New Horizons Newspaper

A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging

August 2012 VOL. 37 • NO. 8

ENOA 4223 Center Street Omaha, NE 68105-2431

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389

New Horizons ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Gray

matters Leo Adam Biga profiles Ben and Freddie Gray. Ben is on the Omaha City Council while Freddie, his wife of 21 years, is president of the Omaha Public Schools Board.

See page 12.

Homecoming

Marketing

Ray Rickards enjoys a cup of coffee at the newly-remodeled Florence Senior Center.

Each Tuesday during the summer, Jesse Robert sells produce at the Corrigan Senior Center.

See page 8.

See page 18.

ENOA purchases new van for its Rural Transportation program

Tips to help you avoid injuries, stay safe while you’re swimming

M

Driver Tammy Nolan with ENOA’s new handicap-accessible van for Dodge County.

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he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging recently purchased a new handicap-accessible 2012 Dodge Caravan for the agency’s Rural Transportation Program in Dodge County.

Funded by a grant from the Nebraska Department of Roads, funds from Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties, and passenger fares, ENOA’s Rural Transportation Program offers affordable door-to-door one-way or round-trip rides for persons of any age to medical appointments, business appointments, shopping, and on scheduled days, trips to Omaha, Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, and to Lincoln.

The cost for the service – which is available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. – varies based on the distance traveled.

For more information or to schedule a ride, please call 888-210-1093 in Cass, Sarpy, and rural Douglas counties; 402-721-7770 in Dodge County; and 402-426-9614 in Washington County.

Law Offices of Charles E. Dorwart 26 years of legal experience • Wills • Living Trusts • Probate • Healthcare and Financial Powers of Attorney • In Home Consultations • Free Initial Consultation 440 Regency Parkway Drive • Suite 139 Omaha, NE 68114 Office: (402) 558-1404 • Fax: (402) 779-7498 Cdorwartjd@aol.com

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LEARN HOW TO:

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• Send and receive e-mails. today to see how we • Use Word, Excel, & PowerPoint. Call can tailor our services to • Use SKYPE for video-conferencing. meet your needs.

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Computer Club • Play games on the computer.

402-637-3935 • Shop, read publications, www.CohensComputerClub.com and watch videos online.

Cohen’s dmc@ieee.org

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ore than one million competitive and recreational athletes have made swimming one of the most popular fitness activities in the United States. It’s a low-impact exercise that’s less likely to cause injuries than many other activities making swimming ideal for older adults, pregnant women, and persons recovering from an injury.

More than one-third of swimmers practice and compete year round, and elite swimmers may swim more than five miles per day. This can put joints through extreme repetitive motion. That kind of regimen increases the swimmer’s risk of injury, according to Dr. Stuart Elkowitz of the Somers Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Group.

“With overuse comes fatigue and failure to adhere to proper stroke techniques which in turn can lead to injuries,” he says. “Most swimming injuries are to the shoulder, followed by the knee and neck. By following straightforward tips, most of these injuries can be avoided.”

Swimmers shoulder is the most common injury among swimmers. It’s an injury of the shoulder’s muscles and tendons due to overuse or poor swimming techniques.

It manifests itself as pain or inflammation.

“Swimmers, like athletes who throw a lot, put a great deal of stress on their shoulders, sometimes logging thousands of yards in a pool each day and using the shoulder as many as 2,000 times in a 5.8 mile workout,” says Dr. Elkowitz.

In fact, more shoulder injuries are reported among swimmers than baseball pitchers.

Swimmers shoulder is most often associated with the freestyle stroke, the butterfly stroke, and the backstroke. Specific injuries may include rotator cuff impingement – pressure on the rotator cuff from part of the shoulder blade or scapula as the arm is lifted –bicep tendinitis; a painful inflammation of the bicep-tendon; and shoulder instability, in which structures that surround the shoulder joint don’t work to maintain the ball within the socket.

“The most important factor in avoiding shoulder in-

August 2012

jury is to swim with correct technique,” says Dr. Elkowitz. “A qualified swimming professional or experienced swimmer can assess your stroke and highlight mistakes. You should never over-train or train with tired muscles, as this means the stabilizing muscles of the shoulder won’t work correctly and the shoulder is more likely to be injured.

Also, avoid sudden increases in the number or intensity of workouts.”

Swimmer’s knee is an injury generated by the stroke mechanics of the breaststroke kick. When the legs extend, then are brought back together during the propulsive phase of the kick, the knee is subject to abnormal external rotation which puts stress on the inner ligament of the knee (the medial collateral ligament) and the hip.

“To avoid breaststroke knee, alternate swimming strokes and have rest periods during the year when you don’t swim the breaststroke,” says Dr. Elkowitz.

“Warming up and stretching before a swim session is important. Exercises for the hamstring and quadriceps will strengthen the legs.”

Swimming-related neck injuries are usually caused by incorrect technique. The neck is very mobile and precautions must be taken to avoid muscle strain from overuse.

“When swimming the freestyle stroke, avoid over-

rotation when lifting the head to inhale,” says Dr. Elkowitz. “Rotate the body more so the head remains aligned with the body when clearing the water.

“When swimming the breaststroke or butterfly stroke, keep the head aligned with the spine at all times,” Dr. Elkowitz continues. “In the backstroke, increase swim times gradually so the anterior muscles have time to adapt.”

Dr. Elkowitz provides these additional common sense tips to ensure safety in the water: • Do not swim alone.

• Do not swim when tired.

