the centenarian luncheon held in Kalispell this September as part of the Governor’s Conference on Aging. The centenarian certificate she received from Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney keeps good company in her home along with her ivy plant, books, paintings of wilderness and wildlife, and photos of her three sons, two daughters, 11 grandkids, and eight great-grandchildren. Surrounded by all the love one could imagine, she continues to enjoy the priceless gift of an attentive, close-knit family. MSN Gail Jokerst is a freelance writer living in the Flathead Valley. For more information on her work, visit www.

Celebrate History with Port Wine (STATEPOINT) During its long and rich history, Port has earned an army of enthusiasts, who have discovered many ways to enjoy this ����� wine, from serving it with dessert to using it as a base in elegant cocktails.

Produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the Northern provinces of Portugal, the � st shipments of Port were recorded in 1678, taking its name from the coastal city of Oporto from which it is traditionally exported. To this day, Port is considered one of the oldest protected wines in the world, and this sweet, smooth wine created by adding a neutral distilled spirit to the rich red wines of the region harkens back to the tastes of the 17th century British gentry, �������������L

One of the oldest Port houses is Taylor Fladgate, which is celebrating its 325th anniversary this year. Established in 1692, Taylor Fladgate commemorates this milestone by releasing a nod to Port’s history: Taylor Fladgate 325th Anniversary Reserve Tawny Port, a special blend of �ne oak-matured Ports selected for their depth and richness of � vor, and offered in a 1692-style bottle that will appeal to history and wine buffs alike.

“Our history is often the history of Port itself, because in 325 y ears we have alway s been in the front line,” say s Adrian Bridge, managing director of Tay lor Fladgate. “Port is one of the great classics in the wine world today , partly due to Tay lor Fladgate’s tireless work throughout generations.” (continued on pg 15)

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS (Port Wine continued from pg 15) Traditionally, Port wines are served towards the end of the meal with cheese, as a dessert wine, or as an after-dinner drink. It is popular to enjoy a slightly chilled glass of tawny port with nutbased desserts like pecan pie or biscotti, and can also be enjoyed in a cocktail:

REMEMBER WHEN

INGREDIENTS • 2 oz. Tay lor Fladgate 325th Anniversary Reserve Tawny Port • 1 oz. Clement 6yr Aged Agricole Rhum • 1 dash mole bitters DIRECTIONS Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass

and add ice. Stir to chill and dilute. Strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with grapefruit peel.

This season, celebrate Port’s rich history and complex � vor. There are a wide variety of sty les of Port, and each has its own MSN ������������

Mentors Without Measure The following essay appeared in the pages of MSN/ ISI some ten years ago after the Roberts Fire burned too close for comfort by the author’s West Glacier home.

Considering how many wildland ��� have ignited over the West this past summer, it seemed timely to revisit the memoir.

By Gail Jokerst When forest �es ignited near my home two years ago, I began compiling a list of items to pack once word came to evacuate. My laptop and family photos made the roster. So did a cracked, nine-inch-long box that’s priceless to me and of questionable value to anybody else.

Four pounds of recipes lay cradled inside the oak, � ger-jointed box. Although the collection includes magazine clippings and hand-penned index cards with procedures that have alway s proved reliable, those aren’t the recipes I’d mourn losing. My heart belongs to the dogeared scraps of paper where specific baking times and ingredient amounts seem scarcer than moussaka in Montana.

Occasionally sporting unapologetic smudges of chocolate or olive oil, these recipes could, at best, be described as sketchy . With their vague guidance to brown a handful of orzo in butter or sprinkle with lots of ���y minced garlic, they would qualify as downright useless to many people.

Scrawled while I observed old-world cooks share techniques they knew by heart, these recipes represent the most important cooking lessons of my life. I gleaned them from neighborhood women who had acquired their skills by the timeless method of watching an older relative prepare the family meals. As their uno�” cial apprentice, I was expected to carry on the tradition. No one weighed and measured ingredients for my mentors, who never weighed and measured for me.

My watch-and-learn recipes range from Greek, Middle Eastern, and Chinese cuisines to Jewish and Japanese. Though the ones I rely on most for a nostalgic taste from my New England past are the home-sty le Italian specialties I began collecting in fourth grade. To me, they’re like trustworthy old friends.

My love for all foods Italian began with my ���forkful of spaghetti when I was seven. It escalated two years later when I made friends with Margaret Campoli, a neighbor from Rome, who happened to be closer in age to my grandmother than to me. I’d dash to Mrs. Campoli’s house after school to taste whatever simmered in a pot on the stove for that night’s dinner or sample the latest treat residing in her porcelain cookie jar. No doubt, the promise of biting into one of her crisp lemon-butter cookies helped nourish my budding culinary instincts.

Whenever I joined Mrs. Campoli as she held court in her sunny kitchen, I saw that exact amounts never mattered. Mrs. Campoli didn’t measure the hint of cinnamon she wafted over her tomato sauce. Without being told, I understood she didn’t expect me to measure it either.

During graduate school, I lived near another talented Italian cook, Rosa Giorgio, who ��� earthy Neapolitan fare. I often stood by Rosa’s side while she ���������steak for bracciola or stuffed zucchini blossoms she’d picked from her garden that morning. As quickly and accurately as possible, I’d guesstimate amounts and jot down techniques. To interrupt this busy lady in the midst of mealtime preparation, so I could weigh a mound of Parmesan cheese, was unthinkable. I’d already learned that lesson at a tender age. (Continued on pg 17)

PAGE 15

An Old Favorite: ����������� Here is Gail Jokerst’s favorite mu��recipe with specific ingredient amounts. No guesswork required. It comes from Gail’s cookbook, The Hungry Bear Kitchen: Recipes and Writings. ������������� 1 teaspoon vinegar 1 cup milk 1 cup rolled oats ½ cup brown sugar, packed 1 large egg, beaten ½ cup vegetable oil ����� ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda Stir vinegar into milk. Pour milk into a mixing bowl; stir in oats. Let soak one hour. Add brown sugar, egg, and oil and blend well. Sift together dry ingredients then combine with wet batter.

Bake in greased ���tins 15 – 20 minutes at 400 degrees until golden brown. MSN

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PAGE 16

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

New Device Stops Cold Before It Starts

“one of the best presents ever. This

By Doug Cornell New research shows you can little jewel really works.” Many stop a cold in its tracks if you take users say they have completely one simple step with a new device stopped getting colds.

People often use CopperZap for when you first feel a cold coming prevention, before cold signs apon.

Colds start when cold viruses pear. Karen Gauci, who flies often get in your nose. Viruses multiply for her job, used to get colds after fast. If you don’t stop them ear- crowded flights. Though skeptical, ly, they spread and cause misery.

But scientists have found a quick way to kill a virus. Touch it with copper. Researchers at labs and universities agree, copper is “antimicrobial.” It kills microbes, such as viruses and bacteria, just by touch.

That’s why ancient Greeks and Egyptians New research: Copper stops colds if used early. used copper to purify water and heal wounds. That’s she tried it several times a day on why Hippocrates used copper to travel days for 2 months. “Sixteen heal skin ulcers, and why Civil War flights and not a sniffle!” she exdoctors used it to prevent infection claimed.

Business owner Rosaleen says of battlefield wounds. They didn’t know about viruses and bacteria, when people are sick around her she uses CopperZap morning and but now we do.

Researchers say microbe cells night. “It saved me last holidays,” have a tiny internal electric charge she said. “The kids had colds going across the membrane surrounding round and round, but not me.”

Some users say it also helps the cell. The high conductance of copper short-circuits this charge with sinuses. Attorney Donna and pops holes in the membrane. Blight had a 2-day sinus headache.

This immediately stops the mi- When her CopperZap arrived, she crobe from reproducing and de- tried it. “I am shocked!” she said.

“My head cleared, no more headstroys it in seconds.

Tests by the Environmental Pro- ache, no more congestion.”

One man had suffered seasonal tection Agency (EPA) show that copper surfaces kill germs that sinus problem for years. It was so get on them. That way the next bad it ruined family vacations and person to touch that surface does even dinners out with friends. His not spread the germ. As a result of wife Judy bought CopperZaps for this new knowledge, some hospi- both of them. He was so skeptitals switched to copper for various cal he said, “Oh Judy, you are such “touch surfaces”, like faucets, be- a whack job!” But he finally tried drails, and doorknobs. This cut the it and, to his surprise, the copper spread of MRSA and other illness- cleared up his sinuses right away. es in those hospitals by over half, Judy and their daughter both said, “It has changed our lives!” and saved lives.

Some users say copper stops The strong scientific evidence gave inventor Doug Cornell an nighttime stuffiness, too, if they idea. When he felt a cold coming use it just before bed. One man on he fashioned a smooth copper said, “Best sleep I’ve had in years.”

Some users have recently tried probe and rubbed it gently in his it on cold sores at the first tingle in nose for 60 seconds.

“It worked!” he exclaimed. “The the lip, and report complete succold went away completely.” It cess in preventing ugly outbreaks. worked again every time he felt a One family reports it has worked cold coming on. He reports he has to eliminate warts as well.

The handle is sculptured to fit never had a cold since.

He asked relatives and friends the hand and finely textured to to try it. They said it worked for improve contact. Tests show it them, too, every time. So he pat- kills germs on fingers to help you ented CopperZap™ and put it on stay well and not spread illness to your family. Rubbing it gently on the market.

Soon hundreds of people had wounds, cuts, and abrasions can tried it and given feedback. Nearly reduce or stop infections.

Copper may even help stop flu 100 percent said the copper stops their colds if used within 3 hours if used early and for several days. of the first sign. Even up to 2 days, In a lab test, scientists placed 25 if they still get the cold it is milder million live flu viruses on a CopperZap. No viruses were found alive than usual and they feel better.

Users wrote things like, “It soon after.

The EPA says the natural color stopped my cold right away,” and “Is it supposed to work that fast?” change of copper does not reduce “What a wonderful thing,” its ability to kill germs.

CopperZap is made in the U.S. wrote Physician’s Assistant Julie.

“Now I have this little magic wand, of pure copper. It carries a 90-day full money back guarantee and no more colds for me!”

Pat McAllister, age 70, received costs $49.95 at CopperZap.com or one for Christmas and called it toll-free 1-888-411-6114.

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REMEMBER WHEN

PAGE 17

(Mentors continued from pg 15) Because Rosa’s limited English matched my �uency in Italian, we relied mainly on visual communication. Though once, while waiting for her Macaroni al Forno to emerge from the oven, I did ask in halting Italian, “Quando e ����y (When will it be done?) Her answer forever squelched my thinking in those terms again. In heavily accented English, punctuated by emphatic hand gestures, Rosa replied, “You look. You smell. You taste. You know.”

Afternoons spent with generous-hearted cooks such as Rosa and Margaret taught me that recipes may guide, but they’ll never substitute for experience. Novices will always have to practice skills, not follow formulas, to learn how smooth and pliant the challah or pita dough should feel when properly kneaded.

If my battered old box had disappeared in ��� and smoke, I would have missed it dearly. But I’m happy to report the over-stuffed repository still sits in my Montana kitchen. From the shelf where it keeps me company, it continues to dispense ageless advice whenever I raise the lid. MSN Gail Jokerst makes her home by Glacier National Park. Her stories have appeared in MSN for the past 17 years. (Or, in ISI for the past 12 years.) For more information about her writings, visit her web site at www.gailjokerst.com

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REMEMBER WHEN

PAGE 18

By Cappy Hall Rearick (SENIOR WIRE) The creamy silk kimono slipped over my head and slithered down my straight-as-a-stick body. Goose bumps popped out on my arms, making me shiver.

The soft, intoxicating fabric lapped me up in cool luxury—so different from the utilitarian cotton fabric of the 1940s.

Inching myself toward the mirror hung high on the wall, I stood on a chair to look at myself.���������� grin on my face.

The kimono was cherry-bomb red.

Embroidered oriental designs flitted like ������over the top and down the sleeves.

Black satin frogs attached themselves to the front of the bodice as if marking a territorial lily pond in the silky-smooth fabric.

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

A Quarter’s Worth Uncle Buddy, only a few hours back home from active duty in Guam, had burst into our house the day before. His gift to me?

The tiny silk kimono that perfectly fit my four-year-old bones.

Ignorant of the war then raging in Europe and in the ����y I had no way of knowing that more body bags were sent back from overseas than miniature silk kimonos or other souvenirs brought home to kids by those in the military.

Red silk pajamas as light as the breastdown on a wren were glamorous to my child’s way of thinking. Much more so than the heavy blackout curtains that Mama lowered each time an air raid siren broke through the peace and quiet of home. Softer, too, than the wartime fabrics she bought to sew my dresses, and a lot more fun than trying unsuccessfully to ride my brother’s skinny black Victory bike.

World War II would be over before the end of that year. Peace treaties would be signed and reconstruction begun on a war-ravaged continent. Even so, my brother and his friends would continue to play Army. They would strut through backyards, ramrod straight, swinging souvenir bayonets taken from dead Japanese soldiers or donning helmets left behind by a dwindling German army.

But my silk pajamas were kept safe and pristine in a mahogany chest of drawers. In years to come, they would remind me that

beauty is always attainable, even in the midst of chaos.

My earliest years were spent listening for air raid sirens, watching Mama count out food rations, and wondering why some man named Gabriel Heatter was so angry at the world. My brother and I ate silently (because in those days children were seen and not heard), while Mama and Daddy spoke quietly of a distant relative who had lost a leg in the war or a neighbor’s son who had lost his life.

I watched from my window as my brother and his friends morphed into pint-sized soldiers, yelling, “Geronimo!” before mowing down the pretend enemy with their pretend Tommy guns.

After the war, we watched movies of men being tortured by the other side, �ngernails torn out with rusty pliers, bamboo stakes driven into ears, horrors incomprehensible to sane people.

We cringed into our theater seats during those movies and later, while in our beds, we experienced one nightmare after another, if we slept at all. Even so, the next time a war movie came to town, we went to see it. We stood in line for however long it took, holding a quarter tightly in our sweaty palms, eager to plunk down the cost of learning how to hate. ����������������� MSN

Wanted: Wisdom and Maturity

By Elaine Marze (SENIOR WIRE) As I’ve aged, I’ve been asked to work in positions where wisdom and maturity are considered extremely valuable. Occasionally, I take one of these employment opportunities where they appreciate age.

Meeting new people and having different experiences appeals to me, although I was reluctant to get a call from a funeral home manager who said a mutual friend recommended me for a position. I was hesitant about working at a funeral home, but he talked me into coming in the following Monday to “try it.”

When I got to the funeral home Monday morning, I was told that they had an ���y of clients (dead folks) , so nobody would be available to train me that day. “We have three services scheduled today, so we’re really busy. Just sit at the front desk, greet people, and answer the phone. And don’t look too happy.”

Considering the setting, I figured I could do the “don’t look too happy” part, so I settled in at the front desk and prepared to greet incoming people.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS The funeral parlor was pretty full when the phone rang. A woman asked, “Is Ezra Young there?”

“What does he look like,” I asked?

There was a pause, and then she said, “Well, he’s nice looking for a man in his 80s. White hair. Sharp dresser.”

“I think I see him,” I said. “Hold a minute, and I’ll go ask him his name.”

“Well, honey, if he answers you, then you have a big problem because he’s supposed to be buried today. I’m trying to �nd out which funeral home he’s laid out at.”

Okay, that didn’t go well.

The next time the phone rang, a lady asked, “Is Henry Moore there?”

I’m getting the hang of this thing now, so I asked her politely, “Do you want to know what time his funeral service is?”

“Oh, my gracious!” she screeched. “He just left the o�” ce this morning , coming over to check on your air-conditioning! What happened?”

Well, it took a few minutes to calm her down

REMEMBER WHEN

while I explained that this was my �rst day, etc.

A while later the phone rang again. A man asked for Mrs. Elliot. Ha! I had this ����out now and promptly inquired, “Is she dead or alive?”

Unfortunately, one of the staff was walking by and nearly had a conniption ��y Apparently, asking callers if people are “dead or alive” is not considered good funeral home etiquette.

But I’d about got the “tricky” lingo worked out when a man walked in with a large, paper grocery bag. He indicated I was to take the bag, so I stood to take it. It was pretty heavy. Then he said, “This is my daddy. They need him for the service tomorrow.”

I let go of the bag! His daddy bounced off the desk and rolled across the ���y I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t even chasing him. Thankfully, the son recovered his daddy when he stopped rolling. In my defense, not being acclimated to funeral home policies, I didn’t think of “daddy” in terms of “ashes;” I thought in terms of (CSI TV shows) “pieces”—considering the size and weight of the bag and all.

PAGE 19

Oh, and dropping clients, even if they are in an urn, is also considered bad funeral home etiquette.

Later, it was explained that part of my job would be to “straighten up” the dearly departed’s clothing after rambunctious loved ones got carried away in their sorrowful ��� farewells. Then there are the family members who can’t agree on whether “Mama’s” collar should be standing up or laying down, or if her hair should be behind her ears or in front and other issues until there’s almost a free-for-all among relatives determined to have their way.

Trying to referee family feuds over bodies can be rather stressful, and even wisdom and maturity can’t ��that kind of drama. I resigned at the end of the day. MSN Elaine Marze is a newspaper and magazine journalist who has also authored three,������B books, Hello Darling and Widowhood: I Didn’t Ask for This, inspirational humor written about the traditionally non-humorous subjects of cancer and widowhood.

The Spin

By Sy Rosen call it ��B app. Okay this really makes no sense, but by using “app,” we (SENIOR WIRE) After listening to politicians for the past year, I realized are giving it a youthful spin. And it helps that it rhymes. something very important—I should stop listening to politicians. However, Large print books are also associated with getting older. I suggest we they are good at one thing—spinning— making everything sound better call it extreme lettering. By using the word “extreme,” we’re getting in on than it really is. Well, maybe it’s time we seniors get in on the spin the extreme sports culture of our country. bandwagon. We’ve all heard the spin that wrinkles are really wisdom lines.

Another stereotype of getting older is that we are forced to be alone, I want to take this to the next level. feeling depressed. Let’s change this image of solitary unhappiness by One image of seniors is that we constantly repeat ourselves. I suggest we calling it the Garbo. Greta Garbo famously said, “I want to be alone.” spin this by saying we are simply reinforcing our ideas (mostly to people who Another symptom of getting older is loss of hair. We should stop using ����������������������������������� the negative word bald and start calling our shiny scalp skin bling. The Unfortunately to many, a walker is a symbol of our declining years. word “bling” indicates that we are kind of hip (if hip is still a hip word).

We can change this impression by calling it a self-powered mobility device.

Another stereotype is that we live in the past—thinking of days gone As we get older, we are subject to shrinking—about one to two inches by. By spinning this and calling us time travelers, I’m giving us a ��� in height. However, if we spin shrinking to downsizing, we are strongly aura. And time traveling doesn’t have to mean that we actually go there implying that it’s something we want to do. Many people across the physically— we can go there mentally. Right now I am thinking I am 16 country are happily moving into smaller homes. Well, we’re happily years old. Oh man, I’m getting a pimple. I would write more but I feel like moving into smaller bodies. And it doesn’t hurt that “downsizing” is a taking a nap. I mean a mental power regenerator. MSN current term (by current I mean about 30 years old).

Early bird dinner has become a punchline for getting older. We will now call it a late lunch. And it’s nobody’s business that our next meal is an early breakfast.

As we get older, we go to the bathroom several times a night. We should spin these bathroom excursions and call them evening aerobics.

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Insurance&Finance

BUDGET•MEDICARE•TAXES•ESTATE•INVESTMENT•RETIREMENT

Protect Your Assets, Your Cash, and Rearrange Your Work Life

By Teresa Ambord

MYRA RETIREMENT PLANS ARE GOING AWAY (SENIOR WIRE) Do you have a “my Retirement Account” (myRA)? A myRA is touted as a “starter savings account,” a government-administered Roth IRA that holds one investment. The program is only a few years old, having been started in 2014. The intention was for account holders to have a Roth IRA that is treated as a traditional IRA in most respects. MyRAs earn interest the same way that government securities for federal employees earn interest. Unfortunately, the accounts have proven to be cost-ineffective, and will soon disappear as possibility. Existing accounts will remain open and accessible, and you can continue to manage the account until further notice. Eventually, you’ll be ����y that you’ll need to move your funds into another Roth IRA. If you need more information, log onto www.myRA.gov, or call your customer support number. Account holders are assured there’s an abundance of private-sector solutions that offer no account maintenance fees or minimum balance, and they provide safe investment opportunities. The U.S. Treasurer, Jovita Carranza said, “We will be communicating frequently with participants to help facilitate a smooth transition to other investment opportunities.”

Ever Wish You Could Work from Home?

It used to be a rare thing to meet someone who worked from home and actually made a decent income. Some people say they could never do it. They’re not self-starters. They can’t deal with the distractions. They’d feel like they were always at work. Then there are people who work from home, for an employer, or for themselves, and never want to “go towork” again.

Who actually works at home?

In 2015, only about 3 percent of workers, or 4 million people, worked from home.

As millennials swarm the workforce and always talk about work-life balance, many experts believed they’d be the ones who work from home. But in actual fact, most of the ones working at home (as employees, not self-employed persons such as freelancers) are baby boomers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. The older the worker, the higher the chance he or she will be working from home.

Why? According to Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics, this type of employment is “more available to those who have earned the trust of their employer or just don’t give a damn about climbing the corporate

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ladder.” Lister goes on to say that though millennials may want to work from home, they also feel they must be seen in the o�” ce and fear that working remotely will diminish their potential for promotion.

If you’re not concerned about the corporate ladder and would rather work from home in your pajamas and slippers, with your dog beside you, and not fighting traffic and inclement weather, there’s more good news. The census survey mentioned above and information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that telecommuters make, on the average, $4,000 a year more than employees who commute to work.

Apart from “appearances,” not everyone is cut out to work from home. If you’re thinking about it, here are seven traits Inc.com lists that you need to work well from home: Self-motivation. Can you be motivated to work without the office atmosphere and coworkers?

Good communication skills. It may sound odd, but communication skills are even more important for at-home workers. This is because you’ll need to rely on nonverbal clues much of the time.

Resourcefulness. There will be times when you have to solve a problem without input.

Tech-savvyness. Even if you can call for tech help, you’ll need some ability to troubleshoot when things go awry.

Ability to self-evaluate. Without external feedback, you’ll need a critical eye for your own work in terms of quantity, quality, and speed.

Independence. Do coworkers annoy and distract you, or do you need the interaction with them? If your best work is collaborative, working at home may not be for you, depending on whether feedback is available to you.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS Confidence. You’ll need a high degree of �����yin your skills and knowledge. That means you’ll need a thick skin when inevitable criticism comes.

Can you do your current job from your home?

Obviously if you’re a retail salesclerk or a cardiac nurse, you can’t. But if you’re a medical biller, an editor, a tutor, an administrative assistant, or have any other job that you can accomplish from your home (even if only part of the time), you might ask your boss if he or she would consider it. Here’s a big selling point: it frees up desk space at the ���� And, studies show that for people cut out for working at home, more work gets done.

If you’re searching for opportunities for work-at-home jobs, be careful. This is an area where many scams have popped up. Bankrate. com suggests you weigh any job in terms of positive indicators of real employment: • The hirer is an established company.

• The ad includes the company name and does not have applicants reply to a blind email address.

• Human resources personnel are available for questions.

• There is mention of information commonly associated with “real” employment ����� vacations, policies, etc.).

• There is an application and interview process, not simply an emailed offer.

• The employer can detail the job duties and expectations.

• References/work samples are requested.

On a personal note, I changed careers and began working from home, as an employee, more than 13 years ago. My mom was certain my new employer would never pay me, and, even if they did, there would be no ben���and the pay would be puny. None of that happened, though for me, it took a change of careers, a very good decision for me. Working from home is possible, and it can be very rewarding if you have the temperament.

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The question is, who ya gonna call? Here’s a list of phone numbers and websites where you ������� Social Security Number: If you have reason to believe someone has obtained and misused your Social Security (SS) number you can order a freeze on the SS account and prevent future misuse of your SS ����. Call one of the three national credit bureaus to place a scam alert.

Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 (Fraud Hotline: 1-888-766-0008) Important! You may have heard that the Equifax credit bureau (listed above) was recently hit with a security breach wherein 143 million consumers might’ve had their Social Security numbers exposed. The Federal Trade Commission advises taking these steps to see if your information was included.

Experian: 1-888-397-3742 (Fraud Hotline: 1-888-397-3742) TransUnion: 1-800-916-8800 (Fraud Hotline: 1-800-680-7289 Placing a freeze should halt the problem, but also report it to the Social Security Administration ���y of the Inspector General, 1-800-269-0271 From a secure computer with an encrypted network connection, log onto: www.equifaxsecurity2017.com Click on “Potential Impact” and enter your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number.

The site will tell you if your number has been affected.

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PAGE 21

Sweepstakes Fraud: Contact the Federal Trade Commission by logging onto www.consumer.ftc.gov (or call 1-877-382-4357) or Postal Inspector, at www.postalinspectors.uspis.gov (or call 1-887-876-2455).

Mortgage Fraud: Contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at www.consum����������� 1-855-411-2372).

Or, the HUD OIG Fraud Hotline at https:// hudoig.gov/report-fraud 1-800-347-3735 Timeshare Scam: Contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.ftc.gov (or call 1-877-382-4357).

Grandparents Scam: Contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.consumer.ftc.gov (or call 1-877-382-4357). Or the FBI Field ��� at ��������������� MSN

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Investing in friendships

By Treva Lind The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

(TNS) Their bond started 21 years ago with dollars toward Starbucks.

Not over coffee exactly, but what stocks to buy when 12 women ���pooled funds for a Spokane Valley investment club called the Lilies.

Members all loved coffee, so in fall 1995, their �rst investment ignored a �nancial adviser’s caution about an emotional buy in a then much smaller Seattle company.

“Starbucks was our very �rst stock purchase; we still own it today,” said Marla Larson, 61, of the Lilies. “Our portfolio is an amazing value, but mainly, it’s about the friendships we’ve made.”

Various investments later, the group grew both a strong portfolio and tight friendships. The

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Lilies, today at 10 members, are now investing time as mentors for a younger generation. In 2015, a few adult daughters of the Lilies began their own investment club, the Dandies, with women their age.

The younger women hope to capture similar bonds and �����success, and they’ve taken some guidance from their elders, such as bylaws and how to develop a partnership agreement.

“The launching of the Dandies has brought us so much pride,” Larson said.

During the past two decades, the Lilies met once a month except in the summer to make investment decisions. After their portfolio gained value, they also grew closer while traveling together on occasion when members decided to pull out some cash for trips.

Members visited the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. They toured Starbucks headquarters and met CEO Howard Schultz in 2013. Other trips took in Walla Walla, Wash., and Palm Springs, Calif.

Larson’s daughter, 34-year-old Britney Calkins, grew up witnessing the club’s successes and how tight-knit the Lilies became. The Dandies group has 14 women as members.

“It was inspiring just watching our moms over the years,” Calkins said. “For us, it was seeing the fun and friendships that evolved out of it. The icing on the cake was they made a little money along the way and have used some of the funds to travel and do a few little activities together.”

“We also meet once a month to research and talk about a decision,” Calkins added. “We thought Weight Watchers and all the hoopla over Oprah Winfrey would be a fun one, but interestingly, it’s not taking off quite yet. We joke maybe we’ll meet Oprah one day.”

The Lilies were all educators in the Central Valley School District. They gathered insights from the group’s �nancial adviser, Larson’s husband Steve Larson, who over the years has remained the Lilies’ stockbroker.

“When we started, we had curtain crawlers and were dodging between basketball practices and dance recitals,” said Lilies member Karen

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teachers. Others are lawyers, stay-at-home moms, managers, nurses, and business owners.

The youngest among the Dandies, which is short for Dandelions, is 32-year-old Nikki Calkins, another of Larson’s daughters, and Britney Calkins’ sister. The sisters married brothers and share the same last name. The eldest Dandies member is Nicky Fredekind, 42.

The Dandies are each kicking in about $25 a month toward investments, Calkins said. Her husband, M a r k Calkins, is serving as the Dandies’ financial adviser and is part of the same ��y as Steve Larson.

Once a year, Lilies and Dandies get together.

The women met Feb. 16 at Larson’s Liberty Lake home for dinner and to socialThe Lilies, in front, are, from left, Kathryn Cooney, Karen Toreson, Marla Larson, Linda ������������������������������������������ ize. Memyounger vrsion, the Dandies, arrayed in the back of the photo. They meet regularly to plan bers among their investments and socialize, this time at Marla Larson’s place in Liberty Lake. both groups PHOTO BY: Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review/TNS) hugged and shared a glass of wine. A few took turns holding Early on, the Lilies decided they’d study the 2-month-old River Risley, daughter of Dandies investment world and research companies, along member Emily Risley, 33. with a commitment to meet regularly. Each “We wanted to follow in our moms’ footsteps agreed they would contribute a certain amount and get this started with the younger generation,” per month toward the club’s investments, said Risley, who is Uphus’ daughter. “Growing starting with $35 a person. Then it went to $50. up, I remember the Today, it’s $75, said member Linda Uphus, Lilies started pitching 65, a former elementary school principal. They in about 35 bucks, listened to each other and learned. but more than the “We all worked in the Central Valley School financial part, it was District, not all at the same school, but we knew just getting together each other,” Uphus said. “We thought it would with girlfriends while be fun to get together and test our knowledge raising families.” about investments, so that’s what we did.”

“Our group hasn’t “We watched our kids grow up, and we’re really made any money there for each other in the good times and bad, yet, but we’ve had just like the stock market is up and down,” fun. We’re starting off Uphus added. “They’re one of the ��� people small with the hope we call if there’s trouble or a death. It’s a very we’ll get to share the close group.” same experiences our Members created the name Lilies, for Lilies moms have. Outside of the Valley, from their Spokane Valley and the meetings, we’ve CVSD ties. said, ‘Let’s go to a The younger group’s members aren’t concert together.’ “ all educators, although a couple of them are Toreson, 76. “Now we’re retired and many of us have grandchildren.”

“It’s a rich group of women, not just with money but with experience, integrity, character and humor.”

The Lilies range in age from 61 to 82.

“The glue for this group and its acceleration are the friendships,” Kathryn Cooney, 82, said. “We’re diverse, independent, but we’re very bonded.”

PAGE 23

A conversation between two friends launched the investment legacy. Larson worked as a CVSD school counselor when Autumn Reed, another counselor, asked her about starting an investment club.

“Autumn knew my husband, Steve, is a �����adviser,” Larson said. “I said, ‘Sure, I’ll go home and ask him.’ His response was, ‘Investment clubs just don’t seem to make it for whatever reason.’ I told Autumn that and I’ll never forget her response, ‘Doesn’t that just suck for them?’”

“With that, we never looked back. We said ours is going to be different. As a group, we’ve always been told that common sense investing works. We invest in what we believe in and are passionate about, like coffee, wine and medical devices that help people.” (continued on pg 24)

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PAGE 24

(continued from pg 23) Reed remained a longtime Lilies member, and her death from cancer in 2008 was a blow to everyone, Larson added. Reed’s share of earnings went to her family.

“We miss her dearly,” Larson said. “She was a character.”

The Dandies have already gotten to know each other better, after Larson’s and Uphus’ daughters invited other women they knew as friends or acquaintances to form the younger generation club.

“Everyone’s connected somehow—elementary school, activities, college,” Jenny Bernard, 35, said. She went to the same college as Risley and heard the Lilies legend told by daughters.

“In college, you could tell they admired what their moms had created and the fun trips. They didn’t even have to sell me when they called me.

I said, ‘I’m in.’”

Britney Calkins said her group’s members have planned dinners and skiing trips. They won’t draw out of their portfolio toward big outings for quite a while, so they can give investments time to grow.

“If we make a few bucks along the way that will be a nice part, but really for us, it’s about investing in friendships,” she said. “That’s the premise or spirit behind our group, and I know that’s the same for our moms and the Lilies group that inspired us.”

Risley echoed that sentiment. “Some of the Dandies I didn’t know at all, some I knew their name and wasn’t too close. Already in two years it’s been so fun to grow these relationships. We hope to have some fun adventures with the money we make, too.” MSN

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Retiring in an Age of Declining Pensions

By Mark Miller

(50+ DIGITAL) In the days when de�ned bene�t pensions roamed the land, retirement income was automatic: you worked for a company, the company contributed to the pension fund. Checks started arriving when you retired, and didn’t stop until you did. End of story, for the most part.

Plenty of retirees still have traditional pensions, but they are on the decline—and that leaves a greater share of today’s workers—and tomorrow’s retirees to manage retirement planning on their own. That’s the underlying thesis of Emily Brandon’s new book, Pensionless: The 10-Step Solution for a Stress-Free Retirement (Adams Media).

Brandon, senior editor for retirement at U.S. News, writes about the cornerstone elements of putting together a plan—how to get the most from Social Security and Medicare and employer-sponsored ����L She also—appropriately—focuses on the expense side of the equation, offering strategies for managing lifestyle costs. The book has the bene�t of being smart and to the point—that is, very digestible. I also very much like her holistic approach to the topic—we’re on the same page on that score.

I caught up with Emily recently and asked her ��y questions on some of the key concepts in Pensionless.

Q: Strategies available to couples to maximize Social Security have changed in light of the legislation passed last year curtailing file-and-suspend and restricted claims. What’s your message to people who no longer qualify to use those strategies about how they can ma�������� A: While retirees recently lost two Social Security claiming strategies, there are still a variety of ways you can increase your Social Security ���� If you sign up for Social Security after your full retirement age, which is 66 for most baby boomers, you will accrue delayed retirement credits that will increase your Social Security payments by 8 percent for each year of delay. Members of married couples continue to be eligible for spousal and survivor’s payments and can coordinate their payments to maximize their lifetime ����as a couple. Also, retirees between ages 66 and 70 continue to be eligible to suspend their payments, earn delayed retirement credits, and qualify for higher Social Security payments later on in retirement. Your monthly payments will increase by 32 percent if you suspend them for four years between ages 66 and 70.

Q: You have a chapter called “Make the Most of Medicare.” What are the choices people can make to optimize their coverage?

A: It’s incredibly important to sign up for Medicare during your initial enrollment period. If you sign up later, you could be charged higher premiums for the rest of your life. Remember to take advantage of the services Medicare offers without any out-of-pocket costs, including a wellness visit once every 12 months, cardiovascular disease screenings, ������������� Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage offers a variety of plan choices, and the covered medications and cost-sharing requirements can change each year. Even if you are happy with your current coverage, it’s important to examine JOHNSON GLOSCHAT how your medical Funeral Home & Crematory needs and the plan’s Erik Fisher covered medications Family Services • Advanced Planning will change, and to 406-261-3607 switch plans if another 2659 U.S. Hwy 93 North Part D option better P.O. Box 457 meets your needs.

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can switch prescription drug plans once per year between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7.

Q: In your chapter on boosting 401(k) balances, you talk about the need to keep fees to a minimum—but also mention the option of using higher-cost actively-managed mutual funds (compared with low-cost passive funds). Since active funds generally underperform passive funds, are there ever situations where you think workers should choose active funds—if so why?

A: You can’t control your investment returns, but you do have a measure of control over how much you pay to invest. Choosing low-cost investments is one of the best ways to help your retirement savings grow faster. Each 401(k) plan provides a limited number of investment options, and might include both actively and passively managed funds.

Passively managed index funds typically have much lower fees and thus tend to produce higher long-term returns for investors than actively managed mutual funds.

Your 401(k) plan is required to send you a 401(k) fee disclosure statement, which lists every fund in your 401(k) plan and how much it costs to invest in it. You can use this statement to identify how much you are paying, what might trigger additional fees, and to shop around for lower cost funds that might meet your investment needs.

Q: Let’s talk about Roth IRAs, since your book has a chapter on how to use them. For the typical worker already saving in a 401(k) plan, what factors should drive a decision to put an available dollar into a Roth IRA, rather than the 401(k)?

A: Your �st priority should be to get any 401(k) match that’s offered.

After that, compare your current tax rate to an estimate of your tax rate in retirement. If your tax rate is higher now than you expect it to be in retirement, it’s often better to take the tax break while you are working by saving in a traditional retirement account.

If you think you will pay a higher tax rate in retirement, paying the tax now using a Roth account will lock in today’s low tax rate. You can also hedge your bets about future tax rates by saving for retirement in both types of accounts. Having some money in traditional and Roth retirement accounts will give you options to control your tax bill each year in retirement.

Q: I was glad to see a chapter devoted to reevaluating expenses in retirement—this is an aspect of the retirement story that often gets

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ignored. Do you see much evidence that this is catching on as a more important aspect of planning for retirement?

A: You can retire sooner and with less money in the bank if you are willing to cut your expenses. One of the fastest ways to signi� antly improve your retirement �nances is to pay off your mortgage, thus eliminating what is likely one of your biggest monthly bills. Another way your home can help ��nce retirement is if you move to a house that costs ���” cantly less than your current home and add the savings to your nest egg.

Retirees can use some of their newfound free time to save money by negotiating for better deals on the products and services they use or taking on household chores they had to outsource while working. There are also many �nancial ���ts of aging you might qualify for ranging from senior discounts to tax breaks for people who are above a certain age. MSN Mark Miller is a journalist and author who focuses on retirement and aging. He is the author of The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security: Practical Strategies for Money, Work and Living. Mark also edits and publishes RetirementRevised.com.

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PAGE 26

PLANNED GIVING

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Is a Trust Still a Trust by Any Other Name? Confusion Can Ensue

By Jonathan J. David (SENIOR WIRE) Dear Jonathan: A few years back I completed my estate planning. The documents I prepared included a living trust.

I was talking to a friend of mine recently, who told me that she and her husband recently completed their estate planning, and one of the documents they prepared was a trust, but it is called a revocable living trust. What is the difference between a revocable living trust and a living trust, or are they the same?

Could you please explain?

Jonathan Says: A revocable living trust and a living trust are the same thing. This is a type of trust that is created during your lifetime, which you can amend or revoke at any time, so long as you have the mental capacity to do so. It can get a little confusing because these types of trusts go by many different names, including revocable living trust, living trust, revocable trust, and inter-vivos trust. Also, sometimes these ty pes of trusts don’t use any of those names in the title other than the word “trust,” along with the name of the person who created it, i.e., the “John Doe Trust dated January 1, 2017.”

Dear Jonathan: What is the difference between a revocable trust, an irrevocable trust, and a testamentary trust?

Jonathan Says: A revocable trust is a trust created during a person’s lifetime, which can be amended or revoked at any time, so long as the person has the mental capacity to do so.

An irrevocable trust is a trust that, once created, cannot be amended or revoked. This type of trust can be created and take effect, i.e., funded, during a person’s lifetime, or it can be designed to take effect only upon a person’s death.

A testamentary trust is a type of irrevocable trust that is created in a person’s last will and testament and only takes effect upon the person’s death.

Dear Jonathan: Is a living will and last will and testament the same thing?

Jonathan Say s: No. Although they both have the word “will” in their name, they are designed to address two totally different situations. A last will and testament is a document that sets forth who is to receive a person’s assets upon that person’s death. A living will is a document that sets forth what

type of medical treatment a person wants to receive if he or she is either in a persistent vegetative state or an irreversible coma and is unable to communicate his or her wishes.

Dear Jonathan: I have both a living will and a DNR, but I can’t remember why. Don’t they do the same thing?

Jonathan Say s: No. A living will is a document that sets forth what type of medical treatment y ou want to receive if y ou are either in a persistent vegetative state or an irreversible coma but unable to communicate your wishes. A DNR, which is the abbreviation for “Do Not Resuscitate,” is a document that states you do not want to be resuscitated if you are in cardiac or respiratory failure, i.e., your heart or breathing stops. For example, if you are at home and suffer cardiac failure, the paramedics who arrive at your doorstep will automatically try to revive you. However, if y ou have a DNR, and the paramedics are made aware of it, then they will not attempt to revive you. I hope this helps. MSN Jonathan J. David is a shareholder in the law ��B of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C., 1700 East Beltline, N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525.

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PAGE 27

Targeted Philanthropy: Support Causes That Align with Your Values and Priorities

By Sandy Nelson (SENIOR WIRE) Judging by the numbers, Americans are generous people. The Giving Institute reports that charitable donations exceeded $358 billion in 2014—more than in any of the peak years before the recession.

If your budget has room for philanthropy, you’ll ��y no shortage of potential causes and organizations to support. The tone of most fundraising solicitations is urgent, and it can be hard to decide where the need is most pressing.

You can take a scattershot approach and give directly to a few groups that provide services you consider important, whether it’s hospice care, sheltering homeless and abused animals, or conducting research into breakthrough medical treatments. Or you can delegate the distribution of funds to an organization like United Way. But y ou don’t need to be affluent to help people meet their basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. If you have time or energy to spare, most nonprofits train volunteers.

Local food banks accept nonperishable food,

shelters distribute donated clothing and home furnishings, and Habitat for Humanity relies on volunteers to help families build their own homes.

When deciding where to direct your �nancial giving, consider how effectively the organization will use your gift and what matters most to you.

Research the target organization’s mission and consider how well it aligns with your own passions and priorities. GuideStar offers an online database at www.GuideStar.org with information about the mission and performance of nearly 2 million U.S. charities and �����J including some that operate locally.

Ask for a copy of the group’s IRS Form 990 and see how much of the money it raises goes to administrative and fundraising costs and CEO salaries, and how much goes directly to programs and services. According to the Charity Navigator website, “The most ��cient charities spend at least 75 percent of their budgets on programs and services, with the remaining 25 percent spent on administrative and fundraising

Offering a hand up rather than a hand out Transitional programs and affordable housing offer life-changing and life-saving services

costs.” It urges donors to favor groups with “reasonable” CEO compensation—about 3 percent of expenses.

Donations that attract matching funds magnify the impact of your gift, so ask if your target organization has community partners pledged to match � ancial contributions. In this way, even a modest donation can snowball into ����������� People happily clear their cupboards and closets of food, clothing, and toy s during special drives because they assume these are what disadvantaged people need most. While relief organizations appreciate such generous gestures and often ask for in-kind donations in emergencies, cash donations allow the organization to more efficiently direct help where it’s most essential.

Giving locally lets you see the results of your gift up close and circulates more money and resources in your own community. Ask if your donation goes to a national organization or stays at home, solving local problems. MSN

United Way of Butte & Anaconda This is what your 2016-2017 donations accomplished Educating our Youth (1,823 students helped)

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Silver Bow, Inc.; Butte 4 C’s-Positive Parenting; Young People’s Open Theatre Project; Girl Scouts; Discovery House; Day of the Child Event.

Improving the Health of Individuals (1,287 individuals) • Gateway Emergency Shelter • Gateway Vista Low Rent Apartments • Case Management • Legal Services for Civil Matters

• Clinical Services Counseling • Financial Counseling / Credit Repair • Training, Education, and Job-Finding • Tuition Assistance for Child Care

Western MT Mental Health Center-Heavenly Hope Drop in Center; Safe Space - Domestic Violence; Public Housing-Senior Activities; Mountain View Social Development Art Program; Advocacy Program of Southwestern Montana; Butte Kiwanis Sunshine Camp; Region IV Family Outreach.

Assisting Families to Gain Financial Strength (4,147 individuals)

Anaconda Ministerial Project Care; Butte Literacy; Safe Space - Suited for Success; Butte 4 C’s-Quality Early Care; Community Baby Shower Event; Dress a Child Event; Stone Soup Event.

You can help save and change lives. Give at www.ywcabillings.org/donate or call 406.252.6303 to learn more.

Your donations will help US help them again!

To dontate, volunteer, or for more information: PO Box 4447, Butte, MT 59802 • uwbutteanaconda.org Like and Share us on Facebook!

Great news! You can invest your IRA distributions to support great programs—and reduce your taxes Taxpayers 70½ and older have a wonderful opportunity to support the Benefis Foundation and other charitable organizations now that Congress has made the IRA Charitable Rollover permanent!

Charitable gifts of any amount up to $100,000 may be made from your IRA each year. The best news is that these gifts count toward your Required Minimum Distribution and are not subject to income taxes. The benefit is available even if you don't itemize your federal tax returns.

The charitable distribution must be sent directly from the IRA administrator to the charity.

Ask your IRA administrator how this option works or contact us at the Benefis Foundation.

You choose how you want your gifts put to use through the dozens of vital funds and healthcare programs the Foundation supports.

Please contact your financial advisor or Marilyn Parker Certified Specialist in Planned Giving Benefis Health System Foundation 406-455-5836 or marilynparker@benefis.org

PAGE 28

PLANNED GIVING

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Help for Victims Trying to Break Away from Cycles of Violence and Poverty In Montana, one in three women is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, or human ������y Nationally, the statistic is one in four. While the problem is more prevalent here, Montana’s rural nature makes it ����� for women to get help. With only 32 community programs and 15 shelters across the entire state, organizations such as the Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and YWCA provide vital support.

One of the state’s four YWCAs—YWCA Billings—has been providing service to Montanans for 110 y ears. Its mission to save, change, and improve lives is in place 24-hours a day, 365 days a year through the shelter and the support it offers at Gateway Shelter―the only secure, domestic violence shelter of its kind in an 18,512-square-mile section of central Montana. The Billings location ����y people in communities and rural reaches in some of Montana’s most impacted counties.

In �scal year 2017, YWCA provided 8,300 nights of shelter and respite from violence to 151 women and 100 children, answering nearly 1,300 calls coming into its 24-hour Help Line.

While in YWCA’s safe harbor, people can access

free programs to help them learn how to break away from the cycles of violence and poverty.

The organization’s Transitional Services Program is augmented with counseling support, legal services, and an employment and training program that provides assistance for unemployed and underemployed individuals, helping them gain skills and training, so they can obtain jobs that will lead to � ancial independence and transition to a better life.

YWCA Billings is also building a 24-unit apartment project on its campus to provide women and their families with up to two years of affordable housing while they move from being sheltered to being able to live independently .

The intent is to help women like Cara, who turned to YWCA after �eeing a vicious assault by the father of her unborn baby. He had attacked her more than once during their 10-month relationship, so she knew she had to get out for her own safety and for the safety of her baby.

When she arrived at the Gateway Shelter, she had sig��cant injuries, but she was determined to take advantage of all the YWCA had to offer.

First, she met with an advocate for intake into the Gateway secure shelter. Then, she met with

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YWCA’s on-site attorney who helped her ��y for an order of protection, ��y for child support, and request restitution from her abuser to cover her medical bills.

Her temporary order was granted, and YWCA was able to connect her with Montana Legal Services for direct representation in requesting a permanent order of protection, which was also granted.

After addressing her immediate safety, she began meeting with YWCA’s on-site therapist to address the emotional impacts of her trauma.

She also met with YWCA’s case manager to plan for a sustainable future and enrolled in YWCA’s employment and training program to help her secure stable employment.

After 12 weeks at Gateway, she transitioned to another safe shelter with YWCA’s help. Shortly after the birth of her baby, she moved into her own apartment but continues to meet with her case manager on a regular basis to keep her on track in her new life.

“YWCA’s Gateway Shelter and Gateway Vista apartment project are unique in that they go beyond offering a roof over people’s heads to providing transitional services to help them truly get on their feet and become � ancially independent,” said Merry Lee Olson, YWCA Billings CEO. “The secure Gateway Shelter and transitional services are free for ����� individuals, and once they are ready to move into the Gateway Vista apartments, they will pay rents scaled to their income levels, so those without means pay very little until they have a job that allows them to pay more,” said Olson.

She noted that YWCA covered enough of the construction costs through Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Federal Home Loan Bank funding to be able to break ground in May of this year and begin construction in July. YWCA needs to raise another $1.3 million in private donations and foundation grants to cover the remainder of construction costs and funding gaps for operating the Gateway Shelter, Gateway Vista Apartments, and the Transitional Services programs. Funding needs include reserves for tenant rental support; legal services, mental health counseling, and other support; as well as operations and maintenance. If all goes well, construction will be complete, and tenants will be welcomed to the apartments, in mid-2018. MSN Information about YWCA Billings, the Gateway Shelter, the Gateway Vista apartment project, the Transitional Services Programs and YWCA’s Capacity Building Campaign is available at www.ywcabillings.org or by calling 406252-6303. Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence does not provide direct service but lists service options by locale at www.mcadsv.com/about/ victim-service-programs-by-region.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

PLANNED GIVING

PAGE 29

���������������������

By Teresa Ambord

GIFTS: DID YOU KNOW? The current administration in Washington D.C. wants to repeal gift and estate taxes. If your assets put you in the category where you may end up pay ing those taxes, y ou may be happy about that, regardless of your politics.

But until and unless that happens, if y ou’re worried about exceeding y our lifetime gift exemption, you can make gifts in several ways.

You’re probably familia��������y • Gifts y ou make to y our spouse who is a U.S. citizen are free of gift tax under the marital deduction.

• You and your spouse can both make gifts up to the annual exclusion amount of $14,000 per recipient, for 2017, without touching your lifetime gift exemption.

Here are two other ways you may be less aware of, to give away money without adding to your total lifetime gifts: • Gifts and bequests that y ou make to qua���y charities are not subject to gift or estate tax.

• You can pay for another person’s health care or tuition expenses that aren’t subject to gift tax if you make the payments directly to the provider.

As always, before you make gift-giving or bequest decisions, talk it over with your estate planning professional to be sure y ou get the details right.

INHERITED IRAS: DID YOU KNOW? If you have an IRA and don’t need to use those funds during your lifetime, that is, other than the required minimum distributions (RMDs), you can stretch the ����y of the IRA by naming y our spouse or child as the ben��iary. Naming your spouse allows him or her to transfer the funds to a spousal rollover IRA, and leave it there untouched, until your spouse is required to take RMDs. If you name someone other than your spouse, that person must begin taking distributions right away, but can stretch them out over his or her lifetime.

WHAT IF YOU FAIL TO NAME A BENEFICIARY AT ALL? Your IRA will still go to y our heirs, but depending on your age when you pass away, your heirs may have to receive the total distribution of funds within ��y years, defeating the tax��������������L WHAT IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE BENEFICIARIES, SUCH AS YOUR CHILDREN? You may want to set up separate accounts, rather than leaving one IRA to be divided among them. The reason for that is funds in an inherited IRA are distributed based on the life expectancy of the oldest ���� ry, without regard to the age of the younger ���� ries.

So let’s say y our oldest child is 40, and y our youngest is 25, that’s a big gap and would mean that the youngest child would lose the ben�� of leaving the money in the IRA longer. If you want to preserve the tax-deferral ����y for all your ben��iaries, ask your estate planning advisor about leaving separate accounts for each one.

IS IT EVER A GOOD IDEA TO NAME A TRUST AS THE BENEFICIARY OF YOUR IRA? This can be a good strategy under certain circumstances and if done with the help of your professional advisors. Here’s one reason y ou may want to do this: Suppose y our oldest daughter, who would be y our beneficiary , is a frivolous spender.

You feel certain that the moment she inherits your IRA, she’ll empty the account and have a shopping spree, defeating the tax-deferral purpose of the IRA. Do you have children from a previous marriage? If so, naming a trust as y our IRA beneficiary can

ensure that those children will ��� t from your IRA, if that is your intention. Your estate advisor can help y ou establish a trust as y our bene�ciary so that it meets the requirements of what is called a “see-through” trust. That is, it must be valid under the laws of your state; it must be irrevocable (or become irrevocable upon your death); and the �������you name in ���������������� SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP! Whatever decisions y ou make, y ou should at least run your plans by a professional estate planner or attorney well-versed in estate matters. Mistakes are easy to make. Just think of all the ultra-wealthy celebrities who thought they had all the bases covered. Two examples are Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop,” and James Gandol�ni, one of the stars of The Sopranos.

In spite of each of them having accumulated immense wealth, both men left their heirs scratching their heads and at times scraping for money because of a simple lack of professional estate planning. MSN Adapted from information provided by the professionals at Thomson Reuters Checkpoint.

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VETERANS

PAGE 30

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

HONORING OUR VETERANS November 11 & Always Saratoga WarHorse TAKING ACTION. MAKING CONNECTIONS. CHANGING LIVES.

By Marti Healy (SENIOR WIRE) Charlie (name changed to protect his privacy) couldn’t sit still for longer than a few seconds at a time. Something inside him wouldn’t allow even that much peace. That had been taken away from him in Afghanistan.

His feet shifted constantly , anxiously , under the table in the small, private classroom setting where he was gathered with ��y other military veterans on the second day of a three-day program known as Saratoga WarHorse.

It was only later that day —after the personal encounters with the horses—that Charlie was ��lly able to speak openly about how angry and devastated he had been when he was told he could no longer be deploy ed back to Afghanistan—how lost he had felt with nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to be. He talked about how his family and friends had pressed him repeatedly to tell them about his experiences in the Middle East. Until he told them. And then, he said, he remembers the

looks in their eyes, and how they turned away from him and didn’t ask him about it again, and how it would never be the same between them, and how he knew there was no forgiveness.

And yet, as Charlie spoke about all of this at the completion of his Saratoga WarHorse experience, he sat in total calmness. His hands rested in his lap. His feet were steady. His voice sounded as if he were talking about someone else, someone he had once known in his past.

MAKING CONNECTIONS Just a short time earlier, Charlie had buried his face and wept against the warmth of a horse—and then into the shoulder of the man who had brought him to this place, and the arms of his buddies who shared this experience with him, and into his own crossed forearms pressed hard against his body . He had let the tears fall openly , and left the stains as testament on his face without shame.

They had all wept like that. They had all earned the right. And all of them had just experienced the heart of the Saratoga program.