• Perform core strengthening and cross training exercises before swim season.

• Warm up and stretch before swimming. Cool down and stretch after swimming.

• When swimming in open water, make sure the water is free of undercurrents and other hazards.

• Do not run in the pool area.

• Do not dive in shallow water.

“Swimming is a healthful activity that works most of the muscles in the body, especially if you do a variety of strokes,” says Dr. Elkowitz. “It can develop general strength, cardiovascular fitness, and endurance. If you avoid over-training and use proper technique in the water, you can enjoy swimming for a lifetime.”

(MCPR Public Relations provided this information.)

Foot care, blood pressure checks among services available at clinics operated by Interim Health Care

O

lder adults in Douglas, Sarpy, and Dodge counties wanting preventive health care including foot care, toenail trimming, blood pressure, pulse, and/or weight monitoring are encouraged to visit one of the health maintenance clinics listed below operated by Interim Health Care.

Older men and women visiting any of

the Interim sites can also have their Medisets filled, their insulin syringes prepared, and/or be referred to a physician.

For $10, an older adult visiting the health maintenance clinics can receive any or all of the following services: foot care (including toenail trimmning), blood pressure, pulse, and weight monitoring.

The Mediset fillings, insulin syringe preparations, and physician referrals are $5 per service.

DOUGLAS COUNTY

St. Andrews United Methodist Church 15050 W. Maple Rd. Second & fourth Tuesday 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

Dundee Presbyterian Church 5312 Underwood Ave. Tuesday & Thursday 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

SARPY COUNTY

Ralston Senior Center 7301 Q St. First Wednesday 9 to 11:30 a.m.

Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

St. James Methodist Church 1501 Franklin St. Bellevue Monday, Wednesday, & Friday 9 a.m. to noon Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

Salvation Army Durham Booth Manor 923 N. 38th St. Wednesday Noon to 3 p.m.

Friday 9 a.m. to noon Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

Papillion Senior Center 1001 Limerick Rd. First and third Wednesday 10 a.m. to noon Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

Walnut Grove Independent Living 4901 N. 153rd St. First Friday 9 a.m. to noon Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

Fremont Friendship Center 1730 W. 16th St. First three Tuesdays 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Call Interim Health Care at 402-392-1818 for an appointment.

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New Horizons New Horizons Newspaper Consumer Reports’ study examines Americans, their use of toilet paper Regardless if a person likes their toilet paper to hang over the roll or under, or if they are a “wadder” or a “folder,” Consumer Reports has done a study on toilet paper and Americans’ use of the product.

The top 25 toilet paper brands were subjected to specially trained sensory panelists and an extensive battery of tests grading on softness, absorbency, value, and strength.

Here are some toilet paper fun facts: • Seventy-two percent of people hang toilet paper with the first sheet going over the roll. Twenty-eight percent prefer to hang the first sheet under the roll.

• When it comes to toilet paper, women are more apt to be grabbers and wadders, while men tend to be folders.

• Forty percent are folders and stackers, 40 percent are wadders, and 20 percent are wrappers.

• Americans listed toilet paper as their number one necessity (even before food) if stranded on a deserted island.

(Consumer Reports® is the publication of the nonprofit Consumers Union and since 1936 has been publishing unbiased ratings and reviews of household products. Its website is www.consumerreports.org.)

Eighth anniversary celebration Sept. 12 at Orchard Gardens You’re invited to attend the eighth anniversary celebration at Orchard Gardens Assisted Living, 1006 S. Mayne St. in Valley on Wednesday, Sept. 12 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Orchard Gardens is owned and managed by the Douglas County Housing Authority.

The festivities will include the work of local artists of all ages, musical entertainment, a farmers’ market selling roasted sweet corn, a dunk tank, and a watermelon feed.

For more information, call Paula at 402-359-4604.

New Horizons is the official publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. The paper is distributed free to people over age 60 in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Washington, and Cass counties. Those living outside the 5-county region may subscribe for $5 annually.

Address all correspondence to: Jeff Reinhardt, Editor, 4223 Center Street, Omaha, NE 68105-2431.

Phone 402-444-6654. FAX 402-444-3076.

E-mail: jeff.reinhardt@nebraska.gov Advertisements appearing in New Horizons do not imply endorsement of the advertiser by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. However, complaints about advertisers will be reviewed and, if warranted, their advertising discontinued. Display and insert advertising rates available on request. Open rates are commissionable, with discounts for extended runs. Circulation is 20,000 through direct mail and freehand distribution.

Editor..............................................Jeff Reinhardt Ad Mgr................Mitch Laudenback, 402-444-4148 Contributing Writers......Nick Schinker, Leo Biga, Barc Wade, & Lois Friedman Fremont Delivery.........................Dick Longstein ENOA Board of Governors: Mary Ann Borgeson, Douglas County, chairperson; Ron Nolte, Cass County, vice-chairperson; Bob Missel, Dodge County, secretary; Jim Warren, Sarpy County, & Jerry Kruse, Washington County.

The New Horizons and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging provide services without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, or age.

August 2012

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Local trails provide great places to walk, view nature

By Barc Wade

don’t know what you’re missing.

Contributing Writer The wonderland is hard to imagine while skimming down the streets in ong before there was a your car at 25 m.p.h. or more. You Keystone Pipeline propass over the Papio Creek bridges posal, there was the Omaha not knowing down below mink and metro area Keystone Hikmuskrats may be busy home building Trail. Similar name. No contro- ing, while ducks are tending nests versy. and turkeys are strutting, all within It stretched only three miles sight of walkers. when it opened near Fort and 90th Or you may whiz down north 30th streets in 1990. Today the Keystone Street oblivious to the walking trail Trail extends 24 miles south to the that wanders through Fort Omaha, outskirts of Offutt Air Force Base exposing buildings constructed in Sarpy County. The trail prides during the days of Indian uprisings, itself on being the forerunner of General Crook’s headquarters, the 150 miles of Omaha-area trails that post exchange and guardhouse, corprovide recreation and fitness chalrals, stables, parade grounds, and lenges for health-conscious metro even the spot where the military area citizens. trained to use observation balloons While the Omaha area is quite during World War I. hilly, many of the trails are flat and easy to negotiate for older adults Loess Hills hikers tested and those with limited mobility. by hills and forests Parking lots provide access to all these trails. s you cross the Interstate While most often referred to as 480 bridge to Council “walking trails,” they also accomBluffs you near the startmodate joggers, bicyclists, roller ing point of the Wabash skaters, and cross-country skiers.

Trace Nature Trail that wanders Many dedicated walkers navigate through the beautiful Loess Hills their neighborhood streets, while National Scenic Byway to the Misothers opt for indoor venues like souri border. fitness clubs or shopping centers.

Or you can cross the Missouri While these walks are good for River via the Bob Kerry Pedestrian health purposes, many find the daily Bridge that connects with the Iowa routine boring. Definitely not boring Riverfront Trail that leads to the are the metro area trails where wild- National Historic Trails Center near life can be your companions. The the Interstate 80 bridge. changing seasons, which can be the Get a copy of a Metro Area Trails paintbrush to your daily life, and the Map and you’ll quickly note the exfellow trail users are often like long- isting 150 miles are just the begintime friends offering cheery hellos. ning. Proposed new trails will close Eighty percent of the cost was gaps or extend existing trails. funded by from federal enhanceIn the works is a trail that will ment dollars that were funneled completely circle Glenn Cunningthrough the Nebraska Department ham Lake in northwest Omaha. of Roads. Added support came Having just undergone a massive from the cities of Omaha, Council rehabilitation and expansion of Bluffs, Bellevue, and Papillion, plus recreational facilities, the popular the Papio-Missouri River Natural fishing/boating impoundment will Resources District. add walkers to its popularity, taking No matter where you live in them from wetlands to wide open metro Omaha, there’s a trail nearby. spaces, from the face of the dam Twelve of them thread their way by to quiet coves. There are walking lakes, creeks, parks, prairie land, paths along the lake’s edge, but the historical landmarks, and havens for complete circling is waiting for adwildlife. You can even expand your ditional funding. horizons and walk or bike to LinAlso in the works is a trail that coln or the Missouri state border. hugs the historic Old Lincoln HighBest of all, with one exception, way, one of a few existing original the trails are free to users if they’re stretches of the nation’s first transwilling to invest their time and a continental highway. The preserved pair of good walking shoes to find brick roadway begins just north of their way to good health. Hardy fit- Village Pointe at 168th Street and ness buffs can even hit the trails all extends to near downtown Elkhorn.

12 months of the year.

Sure to be popular will be the Why walk? Studies confirm that extension of the West Papio Trail adults age 50 and beyond are 35 from Lake Zorinsky to Seymour percent less likely to die in the next Smith Park in Sarpy County. The eight years than those that are sedpath will be on the edge of the creek entary. For people with heart probproviding ample glimpses of wildlems due to diabetes, high blood life and ever-changing scenery. pressure, or smoking, the reduction Many serious walkers belong to is 45 percent. walking clubs. The Omaha Walking For all, walking improves circula- Club – established in 1919 – prides tion, helps breathing, combats deitself as being the oldest. pression, bolsters immune systems, The organization maintains a helps prevent osteoporosis, helps clubhouse in Fontenelle Forest prevent and control diabetes, and where meetings are held to plan controls weight. walking expeditions. Nine spring If you haven’t tried the trails you 2012 walks took club members to

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August 2012

various sites within the city and two expeditions to Nebraska City--one that explored the area surrounding the Lied Lodge, the other immersed in the beauty of the town’s Lilac Trail from its starting point at Arbor Lodge.

A walking club brochure dispels the notion it caters just to older people, noting most walks attract a wide range of ages, from oldsters to young kids. But for older members who can’t walk like they used to, “x-walkers” often gather around the clubhouse wood stove on Sundays to play cards and games.

For information about the club visit www.omahawalkingclub.org.

For walk descriptions and times, call Sandy Murdock at 402-6619133.

Similar organizations include the Omaha Zoo Walking Club, the Omaha Hiking Club, the +50 Walking Club and Stroller Walking Club at Lauritzen Gardens, Heart and Sole at the Westroads Mall, and the Nebraska Wanderfruende Trailblazers Popular because of its historic origin is the Volksmarch Club, which is patterned after those in Europe.

Rather than concentrating on walking the established trails, they’re more likely to plot their own routes.

When I talked to Club President Butch Spalding of Council Bluffs in early April, he was looking forward to the next event, a tour that explored downtown Omaha from the ConAgra complex to the TD Ameritrade baseball stadium.

Other walks have begun at AkSarBen Village and on to Elmwood Park, passing by plaque-marked historic events from the city’s past, such as the site of hangars used in the early days of U.S. airmail service. It was there airmail service between Omaha and Chicago began on May 5, 1921 and expanded to coast-to-coast delivery in 1924.