Bob Nevins, founder of Saratoga WarHorse,

stresses the fact that it is the veterans themselves who are personally responsible for the life-impacting experience they take away from the unique, equine-centric program. The horses are the critical means. The people are

the dedicated facilitators. But it is the veterans who somehow make the profound connections that break through their pain and memories, barriers, and brokenness, to begin to heal and move forward.

TAKING ACTION Nevins, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran himself, ��� experienced and envisioned the process that would become known as Saratoga

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HONORING OUR VETERANS November 11 & Always

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

WarHorse; but it wasn’t until he aligned his observations and strategy with the considerable insight, knowledge, and capabilities of equine specialist Melody Squier that the program began to take its current shape and form.

Based on the silent, natural language and psy chology of the horse, the power of healing is enabled with tremendous impact between veterans who are suffering from the unseen wounds of military service and veteran thoroughbred racehorses who are suffering from the same type of damage to their souls and hearts and minds. The potential internal wounds and scars are frighteningly similar.

And the connections that are possible between these two populations are profoundly healing— for both humans and horses.

Currently , studies are underway to try to understand the science behind it all. It has been called chemical, biological, psychological, and spiritual. And it is, perhaps, all of these things.

But in the end, it is as undeniable as it may be ���� ble, as effective as it may be elusive.

VETERANS

PAGE 31

CHANGING LIVES Charlie is a real veteran. But he’s just one veteran from just one military experience.

Because that’s how it’s done at Saratoga WarHorse—one veteran and one horse at a time.

Many hundreds of men and woman and horses who have gone through the program before and after Charlie—either in Saratoga Springs, New York, or in Aiken, S.C. Some of them are terribly young, and some are achingly worn; some are fresh from the �����‘ , and some have been haunted for far too long.

Yet, regardless of the branch of service, regardless of the distance traveled to either location, the Saratoga WarHorse experience is completely without charge to the veterans; all costs are paid by donations.

Charlie began his three-day Saratoga WarHorse experience not knowing what to expect, expecting nothing. But with one more surge of courage, he reached out for a way to ease the alienation, the anger, the hopelessness of never being able to imagine any tomorrows.

There, in that place and that time, in the round pen with a single horse and a silent life-impacting equine connection, what he found was absolute truth and honesty , trust and forgiveness. A exchange of peace for pain. ���������L Before the end of the day, Charlie sat quietly , at ease, in hope. Charlie talked about his future. MSN For more information about Saratoga WarHorse, please contact: www.SaratogaWarHorse.org. 518.744.3600. If you are a veteran who is struggling, please do not hesitate to contact: Bob@SaratogaWarHorse.org or Janelle@ SaratogaWarHorse.org.

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PAGE 32

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Discounts and Other Perks for Our Veterans on Veterans Day

By Teresa Ambord

(SENIOR WIRE) Of course, there’s no way to repay or adequately thank those who have served our country in the military, or the families who muddled through without them while they served. But a lot of businesses take it upon themselves to give a nod to military personnel with a discount on Veterans Day and some, more often.

Thanks to lists provided by Country Living Magazine, a site called bradsdeals.com, and other resources, here are dozens of restaurants, that take discounts for our veterans seriously.

Unless otherwise stated, be aware that you’ll need to present valid military ID of present or former military service.

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VETERANS EAT FREE on Nov 11, Veteran’s Day

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Also realize that some locations of each restaurant do not participate, so don’t depend on a discount unless it’s been v��” ed. Some discounts are by state, and some vary by the franchise owner’s discretion. A quick call should do it.

Some of the discounts below are only on Veterans Day while others are any day or on certain days (for example, any Monday).

Applebee’s—Get a free entrée on Veterans Day. A&W—Discount varies.

Arby’s—Discount varies.

Ben & Jerry’s—Discount varies by location, 15 percent to 25 percent.

Boston Market—No ID is required for activite duty and retired military personnel and their families to receive a free brownie or cookie with any purchase on Veterans Day. Buffalo Wild Wings—Get a free small order of wings and a side of fries on Veterans Day. Carl’s Jr—Discount varies.

Chevy’s Fresh Mex—A 20 percent discount if you wear your uniform or show a valid military ID. Chick-Fil-A—Discount varies.

Chipotle’s—Discounts to those in uniform, some as much as 50 percent.

Cinnabon—Discounts of 15 percent off.

Cold Stone Creamery—Discount varies.

Cracker Barrel—Discounts of 10 percent to 15 percent, based on the manager’s discretion.

Dairy Queen—Discounts vary by location, but at some places you can get up to 50 percent off.

Del Taco—Discount of 10 percent off at participating locations.

Denny’s—Participating locals offers 10 percent to 20 percent off, and the 24/7 breakfast chain usually offers Veterans Day specials as well.

El Pollo Loco—Offers 15 percent discount at participating locations, and this extends also to police, ������� EMTs, law enforcement, as well as military. They ask that you let your waitperson know before you pay, and if you’re not in uniform, show your badge or ����y ID. Famous Dave’s—A 5 percent discount on Tuesdays. On Veterans Day, former and active military get a free entrée, and possibly a corn ���yand side dish at participating locations.

Golden Corral—On Veterans Day, anyone who’s

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Other discounts may be available, depending on the location.

Hooters—A good place to find specials on Veterans Day, and on any Monday you can get 10 percent off. Some Hooters reportedly don’t discounts, so ask.

IHOP—Some give hefty discounts every single day to military personnel. Ask! Johnny Rockets—Up to 50 percent off.

Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon—On Mondays get 20 percent off, and 10 percent off on other days.

Longhorn Steakhouse—Get a 10 percent discount at participating locations.

Margaritaville Casinos—Get a 10 percent discount at participating locations on Veterans Day. Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub—Active duty and retired military can get 10 percent off at participating locations.

O’Charley’s—Veterans and active duty military get a 10 percent discount, and on Veterans Day, a full complimentary meal from a special menu, plus a 20 percent discount on the next visit.

Outback—Get a 10 percent discount, but some Outbacks do not offer discounts. Outback has also been supportive of certain military reunions, a nice way to say thank you to our ��y military members.

Papa Murphy’s—Participating locations will take up to 50 percent off one pizza.

Pizza Hut—Discount varies.

Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen—A 10 percent discount at participating locations.

Ruby Tuesday—Active duty, veterans, and reserve military members can get a free appetizer on Veterans Day at all locations.

Scholotzsky’s Deli—Get 10 percent to 30 percent off at participating locations.

Stella’s Kitchen & Bakery—Get a free meal for veterans on Veterans Day. Subway—Offering 10 percent off if not in a military town.

Texas Roadhouse—At participating locations, you can get up to a 20 percent discount (in some places higher, even up to 50 percent).

Wendy’s—Discount varies. MSN

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

LIFESTYLE

PAGE 33

Lifestyle

GARDEN•REAL ESTATE•RECIPIES•TECHNOLOGY•DECOR•ANTIQUES

Sleuthing for Hidden Treasure

WINES UNDER $20

By Holly Endersby

I’ve had wonderful wines for $10, horrible vintages for $90, and unexpected delights for $20, all of which have convinced me that much of wine’s pricing is hype…or lack thereof.

Most of us can’t afford $50 wines every night, but something in the $6-$20 range is probably doable for most folks. And it’s certainly the range my family and friends inhabit, often with excellent results.

So, let’s take a look at some terrific fall wines.

As warm day s and cool nights of autumn arrive, transitional wines are perfect, departing from the lighter selections of summer and leading into the heavier wines that accompany hearty, winter meals. You might still be barbequing or enjoying a bit of sharper cheese for appetizers, so each of these wines should work well for you.

You know that when the �rst words you utter after tasting a wine are “Oh, y um,” y ou have a winner. Such it was with my ��� taste of the Barbera wine produced by Basalt Cellars, just across the Snake River from Lewiston, Idaho.

The Clarkston cellar is small, but don’t judge a winery by its size! Once through the door of the redone industrial building, you’ll ��y an intimate tasting room and some lovely wines.

For this issue, their Barbera is the star. Once an exclusive, moderately priced popular wine of northern Italy, Barbera has been migrating around the world.

Although most Barbera grapes are still found in Italy, around 7,000 acres are now grown in the US. All of the grapes for Basalt’s Barbera come from Washington’s Tri-Cities area. Barbera is an old-grape variety , arriving on the scene a full thousand years before cabernet sauvignon.

Basalt’s Barbera is medium bodied but not wimpy , has an absolutely gorgeous aroma redolent of ripe, juicy blackberries, feels warm in y our mouth, is lower in tannin but more robust in acidity.

The color is deep and intense. The grapes used in this wine are 100 percent

Barbera, aged 17 months in oak barrels. This was our wine of choice for eclipse viewing in August, ������������������������y It would be scrumptious with a pesto or marinara sauce over pasta with some sharp, freshly grated Asiago cheese. But during the eclipse, we drank it unaccompanied by food, and it was just right for the occasion. It is an absolutely beautiful transition wine from the Italian tradition and at $18 is priced just right.

Another wonderful red for fall is Apothic Crush. Apothic Winery is based in California, with Debbie Juergenson as winemaker, featuring all California grapes in its offerings.

Crush is a blend of predominantly pinot noir and petit sirah.

Grapes for this wine come from the Lodi area of California known for producing wines that are balanced with rich ���s. The year 2015 had ideal growing conditions and perfect weather in the fall, allowing the fruit to mature evenly and develop richer ����According to the Apothic winemaking notes, the pinot noir grapes were “cold soaked for two to three day s prior to fermentation and then held its fermentation between 82 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit” to ������������ This is a balanced blend that feels smooth and silky in the mouth, not astringent, and redolent of lush, ripe raspberries, or better yet, wild thimbleberries, which have a more tart and �������� Underly ing the fruit is the slightest suggestion of chocolate and just a ghost of caramel as well. Juergenson is known for looking for intense aromas and bold ��� , and she’s hit just the right note with Crush. In fact, I would say this is an excellent wine for those unfamiliar with reds.

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It is approachable, not overbearing, goes well with a variety of foods, and is just delightful on its own. It is fresh, but not a lightweight. It has a richness that I enjoy immensely and have yet to ��y someone who hasn’t appreciated it as much as I do. And I can reliably ��y it under $10: it’s a best buy for fall!

Finally, it can be hard, for me at least, to �nd a white that makes the transition from summer to fall. While some luscious chardonnays enliven winter gatherings, October and November seem abandoned by many winemakers.

Gone are the days of sprightly pino grigio or sweet moscato, but what is there to take their place? The Fumé Blanc Dry Sauvignon Blanc from Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland, Wash., is just perfect for this time of year.

Rob ����and his wife, Deborah Barnard, have a fabulous winery complete with elegant tasting room and restaurant, called The Kitchen, which features farm-to-fork dining for lunch and dinner. (continued to pg 34)

PAGE 34

LIFESTYLE

(continued to pg 34) The menu is eclectic and provides an array of food choices, and wines by the glass or bottle to match any appetite.

Barnard also has a fused glass studio on site, one of a kind for wineries across the country.

Griffin began his winemaking career in 1977, working for Preston Winery and then as winemaker and general manager for Hogue Cellars 1984-91.

The couple’s own label came out in 1983, and the winery was completed in 1996. The Fumé Blanc was a delightful surprise for me and a

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

close friend: it was the �st time for both of us to sample a wine from Barnard ��� , and it certainly won’t be the last. The aroma from the glass was redolent of melon and pear with ������������������������ All Columbia Valley grapes are used in the Fumé Blanc with 95.15 being sauvignon blanc and 4.9 sémillon. This wine was from 2015 grapes when eastern Washington experienced an excessively hot summer, but with low nighttime temperatures. This allowed the acids in the fruit to mature and develop complexity . This is a

fruit-forward wine that would go well with mild ����������������� We tried it with seared halibut and also with creamy Havarti cheese on multigrain crackers, and it complemented both very nicely. But we enjoyed the wine on its own as well, and both of us agreed this is one of the nicest white wines we’ve ever tasted. At under $15 a bottle, y ou simply can’t go wrong buy ing this wine…and enjoying it any time of year! MSN

Six Ways to Bring Warmth into Your Home this Fall (STATEPOINT) With the shorter day s and cooler nights of fall can come the urge to hibernate. But first prepare y ourself and y our home for the season with these cozy and warm accents that will make time spent indoors cozier.

Incorporate metallic décor. While y ou’re breaking out the pumpkins, cornstalks and cornucopias, take a different approach this season and incorporate copper or brass accents.

These metallic items will elevate décor, and the orange and y ellow tones will complement the changing leaves outside. Try picking out a unique candelabra or vase or small decorative pieces to style the room.

Makeover the Fireplace. Fireplace season is on the horizon, so start thinking about new ways to make it the focal point of a room. Try painting it with a subtle whitewash for a look that will instantly revive brick and brighten the space. Before you get started, prep the ����� by scrubbing brick with a wire brush to remove any residue. Then, tape off any areas you don’t want painted with a quality painter’s tape like FrogTape brand painter’s tape, to prevent paint bleed and achieve professional-looking results.

Layer, Layer, Layer. Bare ���y can make y our home feel chilly . Warm up a space by

lay ering area rugs on hardwood ���y or to an already carpeted area. Not only will this add color and texture to a room, the extra cushioning will ensure feet avoid the cold, so y ou can keep y our slippers tucked away.

Update the Guest Bedroom.

With the holidays on the horizon, there’s no better time to give your guest bedroom a cozy update. Surprise overnight guests by painting the room a moody green or blue that is on trend and sets a relaxing tone.

Don’t forget to incorporate little touches like books or a plant on the nightstand to make them feel at home.

Update Window Coverings. Heavy drapes keep out drafts and make a room feel

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luxurious. Switch out summer sheers for curtains with a heavier weight, or layer drapes for an elegant look.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of White Paint. Vibrant doesn’t alway s have to mean using bold colors. Make a space feel brand new again by repainting wood trim a crisp white color. It may seem like a tedious task, but with a little effort, y ou can completely transform a room. Start by ���� in any imperfections, sanding, and cleaning the surfaces to be painted.

Then, you’ll want to tape off the wall next to the trim so your handiwork looks like that of a professional. For this job you’ll want a quality product like FrogTape painter’s tape, treated with patented PaintBlock Technology, to help ensure your work looks professional and allows you to achieve the sharpest paint lines possible.

When painting trim, opt for a semi-gloss paint to make elements stand out. For different project inspirations, visit FrogTape.com.

Grab y our pumpkin spice latte and start adding little touches like these to your home, for a cozy and stylish season. MSN

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

LIFESTYLE

Things to Do—and Not Do—In Your Garden this Fall

ENJOY THESE LAST LOVELY DAYS IN THE GARDEN, AND LET THE MEMORIES AND ANTICIPATION OF SPRINGTIME SUSTAIN YOU THROUGHOUT THE WINTER.

PAGE 35

vegetable oil evenly over the top. Let the oil sift DON’T forget tender bulbs such as canna, through, and then push your tools in. The sand gladiola, and dahlia. Dig them up and wrap keeps the tools clean, and the oil keeps them them in moist material. Store bulbs in a cool, rust-free. dark place.

DO spray vegetable oil on larger tools after DO divide or transplant spring-blooming

By Lori Rose they’ve been thoroughly cleaned. perennials in the fall before the first frost.

(SENIOR WIRE) Fall isn’t just for removing DON’T forget to sharpen lawn mower blades Iris, peony , and day lily are good choices. dead plants in the garden, although that is an and pruners—or take them to a professional for (Continued on pg 36) important task. There are many garden chores sharpening. for those cool, clear fall day s. Go outside and DO store garden chemicals in a secure, dry enjoy the weather and the changing colors of place—away from kids and pets. the leaves, and keep these tips in mind as you DON’T let your hoses freeze. Turn off outside prepare your garden for the winter. water faucets, and drain garden hoses, so water won’t freeze inside them, causing cracks and holes.

DO bring in clay pots or garden ornaments, so they won’t crack or break from ������ winter temperatures.

PRUNE TREES & SHRUBS Don’t be afraid to prune and trim. Your trees and shrubs will thank you and look much better during the growing season.

DO remember the Three “D’s” of pruning— remove all dead, damaged, or diseased branches PLANTING SPRING BULBS or twigs from deciduous trees and shrubs.

Now is the time to put in bulbs that bloom DON’T prune any trees or shrubs that bloom in the springtime. As winter drags on, you’ll be in spring, such as azalea, rhododendron, or glad you planted them in the fall when the ��� dogwood. Pruning in fall removes all the ���y �������L DO remember there’s a lot of sun in a spring garden while choosing where to plant y our tulips, daffodils, or other spring bulbs this fall.

DON’T be fooled by the patterns of sun and shade in the fall garden. Remember that, come spring, all the deciduous trees in your yard will ������ DON’T plant bulbs for the squirrels! Plant each bulb at a depth of three times its height. A 1-inch-tall bulb would be planted 3 inches deep.

There are exceptions, so do read any instructions buds for next spring. Wait until just after the that come with your bulbs. ����have faded in the spring to prune these.

DO set in the bulb with its nose straight up Spending some time working in the garden and its base in ��y contact with the soil so that now will make all y our garden chores much roots can form. easier in the springtime.

DON’T buy bulbs and forget about them.

DO rake all leaves off garden beds. They Plant bulbs as soon as possible after purchase, harbor diseases and make great pest nests. or store them in a cool location until y ou are DON’T leave dead leaves and debris on ready to put them in the ground. garden beds over the winter.

DO choose ���disease-free bulbs from a DO add additional mulch where needed. reputable garden supply store. Look for bulbs with smooth, unblemished surfaces.

TOOL CARE Shovels, pruners, rakes and hoes—all garden tools will perform better and last longer if they are clean and rust-free.

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

(Things to do continued from 35) DON’T leave divisions to dry out. Plant them as soon as you can.

DO water deeply in any new plantings.

DON’T leave annuals or vegetables in the ground over the winter.

DO compost healthy plants.

DON’T compost diseased plants.

DO protect the grafts of rose bushes with a mound of mulch.

Enjoy these last lovely days in the garden, and let the memories and anticipation of springtime sustain you throughout the winter. MSN

By Steve Heikkila

freak out–you’re covered in bacteria, too). A lot of that bacteria doesn’t care much for salt, so when you put it into the salty brine solution, it loses its joie de vivre.

Other bacteria living on y our food—including Lactobacillus—love life in the briny sea. They binge eat and reproduce like crazy via anaerobic fermentation until, pretty soon, they’re the boss of the pickle jar pond.

Lori Rose, the Midnight Gardener, has gardened since childhood and is a Temple University Cert�ed Master Home Gardener and member of the Association for Garden Communicators (GWA).

Fermented Dill Pickles vs. Vinegar Dill Pickles

Look in y our refrigerator. Is there a jar of pickles in there? If there is, those pickles were probably pickled in vinegar rather than fermented.

What’s the difference? Well, if y ou’re not a hippie or from Portland, Ore., that’s a fair question. There’s some confusion about what it means to pickle something, because there are two ways to pickle.

One way is to immerse the stuff y ou want to pickle in a bath of acid.

Seriously ! I don’t mean like hy drochloric acid or sulfuric acid. I mean vinegar. The low pH of the acid solution is antimicrobial, so it preserves your stuff.

The other way is to immerse the stuff you want to pickle in a brine solution. Now bear in mind that the items y ou want to pickle are crawling with bacteria (don’t

That whole lacto-fermentation process raises the acidity of the brine solution. And, wow, those bacteria love to live in an acid solution even more! Just like with the vinegar pickles, the low pH of the acid solution is antimicrobial to other germs and critters, so it preserves your stuff.

WHY LACTO-FERMENTED DILL PICKLES ARE BETTER Vinegar and fermentation both preserve your pickles by creating an antimicrobial environment. So, aren’t they the same? No. They’re not. Not at all. You see, the vinegar pickles are dead. Everything used to make vinegar pickles is sterilized (that means everything is killed), and then the high-acid vinegar goes in to keep everything dead.

The fermented pickles are alive! They ’re crawling with live bacteria, and that bacteria

is good for your gut microbiota.

You’ve probably read about “probiotics” somewhere. Well, these are those (some of them)! There is increasing �����y evidence that a healthy and diverse microbiota community in y our gut is related to good health, so eating fermented food is good for you.

Lactobacillus bacteria is not only good for y our gut, it’s also good for y our vagina if y ou happen to have one (as many people do). In a cage match with pathogens like E.coli, Staphy lococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Candida, Lactobacillus bacteria kicks everyone’s butt!

Fermentation also increases the nutritional value of y our pickled goods by contributing vitamins and increasing the bio-availability of minerals.

LOUIS PASTEUR VS. AMERIGO VESPUCCI America was named after a Florentine pimp.

I learned this from the venerable American Smithsonian Institution. Amerigo Vespucci was also a pickle merchant. He supplied sailing ships of his day (his own, Columbus’s, et. al) with pickled vegetables (lacto-fermented, not vinegar-pickled), and the vitamin C in those pickles kept the sailors from getting scurvy.

Then in 1864, Louis Pasteur discovered a way to kill pickles by canning them. Canning

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

your pickles pasteurizes them. That means that heat and pressure are applied to kill everything.

And when you do this, your pickles can be stored a long, long time.

That’s a very good thing in some regards.

It allows us to store foods without spoilage for a long, long time. For instance, in the zombie apocalypse, we may have nothing left to eat but pasteurized canned goods. Those who’ve read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road will know what I mean. But, wow, sorry gut microbiota, those pickles are dead. And that’s the bad news. The microbial slaughter is indiscriminate. The good bacteria also die.

So, the pickles in your refrigerator? Probably canned vinegar pickles. Dead. You want Vespucci’s pickles, not Pasteur’s (even though I suspect that Pasteur was a nicer person).

It’s so easy to make fermented dill pickles.

Throw some herbs and spices (there are a lot of options, but dill is an obvious start) and maybe some garlic (if you like Kosher style garlic dills like I do) into a jar. It doesn’t have to be a sterile jar. We’re not canning. Just make sure it’s clean.

Add some sea salt and pack it with cucumbers.

Fill the jar with distilled water (chlorinated tap water will kill y our bacteria!) until the pickles are covered.

Let it ferment for at least ��y days, up to a few months. And there you go. You have pickles.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS Here’s what you should know to make your fermentation life easier: Fermentation Stones: Fermentation is an anaerobic activity, but anything poking out of the surface of the water gets air (aerobic). It’ll get moldy, and you don’t want that. A way to make sure your pickles stay under the surface of your brine liquid is to place a fermentation

LIFESTYLE

stone on top. In big crock ferments, these are traditionally actual rocks. For jar fermenting, you can buy little glass fermentation pucks.

Fermentation Airlocks: It’s worth buy ing some fermentation airlocks that screw onto the top of a wide-mouth canning jar. I use Zatoba Kraut Caps to keep aerobic activity and mold away.

Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fermentation (if you’ve ever made beer, you know this). If you have an airlock on your fermenting vessel, excess carbon dioxide gas escapes, displacing any oxygen. And oxygen from the air can’t get in. This inhibits mold.

Adding Leaves with Tannins: The longer you ferment your pickles, the more sour they’ll be (full sours in Kosher-dill lingo). But they’ll also be softer. To keep them crisp, a lot of pickle recipes counsel adding leaves high in tannins, like grape leaves, cherry leaves, even tea leaves from a tea bag. I don’t do this. Then again, I think this is more of an issue for sliced cucumbers. I try to pickle small, whole cucumbers.

The Brine: There are sophisticated way s to get the right salinity for y our brine, but if you’re making no-fuss fermented dill pickles in quart-sized mason jars, a good rule of thumb is 1-1/2 to 3 tablespoons of Kosher salt per quart of non-chlorinated water. Use 3 tablespoons if you want full sour, or 1-1/2 tablespoons if you want them less sour and a bit less salty.

Herbs and Spices: You can go nuts here. I used a different mix for each of my two quarts (which is a great thing about making small batches). I love the garlic. In one batch I added some hot chili powder to make them a little spicy. Typical suspects are dill seed, dill weed, mustard seed, coriander, cumin, fennel seed, black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and caraway seeds.

Experiment. You have endless opportunities to get creative here.

PAGE 37

Go easy on the fennel, unless you like licorice pickles (trust me on this).

Now go make some fermented dill pickles!

Let me know how they turn out. If they’re good, send me your recipe! MSN Steve Heikkila lives in Portland, Ore., and is the writer, photographer, cook, webmaster, social media guy, grocery shopper, and head dishwasher for Slowburningpassion.com

HOW TO MAKE LACTO-FERMENTED DILL PICKLES Prep Time: 10 mins Total Time: 10 mins Serves: 2 quarts

Ingredients Batch 1: 1 TBSP Coriander Seeds 1 Tsp Piment d’Espagne (Hot, dried pepper from the Basque region of France. You may substitute hot paprika, cayenne, or Aleppo pepper) 1 TBSP Fresh Dill Seeds 1 Tsp Black Peppercorns 3 Cloves Garlic 3 TBSP Coarse Mediterranean Sea Salt Batch 2: 1 TBSP Coriander Seeds 1 Tsp Caraway Seeds 1 Tsp Black Peppercorns 1 TBSP Fresh Dill Seeds 2 TBSP Fresh Chopped Dill 2 Cloves Garlic 3 TBSP Coarse Mediterranean Sea Salt Cucumbers: 4 Pints of Small Pickling Cucumbers (enough to ����������������� Distilled Water Method Place the herb, spice, and salt mixture for batch 1 in a clean, quart-sized Mason jar.

Place the herb, spice, and salt mixture for batch 2 in another clean, quart-sized Mason jar.

Pack both jars tightly with cucumbers.

Pour distilled water into each jar to cover the cucumbers completely, but leave about a halfinch of headspace. It’s important that none of the cucumbers is above the surface of the brine.

Screw lids ��� with fermentation airlocks on both jars.

Allow the pickles to ferment in a cool place, out of direct sunlight. After 24 to 48 hours, they should begin to bubble with activity. After three days, you should taste them.

They should be ready to eat in about �� days at a crunchy, green “half sour” stage. If you like them “full sour” let them ferment longer—up to several weeks. Test them regularly.

When they reach the sourness you like, replace the airlock with a tight lid and refrigerate. They’ll last in the refrigerator for about three months (although mine never last that long).

LIFESTYLE

PAGE 38

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Decorate Your Home with Fall Flowers

By Lori Rose

(SENIOR WIRE) Flowers trigger an immediate feeling of delight, and they produce a mood uplift that can carry over for several day s.

“Science shows that not only do ����make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being,” said Jeannette Haviland-Jones, psychologist and authority in human emotional development.

Even Sigmund Freud observed, “Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor ���� .” Fresh ���� can rekindle our connection with nature. Their color, fragrance, and visual appeal envelop the senses, and replenish the spirit. Flowers are nature’s little stress busters.

What better way to greet visitors at y our doorstep (and make a fragrant impression)

than with a welcoming basket of fresh ����y The coffee brown tones of baskets are a natural accompaniment to the warmth of fall ����y It’s as easy as covering the inside of a basket with a colorful, fall fabric and adding jars of water and your favorite blooms.