Volksmarching from Omaha to Europe

S

palding notes there are about 100 Volksmarchers in the Omaha metro area and they’re part of more than 10,000 nationwide. Local clubs welcome each other to their special events wherever they might be.

Marchers aren’t limited solely to walks in the U.S. The Spaldings and some friends were soon to be one their way to Europe with hiking on their agenda.

Besides obtaining a copy of the Trails Map, consider buying a copy of Best Easy Day Hikes/Lincoln and Omaha by Michael Ream at local bookstores and libraries.

The book excels at providing an almost mile-by-mile description of nine metro trails. It emphasizes the degree of difficulty for each trail, details the walking surface (most are paved), and describes the scenic highlights along the way.

The book’s description of the Schramm Park Trail clearly marks it

as one of the most scenic and wildlife havens in the metro area. While it’s one of the most challenging to walk, its rewards are great.

The author notes finding wild rose, grapes, and gooseberry; large growths of burr oaks, linden, and red cedar; paths along a creek, and at times within view of the Platte River. There’s all this and abundant wildlife, too.

A walk along this trail is made even more exciting when you pick up a brochure at the Schramm Aquarian that describes the plants and trees along the way.

Among the more scenic local walkways are those at Fontenelle Forest, the Fort Atkinson Nature Trail at Fort Calhoun, and the Wabash Trace starting from Council Bluffs.

For hikers looking for a grueling challenge, but with great rewards, the book features the Indian Cave State Park Trail, in far southeastern Nebraska near Brownville. The trail starts near the banks of the Missouri River and climbs through thick forests, spring-fed creeks, up steep bluffs, through wildflower filled meadows, and on to Indian Cave where petro graphs created 1,500 hundred years ago depict the life of nomadic Indians who once lived here.

Relatively “flat” walkways in the Omaha area with historic overtones include the Boulevard Trail that wanders through Elmwood Park, by stately homes along Happy Hollow Boulevard, and through the famous Aksarben property. The trail features historic markers in sight all along the way. The Field Club Trail stretches all the way from the University of Nebraska Medical Center through the charming turn-of-the century homes in the Field Club, by the city’s most famous golf course, and ends at the once-upon-a-time Union Stockyards, once the largest in the world.

Enhancing many of your hiking experiences are the markers that guide walkers all along the way. Put in place by 11 Omaha Rotary Clubs in 2005 to commemorate their 100th birthday, the five-inch round markers are placed every tenth of a mile noting the trail name, trail designation for 911 emergency use, mileage, and directional designation.

The Metro Area Trails Map also stresses trail etiquette, urging users to practice such good manners as respecting the rights of property owners, keeping dogs on leash, calling on bicyclers and skaters to audibly warn walkers of their approach, practice safe speeds, and other good tips.

The map also calls attention to the Lied Platte River Bridge, described as “one of the most scenic views found anywhere in Nebraska.”

Funding from the Lied Foundation made it possible to revitalize an abandoned railroad crossing, turning it into a recreational trail that measures 1.5 miles counting --Please turn to page 5.

Read it & eat

By Lois Friedman readitandeat@yahoo.com

Recipes for summer cooking Enjoy the pleasures of summer, backyard grilling, farmers’ markets, and more...

Betty Crocker Cooking for Two AARP (Wiley, $19.99) Betty and AARP have teamed up for more than 130 recipes with nutritional data in eight chapters including Where to Start, Mini-Meals, On the Go Snacks, and Indulgent Desserts.

Gorgeous Vegetables

By Annie Bell (Kyle, $19.95) This is one gorgeous large format cookbook with beautiful color photographs that celebrates vegetables. More than 100 recipes with a “yummy factor” for dips, roasted veggies, gratins, salads, and more.

Salumi

By M. Ruhlman & B. Polcyn (Norton, $39.95) Everything you need to know about the Italian craft of dry curing meats. Techniques and more than 100 recipes using dried meats. From Aioli to Zampone, described as “one of the coolest pig dishes ever created.”

Slow Fire

By Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe (Chronicle, $22.95) “Dr. BBQ” walks you through the basics for juicy, smoky, fall-off-the bone meaty goodness. More than 60 recipes and secrets galore. You’re advised to hide the bottle of secret ingredient for this sauce recipe. Let ‘em guess what the magic ingredient is.

Dr. Pepper Barbecue Sauce (makes about 2 1/4 cups)

1 quart Dr. Pepper 1 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried grated orange peel

Give your plants’ natural defenses a boost

By Melinda Myers Don’t let summer stressors ruin your landscape’s good looks. Instead give your plants’ natural defenses a boost and keep both vegetable gardens producing and flowers blooming.

Busy summer schedules can lead to plant neglect and less-than-picture-perfect gardens. When you team this with summer heat and drought that can lead to wilting, brown leaves, and poor growth, and add insects and diseases that can further weaken and damage plants, gardens can really suffer.

An exciting new organic tool for gardeners is now available to help. Plant strengtheners, like JAZ sprays help boost plants’ natural defenses so they are better able to deal with environmental stress, neglect, as well as insects and disease attacks.

Scientists found when plants experienced stress from drought, temperature extremes, insects, or diseases they produced certain molecules that activated their natural defenses. They isolated these molecules, applied them to other plants, and found the treated plants were better able to tolerate stress.

Plant strengtheners contain such molecules that

increase natural defenses in plants. One such family of molecules is the jasmonates, originally identified in the jasmine plant that increases hundreds of natural defense molecules in treated plants. Some of the natural defenses make the plants more resistant to pathogens and others help reduce damage from drought, heat, and salt.