Celebrate autumn with a still life for the dining room table. Try a mixture of ��� and interesting branches in a large crock, then place rusty orange pumpkins and purple plums around the crock to complete the scene.

Hollow out small pumpkins, and ��y them with ����for your Thanksgiving table. Use hollowed-out gourds as interesting flower vases throughout the house. Place them on your windowsill or use them as a grand centerpiece.

Once y our dinner table is set with y our favorite china, crystal, and candles, add a touch of beauty with small vases of seasonal ���� at each place setting or across the middle of the table. Whatever y our color scheme, there are ������������� Flowers also make the perfect, decorative napkin ring. Pick a single �� er variety that complements your table linens. Fold the napkin nicely and place a �����top. Add a sprig of greenery for an added touch.

Be sure to make this decorative element that last step in setting your table. Your guests will enjoy the combination of lovely ��� and delicious food, and they will be impressed with the dining detail usually found only ����������y Mingle y our favorite blooms with natural elements and the unexpected �nds of an autumn day in the woods, such as stems of rose hips, tiny scarlet berries, golden green grasses, auburn red leaves, earth brown seed pods—nature is

generous, and much of it is just outside y our door. Intensify the color of, and add texture to, arrangements by adding velvety soft ����in simmering reds, sultry oranges, claret purples, and lemon yellows.

The natural look of a simple wreath of greens and vines can evolve with the seasons when y ou add y ellow and orange blooms and bright red berries from early fall until after Thanksgiving, or replace the ����with pine cones and sparFlowers are nature’s kly ornaments little stress busters. tin winter.

Simplify the process of arranging. Crisscross branches of fall leaves, and create a structure to hold stems of tall, showy blossoms. Place gravel or small pebbles in glass vases to secure stems and enhance the natural look. Across your mantle, � unt the colors of the season with an autumn garland of ����and foliage.

Along a bookshelf, tuck jars of trailing vines and ���� in ���fall colors of ripe persimmon and crimson. MSN Lori Rose, the Midnight Gardener, is a Temple University Certified Master Home Gardener and member of the GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators. She has gardened since childhood and has been writing about gardening for more than 15 years.

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

REAL ESTATE

PAGE 39

Real Estate

REMODEL•DOWNSIZE•RELOCATE•EQUITY•REVERSE MORTGAGE

Hanging Onto the Family Lake Place

By Treva Lind The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

walls and still aren’t livable quarters during winter, said Patty Ewing, a point (TNS) Sprinkled she’s had to argue to among modern homes county ���als when next to the region’s the properties were many waterfronts, accidentally valued as 60- to 80-y ear-old year-round residences, lake cabins remain not the seasonal places true to their rustic ���������������������� they are. roots: summer famfamily’s dock on Newman Lake. The cabins have “We’re try ing to ily retreats passed been owned by their family for generations. keep the taxes down down through multiPHOTO BY: Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review/TNS so the kids can afford ple generations. Ask it,” she said.

“We do very little changes, those families today, and they’ll share decades just enough to maintain. It’s been paid for of memories fishing, boating and bonding for years.” near water’s edge but hanging on isn’t easy .

In the 1940s, two other small cabins nearby With high and rising property taxes, and dy came into the family, so today all six are shared namics among a growing number of family among parents, siblings, an aunt, and distant members, keeping the “lake place” has its cousins. “They ’re my lake family ,” said Eric unusual challenges.

Ewing, 47, Jim and Patty’s son.

For the Ewing family, heirlooms trace ad“We’re really close with them Memorial Day ventures among relatives for more than 80 through Labor Day, then we rarely see them the y ears in closely tucked Newman Lake cabrest of the year.” He frequently brings out his ins near Hampton Bay . Jim Ewing, 75, said four kids, ages 12 to 17, the ��� Wilbert-Ewing four original small cabins were built around generation.

He shares use of one of the cabins the mid-1930s by his grandparents and other with his sister. Over in Idaho, next to Lake distant relatives.

Coeur d’Alene, a simple cinder-block summer “My mom was probably a teenager when house sits near Rockford Bay, not far from the these four cabins were built,” said Ewing, mansions at the Black Rock development. showing the property with wife Patty Ewing, Anne Stedman, 49, described the “Frank 69. “When I was a kid, we were here every day Lloyd Wright-ish” cottage as her happy place. during the summer.”

Built in 1951 by grandparents Ronald and Gigi Ewing has a 1934 legal document showing Robertson, the cabin drew family together for a $275 sale of the original lot to four couples, Stedman’s childhood summers spent with her with one being Ewing’s grandparents, James mother Marcia Bragg and aunt Janice Schock, and Florence Wilbert, the parents of his mother, three siblings and four cousins.

Wanda. The cabins don’t have insulated

“We’d hang out there for two months when we were out of school, looking for snipe in the �eld, playing kick-the-can, spitting watermelon seeds at each other,” Stedman said. “We went water-skiing, swam, fished, pretty much everything. We had a canoe, paddleboats. Back in the day, we had a little runabout �hing boat.”

When she was growing up, the boy s slept in a teepee near the shore. “There were always adventures of skunks or porcupine coming in.

My kids still sleep in the teepee.”

Today , a total of three cabins owned by family members sit on the property , one a summer home built about 1964 that her aunt and uncle bought and another cabin her parents acquired around 1994.

All family members try to stay at the lake for at least a week each summer, Stedman said.

Stedman has brought her children now ages 15, 17, and 19 for vacations in the original cottage, trading off its use with siblings and cousins.

She said six of the Robertson grandchildren, including herself, now jointly own the original home under a limited-liability partnership.

“Every one was given an option in terms of if the property were ever to sell, you basically have paid in and created shares toward ownership if y ou stay involved. If y ou don’t, then y our participation and whatever proceeds come from a sale would be less.” But she thinks memories and emotional ties will keep it in the family.

Modern challenges are figuring out any improvements agreed upon by all parties, arrangements for spring and winter preparations, and how far-flung family can keep coming.

Then there are property taxes. “It’s not cheap,” Stedman said. “We live right next to Black Rock development. I think property taxes are about Continued on pg 40

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REAL ESTATE

PAGE 40

Continued from pg 39) $10,000 to $12,000; that’s just for one home and it is a seasonal cabin.”

PRIEST LAKE Hundreds of families with longtime cabins at Priest Lake have faced another challenge: Trying to acquire properties that generations have leased for decades through the state of Idaho, said Denny Christenson, 74. He’s a longtime lake house owner. Beginning in 2010, the Idaho Department of Lands decided to auction large batches of those lakefront lots previously leased to families who had built cabins on them. Many lessees so far have chosen to enter bids.

“There were 354 leased lots at Priest Lake,” although only about 160 have gone through the process, said Christenson, who also served on a lessee association when the process began.

Leading up to that process, appraised values around 2006 started escalating rapidly , and lease amounts were tied to lot values, he said.

“As values went up, leases went up. People were � ding that they could no longer either afford or justify leasing, but they could possibly justify purchasing.”

While debates raged about appraised lot values, auctions so far have been mostly successful and more are scheduled through the end of 2018. He and his wife, along with their son and daughter-in-law, have had a Priest Lake cabin for 26 years and successfully bid on and kept their summer place.

About three or four former lease holders so far didn’t have favorable bid outcomes, Christenson said. “There have been may be another dozen since 2014 where lessees chose not to lease any longer and turn their cabin and lot back to the state.”

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Among families experiencing bid results that didn’t go well, one included a cabin worth about $40,000 that also had one of the most beautiful lake sites, he said. It got pushed to a $1.1 million price with a competitive bidder, and the original lease holder lost out.

“In each of those cases, the people have been out there for generations, so it’s very hurtful for them to lose their family summer getaway that they had for y ears and y ears,” he said.

“However, to have only three or four that have not gone favorably is pretty remarkable.”

Christenson argued that rising county appraisals of lots continue to be an issue, and he contends that in most cases, the county ’s assessed values far exceed fair market values.

But he said his family is thankful to remain, and they enjoy the family-oriented atmosphere at the lake.

“My granddaughters were up there seasonally most summers,” he said. “We know our neighbors up there probably better than our neighbors in town.”

FAMILY TIES On Lake Coeur d’Alene, Stedman recently opened up the cinder-block home for a daughter and her friends after high school graduations.

Stedman fondly recalls her summer day s as a y outh. Often, 16 family members would stay in the original cottage and teepee. Photos of cousins grouped together at different ages line the walls.

“We used to love going to Thirsty Beach,” said Stedman, also remembering picnic lunches.

“We’d go on trips up the St. Joe and go waterskiing and swing off the rope.”

The cottage’s LLC arrangement has worked, she said. Her parents as well as her aunt and uncle are in their 80s and still stay occasionally . Their lake places have passed into different family ownership arrangements as well.

The overall property has shared wells, docks and boats.

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“As time goes on, joint ownership gets more and more complicated,” Stedman said.

“Every one has to decide whether or not it’s worth it for them. For people who live far away or maybe don’t have the income to support it, it would be hard. You could do a Vacation Rental

by Owner (VRBO) for less money.

“A lot of the reason that anybody is staying is the emotional impact, because of our history there, and it’s an awesome gathering place for the cousins. Ours is that the majority has to want to sell. Actually, I want to say it’s kind of impossible for the property to be sold unless all but one person agrees.”

Bigger issues can rise from spreading chores equitably, and making improvements decisions that involve six people agreeing on such things as new carpet or couches.

“It’s those logistics, and who wants to spend what time up there,” she said. “It gets complicated for sure.”

But family members have wanted to carry on, she said, while also making it a priority to spend time together at the lake.

“It’s the family gathering place; it’s the intangibles,” Stedman said. “It’s also such a beautiful place, but it comes with a set of challenges.”

The Ewings have long-term plans to keep the Newman Lake cabinsas well, while thinking of the kids. Jim Ewing doesn’t think he’d be as close to extended relatives without all their summers at the lake.

“It really brings a closeness,” Ewing said. “If it weren’t for the cabins, a lot of relatives I would probably only see at weddings and funerals.”

KEEPING THE FAMILY LAKE CABIN Bill Fanning, broker of Century 21 Beutler Waterfront, has seen generational family cabin arrangements fall apart far more often than they’ve worked after decades in real estate. “I call it the curse,” he say s, as families juggle modern realities of waterfront ownership and costs. However, here are some of his tips of what he’s seen that work: Think of it as a business or a timeshare. Get a legal partnership arrangement drawn up by a real estate lawyer. (Continued on page 45)

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

REAL ESTATE

PAGE 41

SENIOR DISCOUNT

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Ski Heaven? Idaho and Montana Fit the Bill

Brundage. Photo By Holly Endersby

SENIOR DISCOUNTS ON THE SLOPES

By Holly Endersby If you live or vacation in Idaho or Montana, you are in luck: you have wonderful ski resorts to choose from, and they all want seniors to visit them! In fact, there are so many that we have just a sampling to whet your appetite for some of the best skiing in the nation.

SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN RESORT Starting in North Idaho, Schweitzer Mountain Resort is Idaho’s largest ski resort with 2,900 acres and 2,400 vertical feet. Two chairlifts offer night skiing as well with an average snowfall of 300 inches. The resort regularly offers lodging and lift ticket packages on their website, with a special pre-Christmas offering right now.

As part of the Powder Alliance, a season pass at Schweitzer gets you on the slopes at 15 other resorts, including Bogus Basin near Boise. With lodging on site, Schweitzer is a ski-in, ski-out resort, making it exceptionally convenient.

Best of all, the resort has an active Prime Timers group geared to retirees who like to ski and socialize. With several leaders on hand, newcomers can learn the mountain safely and at a leisurely pace.

“It’s a really fascinating group,” said John Rohyans, a retired attorney who now lives in

Sandpoint during the winter and visits frequently in summer as well.

“We average about 60 people a week, and it helped my wife and I get connected to other active people when we moved here.”

Prime Timer membership runs $25 a year, and it comes with ben���y The group negotiated a season pass for seniors 65 and older, skiing Sunday through Friday for $175.

“We all are active and likeminded and go hiking, kay aking, biking, and ����when we can’t ski. We have so many close friends here because of Prime Timers,” explained Rohyans.

Schweitzer has 92 trails with plenty of openbowl skiing, as well as three terrain parks. Ten percent of the runs are for beginners, 40 percent for intermediate folks, 35 percent for advanced skiers, and 15 percent for expert powder hounds. Thirtytwo kilometers of Nordic trails are maintained daily.

Visit schweitzerprimetimers.org for additional information and great prices.

BRUNDAGE MOUNTAIN RESORT Down in central Idaho, a stop at Brundage Mountain Resort near McCall is a must for avid skiers. It offers 1,920 acres and a vertical drop of 1,921 feet. Brundage boasts great, widely groomed, evenly pitched runs, with 20 percent for novices, 50 percent for intermediates, and 30 percent for advanced skiers.

The mountain gets a good amount of powder, with lots of low-angle runs to try while still giving skiers that ����y feeling. Many retirees join the 50-50 Club, where they get together weekly to hang out and learn to ski new terrain or enjoy tips from an instructor on how to better ski Brundage’s gorgeous powder.

The mountain management has brokered lodging and lift tickets with every motel in McCall.

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With senior daily lift tickets running $37— or between $28-$30 for multi-day tickets— ������������������ The more adventuresome skiers head to Hidden Valley , which communications director April Whitney called “nature’s terrain park” with its ample logs and drops for freestyle freaks.

In addition, Brundage also offers backcountry skiing via snow cat, with guided trips through an additional 18,000 Forest Service acres. Lakeview Bowl area is known for its powder, and popular trails like Temptation, Dropline, and Kickback boast superb snow.

BOGUS BASIN Closest to Idaho’s major population center, Bogus Basin is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Only 16.5 miles from Boise, this resort typically runs from mid-November to mid-April.

Three high-speed quad chairs, one triple, three doubles, and three conveyor lifts transport 9,980 skiers per hour.

Bogus offers 2,600 acres for day skiing and 165 for night in addition to 37 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails. Runs are divided into 22 percent easy, 45 percent more ����, and 33 ������������ With no lodging on site, the resort offers packages with virtually every motel or hotel in Boise.

Bogus Basin also has a Prime Timers group for individuals 55 and older. They begin meeting the �st Wednesday after New Year’s and focus on having a fun, safe, weekly ski outing, according to Jim Carney, a regular member.

“We have eight leaders who help with our weekly outings,” he said. “Most of the folks are retired and ty pically ski two to three times a week. We have members in their 80s who still skill weekly.”

Carney stated that members enjoy a cup of coffee together before skiing and might get some food and drink after their day on the

SENIOR DISCOUNT

PAGE 43

Brundage. Photo By Holly Endersby

slopes. Interested mature skiers should visit the Bogus Basin website for more information on Prime Timers.

“Our members have a lot of grey hair, but it is such an interesting group,” he said.

“With so many varied life experiences, we have great conversations.”

BIG SKY In Montana, it’s impossible not to seriously consider skiing at Big Sky . The resort includes Moonlight Basin, purchased in 2013, which makes it the largest downhill ski area in the US, a sprawling 5,800 acres across four mountains. Skiers certainly won’t get bored here.

In addition to great downhill skiing, Big Sky boasts superb Nordic skiing with 85 kilometers of groomed trails. It is one of the most highly rated Nordic skiing resorts in the nation.

Amenities are plentiful, with a Town Center that features a number of restaurants, from elegant to brew pub friendly, a movie theatre, art galleries, sporting goods stores, and an ice and hockey rink. The Bozeman Health Big Sky Medical Center opened there in 2015 as well.

The terrain is divided into 14 percent for beginners, 25 percent for intermediates, 42 percent for advanced, and 15 percent for experts.

That translates into 2,300 acres of beginner and intermediate terrain featuring long, groomed runs.

(Continued on pg 44)

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REAL ESTATE

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(Continued from 34) Because of its size, skiers never feel crowded, and it’s not unusual to have 70 runs groomed a day.

Average snow accumulations are a whopping 400 inches. While Big Sky rarely gets huge dumps of snow, it repeatedly gets 3 to 5 inches throughout the week, keeping the snow fresh and consistent.

Big Sky has embarked on a 10-year, $150-million improvement plan, and the ��� example of this is the Powder Seeker lift with its 60 high-speed chairs with heated seats and blue-bubble covers, to help keep skiers warm while in transit. In addition, the resort will replace all the “Magic Carpet” conveyors this year.

The resort is an economic driver for the local economy and has brokered great ski-and-stay packages. Check out their website for current holiday nine- and five-day packages as well as other specials that appear throughout the winter. No matter what kind of skiing you enjoy, you’ll ���������L

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN RESORT If you’ve been to Glacier National Park, then you’ve been in the vicinity of ���”sh Mountain Resort . And this ski mecca has some awesome ski-and-stay packages.

For example, a Hibernation House hotel ski-and-stay is $89 per person, mid-week, double occupancy, Sunday through Thursday. This includes not only your lift tickets but lodging that features a daily hot breakfast and a relaxing, after-ski hot tub. The walk-up day rate for seniors 65-69 is $68 per day, or $62 per day for two or more days. If you’re 70 or older, you ski for free. ����� also offers a learn-to-ski package for any age that covers two days of lift tickets, two days of rental equipment, and two half-day lessons for only $79. The resort also offers great ski-and-stay packages in condos: simply check their website, or call for updates on available options.

With 3,020 skiable acres, 105 marked trails, and plenty of bowl and tree skiing, you will never run out of places to explore. The resort has a 10-y ear average snow cover of 300 inches and boasts a longest run, ������������ Beginner runs comprise 12 percent of the mountain, intermediate 40 percent, advanced 42 percent, and expert runs top out at 6 percent. �����features ��y terrain parks as well, offering exciting freestyle opportunities for all levels of skiers. Night skiing on Chairs Two, Three and Six runs from 4:00-8:30 p.m. with special rates for skiers 70 or older.

With awesome prices and packages, it’s almost mandatory you check out �������������y MSN

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

REAL ESTATE

PAGE 45

Hanging Onto the Family Lake Place - continued from page 40 Determine a funding device. An attorney can help people who are deeding a property to set up a trust account or savings account that pays a majority of costs for care, maintenance and other expenses. It could easily cost $10,000 to $20,000 a year to keep up a lake home.

Consider a timeshare stay scenario as the number of family members grow. This can break down into weeks divided by family members, determined by a draw of straws.

Agree to strict maintenance and use. Fanning said this should drill down: Who is allowed to use it? Can y ou invite guests? Can y ou rent if y ou don’t use y our weeks? What if someone gets divorced?

Talk to a tax attorney about an option allowed under IRS rules for parents gifting interest in a property by a percentage to next generations as inheritance, perhaps over eight to 10 years. This type of allowance doesn’t trigger capital gains taxes, Fanning said.

Outline a clear exit strategy in any partnership agreement. Make it clear what would happen if one person wants out. Otherwise, matters could end up in court and fray family relationships.

Have a conversation among parents and adult children before taking steps. Fanning said he’s found sometimes one adult child wants the property while the other doesn’t. With a family agreement, perhaps one sibling might decide to buy out another as part of their inheritance. MSN

Senior-Living Developers Target Customization for Boomers

By Jessica Inman Orlando Sentinel

resident to make a decision based on more than ������������������� (TNS) Flexibility . Freedom. As older To that end, he said the breadth of availAmericans move to senior-living communities, able programs offered at some facilities they want both. Industry leaders said such traits have expanded to include hip topics—wine are inspiring them as new facilities pop up tasting, storytelling. across Central Florida and elsewhere.

Facilities tap the larger communities for opportunities, engaging residents’ unique skill sets. At Westminster, a partnership with Rollins College offers lifelong-learning options.

Executive director of Gentry Park Orlando Leona “Lee” Tinkey, emphasized volunteering as part of a desire to incorporate Gentry Park Orlando into the area.

“We all know of certain retirement communities that feel isolated, or remote,” said Muller.

“This is really intended to be part of a thriving, vibrant neighborhood.”

A Westminster Communities model in Orlando, Fla. To At mealtime, head down to the dining room market to the baby boomers headed to senior living communities in coming years, industry professionals or nosh at the bistro? Residents don’t necrecognize the need to create and promote a customized essarily have to take their three squares in �������������������������� the main room. A “country club approach” at PHOTO BY: Charles King/Orlando Sentinel/TNS) Westminster Baldwin Baby boomers don’t want senior-living Park enables residents communities to be a blemish looming over their to choose where they horizon, analysts say. Instead, the desire is for a want to dine. Gentry highly customized experience that is �����y Park Orlando will be of the distinct lifestyle, accomplishments, and equipped with a coffee interests of the resident—an essential considbar and tiki bar to proeration as facilities are moving away from the mote a sense of com“institutional” side of the spectrum toward an munity . Homegrown end that feels more like home. honey and an onsite “Everyone is interested in trying to create vegetable garden will a normalized context so that when y ou move help supply the kitchinto the setting, you feel in control,” said Victor en, said Bill Mathews, Regnier, a professor of architecture and geronpartner at Mizak, tology at University of Southern California.

LLC, which developed Baby boomers are expected to be more delibthe community. erate as they select the communities they choose Personal trainers late in life. AARP says the state’s population of can design a workout adults over 65 is expected to jump nearly 200 tailored to the individpercent between 1980 and 2030. ual they are working “I think the industry is a lot more comwith at independent petitive,” said David Bruns, a spokesperson living facilities. for AARP in Florida. “Their effort to tailor is a “No longer seen as response to the market condition.” a stopping point on the Some residents feel a need to create a sense way to higher-acuity of home. Some facilities offer a palette of choices care, senior living is residents didn’t have y ears ago—aesthetics, increasingly viewed as size, even dining options can be tailored, dea genuine home,” the pending on the community. Espresso cabinetry or maple? The 1,100-square-foot ���plan, or 3,000? Seniors to live in the Baldwin Park campus of Westminster will make decisions like those before they even set foot in their door.

“Now the boomers that will be coming our way very soon, they have different expectations,” said Nicole Muller, vice president of Westminster Communities. “We need to be paying attention to those changing expectations.”

At Gentry Park Orlando, residents are encouraged to bring the personal furniture they feel a connection with.

“Units are bigger than they have been,” Regnier said. Facilities that offer multiple ��� plans hit the mark, he adds, enabling the new

Assisted Living Federation of America said on its website.

The industry ’s changes, Regnier said, “evolve to meet the needs of people who demand it.”

“It’s a kind of quirky component of the boomer psychological ����y It’s their desire to be able to have things their own way ,” he said. “Everybody has been working on how to market to them for years. We are starting to see ��������������������� MSN

ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 46

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Entertainment

CONCERTS•THEATER•DINING•ART•FILM•TELEVISION

Soul Man

SAM AND DAVE, OCTOBER 1967

By Randall Hill In their shows, Sam Moore and Dave Prater became a freewheeling bundle of collective energy, joyfully bobbing, weaving, and gyrating, all the while singing at full throttle. Popular among the many nicknames the duo earned was “The Sultans of Sweat,” as every high-energy performance left actual tiny lakes of perspiration onstage.

In Rhythm and the Blues, Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler said, “Their live act was ���y with animation, harmony, and seeming goodwill.”

Oh? That “seeming” goodwill apparently wasn’t directed at each other, as the pair endured a tumultuous partnership for the two decades they performed together. Moore and Prater would often arrive at concert venues separately, each demanding his own dressing room. During

concerts, they usually managed to avoid ey e contact with the other. Apparently the two once went a dozen y ears without even speaking to each other offstage.

Each artist had his own litany of complaints about the other. Moore said he abhored Prater’s drug usage and constant griping about wanting to do a solo act with new material. Prater, in turn, groused that it was Moore who wanted to work alone and stop performing the Sam and Dave catalog of hits—which, according to Prater, Moore never liked much anyway.

Tenor Moore and baritone/tenor Prater rose to fame as the quintessential American soul act. Both had come from southern church backgrounds. Moore once sang with a doo-wop group called the Majestics but later switched to such gospel outfits as the Gales and the Mellonaires. Prater had sung in his church choir and eventually became part of the gospel-based Sensational Hummingbirds.

When the pair met by chance at a Miami club, they soon found themselves performing together, their onstage chemistry delighting appreciative audiences who only saw two men having fun and loving their work.

In 1967, Sam and Dave recorded their biggest hit, “Soul Man,” on the Memphis-based Stax

Records label. It reached Number One on the soul charts, Number Two on the pop lists, and won a Grammy the following year.

“Soul Man” had come about when co-writer Issac Hayes was inspired by a 1967 TV newscast of a Detroit riot. Many black-owned buildings had been marked with a single, boldly lettered word: SOUL. This inspired Hayes and his writing partner, David Porter, to develop the Sam and Dave classic.

“It was the idea of one’s struggle to rise above his present conditions,” Hayes explained in Soulsville USA. “It’s almost a tune [where it’s] kind of like boasting, ‘I’m a soul man.’…It’s a pride thing.”

In November 1978, the Blues Brothers— comics Dan Ay kroy d and John Belushi— performed “Soul Man” on Saturday Night Live.

When they cut their own version of the classic song, retaining the original blaring horns and stinging guitar licks, the hit remake on Atlantic Records reached a whole new audience.

Despite their career-long personal turmoil, Sam and Dave were elected to the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which tacitly acknowledged the duo’s masterful transition of gospel music’s elements into the popular music mainstream. MSN

The Day I Died

THE ONE-YEAR CAREER OF VAUGHN MEADER

By Randal C. Hill

On November 22, 1963, when a Milwaukee cabbie picked up his passenger, the driver recognized 27-y ear-old Vaughn Meader of the wildly successful comedy album, The First Family. “Did you hear about Kennedy in Dallas?” asked the driver.

Meader, figuring it was a joke set-up, answered, “No, how does it go?”

Then he heard the world-changing news on the taxi’s radio.

Born in Maine in 1936, Meader moved around often before settling in Brookline, Mass. He finished Brookline High Scool in 1953 and joined the army shortly afterward.

While stationed in Germany , Meader By: William Mastrosimone found an interest in music, and, with October 27–November 12 some fellow soldiers, formed a country music band called the Rhine Rangers.

Back in the U.S., he became a pianoplay ing nightclub performer in Greenwich Village.

When John F. Kennedy became president— and a national presence—Meader discovered his facility

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for crowd-pleasing JFK impersonations when he tossed out a few Kennedy esque lines onstage one night. Meader, who bore a passing resemblance to the y oung president, quickly mastered Kennedy’s gestures and facial expressions and moved onto the stand-up circuit with an amusing Kennedy-based shtick.

On October 22, 1962 (the same night as JFK’s historic Cuban missile-crisis speech), and before a live audience, Meader, three writer friends, and a small ensemble recorded The First Family. In the course of 17 skits, Meader offered spot-on sendups of both John and Robert Kennedy while Naomi Brossart provided the voice of Jackie. The Cadence Records disc poked good-natured fun at JFK’s PT-109 history , Kennedy athletics, White House kids, and even Jackie’s breathy description of her White House redecoration.

Released in November, in its first six weeks, The First Family racked up sales of 6.5 million discs—the fastest-selling LP in history at that time—and won the 1963 Grammy Album of the Year award. Meader became an overnight celebrity.

While Jackie Kennedy disliked her portrayl, JFK enjoy ed much of the album and gave several copies as Christmas gifts that y ear. (continued from page 3) He even opened a Democratic National Convention dinner with the line, “Vaughn Meader was busy tonight, so I came myself.”

After the assassination, Cadence Records destroyed all unsold copies of The First Family to avoid being accused of “cashing in” on the president’s death. Meader never did another JFK impression and would sometimes refer to the Dallas tragedy as “the day I died.” He drifted around the country , unsuccessfully try ing new routines before descending into depression and embracing a hazy world of booze and drugs.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

He found God in the late 1960s and returned to Maine, where he managed a pub in the small town of Hallowell. To further distance himself from his once-famous past, he reclaimed his

ENTERTAINMENT

given �st name of Abbott (Vaughn was his middle name).

Near the end of his life, Meader, a lifelong smoker, sold the movie rights to his story to pay his medical expenses for ongoing COPD

treatments, though the movie was never made.

On October 29, 2004, Vaughn Meader died in obscurity at age 68, a mere footnote in 1960s entertainment history. MSN

Meet Baddie Winkle: She’s 89 and a Social Media Phenomenon

By Cheryl Truman Lexington Herald-Leader (TNS) There’s the public Baddie Winkle, who attended MTV’s Video Music Awards in an embellished nude-colored bodysuit, whose slogan is “Stealing your men since 1928” and who appeared on the MTV show “Ridiculousness” with the line “I pray for the basic.”

new home in Richmond—she lived in nearby Waco for 50 y ears and has just moved back from Tennessee—she was boxing some copies of her new book, B addiewinkle’s Guide to Life (HarperCollins, $21.99).

On the internet, Baddie is portray ed as an elderly rebel without a cause who loves ���y and sometimes revealing clothes, party ing, dancing and shooting fake dollar bills out of a

CUTLINE: Helen Van Winkle, aka “BaddieWinkle,” age 89 on July 26, 2017 at her home in Richmond, Ky. BaddieWinkle is an internet personality and has a book out, Baddiewinkle’s Guide to Life. Photo by Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Then there’s the striking white haired lady who answers the door at her brand new house in Richmond, who sounds like—and is—someone who has spent most of her life in Kentucky, 50 years of it on six acres in nearby Waco.

“I’m just an old farm girl,” she said.

Well, yes—and no.

Don’t call her a little old lady . She may have to use a cane, but it’s the bejeweled one she carried at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. And her jeans, if you look at the back, feature two middle �ngers signaling to those behind her.

Helen Van Winkle is, at 89, a media phenomenon. “Discovered” at 85 by her greatgranddaughter Kennedy Lewis while she was sporting a T-shirt, cutoff jean shorts and pink socks with marijuana plants printed on them (“I didn’t know what they were,” Van Winkle said of the plants), her photo went up on social media and immediately ticked that box of the internet called virally cute.

Soon after her debut at 85, Baddie was famous across Instagram (3.1 million followers), Twitter (223,000 followers) and Facebook (160,000 followers), dressing in clothing that looks as if Forever 21 went on a bender composed of grain alcohol and Starburst: shiny short dresses, skinbaring jumpsuits, huge glasses, pink lipstick turned up to atomic radiation levels and the pout ����������������������L Not bad for someone born at Glomawr near Hazard whose ��� job was setting tobacco and just turned 89.

Although she is petite—a size 2, usually , at most a size 4—she is a born rebel, and she was as surprised as any one that she got to re-invent herself after the deaths of her husband and son. On a recent visit to her

special currency-dispensing gun. She has worn a coat that sports the words “Rude Girl,” shirts that say “Acid: Drop It,” “Will Commit Sins 4 Chipotle,” and “Dimepiece.” She wears form����latex dresses and, frankly, looks pretty good in them.

The website Closer called Baddie “basically the Rihanna of the 60-100 age bracket.”

Baddie has given so many interviews to media outlets around the world she can no longer remember them all, but here’s a partial list: CNN Money, which said she can make up to $5,000 for a paid post on Instagram; the New York Times; New York Daily News; and The Telegraph in Great Britain.

Baddie is, in short, proof that y ou don’t have to stop partying like it’s 1999 just because you’re 89.

Baddie talked about her slogans: “Stealing y our man since 1928” is one. “I pray for the basic” is another, because she frets about the online haters who tell her that she shouldn’t be doing the things she does. In Kentucky parlance, she “sees no strangers,” be they Miley Cy rus (who she met, and calls charming), Drake (who she wants to meet) or people at shopping centers who stop her and ask for a ��” e (she always obliges).

(Cont’d on page 52)

PAGE 47

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Who Should Take a Seat at the Kids’ Table This Holiday Season?

By Bonnie McCune

(SENIOR WIRE) With the holidays hard upon us, I have to ask an important question: do kids’ tables still exist during festive occasions? In my childhood, they did. Of course, with 8 or 10 or 14 kids at the party, parents found it much easier to isolate all of us at one central location rather than sprinkle us among the adults where we’d outnumber and outmaneuver them.

There we could bully and boss one another with impunity , safe from grownups’ retribution. I continued the tradition with my own family. I credit the small size of our early apartments rather than any conscious decision. We had to break into mini-groups. Little people perched easily next to end tables and TV trays, leaving the petite dining table for oldies.

Now, however, in gatherings with my husband’s extended—and extended, and extended—family , the issue rarely surfaces. Every party is a buffet, and people hunker down ������������������L Fast forward to the third generation. My sister tried to have a kids’ table several times at Thanksgiving. This has fallen by the wayside, perhaps because we both have opinionated, stubborn children who refuse to take orders, such as “Sit at the kids’ table.”

(Continued on pg 50)

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Now people give good reasons for phasing out the kids’ tables, other than wanting more control over their offspring.

Parents cite family togetherness, setting a good example about manners and conversation, encouraging intergenerational cross-fertilization of ideas.

Regardless, in my corner of the world, fewer folks set up these enclaves. The one exception seems to be wedding parties. Maybe the per-person cost for meals is so extravagant, even parents aren’t willing to see good food thrown out in dumpster loads.

The grownups’ table used to represent status, a step forward from childhood to adult. I looked forward to my own transition. I remember one of my last Christmas family dinners with my aunt and uncle. I believe I was about 16 or 17.

My aunt broached the subject of seating oh-so-delicately. She phrased her request so deftly, I thought she was conferring an honor, telling me I’d be at the adults’ table. I believe she mentioned my increasing age and ability to take responsibility.

You guessed it! This translated into y et another y ear at the kids’ table, ostensibly as the leader. I was not fooled. A glass of milk dumped in my lap and rolls whizzing past my head tend to awaken me to reality.

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PAGE 51

I’m not enamored of kids’ tables. I can take ‘em or leave ‘em. I know sometimes children’s conversations and insights are hysterical and fascinating.

In other instances, kids are whiny, rude beyond words, and annoying. The odds are 50-50 if I prefer any given adult table over kids’ at a party.

So, I choose. I’m fortunate because I can exercise judgment in the matter.

Now that I’m legally of age (three times over), I could automatically be eligible for the adults’ seating. However, with my height, less than �����y I’m shorter than many preteens, so I still qualify to sit at any kids’ table in view.

If any group of companions is rude or boring, I can move. MSN Bonnie McCune is a Colorado writer and has published novels as well as other work.

Her newest, Never Retreat, is scheduled for publication in late 2017. Reach her at www.BonnieMcCune.com.

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PAGE 52

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Meet Baddie Winkle - continued from page 47 Baddie has been a spokesmodel for brands such as Smirnoff ICE Electric Flavors, which was her ��� national commercial. For the teen clothing brand Misguided, she dressed in a silver lame miniskirt with a furry neon pink jacket, a crown and a raft of gold necklaces, one of which say s “bitch.” The pitch: “Who say s y ou can’t slay at any age?”

She won an Instagrammer of the Year award in 2016 at the Eighth Annual Shorty Awards, which honor the best of social media.

Baddie went to the 2016 MTV Video Awards dressed in a spangled nude body suit with crystals hiding her naughty bits and platform boots so high they let the wearer reach up and touch the sky. Some noted a sly homage to the 2000 bodysuit that Britney Spears wore to the VMAs. (If you’re keeping up with VMA bodysuit homages, it probably was.)

Baddie has a presence that the camera loves: Like the 95-year-old fashion icon Iris Apfel, she takes the outrageous, such as pink faux fur and

a retro jumpsuit with cut-outs, and makes them look commanding. Chico’s this isn’t: nothing subtle, demure or without a small rebellious twist.

Baddie and her great-granddaughter are planning a trip to Jamaica soon to participate in a swimsuit contest. Baddie doesn’t know the details, but she doesn’t worry . She’s going to Jamaica, she will wake up and then she will be Baddie Winkle. Nothing to it. MSN

The Haunting of a Young Boy

By Sam Beeson (SENIOR WIRE) I noticed the gravey ards �st. It seemed like you couldn’t go a mile down the road without driving by one. I asked my mom why there were so many.

“A lot of people have lived and died here,” she said.

It was the summer of 1972, and my mother and grandmother were driving us from the tract homes and new developments in Phoenix to a smallish city in New York called Oswego. My father had landed a job there that would last through the summer, so as soon as school was

out, we packed up and headed to a world that seemed as foreign to me as the moon.

I was 11, and the thought of death was an unwelcome new visitor in my mind. Visiting famous Civil War ������y during a trip like Gettysburg where so many gave so much, did nothing to allay this new morbid fascination.

But arriving at the house we had rented for the summer, sent my fear and imagination straight into overdrive. It was an old, threestory Victorian-era house near Lake Ontario. At the very top was a small hexagon-shaped room.

I asked my mother what it was.

“It’s called a widow’s peek (her term for a widow’s walk). Women would sit up there when their husbands went off on ships across the lake and watch for their return. If they didn’t return, they would be widows.”

Well, that certainly didn’t help. Immediately I thought of all the people who may have lived

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and died in this house, and of the poor widows looking forlornly for their husbands who were never coming back. I immediately imagined the old house to be haunted.

And it was.

Of course, the widow’s peak became my favorite place to hang out that summer. I would watch the ships out on the lake and imagine how it must have felt for so many others who had sat up here. My mom’s words came back to me, “A lot of people have lived and died here.”

As haunting as the widow’s peak was, at least it was well lit. (I NEVER went up there at night.) But to get to it, you had to walk through the attic ���y The attic had one small window, and one single light bulb that hung on a wire.

The light was not comforting at all, and only seemed to add greater contrast between the light and shadows of the attic.

I rarely spent any time in the attic, but there was an old crate up there left behind by those who owned the house. One day I peeked inside. There was little of interest to an 11-year-old boy, save for some ancient black and white SEAFOOD photos. Men, women and children, smiling, FRIDAYS! posing, living their lives from decades ago.

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(Continued on page 56)

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

PAGE 53

They Met at a Doughnut Shop and Have Been Married 67 Years

By Jill Knight The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

Each weekday , Sam walks a couple hundred feet to the (TNS) “She’s my ���wife,” joked Sam shop to work on Johnson. “The only one I’ll ever have.” sewing machines.

Wiloree threw her head back and laughed.

Wiloree works “Oh my ,” she said under her breath while in the kitchen to looking at Sam. It’s his favorite joke, even after prepare a big lunch 67 years of marriage. for her husband and Sam and Wiloree Johnson, both 91 y ears some of her grown old, have a love story made for movie screens. children, who now The pair met on Fay etteville Street in lend a hand in Raleigh the 1940s. Wiloree was with friends headed to the doughnut shop when Sam ��� the shop that was passed down to Sam saw her. He met them there and offered the from his father. girls a ride home, saving them the bus fare. The They eat leftovers Johnsons’ children will tell you that “Momma for dinner once Sam pushed a friend out of the way ” that day to comes in from the make sure Sam was hers. She’ll laugh and tell Photos from Sam and Wiloree Johnson’s courting years and wedding on Sept. 15, 1948, in shop and spend Bethel Hill, N.C. Photos By: Jill Knight/Raleigh News & Observer/TNS time watching TV supposed to love each other, you’ll put up with together in the evening before bed. anything.

Would they change any thing about “I can’t be right all of the time,” she their marriage? said, laughing.

“When we lived out in the other house we “You just about are,” Sam added. MSN had some kind of refrigerator that had a big old tank on it,” Wiloree said. “I would have liked to have had a better refrigerator.”

Theirs is a love so sweet the only regret is the quality of the appliances in the house Sam and Wiloree Johnson enjoy lunch together at the Jonson’ years ago. home in Ralieigh, N.C. Almost.“Nothing is perfect,” Wiloree cautioned. “Nothing is going to go good all of the time. But if you love each other like you’re you it wasn’t a push, but a gentle nudge.

Sam, an N.C. State University graduate who had recently returned from serving in the U.S. Air Force, had found the one who made his heart beat faster.

After wedding in Bethel Hill in 1948, Sam and Wiloree raised a family in Raleigh.

They’ve shared kisses on the Boylan Street bridge, held hands walking down Fayetteville Street and maintained a sewing machine shop in Raleigh for more than 50 years.

In a small concrete building, just a stone’s throw from Lake Wheeler Road, y ou’ll ��ySam even today sitting in the bright window light of the Archie Johnson & Sons sewing machine shop. Wiloree joked that Sam “loves those AVAILABLE MONDAY–FRIDAY sewing machines more 11:30 AM TO 1 PM than me.”

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HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

PAGE 54

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

BELL FOURCHE, SD Holiday at the Tri-State Museum Oct Oct Nov Nov Nov Dec

15 28 4 19 24 17

‘17 • 2pm ’17 • 10–3pm ‘18 • 10am ‘18 • 2pm ’18 • 5pm ‘18 • 2pm

Family Fun Day “Creepy Creatures” Pumpkin Festival First Saturday Brunch Family Fun Day “We’re Thankful” Light up the Night Family Fun Day “Christmas Crafts”

415 5th Ave • 605-723-1200 • TheTriStateMuseum.com

BUTTE Billings Studio Theatre Oct Nov Feb Mar Mar May

27–Nov 11 ‘17 30–Dec 17 ’17 2–17 ‘18 2–17 ‘18 30–Apr 15 ’18 4–19 ‘18

Baskerville Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Footlight Frenzy Grease Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Evita

28th Annual Festival of Trees Dec 1–2 ‘17 Fundraiser for Safe Space Dec 1 • 5–10pm & Dec 2 • 10–4pm

Tree viewing, entertainment, & raffles

Dec 2 ‘17 • 6–9pm Gala

Entertainment, hors’doeuvres, refreshments & silent auction.

1500 Rimrock Rd • 406-248-1141 www.BillingStudioTheatre.com

Elks Club, 206 W Galena St • 406-723-5742 psmith@paynewest.com

Alberta Bair Theater

Butte Symphony

BIG SKY Arts Council of Big Sky Dec 3 ‘17

Dec 4 ‘17

Montana Ballet’s The Nutcracker at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center.

The Madrigal Dinner Traditional holiday celebration and feast at Buck’s T-4 Lodge.

www.BigSkyArts.org

Oct 25 Oct 27 Nov 3 Nov 13 Dec 3 Dec 20 Jan 21

‘17 ‘17 ‘17 ‘17 ‘17 ‘17 ‘18

Take Me to the River GENTRI A.J. Croce Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella The Wizard of Oz A Charlie Brown Christmas Live Béla Fleck & Brooklyn Rider

Oct Dec Mar Apr

21 ‘17 16 ’17 10 ’18 4 ‘18

Bozza & Itturalde, Gershwin & Bizet A Holiday Concert Beethoven & Grieg An Evening with Bach, Beethoven & Mussorgsky

Mother Lode Theater • 406-723-3602 ButteSymphony.org

2801 3rd Ave N • 406-256-6052 • albertabairtheater.org

BIG TIMBER Christmas Bazaar

32nd Annual Festival of Trees

31st Annual SPE Christmas Bazzar

Nov 4 ‘17 • 9am–3pm

The Family Tree Center Fundraiser Nov 30 • Gala & tree auction ($75 admission), Dec 1 • Tea in the Trees ($10 admission), craft show, tree viewing, entertainment, family fun night, Dec 2 • kids activities, brunch with Santa, MSUB Writers Roundup. Gen admission: $3pp, $10 per family.

Dec 9 ‘17 • 9–4pm

Sponsored by the Big Timber Women’s Club.

Top quality craft show with over 100 exhibitors. Food court and free admission. Please consider donating a can of food for the food bank.

Civic Center & American Legion Hall btxmasbazaar@gmail.com

BILLINGS

Nov 30–Dec 2 ‘17

MetraPark Expo Center • 406-252-9799 FamilyTreeCenterBillings.org

BOZEMAN

Exciting art, craft & trade show, over 100 exhibitions at the Butte Central Maroon Activity Center. Proceeds support the Society of Petroleum Engineers, student chapter at Montana Tech. Admission is free. Please consider donating a can of food for the food bank.

For more information call 406-496-4197

GLASGOW

Yellowstone Art Museum

Bozeman Film Society

13th Annual Festival of Trees

Winterfair Friday 4–9pm • FREE Saturday 10am–3pm • $1.00 Shop for handmade jewelry, fine art, or enjoy great food at Raven’s Cafe d’Art. Over 30 featured artists will have works for sale. Find that special gift at this unique holiday shopping event.

Oct 15 ‘17 “Walking Out” MT Film Premier. Based on

Nov 17–18 ‘17 Nov 17 ‘17 • 6pm

401 North 27th Street • 406-256-6804 www.ArtMuseum.org

Ellen Theatre, 111 S Grand Ave Ste #112 • 406-585-5885 BozemanFilmSociety.org • Keep ‘Em Flickering!

Dec 1 ‘17 Dec 2 ‘17

By Bob DeLaurentis Q: I would like to get my granddaughter her own computer for Christmas. Which one should I get?

A: You did not mention your granddaughter’s age. If she is old enough, she might have preferences of her own. However, if that is not a factor, the good news is that I have the same answer no matter what her age. The very best all-around computer available right now is a 10-inch iPad Pro. Every 10 years or so, a new computer design appears that is so perfect it becomes almost universally suitable.

David Quammen story. Q&A with directors & cast.

Oct 17 ‘17 “Majorie Prime” Collaboration with Bozeman Public Library “One Book One Bozeman”.

Nov 1 & 15 ’17 Films TBA Reserved Tickets: $9.75/GA; $9.25 (plus fees)

Fundraiser for Relay For Life Prime rib dinner & tree auction $25 admission.

Nov 18 ‘17 • 9am–4pm Tree viewing. Free admission.

Elks Club, 309 2nd Ave S • 406-263-8757

Tech Talk Before the age of high-density displays, the perfect computer was the MacBook Air. Flip the calendar backward from 2010, and models come and go, from 1998’s iMac to the 1989 Compaq LTE. Moving forward, the future is touch, which means smartphones and tablets.

I have been using the iPad Pro 10.5 with iOS 11 for several months now. It is nothing less than amazing.

Most of the differences between traditional computers and iPads no longer matter, including the capability to run two apps side-by -side and the ability to drag-and-drop from one document to another. If y our granddaughter

is a little older and knows how to touch type, add an external key board. Consider an Apple Pencil if she likes to draw. If she is very young, I recommend the least expensive iPad you can ������������ se to protect it. MSN A tech enthusiast his entire life, Bob is currently developing an educational software project. He can be contacted at techtalk@bobdel.com.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

GREAT FALLS

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

HOT SPRINGS

Downtown Holiday Celebration Light up the Holiday Season

Nov 25 ‘17 • 6pm Parade of Lights Dec 1 ‘17 • 5–9pm 34th Annual Christmas Stroll Dec 2–30 ‘17 • 5:30–7:30pm Luminaria Tours aboard the historic trolley. Tickets available at the number below or

online at GreatFallsHistoricTrolley.com

Central Ave, Downtown Great Falls • 406-453-6151 ExploreDowntownGF.com

Nov 11 ‘17 • 10–4pm & 12 ‘17 • 12–4pm

Annual Holiday Open House Celebrate Charlie Russell’s love of holiday traditions. The museum will host 2 days of children’s craft activities & shopping. The Holiday Open House is free & open to the public. All children must be accompanied by an adult. No registration needed.

15th Annual Parade of Lights

Oct 28 ‘17 • 8–11pm Halloween Costume Ball

Dec 2 ‘17

209 Wall St • 888-305-3106 • SymesHotSprings.com

Downtown Missoula • 406-543-4238 MissoulaDowntown.com

Voodoo Horseshoes, prizes!

Oct 31 ‘17 Halloween Ghost Walk at sr. center Nov 11 ‘17 Artists Society Silent auction, wine & cheese Nov 23 ‘17 • 5–9pm Thanksgiving Buffet dinner & music At Symes Hotel unless noted.

Majestic Arena’s 16th Annual Holiday Extravaganza Nov 10 • 1pm–7pm • Friday Nov 11 • 10am–6pm • Saturday Nov 12 • 10am–4pm • Sunday

Stroll among hundreds of artisans & merchants.

A bonanza of bargains, collectibles & unique items.

3630 Hwy 93 N • 406-755-5366 • majesticvalleyarena.com

400 13th St N • 406-727-8787 • CMRussell.org

MISSOULA

Hot Springs Artist Society

KALISPELL CM Russell Museum

PAGE 55

All day family event Including children’s activities at various downtown businesses & Santa’s arrival at the Florence Building at 1pm. Followed by photos with Santa. Parade of Lights down Higgins Ave begins at 6pm, concluding with lighting of the tree at the XXXX’s on N Higgins.

SPEARFISH, SD Matthews Opera House Theater “Angel Street” 7:30pm Thursdays–Saturdays & 2pm Sundays.

Nov 14 ‘17 • 7:30pm Nano Stern Concert Dec 6 ‘17 • 12–1pm Holiday Spearfish Piano Duets Dec 9 ‘17 • 1:30pm 24th Holiday High Tea Dec 15 ‘17 • 7:30pm Green Dolphin Jazzy Christmas Oct 26–29 ‘17 & Nov 2–5 ‘17

612 N Main St • 605-642-7973 • matthewsopera.com

HAMILTON Hamilton Holiday Events

Holiday Food Boxes for Vets

High Plains Western Heritage Ctr

Nov 24 ‘17 Christmas Stroll & Tree Lighting Dec 1 ‘17 Merry Grinch-mas! Meet the grinch.

Dec 8 ‘17 Hamilton Tonight Follow the Sheep Trail

November–December ‘17

Oct 19 ‘17 • 7pm

to win hand knit sheep.

Dec 15 ‘17 Celebration of Light Light a candle for

prayer or a wish.

Dec 22 ‘17 Countdown to Christmas shopping

Downtown Hamilton • 406-360-9124

Thanksgiving and Christmas food boxes and a trip to “Santa’s Workshop.” Qualifying veterans and their families will recieve a holiday food box and can make a trip to “Santa’s Workshop” to pick out presents.

1349 Hwy 2 E. Evergreen • 406-756-7304 VeteransFoodPantry.org

Grandstreet Theatre 13–29 ‘17 1–17 ‘17 8–22 ‘17 26–Feb 11 ’18 27–May 13 ‘18 1–3 ‘18 15–24 ’18

WesternHeritageCenter.com • 605-642-9378

WESTERN MONTANA

HELENA Oct Dec Dec Jan Apr Jun Jun

High Plains Live Pegie Douglas & Badger Sett band Nov 11 ’17 • 1:30pm Vet Day - Potter Family Concert Nov 15–Dec 22 ‘17 Termesphere Exhibit Nov 16 ‘17 • 5pm Spearfish Chamber Mixer Nov 19 ’17 • 2pm Ramblin’ Rangers in Concert Dec 1–22 ’17 Christmas Shoppers Market

Baskerville Sherlock Holmes Mystery Elf Jr. The Musical Santaland Diaries Sense & Sensibility The Full Monty Madagascar A Musical Adventure Jr. Falsettos

Artist & Craftsmen of the Flathead

16th Annual Montana Early Music Festival

Nov 24–26 ‘17 Christmas Show

J.S. Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio”

Friday & Saturday 10am–5pm. Sunday 10am–4pm.

Over 80 Vendors. Handmade in Montana items. Food vendors. Admission is free.

Flathead County Fairgrounds • 406-871-0746

325 N Park • 406-447-1574 • GrandstreetTheatre.com

By Teresa Ambord

Historically Informed Performances on period instruments Jan 18 ‘18 • 7:30pm Holy Rosary Church • Bozeman Jan 19 ‘18 • 7:30pm Immaculate Conception • Butte Jan 20 ‘18 • 7:30pm St Francis Xavier • Missoula Jan 21 ‘18 • 4pm Cathedral of St Helena • Helena

Info & Tickets • 406-442-6825 • musikantenmt.org

Keeping Safe and Healthy for the Holidays

(SENIOR WIRE) A lot of people, of any age, have mixed feelings about holiday s, but it’s often even more true for seniors. While they love to see or at least hear from family and friends, the holidays also remind them of lost loved ones.

And inclement weather might cause them to feel more isolated, especially if they can’t travel to celebrate with you. If possible, visit your elderly friends and family more often during the winter, to help ward off depression. If you can’t spend time with them during the holidays, be sure to call them and remind others to call them as well, to keep them from feeling abandoned.

Are y ou a caregiver for a senior? Don’t hesitate to accept help offered by family members when it comes to caregiving duties or meal preparation. Accepting help can make the holidays better for everyone. If you’re “on duty” 24 hours a day, and suddenly your greatniece offers to play cards with Grandpa while you take a nap, do it.

Are you traveling by car to get to a holiday celebration? Build extra time into the travel plan to help reduce stress. Pick a route that’s the most senior-friendly in terms of bathroom stops and appropriate food stops. If someone needs frequent healthy snacks, keep a close eye on him or her, and make sure they have what they need as soon as they need it.

In my family, my stepmom did much of the driving after Dad’s health began to fail. I well remember the trips we took together. Even when she drove, she kept a close ey e on Dad, who sat in the backseat. She’d nudge me now and then and say with urgency, “Give your dad a cookie, quick!” She’d brought a large supply of somewhat healthy cookies that he loved, and when she’d see his mood start to go south, she’d give him one. Problem solved.

WINTER HOLIDAY MONTHS BRING COLD WEATHER SCAMS Weather crisscrossing the country has been extreme. As holidays get closer, and temperatures drop, thieves see an opportunity. It’s called the “shutoff swindle,” and it has utility companies from coast to coast warning customers to be alert. If y ou or an elderly relative lives alone, especially in a state where it’s likely to get really cold, be sure everyone knows what to watch for.

The scam generally occurs by phone. If thieves use “spoo�ng software,” your caller ID may make it appear that the call is actually coming from y our utility provider, but be skeptical. The caller informs you that you have a past-due bill, and your utilities are about to be shut off, unless you pay immediately.