While proper care can help increase a plant’s natural defenses, plant strengtheners give them an extra boost to help plants thrive even during periods of environmental stress. These organic products act like vitamins or immunizations, helping plants deal with extreme and often unpredictable weather, pest, and disease challenges.

You can even keep healthy plants performing their best by proactively

using a plant strengthener.

By doing so, you’ll boost a plant’s immune system before environmental stresses hit and ultimately help it thrive as it faces serious challenges throughout the remainder of the season. It’s a great way to protect plants before they become threatened.

Make sure to give your plants proper care throughout their lifetime. Water thoroughly and as needed. Then mulch the soil surrounding your plants with shredded leaves, evergreen needles, or other organic materials. These conserve moisture, keep roots cool and moist, suppress weeds, and improve the soil as they break down.

If your plants experience the same problems each year, it’s time to make a change. Move stressed plants to more suitable growing conditions. Match the plant to the light, soil, and moisture it prefers. Replace diseased plants with resistant varieties and provide proper care.

By taking these steps and investing a bit of time and energy you’ll be sure to create a beautiful, healthy, and productive landscape.

(Myers is a nationally known gardening expert, TV/radio host, author, and columnist.)

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the Dr. Pepper to a fast simmer. Cook until the Dr. Pepper is reduced to one cup, about 25 minutes. Add the ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, and orange peel. Mix well and return to a simmer. Lower the heat and cook at a low simmer for five minutes, stirring often, until well blended and thickened. Remove from the heat and serve or cool and store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Walking trails...

--Continued from page 4. connecting trails on both sides of the river. It is located off State Highway 31 that connects with State Highway 50 four miles south of Springfield.

The bottom line is if you love and appreciate the outdoors, think of it as your gym or workout room where walking trails bring you face-to-face with nature’s ever changing best while on your way to better health and a longer life. And it’s all free.

Expires soon.

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August 2012

“Lowest prices on the latest technology guaranteed.”

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Page 5

PROTECT YOURSELF Prepare for autumn when spiders Against the West Nile Virus may begin invading your home Carol McNulty

• Be especially careful at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.

• Use mosquito repellent containing DEET. • Remove standing water.

• Use larvicides to animal drinking troughs and ponds.

• Fix windows and door screens.

• Clean out rain gutters.

This message is brought to you by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. www.hhs.state.ne.gov/wnv

Fontenelle Tours Omaha/Council Bluffs: 712-366-9596

Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy. For more information about our tours, please call Ward or Kathy Kinney at Fontenelle Tours at the numbers listed above.

2013 Discover Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria. September 11 – 20, 2013. Fly with us – Ward and Kathy – round trip from Eppley Airfield to the beautiful countryside of Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria with four-night stays in two cities---Bern, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria. With our Collette Vacations tour guide, we’ll explore the city of Bern, travel the shores of Lake Geneva to the medieval Chateau de Chillon, enjoy a panoramic train ride through the Swiss Alps to an Alpine ski resort, visit Lucerne, the “Swiss Paradise on the Lake,” in Salzburg see the Mirabell Gardens (from the “Sound of Music”) and Mozart’s birthplace, visit Oberammergau, see a Tyrolean folklore show, and dine in a 1200-year-old restaurant owned by Monks. (A special travel presentation for this trip will be held on September 13, 2012, at 6 p.m. at St. Roberts Church, 11900 Pacific Street in Omaha. Early booking saves $250 per person.)

2012 Motorcoach Nebraska State Fair & “Chances R.” August 24. $99. Check out the fair’s new location in Grand Island! Besides mouth-watering food, free entertainment, contests, competitions, parades, and just plain fun, enjoy dinner at “Chances R” in York on the way home. We will also arrange for (we’ll pick it up, have it on the bus, and return it) rental of a scooter for the day.

Chicago and the Cubs. August 28 – 31. $699. Take a tour of Wrigley Field, see Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers afternoon game, Chicago highlights tour, Adler Planetarium, Food Tour, Willis Tower, Tommy Gun’s Garage dinner theater, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, dinner cruise on Lake Michigan, and much more!

Nebraska Junk Jaunt. September 28 – 29. $245. Come along on our fourth annual “Junk Jaunt” covering more than 220 miles in central Nebraska. Participating towns have city-wide garage, yard, and bake sales. Two full days of treasure hunting!

Follow the Rails Art Trail. October 19 – 21. $439. Join us and a step-on guide for this annual event to discover local art and artists in 11 communities along Highway 2 beginning in Grand Island. Enjoy stops such as Nebraska National Forest, Carhenge, Stuhr Museum, and the Secret Garden. Visit art galleries, attend workshops and demonstrations, and learn about the railroad as we travel through the Sandhills. Purchase paintings, pottery, sculptures, and drawings along the way!

Daniel O’Donnell in Branson. November 14 - 17. $689. “Daniel O’Donnell,” “SIX, The Knudsen Brothers,” “Joseph” at the Sight & Sound Theater, “Chubby Checker,” “Gatlin Brothers with Debby Boone,” and the “Brett Family.” A total of six great shows! Stone Castle Hotel with hot breakfast buffet each morning, comfortable Arrow Stage Lines Motorcoach, seven delicious meals and plenty of time for exploring the shops in Branson! (Call for availability!)