He or she may try to get y ou to pay by credit card, suggest y ou go out and purchase a prepaid card to pay the bill, or demand cash,

and say a company employ ee will be sent to your home to pick up the payment. The caller may “helpfully ” offer to waive late-pay ment penalties in exchange for cash payment.

Perhaps even more frightening is a version of the scam that starts when a fake employee shows up at y our door to collect an “overdue bill.” And still other utility scams take place online, complete with a fake bill (with an in��ed amount) that includes details that make it appear genuine, such as a logo copied from your utility provider.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Be aware that most utility companies will contact you by mail, at least once and possibly several times. If y ou receive a call claiming that y ou have a past-due bill and demanding pay ment, hang up. Then look up the utility company ’s phone number y ourself, and call to make sure. Do not use the phone number provided by the caller, as it’s certain to be part of the scam.

Rest assured, a bona ��y utility company will not send someone to your home to collect payment unannounced. And if two people show up at y our door unannounced, claiming to be there to collect a past-due bill or to check your furnace, chances are they are there to burglarize your home. Obviously, refuse them entry, secure the doors, and immediately alert the police. MSN

PAGE 56

DINING GUIDE

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

The Haunting of a Young Boy - continued from page 52 What hopes and dreams did they have?

Were they realized? Or were they �����‘ and angry? I looked into their eyes and thought, “They’re probably all dead now. Will someone, someday look at a photo of me and think the same?” I shuddered.

I never went near the crate again.

That summer was amazing however, and I will alway s remember it as my favorite. We visited a Revolutionary War fort, went ���� on the lake, visited museums and enjoy ed immensely this strange world so different from the place I was raised.

But like I said before, the house was haunted.

One morning, I awoke from a nightmare and saw a hand reaching down from the ceiling

above. It was completely clear, except for the outline of the hand and arm. I was �����y I closed my eyes and opened them again, but it was STILL THERE. It seemed to me that the hand was directly under where the crate was sitting in the attic. I had disturbed a ghost there and now it was coming for me.

And then it fuzzed away.

One of the joy s of being a child is seeing things with a child’s mind and reasoning. The world is a magical place, ���y with wonder… and some horror. Any thing is possible to a child. Even a ghost hidden away in an old crate in the attic.

With an adult mind, I now rationalize that I imagined that hand. I don’t believe in ghosts

and there is nothing in the shadows that’s not there in the light. My grown up mind now discards many of the supernatural horrors that I loved—and feared—as a kid.

But back then, I was convinced.

A few y ears ago, I took my family back to Oswego to search for that house. I couldn’t ��y it. But perhaps that is just as well. Because seeing that old house with my old eyes would probably destroy the mystery that it keeps in my memory. That house is indeed haunted—by the lives and the memories of those who had lived there before.

And by a boy who spent only a summer there and met some of those ghosts. And that’s a ghost story that I want to keep. MSN

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

PAGE 57

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IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

SUPPORT•INSIGHT•COMFORT•SERVICE•ENCOURAGEMENT

Palliative Care 101

By Maurika Moore The term “palliative care” can bring up many feelings and perceptions about what it means. From families to phy sicians, I hear a

variety of �����������y with palliative care. Most likely, the fault lies in our medical industry trying to be thoughtful and factual about services offered as we age, become seriously ill or need hospice care.

Confused? Join the club. Let’s get these terms and services on the map, so you can ask for what y ou want and need when navigating the endlessly complicated medical world.

Here is a quick run-down of the term.

Palliative comes from the word “palliate,” which means to make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe or unpleasant without removing the cause. We do this our whole lives.

When y ou take an aspirin for a headache to relieve the pain, y ou have “palliated” the symptom of pain—that is, you have made the pain less painful. You did not cure the cause of the headache, y ou simply relieved the sy mptom. In our lives, we also seek cures for the causes of pain.

We do this in many ways through surgery, prescription medications, holistic care solutions, better diets, exercise and so on. Often times we do both at the same time: we work to relieve the symptom (pain, nausea, etc), while also working toward a cure for what is causing the symptom.

This is traditional medical care.

As medicine has evolved, we have built many new services to accommodate the needs of individuals through the scope of their life.

Hospice is one of these. Hospice is a service offered during the last six months of life, when we no longer wish to seek a cure for what is ailing us. Hospice services are strictly focused on comfort care, not curative, and are understood to be end-of-life care. It stands to reason that for years we also called hospice care “palliative care,” because, during this time, we are only focusing on the relief of our symptoms: we are not seeking cures. Because of this, many people believe that the medical service of hospice care is the same as the medical service of palliative care. this is not true.

Palliative Care is specialized medical support for people with serious illness. This ty pe of support is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. The difference between palliative care and hospice care is quite clear, although the teams can often look very much alike. Here are the biggest differences between the two types of care: With palliative care, you can still seek curative treatments and seeing medical professionals as you wish. Your care goals are supported

by the palliative care team in conjunction with the medical professionals you choose.

With hospice care, you no longer seek curative treatments and discontinue seeing your current medical professionals as y our care is managed solely by the hospice team.

Palliative care is generally offered in two different settings with slightly different names, in hospitals or oncology practices (Inpatient Palliative Care) and in your home (Community Based Palliative Care).

INPATIENT PALLIATIVE CARE Many hospitals and oncology practices offer inpatient palliative care, where a professional or team of professionals help address concerning symptoms related to an illness, address life or spiritual struggles for patients and their families and assist with advanced-care planning. They also address advocacy and legal concerns while offering guidance for present and future goals.

COMMUNITY-BASED PALLIATIVE CARE This is a relatively new service offered in many parts of the country and even in some areas of Montana. Community-based palliative care is a growing field, with professionals providing essentially the same services as for inpatient care only provided in the convenience of your own home.

Both Palliative Care and Hospice Care are extremely valuable for providing comfort and support to individuals experiencing serious illness and end-of-life illness. It is important to always ask your medical providers about accessing these services for yourself or perhaps for someone you know who could use the support and care these programs offer. Additionally, if y ou have burning questions about hospice or palliative care, please feel free to email them to info@hestiainhomesupport.com, and we will help you to get the answers you need. MSN Maurika Moore is a ����� Hospice and Palliative Care Administrator living in Missoula Montana. With over 20 years of experience in the medical ��� focusing on the topics of aging healthcare, she strives to always learn more and share her expertise openly.

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

CAREGIVING

PAGE 59

��������������������������

THE INCIDENCE OF ALZHEIMER’S DOUBLES EVERY FIVE YEARS AFTER 65, SO THAT AFTER 85 ABOUT HALF OF US WILL HAVE ALZHEIMER’S. NONE OF US WANTS TO BE COUNTED IN THAT NUMBER.

By Carrie Luger Slayback

(SENIOR WIRE) As I left a meeting in 2016, a charming lady stopped me. “I never miss reading y our fitness articles, and there’s a free lecture y ou must hear: “The Brain and Exercise.”

If y ou tell me y ou read my articles, I’ll do any thing y ou say . So, I showed up at the University of California Irvine MIND’s lecture series with Dr. Laura Baker of the Wake Forest School of Medicine, speaking on “Exercise for the Brain: Is It Worth the Sweat?”

Introducing Dr. Baker, Dr. Carl Cotman, founder of UCI’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders (MIND) almost gave away the answer, but not quite. First, he told us that The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommend 150 minutes of exercise weekly, but people 20 to 29 get less than 30 minutes, and those in their 80s get a paltry 15.

“Sitting is the new smoking,” he said, describing Americans’ 50-y ear decline in active lifestyle. “Exercise lowers risk for heart disease, cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, improves blood flow, mood, and reduces stress,” he reminded us.

But Baker’s study demonstrated that there’s even more than the above oft-listed physiological �����To show us the “brain ben��J ” she assembled 71 sedentary adults, 55-89, all of whom were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI.) MCI is described as memory problems greater than normal age-related failure to recall.

Although not all people diagnosed with MCI progress to Alzheimer’s, the progress is tragic for those who do, with loss of brain cells, severe shrinkage of the brain, together with characteristic plaques and tangles.

And with those losses comes greatly diminished ability to care for oneself. “Not a single drug is effective in stopping or slowing the progressive nature of the disease,” Baker told us.

But Baker’s study found something that is effective. Her study divided a carefully matched group, all of whom had high likelihood of progressing to Alzheimer’s, into two subgroups.

Both exercised 45 to60 minutes four times a week for six months. One group received classes in stretching. The other had aerobic training with a personal trainer at a gym. The aerobic group exercised at 70 to 80 percent of maximum heart rate while the stretching group exercised below 35 percent.

Baker described the results at the end of six months. Participants had spinal taps analyzing their cerebrospinal ���y indicating the presence of a protein marker for the tangles associated with Alzheimer’s. The protein decreased with exercise, showing a decline in the tangles. Baker emphasized, “No study with medication has been able to decrease the protein marker associated with Alzheimer’s.”

In the exercise group, scans revealed brain volume increase rather than expected further brain shrinkage. The parietal lobe, frontal lobe, and hippocampus increased in size, together with “key areas that connect these three.”

The gains in brain weight affect “executive function,” that is ability to plan, initiate, multitask, and focus.

Participants in the stretching group probably bene�ted in �’ xibility and balance, but tangles in their brains increased, brain weight decreased, and their dementia progressed.

In the exercise group, the gains may have been caused by increased blood �� to the brain’s memory and processing centers accompanying high-intensity activity.

The incidence of Alzheimer’s doubles every five y ears after 65, so that after 85, about half of us will have Alzheimer’s. None of us wants to be counted in that number. What we want in our senior years is independence and the continued ability to care for ourselves, maintaining as much of the cognitive essence of our personalities as possible.

If a pill would accomplish reversal of dementia’s progress, people would take it.

But we do not have a pill. Baker prescribes a timed dose of vigorous activity. She has research to show it works. She has evidence that 45 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise at 70 to 80 percent of maximum heart beat seems to reverse the Continued on pg 60

progressive nature of dementia. I suspect you agree that in order to hold off the progress of Alzheimer’s, exercise is �����y worth the sweat. MSN Carrie Luger Slayback is an award-winning, retired teacher and current marathon runner, winning agegroup ��� places in the LAMarathon, 2014 and 2015, and Carlsbad, Calif., in 2016.

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PAGE 60

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Friends of Caregivers Can Help 10 IDEAS FOR PROVIDING SUPPORT

By Lisa M. Petsche In approximately one-quarter of American households, care is provided to someone age 50-plus. In most cases, family members and friends provide all assistance.

These unpaid helpers enhance the quality of life for ill older people who might otherwise require placement in a long-term care facility.

Typically, they are spouses or offspring, many seniors themselves.

The loved ones they care for have physical or mental impairment (perhaps both), caused by one or more chronic health conditions, with stroke and dementia being the most common.

The caregiving role involves phy sical, psy chological, emotional, and financial demands. It can also be one of life’s most rewarding experiences.

The caregiving journey is often a long one and particularly challenging when the elder has heavy hands-on needs, a demanding personality, or mental impairment. Burnout is common.

The following are some considerations that y ou, as a friend or relative, can do to help prevent a caregiver y ou know from wearing down.

1. Keep in touch. Accept that you may have to make most of the effort in maintaining the relationship. If y ou live at a distance or otherwise cannot visit often, regularly call to

see how the caregiver is doing. Send a card or note to brighten their day , and include a humorous anecdote or cartoon clipping.

2. Educate yourself about the care receiver’s disease, to help y ou understand the kinds of challenges the caregiver might be faced with.

3. Listen non-judgmentally , demonstrate compassion, and don’t give unsolicited advice to the caregiver. You can’t really understand unless you’ve walked in their shoes, and, besides, no two caregiving situations are identical. Provide words of support and encouragement.

4. Offer to accompany the person to a caregiver support group meeting if concurrent care is available or if they can make in-home respite arrangements; otherwise, offer to be the respite provider, so they can attend a group.

5. Encourage the caregiver to practice selfcare by eating nutritiously , exercising, and getting �����y rest in order to maintain good health. Do whatever you can to help make it possible. For example, bring over a meal, or offer to sit with the care receiver while the caregiver takes a walk or takes a nap to catch up on lost sleep.

6. Ask, rather than guess, what kind of practical help the caregiver needs most.

Perhaps it’s dusting and vacuuming, doing laundry, or running errands. If your assistance is declined, continue to express y our desire to help. Meanwhile, take it upon y ourself to deliver a casserole or ��”ns or, if you’re a

neighbor, sweep both walks or bring in both sets of garbage cans. Encourage the caregiver to ask for and accept help rather than go it alone.

7. Surprise the caregiver with a treat, such as a magazine, a movie, fresh flowers or a plant, gourmet coffee or tea, or a gift ���” cate to a favorite restaurant that has takeout and delivery service.

8. When it comes to special occasions, keep in mind that the most valuable gift you can give a caregiver is the gift of time. Offer to sit with the care receiver for an hour while the caregiver goes to a hair appointment or to a religious service, for example, or for a longer stretch, so they can attend a social event.

9. If the caregiver is planning to host a party or dinner, offer to help with preparations or cleanup, or to attend to the care receiver during the event, so the caregiver can concentrate on hosting duties and mingle with guests.

10. Offer to get information about community support services if none are in place, and encourage their use as appropriate.

MSN

Lisa M. Petsche is a social worker and a freelance writer specializing in boomer and senior health and wellness. She has personal experience with elder care.

12 Ways To Help A Housebound Senior Stay Involved In Life When someone is co�” ned to their home due to convalescence from an illness, recovery from surgery , or chronic illness or disability , their world shrinks considerably . It’s easy to become disconnected from others and the world in general.

Unfortunately, family support for seniors in such situations is often limited. Societal trends that include delayed marriage, decreased family size, and increased mobility contribute to elder isolation. Even if adult children live nearby , they ’re likely to be busy juggling careers and families of their own.

The following are some things that you, as

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT a friend or relative, can do to support someone who is homebound and help them stay engaged in life.

1. Remember that you may have to be the one who makes most of the effort in the relationship.

Plan to call or visit when you’re not rushed for time. Arrange a regular date to get together, and when you do, treat the person the way you always have.

2. Allow the person to express emotions freely.

Illness and disability affect people phy sically , mentally , emotionally , and spiritually . But although there may be similarities, no two people experience their situation the same way.

Listen attentively , demonstrate compassion, and provide words of encouragement.

3. Encourage them to practice self-care by eating nutritiously, exercising (if appropriate), getting adequate rest, and avoiding unnecessary stress. Also encourage the person to keep medical appointments. Do whatever you can to help make this happen. For example, bring over a meal or offer to drive them to an appointment.

4. Ask, rather than guess, what kind of practical help you can offer. Perhaps it’s dusting and vacuuming, doing laundry , or running errands. If your assistance is declined, continue to express y our desire to help. Meanwhile, take it upon y ourself to deliver a casserole or ��”ns, or, if y ou’re a neighbor, sweep both walks or bring in both sets of garbage cans.

Encourage the person to ask for and accept help rather than struggle alone.

5. Bring a surprise gift, such as a favorite movie, magazine or food treat, fresh �� ers or a plant, or a gift certi���y to a favorite restaurant that has takeout and delivery service. If you’re on a limited income, sign out reading material, movies, or music the person would enjoy from the public library.

6. Help a female friend feel good about her appearance. Offer to set her hair or do her nails, or bring her a pretty new accessory. Put together a pamper kit of items to give her a lift when she’s alone—for example, a relaxation CD containing soothing sounds of nature, scented candles, fragrant shower gel or body lotion, foot balm, or gourmet coffee or tea.

7. Encourage the person to cultivate some solitary pastimes—such as taking up word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, writing, sketching, or handcrafts—that bring pleasure or ������ and enable them to enjoy their own company.

8. Facilitate connections to the outside world by sharing news about family , friends, and current events. Bring a newspaper or newsmagazine with you. Better yet, arrange a subscription for the person.

9. Encourage your friend to get a computer, and teach them how to use it. Internet access can help them stay connected to loved ones, keep up with local and world news, and gather healthrelated information, among other things. They can also take online education courses, play games like chess and bridge, and connect with others in a similar situation through Internet message boards and chat rooms.

10. If mobility issues are preventing the person from getting around in the community, encourage them to rent or buy a walker, electric scooter, or wheelchair, and help facilitate this.

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CAREGIVING

Also help them register with the local accessible transportation service if appropriate.

11. Offer to get information about community resources, such as home healthcare services, friendly visiting programs, shopping services, meals on wheels, and accessible recreation and leisure programs.

PAGE 61

12. Encourage your friend to seek help from their primary physician or a counselor if they continually feel sad, angry , or overwhelmed.

There is no need to suffer, because depression is treatable. MSN

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PAGE 62

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Ask Nancy

A FIBLET MAY BE THE BEST RESPONSE

By Nancy Stein, www.senioritymatters.com (TNS) My mother has dementia and lives in an Assisted Living Facility.

Nearly every time I visit with her she asks me many times when she will be going home. I’ve spoken with my friends who have parents with dementia who either live with them or who live in an Assisted Living Facility and they have the same experience with their parent. What do we say to them?

—Adrienne G. Plantation, FL. Your question brings up an important issue that many family caregivers face: what is the best way to communicate with a parent who has dementia or Alzheimer’s? No one wants to lie to a parent, but if a truthful response to a question asked over and over will cause emotional distress, is it better to reply in an incomplete manner, or ignore the question altogether?

For professional advice, I turned to Rebecca Mandler, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in South Miami, who told me that “communicating with a person with dementia necessitates simple, direct, andnon-confrontational responses to questions.”

“An honest response to this question might be along the lines of ‘when y our doctor and the other people who care so much about y ou feel that it would be healthy and safe for y ou to return home.’

This is honest, factual, and provides the message that your mother is cared for and loved.

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Still, there may be times when a family caregiver is at a loss as to how to respond to a parent’s persistent question when they know the response will cause emotional pain or make them unnecessarily agitated. In these cases, many geriatric experts believe that telling a ������y “white lie”—can actually be therapeutic for someone who is cognitively impaired.

In a recent survey of professional geriatric care managers, more than 90 percent of respondents said they recommended this strategy to relieve stress and anxiety and protect the self-esteem of an elderly person. The situation cited most often as an appropriate and helpful use of a ���y is when a senior is refusing clearly needed care or assistance at their home.

“Telling an aging parent with Alzheimer’s that a paid caregiver is coming to their home for their spouse’s ����y or for another concrete role, can help them maintain pride and reduce anxiety ,” reported the caregivers in the survey, whose ����y were summarized in their press release. (www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11815228.htm) “A therapeutic ���y is just that—it is therapeutic because it calms and reassures, reduces anxiety and protects self-esteem,” said Emily Saltz, President of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers.

Telling a “�blet” to a beloved parent can be uncomfortable and painful for family members. For guidance on dealing with these and other kinds of sensitive and challenging issues, I have always found the advice from experienced geriatric care managers to be very helpful.

I also recommend reading “Caregiver’s Guide to Understanding Dementia Behaviors,” an article offered on the website of The Family Caregiving Alliance (www.caregiver.org/ caregivers-guide-understanding-dementia-behaviors). It provides ten tips for communicating with a person with dementia and how to handle repetitive questions. MSN Nancy Stein, Ph.D., is the founder of Seniority Matters (www.senioritymatters. com), a caregiver advisory and referral service in South Florida for seniors and their families. Questions/ comments? Reach Nancy at nancy@senioritymatters. com, on Facebook (Seniority Matters), or Twitter (@ senioritymatter)

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PAGE 63

Falls Risky for Elderly, Caregivers

By Stacey Burling The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS) “So you fell and you couldn’t get up?”

I asked.

It took my 83-y ear-old mother a second to get my reference to the alarm company ’s infamous TV commercial, but, luckily, she often shares my dark sense of humor.

She was in her yard feeding birds when her four-footed cane tipped on uneven ground, and she toppled over. She’s grown frailer as of late and couldn’t stand back up. My brother, who lives near her, insisted that she carry a cellphone. So she used her device to summon him.

That’s when her story took a surprising turn.

My brother, who is 6 feet 1 inch tall and built like an ox, had trouble getting our petite mother on her feet.

“I was dead weight,” she said.

“I was afraid I’d hurt her,” he said.

The story brought back memories of my own experience caring for my husband as he was dying of brain cancer. His balance was affected, and one day he teetered and began slowly falling.

I was shocked to discover I was helpless. Our athletic teenage son helped me get him up, but

it was hard work. Until my husband became too weak to get out of bed, I lived in terror that he would fall again.

I assumed the problem was that he was a fairly big man, and that, like thousands of caregivers, I was a smaller woman. But here was my brother struggling with the woman he used to teasingly call “little mother.” It made me wonder what caregivers should do in such cases.

If your loved one can’t get up, how do you lift them? What do you do to protect your back?

This time, I did what I didn’t do when my husband was failing. I called some experts.

Here’s what I learned: First, falls are a big problem and are getting bigger.

David Brown, deputy director of Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services in Pennsylvania, said his agency gets about four to six “lift assist” calls a day, often from people living alone. He says it’s a big help if callers can tell dispatchers where they are and if all the doors are locked.

And demographics are driving this.

“People over the age of 75 are much more likely to fall, and that age group is one of the

fastest-growing age groups in the country ,” said Jeremy Walston, professor of geriatric medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

Each y ear, one in three people older than 65 falls, said Brooke Salzman, medical director of Jefferson Family Medical Associates in the Philadelphia Senior Center. Half of people 80 and older fall each year.

About half of falls result in injuries. They cause 90 percent of hip fractures and are the leading cause of head injuries. They’re a major reason people are hospitalized or move into nursing homes.

This is because older people are more likely to get hurt, Walston said. Their bones are more fragile, and many take blood thinners, which make head injuries especially dangerous.

This is why preventing falls is crucial. Most caregivers probably know to keep walkway s clear and get rid of throw rugs. Older people should wear shoes or socks with treads. Dogs and cats are a tripping hazard. Another big thing you can do is exercise and get physical therapy.

Tai chi, a form of exercise that emphasizes balance, is especially helpful.

Continued on pg 64

PAGE 64

CAREGIVING

Fraught with the emotions that decline and dependence can cause, falls are tough on the psyche for patient and caregiver.

My mother “cried like a baby” as she waited under a tree at dusk for my brother. “I was weak, and I was helpless,” she said.

She gets phy sical therapy now, but she’s afraid to go out alone. This fear keeps many people from the very thing that might help them: exercising.

Many factors common in older people increase risk. A previous fall is a big one, Salzman said, in addition to problems with gait and balance, muscle weakness in legs, vision, feet or footwear, taking too many drugs, age over 80, cognitive impairment, depression and arthritis.

If y ou care for someone with those risks, experts said you’d do well to get training from a physical or occupational therapist.

When y our loved one falls, have them lie still and calm down. When they are injured, call 911. Otherwise, see whether you can get him or her up.

Even if you’re much bigger, don’t try to pick them up like a sleeping 6-year-old. You don’t need two injuries in the family.

“It doesn’t matter the size of the caregiver,” said Jennifer Keal, director of nursing for Holy Redeemer HomeCare. “When somebody falls, ��������������� Experts use the patient’s strength. They don’t try to do it all themselves.

“We’re training them to help the person up, not lift the person up,” said Heather Cianci, geriatric team leader for the Dan Aaron Parkinson’s Rehabilitation Center at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Holy Redeemer’s Joan Levis, a phy sical therapist, and telephone triage nurse MaryLou Neri showed me how to do this in a model apartment at the sy stem’s Villages at Pine Valley in Northeast Philadelphia. Neri, 65, with bad knees, “fell” in the bedroom, a common accident site.

Neri pushed herself into a sitting position.

If necessary, Levis could have helped her from behind. They made sure nothing was twisted or bleeding, then Neri scooted backward toward a chair. This was hard work for her.

A weak or demented patient “is going to have a helluva time,” she said.

When she reached the chair, she turned and used it to pull herself onto both knees. Then she lifted one leg in front and put her foot ��y on the ���so her shin and thigh formed a right angle. She used her arms and that leg to help push herself up. Again, Levis could have helped her move the leg if necessary.

As Neri rose, Levis—keeping her stance wide and her knees bent—grabbed Neri’s waistband from behind and steered her into the chair.

If Neri had needed more support, Levis could have grabbed the waistband with one hand and wrapped the other around her arm at the armpit or she could have used a gait belt with built-in lifting loops.

Never pull an older person by an arm or leg. Don’t wait until someone is up to �� e out where you want to put them. Steer toward heavy furniture, if possible. This will be harder with weaker and heavier patients and those with cognitive problems.

When experts do this, they often work in pairs. A single caregiver may need to call a relative, neighbor or paramedic.

Mery l Comer, chief executive officer of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Initiative, said most people, and policymakers, underestimate how demanding caregiving can be. In 2006, PBS’s NewsHour chronicled her �����y lifting her 6-foot-2-inch 200-pound husband with dementia after he rolled out of bed. Her frustration was palpable as she tried

IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

to help. Finally, she gave up and called the ��y himself badly enough to need surgery.

“We are more than aware of the fact that he department. It took two men to get him off the cannot fall,” she said. MSN ��� “I alway s felt ashamed or upset that I couldn’t do it, and I’d have to call a paramedic,” Comer said. She still cares for her husband, but now has a Hoyer lift. “They’re needed for real emergencies, and I can’t get my husband off ����� Audrey Fatula decided she and her husband, John, had to move the last time he fell. He has Parkinson’s disease, which puts him at very high risk for falls, and Fatula, 64, a retired nurse, knew she couldn’t get him up. They moved into a senior living facility in Center City, Philadelphia, where the “wellness team” can help if he falls again.

The two work hard on exercises to prevent falls. Because he reacts badly to many drugs, Audrey worries it would be disastrous if he hurt

SEE SOME HELPFUL TIPS FOR GETTING UP FROM A FALL ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT

CAREGIVING

PAGE 65

TIPS ON GETTING UP FROM A FALL STEP 1

Nurse MaryLou Neri demonstrates the correct way for a fallen person to get up from a fall. It starts with rolling over onto your hands and sitting upright.

STEP 2

After scooting over to a chair, turn and use the chair to pull yourself onto both knees. With one foot on the ���push yourself up, with help from a caregiver, if needed.

STEP 3

Joan Levis (right), a physical therapist, helps Mary Lou Neri into the chair, using her waistband as needed.

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HEALTH & FITNESS

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Health&Fitness

NUTRITION•STRENGTH•HOLISTIC•PREVENTION•DIAGNOSIS

You Want a Piece of Me? A Story of the Bobbsey Twins

By Robyn Justo (SENIOR WIRE) Sometimes just one little letter can change everything, making crop circles into crap circles and crockpots into crackpots. And sometimes one word can do the same. There are a few C-words that I don’t like, and you can imagine what they might be. A word can reduce us to roadkill faster than ACME can flatten Wile E. Coy ote chasing the Roadrunner.

Years ago, I met a really cool gal, who just happened to have been previously married to the man I was currently engaged to at the time.

We met by accident on a plane, although I don’t believe there really are accidents, since I had wished I could talk to my ����y exes to ��y out if I was the only one who was challenged.