Kansas City Christmas. December 4 - 5. $289. Enjoy a special holiday luncheon at the Webster House, the American Heartland Theater’s performance of “Nuncrackers, The Nunsense Christmas Musical,” New Theater Restaurant buffet luncheon and “The Game’s `Afoot” performance starring Marion Ross from “Happy Days,” lodging at the Drury, and more holiday surprises!

Partnership with Collette Vacations (Let us help you find a Collette Vacation to your special destination when YOU want to go. Collette offers trips to numerous destinations both within the United States and throughout the world. Each trip is offered on many different dates throughout the year. Call us for further information.)

This autumn when the weather starts to get colder, spiders will attempt to get inside buildings, homes, and other structures.

Besides being a nuisance, spiders also can be harmful.

Extension educator Barb Ogg, Ph.D., says there are about 2,000 kinds of spiders in the United States. Of these, only a few species are considered to have bites of medical importance.

Spiders are often blamed for many more bites than they actually commit.

Most people get bitten because they’re cleaning an area that hasn’t been cleaned for a long time and they disturb a spider’s web or nest.

Although only a few spiders are toxic or cause allergic reactions, if someone is bitten, it can be important to save the spider for identification purposes.

Unlike the majority of spiders, black widow and brown recluse spiders are of concern because their venom contains toxins that can cause medical problems.

The female black widow spider constructs an irregular, tangled, crisscrossed web of coarse silk in an undisturbed place.

The venom contained by a black widow spider is even more toxic to humans than the venom of a rattlesnake. Fortunately the dosage injected from the bite is very small.

Ogg says the common symptoms when bitten by a black widow spider are elevated blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, and difficulty in breathing. Profuse perspiration may occur in severe cases. Symptoms usually diminish within several hours and are gone after several days. Specific medications can be given by a physician that will reduce pain and reduce muscle spasms.

The brown recluse spider constructs an irregular web outdoors and indoors in undisturbed dry locations such as basements, garages, closets, and farm buildings. Brown recluse spiders tend to hide out in seldomused clothing hanging in dark closets, in boxes of magazines, papers and other stored items, on the underside of furniture, in cracks and spaces around baseboards, around window and door facings, and in dark cellars and garages.

Most victims are bitten after they put on clothes stored in a secluded closet or clothes that have been lying on the floors.

Bites also can occur when cleaning closets or storage areas. Ogg says initially, there may be little or no pain from a brown HorizonAD-2010:HorizonAD-08 2/4/10 8:00 AM recluse spider bite, but, over the course

of several hours, an intense localized pain develops followed by inflammation of the area. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to alleviate pain and speed healing of the ulcerated tissue.

A consistent presence of spiders in structures may be a sign of insect infestation because spiders cannot survive long without food. Reducing insect infestations also will decrease spiders.

If you’re concerned about spiders inside your home, place sticky glue boards in the rooms where you’re seeing spiders, especially on outside walls and in closets.

Habitat modification is the most important tactic for good spider control. Whether indoors or outdoors, most spiders prefer undisturbed areas. Outdoors, remove debris near the building to disturb the habitat.

Also remove webs in outdoor areas, especially porches, under eaves, and other likely breeding places around the home. Inside, clutter in garages, basements, closets, and other storage areas should be removed.

Be sure to dust and vacuum frequently around windows, corner rooms, shelves, under furniture, behind mirrors, and pictures. If you see sac spider capsules, remove them. It’s a good idea to wear gloves when cleaning. Because most spiders enter houses through small cracks and crevices, sealing entry points with caulk will be the most permanent solution to spiders wandering inside in the late summer and early fall.

Ogg says if you’re concerned about spiders inside your home, place sticky glue boards in the rooms where you’re seeing spiders, especially on outside walls and in closets. Take captured spiders to someone who can identify them. Check with your local extension office. If you have an infestation of brown recluse spiders, you may want to work with a licensed pest control company - one who has experience treating structures for brown recluse infestations.

For more information on insect control visit http://douglas-sarpy.unl.edu.

(McNulty is an educator with the University of Nebraska cooperative extension Page 1 office in Douglas and Sarpy counties.)

San Francisco with Lake Tahoe. August 23 - 29. Enjoy a sightseeing tour of San Francisco with the Twin Peaks, Seal Rocks, and Golden Gate Bridge, visit Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square, ride a cable car, visit the wineries of Sonoma Valley, Monterey, Pebble Beach, the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the old west town of Virginia City, and spend two nights at the Montbleu Resort & Spa in Lake Tahoe including a cruise on beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Greece and its Islands. September 23 – October 6. See the Acropolis, Royal Palace, and Olympic Stadium in Athens, visit Thermopylae, Kalambaka, remote monastaries in Meteora, the ski resort town of Arachova, Delphi, tour Olympia where the first Olympic games were held, visit the excavations at Mycenae, ferry across the Aegean Sea to Mykonos, sail to the island of Santorini, see vineyards, whitewashed chapels, volcanic cliffs, mountains and valleys in this beautiful country.

Alpine Christmas. December 4 - 11. Explore the Christmas markets of Austria and southern Bavaria. Stay in the Austrian Alps in same hotel for the entire trip! Tour Innsbruck, visit Munich, Oberammergau, Salzburg, and much more.

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Page 6

Attorneys at Law

August 2012

RSVP

House Charities needs a receptionist and an operations volunteer.

• The Omaha Home for Retired and Boys is looking for volunSenior teer mentors.

• Omaha Serves needs Volunteer Program volunteers to help with disaster recovery.

The Retired and Senior • Pathways to CompasVolunteer Program is resion Hospice needs voluncruiting persons age 55 and teers for a variety of duties. older for a variety of oppor• The Omaha Children’s tunities. For more informa- Museum wants a volunteer tion in Douglas, Sarpy, and member check-in assistant.

Cass counties, please call • Pathfinder House is 402-444-6558, ext. 224. looking for volunteers for In Dodge and Washington movie nights, a walking counties, please call 402club, and to socialize with 721-7780. residents.

The following have • The Heartland Council volunteer opportunities in for Helping Hands wants Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass volunteers to help woth its counties: Hug a Bear Project.

• Mount View Elemen• Keep Omaha Beautitary School wants a Team- ful needs volunteers to help Mates mentor. with yard cleaning projects • Alegent Health Ber(not lawn mowing) for older gan Mercy Hospital needs adults and persons with a volunteers for its informadisability. tion desks and as patient and The following have volunfamily escorts. teer opportunities in Dodge • Boys Town wants voland Washington counties: unteer mentors and a volun• The Blair and Fremont teer office assistant.

Car-Go Programs needs • The Disabled Amerivolunteer drivers. can Veterans need volun• The Fremont Friendteer drivers. ship Center needs help with • The Ronald McDonald its Tuesday Supper Club.

• The Pathfinder House in Fremont wants volunteers for its Sit n’ Fit program, movie nights, and its walking club.

• The Fremont Area Medical Center is looking for volunteers for its information desk on weekends and to help out evenings at the A.J. Merick Manor.

• The Danish American Archive and Library in Blair needs volunteers for a variety of assignments.

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AARP’s educator appreciation promotion offers discount for its driver safety program AARP is offering individuals age 50 and older that work or who have worked in a school environment an opportunity to enroll in its driver safety program for $5 during August. That’s a savings of as much as $9 for each participant in this four-hour class that reviews and teaches proven driving safety strategies.

Participants may include but are not limited to teachers and support staff (i.e. drivers, nurses, cooks, janitors, and secretaries). Church, pre-school, and home school educators are also eligible to receive this special rate.

There are no tests or exams and participants may qualify for a discount on their auto insurance.

Here’s the class schedule: Saturday, Aug. 11 1 to 5 p.m.

AARP Information Center 1941 S. 42nd St. Call 402-398-9568 to register

Thursday, Aug. 16 Noonn to 4 p.m.

New Cassel Retirement Center 900 N. 90th St. Call 402-398-9568 to register.

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New Horizons

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Page 7

Here are some causes, solutions for problems with sensitive teeth

Florence Senior Center reopens after remodeling project

Whether you’re taking a sip of your hot morning coffee, or having a bite of a delicious ice cream sundae, nothing is more irritating than having to refrain from savoring your guilty pleasure due to a shooting pain in your teeth. This sensation – known as tooth sensitivity – is triggered by hot, cold, sweet, or sour foods and drinks, or by breathing in cold air. The pain can be sharp and sudden, and shoot deep into the nerve endings of your teeth.

The discomfort you’re feeling is an indication that the dentin in your teeth is exposed. When the dentin loses its protective covering, heat, cold, and acidic or sticky foods stimulate the nerves and cells inside the tooth, causing hypersensitivity and discomfort.

Among the recent visitors to the Florence Senior Center were (from left:) Betty Kurtz, Don Gearhart, Jeannie Case, and Joyce Peterson.

At times, eating ice cream can cause sharp sudden pain in your teeth.

The sensation felt in these circumstances is uncomfortable. Once you understand what causes the sensitivity, however, there are simple ways to ease the pain.

There are several causes for tooth sensitivity including: • Brushing too hard. Over time, brushing too strenuously or using a hard-bristled toothbrush can wear down enamel and cause the dentin to be exposed.

• Recession of the gums. When the gums move away from a tooth and the root surface becomes exposed, teeth become more sensitive.

• Teeth and tooth enamel. Cavities and fractured teeth can cause sensitivity, as can worn down tooth enamel and cracked teeth.

• Teeth whitening products. Teeth whitening products can be major contributors to sensitive teeth.

• Plaque. Teeth become more susceptible to sensitivity when plaque is present on the root surfaces.

• Acidic foods and beverages. Regular consumption of foods with a high acid content, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, pickles, and tea, can cause enamel erosion. Sports drinks, energy drinks, and colas can also cause a higher risk of cavities and erosion to those who consume them due to their acidity and sugar content.

There are several solutions to sensitive teeth such as: • Maintain oral hygiene. Proper oral hygiene is the key to preventing the pain associated with sensitive teeth and receding gums. Follow proper brushing and flossing techniques to thoroughly clean all parts of your teeth and mouth.

• Use a sensitive toothbrush. Arm & Hammer’s Spinbrush Pro Sensitive is the first battery-powered toothbrush specifically designed for sensitive teeth and gums. The exclusive soft flex bristles are longer and more flexible to access hard to reach areas for a thorough clean. The “Gum Guard” is a specially designed motor for a gentler clean.

The Pro Sensitive toothbrush provides a great option for sensitive teeth and gums at a sensible price.

• Use a sensitive toothpaste. Arm & Hammer’s Sensitive Toothpaste helps reduce painful tooth sensitivity and is 40 percent more gentle to exposed roots versus a leading sensitive whitening toothpaste. It is clinically proven safe and effective to use every day for a clean, white, healthy smile.