Gumby and I became fast friends. When we got off the plane, armin-arm, I remember the color draining from my ��cé’s face as his mouth fell open.

“WHAT???” he said. “How…???” He couldn’t speak, which was rare.

We both grinned at him, knowing that we had shared special girl ���������������� Over the years (20-some, give or take), Gumby and I lost touch. But one day last year, I got an email. By the way , I never married the guy, and he eventually passed on. The strange thing was that I had been dreaming about him, and she had been awakened at 2 a.m. one night knowing that she had to talk to me.

I gave her a call, and it seemed like no time (or lifetimes) had passed. The laughter “For the confidence you deserve” was still there as were the great stories, except • MASTECTOMY FITTING that, in her words, she • COMPRESSION STOCKINGS & SLEEVES had “silly cancer.”

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attitude, which quickly got me laughing again with her. Gosh, may be the disembodied ex was coming into my dreams to help us make that connection again for some reason.

It didn’t take long for me to get on a plane to Phoenix to see my longlost Mister-Sister. The weekend was ���y with giggles and “I do that too!” and “I love that too!” comments. We were twins for sure.

After moving back to California from the Hawaiian islands recently, I did what most people my age do. I found new docs just to make sure that I was fully operational. I was afraid of losing my hair, but it turned out that this wasn’t an issue, but there was another one in the form of two interesting looking formations (one that resembled a small triangular alien craft on my leg.) Gotta love extraterrestrial life forms. The doc wanted to destroy the ship before it amped itself up to warp speed or replicated.

I had no clue that he wanted a good-sized chunk of the planet it landed on as well.

I wonder why some things that we end up getting have names that sound Italian, like it’s almost normal to say , “I’ll order the eggplant parmigiana with a side of melanoma.” Yikes.

Gumby and I were always kind of like the Bobbsey Twins, and now we were the Biopsy Twins. When I told her that, she laughed hysterically.

“That is SOOO funny!”

W h at w a s n ’ t f u n n y w as h o w o t h e r s r e a c t e d ( o r d i d n ’ t ) to the news of the C-word. One of Gumby ’s friends told her that her condition was chronic, and at least she wasn’t dy ing.

What? And one of mine told me that it didn’t sound like fun.

Ya think?

Others didn’t say a thing, glossing over it, or worse, not even noticing what was written or said to them, but went on and on about their jobs and all of the things they had to do that day, ad nauseam. Some minimized it or read off a list of all the “so-and-so’s” who have the same thing.

So if y ou don’t understand Italian, y ou might want to read about it. You won’t get any on y ou. May be say , “S#!@, I’m sorry .

You must be scared,” or “Is there anything I can do to help?” Honestly, knowing that everyone else has it too doesn’t help.

Some get on a soapbox about our air, water, and food, but I’m feeling that it might be more important what comes out of our mouths (or doesn’t) at a time like this than what goes in it. A main course of empathy might be in order.

So I might look a little like Frankenstein soon (ARRGGHHH!), but I’ve got a friend who gets it because she got it. Gumby is as irreverent as I am about all of this, and, I don’t know about you, but if I have a choice, I would rather (eventually) die laughing. MSN

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PAGE 67

Unmasking Brain Injury in Montana

By John Bigart Brain Injury Alliance of Montana It has been said that brain injury doesn’t have a face until it happens to you or someone that y ou love. Unfortunately , we, at the Brain Injury Alliance of Montana (BIAMT), have seen the truth in that statement every day for the last 30 years.

Most Montanans don’t realize just how common brain injuries are in our state. Montana has one of the highest rates of death from brain injury per capita in the nation, and 33 Montanans a DAY experience a brain injury.

Currently , more than 45,000 Montanans are living with brain injury.

Despite growing attention and concern of brain injury nationwide, in Montana, too many individuals die from brain injury . Those who survive often live with its burdensome effects for the rest of their lives. Brain injury also takes its toll on those caring for survivors.

Our brains are complex and powerful organs that allow us to think, feel, and store memories

while controlling and coordinating our body ’s actions and reactions.

Brain injuries are like �����yin that no two are exactly alike and affect every person differently .

This can make treatment and recovery challenging.

This is where BIAMT is here to help.

BIAMT’s mission is to create a better future for those impacted by brain injury through awareness, support, advocacy , community engagement, and prevention. This Fall we will be celebrating our 30th y ear of helping people in Montana. As the only organization in the state solely dedicated to helping brain injury survivors, we are proud of the difference we have made in peoples’ lives. BIAMT’s services are driven by our continued dedication to this mission to prevent brain injuries, to minimize their impact, and to ensure those affected maximize their quality of life.

Each y ear BIAMT holds a conference for healthcare professionals and survivors. This y ear’s conference, Unmasking B rain Injury in Montana: Facing the New Normal will be held on October 14 in Bozeman. Everyone is encouraged to attend to learn more about brain injury and recovery , about building treatment relationships with providers, and about strategies to improve communication after brain injury . The conference will feature an art-based activity for attending survivors to create personalized

masks that symbolically express their feelings about how the impact of brain injury has affected their lives. These masks will be featured as part of our statewide initiative to bring about greater awareness of brain injury in Montana.

Since 2006, BIAMT has operated the Brain Injury Help Line—a free, telephone-based follow-up-and-support service that links survivors and their families throughout the state to local information, resources, service providers, and other sources of support.

Participation is a collaborative process that respects and encourages the involvement and choices of individuals with brain injury and their family members, while at the same time helping to address and meet their individual needs.

BIAMT is a strong advocate for prevention and believes in the importance of collaboration. Each year, BIAMT partners with other organizations to host free helmet giveaways. Since 2010, we have given away more than 3,000 helmets to kids. These events enable us to help protect heads and save brains. MSN The Brain Injury Alliance of Montana and our Brain Injury Help Line are here to help. For more information or to support us with a tax-deductible donation, please call 1-800-241-6442 or visit us online at www.biamt.org.

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HEALTH & FITNESS

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Peripheral Artery Disease: Are You at Risk?

Do you blame “getting older” for your leg pain or ��” culty walking?

Do y ou just accept it and do the best y ou can? You could actually be suffering from a condition called peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD now affects more than 8.5 million American adults, according to the American Heart Association, and if left untreated, can increase y our risk of losing a portion of your toes, feet and legs to amputation. The good news is that PAD can be managed when diagnosed early.

PAD is a vascular disease that mainly affects the arteries that carry blood to the legs and feet. It is

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primarily caused by the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries, called atherosclerosis. This buildup reduces blood ��y through the arteries and can lead to pain and lack of mobility. Those at the highest risk of PAD are over the age of 50, with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. PAD is also caused by eating high-fat foods, lack of exercise, smoking, stress or excess weight. The more risk factors y ou have, the greater your chances are of developing PAD. One of the classic symptoms of PAD is a dull, cramping pain in the legs, hips, or buttocks during exercise, such as walking. This pain stops at rest, which is why many people mistake the sy mptoms of PAD as a normal sign of aging.

Other symptoms can include: weakness in legs, skin wounds or sores on your legs, feet, or toes that are slow to heal or foot or toe pain that often disturbs your sleep. While these are classic signs and symptoms, up to 40 percent of individuals with PAD have no leg pain, according to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention

and Health Promotion, which is why routine check-ups with your doctor are important.

“The primary goal is to restore and preserve adequate blood ��y to the extremities,” said Dr. Jihad Mustapha, director of cardiovascular research at Metro Health— University of Michigan Health.

“When the pain is frequent and the ability to move is affected, this indicates that the disease is progressing. At that point, it may be necessary to treat signi� antly blocked arteries with a medical procedure, which range from less invasive catheter-based treatments to more invasive surgical options.”

Talk to your doctor to ��y out if you should be screened for PAD and what y ou can do to lower your risk. Some key questions to ask your doctor include: - Does my medical history raise my risk for PAD? - Which screening tests or exams are right for me?

- What is my blood pressure? Do I need to manage these numbers?

- What are my cholesterol numbers? Do I need to do anything about them?

During PAD Awareness Month, talk to your health care provider to ��y out if you should be screened for PAD and what you can do to lower your risk. MSN To learn more about PAD and available treatment options, visit www.bostonscientific.com/PADMonth, a patient ����������������

Gut-Wrenching Pain

By Dr. Holly Carling We’ve all heard the words “gut-wrenching pain,” but until you have colitis, irritable bowel, diverticulitis, Crohn’s Disease, or any other �� mmatory bowel disease (IBD), you really don’t have a clue how accurate those words are.

The severe pain, often followed by a quick dash

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to a restroom, leaves the sufferer to reach for anything they can get their hands on to help.

IBD is increasing dramatically in the U.S. Typical conventional medical treatments include corticosteroids, anti-�� mmatory medications, immune suppressants, and lastly , surgery .

Although they can be helpful, they do not address the causative factors to bring about lasting health.

Despite inadequate studies on alternative treatments, several clinical, “alternative” modalities have shown to be beneficial. In the home, many have found certain foods to aggravate their condition and have on their own �������������L Nuts, seeds, gluten, pasteurized cow’s milk, corn, sugar (especially high fructose corn syrup), commercial eggs, and certain spices top the list.

Sugar appears to be the number-one food aggravator. Simply eliminating sugar helps control IBD considerably for many . Sugar is an acid that irritates the delicate mucus lining of the intestines, leads to pH imbalance, and disrupts healthy ����(normal gut bacteria).

Raw honey seems to have less negative effect

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

on the gut. Remember that alcohol is a ����sugar and can also lead to IBD. Acidic fruits that have been picked green are also aggravating foods.

Pasteurized dairy products can lead to an �� med gut; however, that does not seem to be true for raw dairy—especially raw goat milk.

Fermented raw milk (yogurt) has particular ����as it helps to reestablish healthy gut bacteria, but beware of commercial yogurt that has

HEALTH & FITNESS

PAGE 69

been pasteurized and is often laden with sugar and other sweeteners.

Processed wheat products are also very irritating. They , too, upset pH balance, turn into a sugar in the body (so behave like a sugar), and create extra mucus, bloating, and gas. Many people, if not most, have some degree of gluten intolerance. You can have “normal” gliadin levels—gliadins are a component of gluten—on your labs but still have some gluten intolerance. This must be ruled out.

In addition to dietary changes, y ou might consider acupuncture.

Acupuncture is used to reduce in�ammation, control pain, improve immune function, and improve digestion. When seeing an acupuncturist, you would expect health questions to be limited to the intestines. However, acupuncturists have a broader view of what underlies digestive ��” culties , including liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and the stomach. Since nutrition is an integral part of their training, they will evaluate this as well.

IBD is a complex set of issues and requires a comprehensive approach in order to obtain resolution. Acupuncture combined with a sound nutritional approach, supplements, relaxation techniques, and restorative modalities should be on the top of IBD sufferer’s list if they want lasting results. MSN Dr. Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist, and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. Learn more at her website: www.vitalhealthcda.com or call 208-765-1994 to discuss any questions regarding this topic.

Have Parkinson’s? New Podcast Can Help You Manage the Disease

By Ayanna Runcie Miami Herald (TNS) The cause of Parkinson’s disease remains unknown, but people who want a hands-free way to stay updated on new developments about the disease can listen to a podcast launched recently by the Parkinson’s Foundation.

The podcast, entitled “Substantial Matters: Life and Science of Parkinson’s,” will be produced bi-weekly and feature discussions about exercise, clinical trials, and nutrition, among other subtopics.

“Parkinson’s is a movement disorder and... audio is a great format because people can listen rather than read—people don’t have to focus on print,” said Vaughn Edelson, director of education for Parkinson’s Foundation in Miami.

At least 1 million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson’s disease, according to Edelson.

A new episode of the 15-minute podcast will be released every other Tuesday and can be accessed on iTunes, Google Play , TuneIn, Amazon Echo, and RSS feed. Archived episodes will be on the foundation’s website.

Dan Keller, founder and president of Keller Broadcasting, will host the show. He decided to partner with the Parkinson’s Foundation because he ����� it as an area where people are hungry to get information.

“I think that when you have a substantial population of people with a certain condition, it’s worth getting the information out there,” Keller said. “And people are familiar with the medium, y ou don’t need a grandchild to help you ���y out how to listen The Parkinson’s Foundation podcast “Substantial Matters: Life and Science of to a podcast.”

Parkinson’s” will be produced bi-weekly and feature discussions about exercise, Each episode features field clinical trials, and nutrition, among other subtopics. Photo by: PRNewsfoto/ experts, such as phy sicians, Parkinson’s Foundation phy sical therapists, personal “Podcasts are easily accessible, they are trainers and doctors. The �rst eight episodes portable, and we keep them at a level that the cover early warning signs of the disease, the public can understand—but try and make them foundation’s role in improving care, the bene�ts ����” cally accurate ,” Keller said. “We are of exercise and nutrition, how to manage going to bring you the fruits of the research for Parkinson’s fluctuations, levodopa delivery people with Parkinson’s, so I think it’s stuff that methods, neuroprotection, and vaccination. people can incorporate into their lives.” MSN

HEALTH & FITNESS

PAGE 70

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Loved Ones Notice Telltale Signs of Alzheimer’s During the Holidays During the holidays, families come together from near and far to celebrate the season. Often it is also a time when family members begin to notice subtle changes in loved ones that were not apparent before.

“If family members notice even subtle change, it is important to follow up with someone,” said Lynn Mullowney, executive director for the Alzheimer’s Association. “Our helpline staff is available around the clock—even on holidays—to provide no-cost, �����al care consultation from master’s-level clinicians

who can help with decision-making support, crisis assistance, and education on issues families face.”

The professionals at the Alzheimer’s Association toll-free helpline assist callers with questions about Alzheimer’s warning signs, help getting a diagnosis, and resources available for people living with Alzheimer’s, their friends, and family.

If y ou have a family member living with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, the holidays can be challenging. With some planning and

adjusted expectations, your celebrations can still be happy, memorable occasions.

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support, and research. Its mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. MSN Visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900 for more information ���������������P

Researchers Find Chair Yoga is Good Medicine for Seniors

By Diane C. Lade Sun Sentinel (TNS) Just how effective is chair yoga?

Well, a recently published study by Florida Atlantic University professors found seniors don’t necessarily have to be able to pump iron or do aerobics in order to improve their health.

Juyoung Park, an FAU social work associate professor who was the co-principal investigator, said elders with chronic arthritis reported having

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less pain and fatigue after regularly attending a yoga class where they used chairs for support.

Park hopes the results encourage frail seniors and their doctors to look beyond pain medication for relief, as the numbers of elders facing opiate addiction continues to rise.

“A lot of seniors don’t know how to handle the pain except to take medication. And their doctors don’t have time to explain other options to them,” said Park, who works in FAU’s College for Design and Social Inquiry.

Hospitalizations for opioid misuse among people age 85 and older went up five-fold between 1993 and 2012, according to federal statistics. Yet despite the fact that osteoarthritis affects 12 million Americans age 65 and older and is the most common cause of longterm disability among seniors, there are few treatments bey ond pain drugs to help them, according to the study.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the study followed 131 seniors age 65 and older with osteoarthritis and moderate chronic joint pain for three months.

The results are published in the “Journal of the American Geriatrics Society .” Four additional professors from FAU’s College of Medicine and the College of Nursing were co-authors or coprincipal investigators.

Using chairs allows seniors who can’t stand unassisted to be able to do y oga, a popular holistic treatment recommended by the Arthritis Foundation as it improves ��” bility and balance.

The foundation said y oga’s mind-body focus could also ease stress and tension.

Yoga and other exercise classes using chairs are taught at numerous South Florida senior centers, retirement homes and care facilities.

Yet sometimes these programs are incorrectly

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viewed as not being real exercise, said yoga instructor Diane Zantop.

“Working with the body as it is, is much better than not doing anything,” said Zantop, who taught study participants at the Northeast Focal Point Senior Center in Deer���Beach.

“The power of these y oga postures done in a chair was profound.”

Zantop said she was amazed by her group’s progress during the research. Some students had knee replacements, used walkers or canes, or had trouble breathing. One woman had an �������� “I could see them looking happier, calmer, brighter. The change in their facial expressions was lovely. Their co�” dence level increased each (continued to pg 70)

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS (continued to pg 70) week,” said Zantop, who is �����to teach the Sit ‘N’ Fit chair yoga method the study used.

One woman, who fell at home, credited the class with giving her enough strength to get back up on her own, according to Zantop. “She was able to get herself out of a potentially bad situation,” Zantop said.

Along with charting the y oga students’ progress, FAU researchers also followed a control group of residents at the Douglas Gardens Senior Housing complex in Pembroke Pines. Instead of

HEALTH & FITNESS

y oga instruction, these participants attended wellness education sessions.

Both the y oga and the lecture sessions ran twice weekly for eight weeks, with the researchers measuring participants’ pain levels and pain’s impact on their lives, balance, walking speed, fatigue and functional ability. Followups were done with both groups.

Park said the y oga participants showed a greater reduction in pain and its interference with their daily activities than the wellness education participants, although both groups

Puzzle answers starting on page 6

PAGE 71

bene�ted. And the yoga seniors continued to show pain improvement during their final three-month followup.

The yoga group also initially showed greater improvement in walking speed and fatigue, although that was not sustained, Park said.

Encouraged by the results, Park said FAU is try ing to get funding to test chair y oga’s effects on another group of seniors struggling with a medical condition that has few treatment options—those with dementia conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

“We’ll be looking at behavioral and emotional issues, like whether chair y oga will help with anxiety, depression and sleep,” she said. MSN

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CENTRAL MONTANA

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Central Montana

LOCAL PEOPLE•LOCAL STORIES•LOCAL FUN•LOCAL BUSINESSES

SAFE AT HOME

By Jeremy Watterson regularity . When the every day catcher was the sport’s color barrier for good, and the For 122 years, a Major League Baseball player injured, teams often forfeited the game, rather betterment of humankind. has rested at Great Falls’ Old Highland Cemetery than one of the other position players exposing While with Memphis in the spring of 1886, in an unmarked grave. An effort on behalf of Colgan suffered his worst injury at the hands of themselves to the cruelties.

William H. Colgan, the �rst former player a pitcher, but it wasn’t on a ball diamond. to be buried in the state of Montana, Out hunting small game with teammates hopes to remedy this in time to unveil a and friends, Colgan was accidentally shot new memorial at the 8th annual Waking by his pitcher Bob Black. the Dead Tour to be held on June 24, 2018.

According to the Memphis Daily Billy Colgan was born during the Appeal, the accident happened as Colgan Civil War, in East St. Louis, Ill., on March crossed a fence. “Catching hold of the 19, 1862. A catcher, Colgan saw his ��� muzzle of his gun, he passed it, butt professional action in 1883, playing for ���y through the crack of the fence, to his home state’s capital of Sprin���. his companion on the other side. It was The following y ear he would appear in accidentally discharged, and a charge 48 American Association games, suiting of twen����buckshot, wads and all, up for the Pittsburgh Allegheny s in entered his left side near the hip, passing what amounts to his only time in the through and lodging under the skin.” big leagues. Colgan’s lifetime batting Two doctors were called in to successfully average is a meager .155, low even for the remove the shot and dress the wound. era in which he play ed, where pitchers Colgan, whom the sporting papers were limited to deliveries from below called “a noted catcher” and “a plucky Team: 1890 Spokane Baseball Club, champions of the ���� Northwest the shoulder, and the rules dictated that and conscientious player,” was tendered League (William H. Colgan seated far right). Courtesy of the Northwest a catcher squat beside home bases made Museum of Arts & Culture at least two ����games. Two months of white marble or stone. later, he returned to the line-up, catching The brutality endured by professional One of the catchers whom Colgan no doubt the very man who had shot him. The healing catchers of the 1880s was nothing short of shared a work space with in 1884, Moses process may have been quickened by reports barbaric. In an age when masks, chest and leg Fleetwood Walker, endured an altogether that the ladies stand in Memphis was ���y to protections, and often gloves could be seen different level of abuse. Fleet has only recently standing room only at every game. as sissy stuff, catchers often risked mangling been credited with being the first African After stints with colorfully named Baseball their bodies, with split and broken �ngers a American to play major league baseball, Clubs, such as the Kansas City Cowboy s, St. some 63 y ears before Jackie Robinson broke

Paul Freezers, Milwaukee Brewers (some things

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS never change), Chattanooga Lookouts, East St. Louis Nationals, Evansville Hoosiers, Spokane Falls Bunchgrassers, and Walla Walla Walla Wallas, Colgan found his way onto the ba���� of Montana.

1892 marked the inaugural professional season of baseball in Montana, and Colgan was here. Suiting up ��� for Butte, he ����y the season with Missoula after their catcher badly injured some ����y and was then bedridden with what was feared to be blood poisoning after being spiked.

The only known photograph of “Shorty” Colgan, as he was known in Spokane, Wash. Courtesy of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture

Colgan was one of a handful of one-time or would-be big league talents Montanans could witness in the summer of 1892. The most noted stars were an ambidextrous pitcher in a salary dispute with his Cincinnati Red Stocking employers, Tony Mullane, and Clark ����� a future Hall of Famer who twice mortgaged his ranch near Craig, Mont., to eventually own the Washington Senators. ���th, whom Colgan no doubt caught while the two were with Missoula, arrived mid-season from a failed franchise in Tacoma, Wash. Later in life, Gri���detailed a game in which he pitched Missoula past Butte. Missoulians showed their appreciation by showering their pitcher with more oro y plata than he had earned pitching all season in Tacoma.

In 1892, baseball wasn’t the family-friendly product that graces the fields of the four Montana cities that are part of the modern-day Pioneer League, represented in Great Falls by the Voyagers.

As Montana Baseball History co-author Skylar Browning stated in an interview with Montana Public Radio’s Chérie Newman, “Baseball was still a rough-and-tumble sport, and Montana represented that as well as any place. You had leagues that were not very big, as far as the number of teams, but ended up attracting— because there was enough money in Montana at the time—future Hall-of-Fame players. But they were scattered in with brawlers and guys that were just hanging on. So, the professional leagues [often] couldn’t ���y the championship series because the teams were not only ���� each other, but �ghting the umpires. And games were getting called and having to be decided by forfeit because of the amount of �����y that ���������������”

By February of 1893, Colgan was in Great Falls. He wrote a letter to a friend in Anaconda who subsequently informed the local paper that Colgan felt “the Cataract City [a long-lost nickname referring to the large waterfall on the Missouri rather than an ey e condition] will make a big effort to get into the proposed intermountain league.”

After this correspondence, Colgan goes missing from newspaper baseball writings, but is presumed to be playing amateur ball in Great Falls, where, according to the Anaconda

CENTRAL MONTANA

Standard on August 31, 1894, “the old prospector employed as switchman in the Great Northern yard was promoted to the position of foreman of the inside engines.”

On August 8, 1895, at approximately 1:20 P.M., William H. Colgan was crushed to death while retrieving coal cars from the Boston and Montana smelter on the Montana Central line of the Great Northern Railway. The Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company would merge with the Amalgamated Copper Company in 1901, eventually becoming mighty Anaconda Copper in 1910.

The American West was so y oung in 1895 that in the report on the coroner’s inquest, the word “Territory” has been scratched out next to the word “Montana” and replaced with the word “State.”

The seven men who testified at Cascade Country coroner Doc Weilman’s inquest described how Colgan was on the tail end of a row of dozen or more train cars that were being pulled across what was discovered to be a partially open switch. When the last coupling crossed the switch, it derailed, resulting in Colgan being pinned between the car he was riding on and a boxcar at a siding. The coroner’s jury ruled Colgan’s death accidental.

News of his death was printed in at least four Montana newspapers, and again detailed in the Anaconda Standard’s 1895 “Montana Year in Review.” The Great Falls Weekly Tribune wrote,

PAGE 73

Our goal is to be there for you and your family— babies, children, and adults—whenever you need us. From well-child checks and annual adult physicals, to the unexpected illnesses and injuries that are a part of life, family medicine/obstetrics providers are your family doctors.

“Mr. Colligan (sic) was a strong and hearty man, full of life and energy, strictly sober and highly thought of by the railroad ����� and respected and beloved by his fellow workmen and associates. He was greatly interested in To set up a consultation with a athletic sports, especially baseball. He had been Barrett family provider, call 406-683-1188. connected with a number of clubs and was For more, visit barretthospital.org. a professional in this line. His uniform good 600 MT Hwy 91 • Dillon, MT nature and courtesy made him a favorite in the ball team as well as all who knew him.”

Colgan’s remains were taken to W.C. McBratney ’s undertaking establishment.

McBratney advertised himself as the man we’re here to help you turn wear and tear who cremated the I N TO R E C OV E R Y A N D R E J U V E N AT I O N . ��� three bodies west of the Rockies. The funeral was held on August 12 at St. Anne’s Cathedral and was paid for by the Switchmen’s union. The half-milelong cortege was populated by a large number of mourners who saw their friend, the ��� former major leaguer, to be buried in Montana, off to Old Highland Cemetery , where he resides to this day in an unAND SO ARE WE. marked grave.

A week before his death at the age of 33, Colgan was play ing third base for a Great Falls town team against an aggregation from neighboring Sand Coulee when he hit a grand slam. In the home half of the ��� inning, Great Falls tallied seven runs, 406.496.3400 | MontanaOrthopedics.com | Butte, Montana aided in large part by B L AVAT S K Y B U E H L E R D I G I O V I N E G A L L A G H E R R U S S O third baseman Colgan,

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PAGE 74

(Safe continued from pg 73) who, after Great Falls loaded the bases, “gave his bat a cyclone twist and the leather went about halfway over to the B&M addition for a home run.”

Finding Billy Colgan in Montana wasn’t easy , as his career statistics are listed under “Ed Colgan” in Total Baseball, as well as in online statistical databases. His obituary in the Tribune ran under the name Colligan, and his coroner’s inquest had him under the �rst name of James. Even at Old Highland, his plot was ��” cult to locate, as records spelled his last name, Cologam.

But he endeared himself to fans and teammates alike during his play ing day s as a stocky , mustached play er with spirited and determined courage, earning such nicknames as Billy, Little Willie, and Shorty.

While Billy Colgan has been a forgotten Montanan for over a century, Norma Ashby is a household name. A Montana television legend, Mrs. Ashby is the chairwoman of the Waking the Dead Tours. History buffs wait for the last Sunday afternoon in June each y ear for the annual Waking the Dead Tours of Old Highland Cemetery in Great Falls.

This is when they can be transported back in time by three trailers pulled by trucks to visit a select number of graves with storytellers beside them to describe the sign����lives of those interned there.

The tours become a living history experience as visitors learn about prominent citizens of Great Falls, such as city founder Paris Gibson and cowboy artist Charlie Russell as well as not-as-well-known lives, such as Ed Shields,

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who founded the pet cemetery in Great Falls in 1942 and spoke at the funeral of “Shep,” the ever-faithful dog who died in Fort Benton.

“We are alway s looking for new and interesting people to feature on our tours,” said Norma Ashby, chairman of the Waking the Dead tours. “When Jeremy Watterson, co-author of the 2015 book, Montana Baseball History, told us about the �st former big league baseball player buried in Montana, we wanted to know more.”

“Jeremy said his name was Billy Colgan, and he played catcher in the major leagues with Pittsburgh in 1884. He was tragically crushed between rail cars while working on the Montana Central in Great Falls.”

John Rummel at Montana Granite Industries agreed to cut a piece of stone in the shape of home plate to be laid at Colgan’s gravesite. With the help of the internet and phone contacts, Watterson and Ashby are looking to raise the required funds for the stone.

The new marker will be unveiled at the Eighth Waking the Dead tours scheduled for Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 1 and 3 p.m. Watterson will wear old-time baseball attire and recount Colgan’s story as his storyteller.

We’re hoping that through our efforts Mr. Colgan be remembered by fans of the game in Montana and beyond for many more summers to come.

Donations to the Great Falls Cemetery Association are fully tax-deductible and can be mailed with a note to earmark the funds to the Great Falls Cemetery Association; 2010 33rd Avenue South; Great Falls, MT 59405; (406) 454-3731 If y ou’d like to learn more about Billy Colgan and his merit as a man and Montanan worthy of remembrance, I’d invite y ou to read my biography written for the Society for American Baseball Research:

sabr.org/bioproj/

person/52f3b546 MSN

A Tale of Two Swim Lessons

By Todd Johnson It was the best of lessons. It was the worst of lessons. At one end, it was a grand culmination of 47 years of teaching mastery; at the other end an amateur tragicomedy—It was, Dear Reader, a � e exhibition of perfect lessons by a true conductor in chlorine, a black belt of bobbing and breathing and basic swimming technique. At the other end was yours truly, a rank amateur, a poser, who was simply lucky to keep young swimmers from drowning in the unforgiving Caribbean Sea. The best of lessons took place in a hand-built, backy ard pool in Great Falls, Mont. The pool is the watery bailiwick of Bob McKinnon, the aforementioned swimming maestro, going strong at almost 80. Bob’s career began when Bob’s father Gus took a job with the YMCA

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Bison Champs: Montana state champs, Great Falls Bison, 1981. Front row l-r, Joe Lincoln, Scott Homas, Pat McCormick, Todd Johnson. Back row, l-r, Coach Bob McKinnon, Dave Orham, Brad Tanberg, David Hildalgo, Mike Brown.

teaching swim lessons in the Great Depression.

Bob followed with a lifelong, hugely successful career of teaching and coaching of his own. And then there’s me: on the little-known island of Nevis in the West Indies of the Caribbean, offering the worst of lessons. Why? Because of my own shameful lack of expertise driven by my fantasy to get Nevisian kids swimming even though I had no swimming pool to use and had no understanding of the island’s cultural fear of water. And when I say lack of experience, I mean that I hadn’t taught swimming in 30 years.

But McKinnon had been my coach on two state championship teams and was a good friend for almost 50 y ears, which gave me confidence and motivation.

I also thought that if I was successful on Nevis, I might return to my hometown of Great Falls and offer to buy McKinnon’s lesson business when he retired.

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS When I imagined my Nevis swim lessons, I thought of the thousands of lessons McKinnon gave in his pool, where he taught thousands of kids to swim and thousands of parents to relax, changing the consciousness about swimming (and water) along the way. And when I pictured his lessons, I pictured one of the recent masterful lessons, and it was really something.

Outside the McKinnon’s glassed-in backyard pool, there’s a veritable storm of cottonwood tree ��� ���� the Great Falls air and covering the Great Falls ground. The parents who’ve just driven to the residential pool are now sitting on the cotton-filled porch, looking at their phones, wiping the slowly falling cotton from the screens. But inside the pool, McKinnon stands alone with his six attentive swimmers, aged between 5 and 7, three boys and three girls, free from distraction. Free.

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face down, and ����y face up, all which the almost-octogenarian aqua-man demonstrates with entertaining grace that gives not only the instructor but the pupils and their parents parents an essential peace of mind to take part in the act of swimming, immersing oneself in the primordial soup.

“Mr. McKinnon, mygoggles are leaking,” tall, lanky Hannah complains. And instantaneously a new, perfectly ���� pair is pulled out of the magician’s hat while watching that the other ������������������ “Mr. Bob, can we use the kick boards?”

“Are y ou ready for the boards?” asks the Piaget of the Pool.

“Teacher, can I pee?” little Mariah asks.

McKinnon, the former high school English teacher says, “Yes, hurry back.”

PAGE 75

That picture of McKinnon’s lessons and the reality of my own on Nevis are very different.

Night and day as the Cole Porter goes, but without the lovely, danceable melody. Allow me to elaborate: Nevis: An Island in the Caribbean. It’s just shy of 9am and already so hot that I am sweating out of every pore as the dew point red lines the humidity scale above 85 percent. My ����� lesson kids are avoiding me as they are huddled in a circle 30 y ards down the beach. They ’re hovered over a shark’s carcass. I can’t see the shark, but as I approach, (continued on pg 76)

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First, the master of aquatic ceremonies grabs their attention with a direct “good afternoon, boys and girls,” and they all, to a child, respond with respect, admiration, and perhaps a hint of anxiety that he nips in the bud with a funny face, a spit of water, or the simple command: “Bobs, every one.”

Bobs are part of an intricate scaffolding of skill and �����ybuilding, and they are so fundamental, the other parts of the lesson’s scaffold would not be possible without them, for it’s the controlled rhythm of breath that dictates all swimming success. Moreover, just knowing how to bob could easily save a child’s life.

From bobs, goes on to blowing bubbles with whole face in water, touching the bottom with each hand, sitting on the bottom, ����y

And on it goes, and the maestro has a spontaneous, appropriate answer for everything.

“My skin is wrinkling,” a kid complains “Wait til y ou’re my age, kid,” the master answers.

All while proceeding through the successbuilding series of exercises, which would be a lot for any single teacher to handle in any given half hour, but remember, McKinnon is almost 80, and he still does this for half a day all summer. And he’s done it thousands of times, all while secretly battling chronic pneumonia, allergies, arthritis, and other ailments that would end the swim teaching career of most instructors.

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

(continued from pg 75) I hear the kids say with glee and dread, “Shock! Shaahhk, Todd Uncle!

I know that means the lessons are not going to be the best.

Not only do I not have control over what washes up on shore, I can’t control what’s under the surface just off shore where I attempt my lessons. What I can’t control includes star ��� little underwater crabs that pinch little feet, dark green sea grass that reaches up to a foot tall and feels “funny” and “scary,” sea bottom sand that squishes like soft muscle, sea glass, conch shells, and waves.

As I try to teach the two y oung boy s and three y oung girls who’ve come to be in the

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Todd Johnson teaching swimming on the Island of Nevis in the Caribbean.

sea and learn how to swim, my lack of control over my nervousness makes for the beginnings of a bad lesson, but I start with the kids in a circle, water up to their waists (about two feet), bending over blowing bubbles, which I thought was safe. Two of the �ve refuse to put their faces in the water, and the other three get quickly bored and begin to break the circle and wander off. “Kashvi, Azahri, Sklya, come back please,” I say, but their ears are under water.

I keep holding on to the other two, Manu, and Jada, and they aren’t happy with me and try to get free.

Kashvi pops up with a big smile. “Todd Uncle, the sea is a vast my stery that we know only 10 percent about. Can we go out farther?”

Obviously , I’ve got a group placement problem, with three kids who are too advanced for the lesson I planned and 20 more minutes of trying to ���y out how to solve the mismatch.

The parents are watching not far away.

Suddenly , a two-foot wave surprises us, knocking the three outside of the circle down to the sandy bottom and scaring the two in my hands, who have taken quite a swing with the water’s force. Manu and Jada hang on while the wave pushes them toward the shore, tugging at their tiny shoulder sockets. They both start to cry. I about join them, thinking it couldn’t get much worse.

Instead, I call out to the young body-surfers who are looking for their next wave: “Guys, wait right here. I’ll be right back,” I say , carry ing Manu and Jada back to their parents, trying to think of something brilliant to say about ending the class so early. All I come up with is, “The water’s too rough.” The parents look up from their phones, nod, say something to the wet kids, and go back to their phones.

I go back to the other three, try ing to think of a new plan for the rest of the lesson. “Bobs,” I say over the sound

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS of the waves, “let’s do some bobs.”

“What are bobs, Mr. Todd?” asks Azahri.

“Bobs are the coolest thing ever. Watch.” I begin to demonstrate, and all three follow along as though they ’ve done thousands. Sky la begins counting on the hops above the surface, and the others chime in, continuing to count even as the waves come up to their chins. When we reach 20, it starts to rain. Hard.

Still compelled to teach, I tell them that we’ll go out a little deeper, so they can ���on their backs and see how many rain drops they can catch in their mouths while �����I do my corniest “Singing in the Rain” imitation, until the water is to my waist. The kids laugh, which makes me think the last 15 minutes will be doable.

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As I am beginning to demonstrate, Sky la stops me. “Mr. Todd, Manu. Manu go come,” which means that Manu is coming.

I turn, and, sure enough, one of the young boys I have left with his parents is walking out toward us, patting the water, and waddling like a penguin. He is smiling, determined to join us, but the water quickly climbs up his body and is soon at his chin.

I race toward him as his face changes from determined to scared.

“Stop, Manu! Stop,” I say over the sound of the waves, but he keeps coming, his face ���y with fear.

As I reach him and grab one of his arms, a wave hits us and ����engulfs him. I lift him out of the water.

“I’m scared,” he says.

PAGE 77

������������ The other three kids soon join us, and we all walk to the shore together.

“I think that’s all for today, kids,” I say as the sky cleared.

As you see, Dear Reader, I failed to teach the ��y pupils much of anything, but it could have ended even more tragically . But through my failure, learned something. McKinnon is truly a master, and it takes a master to give the best of lessons and to keep giving them for 47 years.

This last summer of lessons at the McKinnons’ backyard pool may be the last for the master, but for 47 y ears, Bob and his wife Suzy have exhibited the utmost in preparation along with character to match their success, and they have much to be proud of. MSN

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Sheila Rice: A Life of Community Service

By Dr. Aaron Parrett

mother of three in 1971, with only a high school diploma and few prospects for a better life. To survive, she was living on Aid for Dependent Children and Food Stamps. Her mother encouraged her to go back a���������y

Sheila Rice embodies what the phrase “Montana Citizen” is all about. Born in Anaconda and raised in Great Falls, Rice has devoted her life and career to public service in the Great Falls community and throughout the state of Montana. She recently threw a party in celebration of her 70th birthday, and this gave her a chance to ����on a rich and �����y career in two different ���Jboth of which involved improving the lives of the citizens of Great Falls and Montana.

She attributes her dedication to civic engagement in part to her Catholic upbringing, which she says emphasized the virtues of social justice.

“Being raised Catholic gives you a sense that we really should live the golden rule,” she says.

“We should treat everyone the way we want to be treated. And we should live like Christ wants us to live. We should be nonjudgmental, we should care for the sick and the lame. And for the sinners!”

She relates a saying she heard a lot growing up, one that happened to be a favorite of her mother’s: “Much is required from those to whom much is given,” a passage that may be traced to the book of Luke in the New Testament.

“What that means to me is that if you are fortunate enough to be born into a good family and ����from a good education, you should Sheila Rice (right) spends Christmas with her sisters. pay back that debt to the society.”

Sheila internalized that sentiment as a call to community service, and community service “But I’m 24,” she told her mom. “If I go has been the unifying theme in her life. back now, I’ll be 28 before I graduate.”

But like many young people, she got off to “Well,” replied her mother, “How old a rocky start and found herself in a situation will y ou be in four y ears if y ou don’t go back common for many women: she was a single to college?”

So Sheila returned to school, earning a B.S. in Chemistry and graduating in 1974. She attended the local college, which in those days was called Univeristy of Great Falls, founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1932 (The school recently changed its name to The University of Providence, in honor of the sisters who founded it). She later earned an MBA at the University of Montana, and, more recently (2006), was awarded the opportunity to take classes at Harvard University in Community Development and Housing at the Kennedy School for Government.

Immediately upon graduating in 1974, Sheila started in earnest to pay back her debt to society: she went to work for a �����called Community Coordinated ChildCare—Four C’s for short—where she worked with preschoolage-childcare providers to improve day care offerings for women who were in the same situation she had been in.

In 1978, she began what was to become her ��� major career: she went to work in the marketing department of The Great Falls Gas Company, which is now called Energy West.

In the course of her 25 y ears at the gas company, she worked in a variety of areas, from marketing to management.

“When I left in 2003, I was President of the non-regulated energy part of the company ,” she says. And while she did not work directly with the chemistry side of gas development, she say s having a degree in chemistry was immensely bene�cial. “Having the background in chemistry taught me the ����” c method,” she says, “and that method of problem solving ������l in business.”

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In the meantime, Sheila entered politics, eventually serving two terms in the Montana Legislator for House District 33 (which has since succumbed to redistricting).

“I had always been active as a volunteer for the Democratic Party,” she says, “And in 1990, I ran for that open seat and won.”

She served in 1991 and 1993, which covered two regular sessions and three special sessions.

“I pride my self on having worked well across the aisle,” she reports. “We were able to pass legislation proving additional funds for low-income families in need of weatherization for their homes, and helped expand Aid for Dependent Children.” Sheila also carried the bill for state funding of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, now one of the central cultural attractions in Great Falls.

But eventually, she chose not to run for a third term. “I felt it was unfair to my employees for me to be away from the desk for four months at a time.” But her conciliatory approach to politics is remembered by many from those y ears, and has long counted both Democrats and Republicans as her close friends. “In these days of such partisanship, it is hard to get things accomplished,” she points out.

In 2003, she switched career paths. She announced her retirement form Energy West in 2003, but the call of community engagement wouldn’t let her rest for long.

“I retired on a Friday,” she says laughing, but I went back to work on Monday for Neighborhood Housing Services.” Now called NeighborWorks Great Falls, the organization is part of a national network called NeighborWorks America. “It was actually started by congress to address problems of blight and decay in urban areas,” she explains.

NeighborWorks Great Falls has a local board of directors, and Sheila points to the impressive resume of accomplishments the local agency has had on Great Falls.

“In my time at NeighborWorks, we’ve built 117 houses through our owner-built program and built or preserved over 216 apartments in the Great Falls area, both of which provide homes for low-income families.”

The owner-built program involves a comprehensive community effort in which 10 families work together to build ten houses, each family contributing 1400 hours of labor over the course of eleven months. No one gets to move into their house until all the units are completed.

She also guided NeighborWorks Great Falls’ entry into rental development, in response to a serious shortage of quality , affordable apartments. NeighborWorks helped in the development or renovation of 328 apartments and has another 124 on the drawing board.

In part for spearheading these efforts, Sheila won a lifetime achievement award at the Montana Housing Conference.

In addition to the “day jobs” she has held in community involvement, Sheila also has an impressive resume for her volunteer work. She continues to work as a political organizer and fundraiser for the Democratic Party, she serves on the board of directors for

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several national organizations, including the Neighborworks Rural Advisory Committee and the NeighborWorks Home Ownership Steering Committee, both of which require travel to Washington, D.C. “That part is especially nice, because I am able to regularly see my grandkids in Virginia,” she notes.

Locally, she serves on both the board of the Business Improvement District for Great Falls, and the Downtown Development Partnership.

She’s the second longest-serving Rotarian woman in the state, having been an active Rotary member since 1988, “Only Sheila Stearns, the acting President of the University of Montana has more time under her belt than I do as a woman Rotarian,” she laughs. She’s perhaps most proud of serving on the board right now of the Montana Budget and Policy Center, a sort of think tank that is nonpartisan and dedicated to ���� and studying data for making policy decisions.

“I’m all for basing policy on actual data, rather than politics,” Rice explains, clearly an echo of her �m grounding in the ��������� Though she just celebrated her 70 th birthday at a Great Falls Voy agers game this summer, and she’s once again on the brink of retiring from NeighborWorks, effective in February 2018.

Sheila manages to keep her calendar fully booked. In fact, when I called her for an interview, she asked to call me back in a few hours because she was on her way to give a presentation at the Great Falls Public Library on a recent trip she had taken to Tasmania through Rotary’s friendship exchange program.

“It’s a great cultural exchange,” she said.

“Rotarians from Montana travel there and stay in the homes of Rotarians from Tasmania, and a few months later, they send their people to come stay in the homes of Rotarians here. It’s a great international cultural exchange.”

Among the civic showcases of Great Falls’ local Rotary chapter is Camp Rotary in the Little Belt Mountains, where they host both Camp Sky Child, for children whose parents are in prison, and Camp Francis, which is spe��cally designed for children who have recently experienced the death of a family member.

While some of us lament what we see lately as civic apathy and a diminishing sense of community involvement, Sheila is optimistic and upbeat.

PAGE 79

“I actually see lots of ������ springing up in Great Falls and around Montana, and I meet lots of young people who are enthusiastic about wanting to give back to their community,” she said. “I see y oung professionals highly motivated to making Great Falls a better place.

I also see a lot of small business owners giving back to this community.”

She points to Andrew Gushausky , for example, who opened Cassiopeia Books on Central in Great Falls, where the Paperback Jungle used to be, and who hosts frequent readings and music events in the evenings.

“I saw he had donated a basket of books to a fundraiser I was at recently.”

What does the future hold for this civic dy namo? When asked about her second retirement, she laughs. “Well, after February, for six months, I plan to lie on my couch and do nothing but read and take naps.”

I think she laughed at that prospect because she probably knows, like the rest of the community, that six months is way too long for someone like Sheila to sit still. MSN

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MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

Travel

CRUISE•LEARN•RELAX•FLY•WONDER•NEW HORIZONS•CULTURE

Come Together: More Often, Vacation Means Time with Multiple Generations

By Treva Lind The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

(TNS) Exploring Europe this summer, 72-year-old Penny Moore of Spokane also will pack along three of four grandchildren.

A granddaughter, 22, will join two cousins, boy s ages 15 and 17, all going with Moore to see London, Paris, Rome, and sites. Moore, who travels through Corbin Senior Activity Center’s tours, is looking forward to a gondola ride for family in Venice and all of them attending a show.

“They’re all old enough to really enjoy this trip and gain quite a bit of knowledge from it,” said Moore, who added that another 19-year-old grandson couldn’t go because of a summer job.

“I want to give them an introduction to other countries, architecture, and languages,” Moore said. “Any time y ou take kids someplace, they spot some things y ou don’t really spot. They

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come home and they might do something with Betty Quayle, 78, is another Spokane resident that knowledge.” who has gone with relatives on a Mexico cruise, Moore is part of an expanding travel sector: and more recently to Sweden, Denmark and A growing number of people who invite extended Norway . A daughter, sister, and cousin have family to go to a tourist destination. Such traveled with her. experiences often For an upcoming include grandparents, trip, her sister from parents, kids, and Auburn will join her cousins enjoy ing in Spokane and they’ll travel together _ fly together to South sometimes on cruises, Dakota, then catch in tour groups, or a tour bus. Their at resorts. stops will include Trips with relYellowstone, Teton, atives can open up Bryce, Zion, and Grand relaxed time to visit, Canyon national parks, celebrate milestones ending in Nevada for a like anniversaries, and ������ carry home memories.

“Going with family “Multigenerational means y ou’re with travel is one of the somebody y ou know fastest-growing and you can depend on, trends in the travel and they can depend industry ,” said Ly nn on y ou,” Quay le said.

O’Rourke Hay es, ed“And it’s just more itor of Family travel. fun.” com. In 2014, 34 mil- A growing number of people invite extended family to go to Linda Crump, 76, a tourist destination.

Such experiences often include grandlion multigenerational has rafted the Spokane trips were taken in parents, parents, kids and cousins enjoying travel together. River twice with a Image by: Molly Quinn/The Spokesman-Review/TNS the U.S. and Canada, 13-year-old grandson. according to Roger A 2 2 -y e a r - o l d Brooks International, grandson went with ������������� her and family to Hawaii, and Crump is planning “It’s partly driven by the fact so many a river cruise soon with a granddaughter, nearly families have two-career couples. Families live 20. in four corners of the country, and sometimes “It’s important to do things with my in four corners of the world,” O’Rourke Hayes grandchildren and the rest of my family; how said. “They’re planning these destination trips much longer do I have?” said Crump, who will not only to visit with family , but oftentimes, go to Ireland this fall with her 48-y ear-old research shows it’s also driven by milestone daughter. Crump has traveled separately with moments, may be a 50th wedding anniversary two daughter-in-laws, one going with her to or a 70th birthday.”

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OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS “With each of my daughter-in-laws, I got to know them better on the trips. We really enjoy ed each other’s company , sitting on our deck, having a glass of wine, and just visiting.”

Molly Gruse and Gala Pay ne, AAA Washington managers with a Tacoma cruise and travel division, have noticed a ����� increase in multigenerational travel within the �������� “I’ve seen a trend in grandparents wanting to host an entire family on a vacation and really create those memories,” Gruse said. Sometimes, extended family members say they’re marking a celebration, and the trip might be a last chance for the most relatives to pull off such travel together.

Cruises remain a popular choice when the group has a wide range of ages, Payne said.

“With cruises, there are so many activities and entertainment for kids, adults and grandparents,” she said. “They can do the activities together or separately, and then come together for dinner.”

Disneyland and Disney World are popular with boomers traveling with y ounger generations, Pay ne said, or they work with Tauck, a tour operator that’s designed multigenerational

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trips to different destinations. Another AAA partner for such packages is Trafalgar Family Experiences, Gruse said.

“They have great itineraries designed for multigenerational families to all go on vacation together,” Gruse said. “Most of them are predesigned, but people have a number of options.”

O’Rourke Hayes described bonds built during trips involving her extended family , with her father sharing his passion for ����with the y ounger generation at the east end of Long Island and in northern Michigan.

HER TOP TIPS INCLUDE: Families should consider a destination that offers activities for all ages and with separate rooms so members can have adequate rest and some separate quiet times.

“It’s great to come up with a destination or vacation plan where there’s one central thing that is fun for everyone,” she said.

For example, the beach is a stop most ages enjoy. Vacations might include a dude ranch for a common love of horses, or a golf resort if that’s a favorite family activity. Historic and heritage tours are other options, such as taking the clan to Ireland or Sweden if ancestors are from there.

“Family bonds are really important, the

PAGE 81

shared history, and enabling the next generation to get together,” O’Rourke Hayes said. “Even if it’s playing board games or sitting on the beach and building sand castles, doing simple things; those are the times when the best conversations take place.”

TIPS FOR FAMILY TRAVEL Make multigenerational family travel go more smoothly, with hints from Lynn O’Rourke Hayes, Familytravel.com editor.

Unload or divide chores. If a trip involves the group preparing meals, plan a strategy so that chores don’t fall to one or two people. Perhaps go to a resort that’s all inclusive with meals, divide chores, or plan to have easier meals in a kitchenette while going out for dinners.

Unplug? Families should consider technology boundaries before travel time together.

“Sometimes cousins from Des Moines are big on watching R-rated movies, but the California cousins aren’t,” O’Rourke Hay es said. “For cellphone use, have some understanding. The whole idea is to get together for conversation, so maybe at meal time, technology gets tucked away.” (continued on pg 82)

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PAGE 82

MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017

(continued from pg 81) Balance “down time” and scheduled activities.

Considering group size, part of the fun can be in planning. Families can pass out assignments to do research and design itinerary ideas. “If you don’t have some plan, then the �st half of everyday is , ‘What do we do?’“ added O’Rourke Hayes. Consider ages and activity abilities, so perhaps choose an easier hike.

Come together, allow apart. Although the purpose is for families to visit, relatives need options for some time apart. Toddlers and seniors have needs for naps, early bedtimes or quiet, O’Rourke Hayes said. More hotels and resorts, recognizing travel trends, offer adjoining rooms or family studios with a common space and separate bedrooms. Grandparents might need a break from noise and toddlers.

“I always suggest accommodations in a location or in a way where everyone can have time to come together, and so that people can go back

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to a room and have some rest. In that regard, cruise ships and resorts are great.”

Plan sleep. Offer older travelers the better bed in a beach house rental that’s in a quiet corner. Travelers can inquire about a rental’s mattress quality. Think twice before letting cousins camp on the ���y “If people aren’t sleeping, they’re going to be extra cranky.”

Who pays for what. Some grandparents pay for vacations as a gift, but families splitting costs should discuss while planning how to do that equitably. “It’s important to be respectful of other people’s budget limitations in planning. Try to get people to agree in advance.” MSN

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(TNS) Whether y ou’re headed across time zones or just downstate, your normal response to move your bowels can get suppressed when you’re traveling.

“It’s the whole psychological thing of how regular are you and are you in a frame of mind to have that regular bowel movement,” said Dr. Michael Ruchim, associate chief medical ���� at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It’s something that’s talked about but “not welldescribed in literature with science behind it.”

Traveling can also disrupt sleep patterns, ���intake, and the amount of food y ou eat.

Add in the availability of public bathrooms and

OCTOBER // NOVEMBER 2017 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS

TRAVEL

PAGE 83

Photo by: Jonathan Rimmel

Sven & Ole were working for the city of Minneapolis.

Sven would dig a hole - he would dig, dig, dig. Ole would come along and fill the hole - fill, fill, fill. Sven and Ole worked furiously; one digging ����������������� in.

A man was watching from the sidewalk and couldn’t believe how hard these men were working, but couldn’t understand what they were doing. Finally he had to ask them.

He said to Sven the hole digger, “I appreciate how hard you work, but what are you doing?

You dig a hole and your partner comes along ��������������gain!”

Sven, hole digger replied, “Yeah, I suppose it does look funny, but Lars, da guy who plants da trees is sick today.” MSN

the reluctance some feel about using them, and this can lead to “stool retention and more ����� evacuation,” said Dr. Darren Brennen, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at Northwestern Medicine.

Long stretches of sitting can also contribute to the problem.

“Inactivity causes the whole digestive system to slow down,” said Bobby Edwards, creator of the Squatty Potty, a stool that promotes a different pooping posture. “Get some movement, and stay active. Use the hotel gym when you can. Those types of things really help.”

Luckily, most people don’t need to do much to remedy the issue. If you don’t have a history of constipation, the body should reset in a day or so, Ruchim said. Even skipping a few days is no cause for alarm.

But if y ou know missing y our morning movement will result in symptoms like bloating or nausea, Ruchim suggested some additional ways to prep: • Plane travel can lead to dehy dration, so drink more water and less alcohol.

• Make sure you get enough ���the ��� day, either by eating fruits and vegetables or by taking a ���supplement, such as Metamucil ������L • Pack stool softeners.

Make sure to heed your body’s call to action.

The longer y our stool sits in y our colon, the more water is extracted and the harder it gets, Brennen said.

“One of my solutions is go when you need to go,” said Edwards, “even if you don’t like the toilet situation.”

If you end up holding it for an extra day or so, it’s not the end of the world. A little water might get reabsorbed, but not enough to “change a soft banana into hard marbles,” Ruchim said. MSN

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