Adopting good oral hygiene habits and selecting products that can help prevent the pain associated with tooth sensitivity will allow you to indulge in that cup of coffee or ice cream sundae without discomfort in your teeth or gums.

Learn more about products to help with sensitivity at www. armandhammer.com.

(Family Features provided this information.)

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New Horizons

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A

fter being away for nearly four months due to a remodeling project at the Florence Community Center – 2920 Bondesson St. – participants at the Florence Senior Center returned to the north Omaha facility on Monday, June 25.

During the reconstruction, the Florence Senior participants attended the Camelot Community Center, 9270 Cady Ave. The time spent at Camelot went real well for the participants, according to Florence Senior Center manager Amy Bench. “They met some old friends and they made some new friends,” she said.

The remodeled Florence site includes new furniture, lighting, and flooring as well as new restrooms. A new refrigerator, dishwasher, and microwave oven will be installed in the kitchen.

The improvements are appreciated by the men and women who visit the Florence Senior Center Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to center co-manager

Carol Larson.

“It makes these people feel like someone is doing something nice for them,” she said.

“It looks nice,” said participant Betty Kurtz. “I love what they did with the windows.”

Don Gearhart, who often drove seven Florence participants to the Camelot Senior Center, said it’s “great to be home.”

Bench said she thinks the improvements will help attract more older men and women to the center.

Jeannie Case drives from west Omaha to the Florence Senior Center each Friday to enjoy the weekly dance at 12:30 p.m. “I’ve made a lot of friends here,” she said.

In addition to the dance, other activities at the site include cards, Wednesday bingo at 12:30 p.m., and a noon lunch. The cost of the meal is $3. Reservations must be made by noon the business day prior to the meal the participant wishes to enjoy.

For meal reservations or more information about the Florence Senior Center, please call 402-444-6333.º

Paula Moody in the kitchen that will feature a new microwave, refrigerator, and diswasher.

James Reece reads a Janet Evanovich novel he borrowed while visiting the Florence Senior Center.

August 2012

Study examines memory errors based on age Has your memory failed you today, such as struggling to recall a word that’s “on the tip of your tongue?” If so, you’re not alone.

New University of Michigan research indicates “tip-of-the-tongue” errors happen often to persons ages 65 to 92. In a study of 105 healthy, highly educated older adults, 61 percent reported having this memory mishap.

The study’s participants completed a checklist of the memory errors made in the last 24 hours, as well as several other tests.

About half of them reported making other errors that may be related to absent-mindedness, such as having to re-read a sentence because they forgot what it said, or forgetting where they placed an item.

The findings, which appear in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, may help brain-training programs target the memory problems people experience in daily life.

“Right now, many training programs focus on the age differences in memory and thinking we see in laboratory studies,” said Cindy Lustig, U-M psychology professor and the study’s senior author. “However, those may not translate to the performance failures that are most common in everyday life.”

When people are tested in the lab and have nothing to rely on but their own memories, young adults typically do better than older adults, she said. However, when these studies are conducted in real-world settings, older adults sometimes outperform young adults at things like remembering appointments because the former are likely to use memory supports such as calendars, lists, and alarms.

“When we looked at how people performed on standard laboratory tests, we found the usual age differences,” she said.

Do

you

about

“People in their 80s and 90s performed worse than those in their 60s and early 70s.”

In contrast, no increase in daily memory errors was found based on age.

Meanwhile, researchers hope a better understanding of the errors people are still making can improve training program efforts.

“We wanted to identify which errors still occur despite changes people might be making in their environment and routine,” Lustig said. “That’s where it may be especially important to change the person.”

Lustig cautioned an older person occasionally forgetting a name does not mean he’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.

“Everybody forgets,” she said. “However, our findings suggest certain types of memory errors may be especially important to monitor for increases, which then should be discussed with a clinician.

Lustig said future research should identify how people change their lives to avoid errors. If people restrict their activities to avoid memory errors, it could affect their independence.

(The National Institute on Aging funded the study.)

?

aging services

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$10 Carolyn Gier Dorothy Menousek $5 Glenda Hahn M. Elaine Swanson Judith Hess Charles Rennolet, Sr. Naomi Lacy Marjorie Schab A.C. Thornton Refelcts donations through July 20, 2012.

Retired fed employee groups meet monthly at local eatery

Are you age 62 or better and want to live independently, but in a catered environment?

The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Web site includes information about:

• Information & assistance telephone lines • Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha • Legal services • Meals on Wheels • Medicaid Waiver • New Horizons • Nutrition counseling

$25 Charles McMillan

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Bath aides Care management Chore services Community education Durable medical equipment Emergency food pantry Emergency response systems ENOA facts and figures ENOA Library ENOA senior centers Grandparent Resource Center

$50 Mack Huckeby

The National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Chapter 144 meets the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S. Plz. For more information, please call 402-333-6460.

The National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Aksarben Chapter 1370 meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S. Plz. For more information, please call 402-392-0624.

in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, or Washington counties?

• • • • • • • • • • •

New Horizons Club gains new members

An older person occasionally forgetting a name does not mean he’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.

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August 2012

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New Horizons

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Page 9

Dora Bingel Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Dora Bingel Senior Center, 923 N. 38th St., this month for the following: • Aug. 6, 13, 20, & 27: Al-Anon meeting @ 7 p.m.

• Aug. 7, 14, 21, & 28: Grief Support Group @ 10 a.m.

• Aug. 16: Red Hat Club meeting @ noon.

• Aug. 22: Regeneration Lunch @ noon featuring singer Tim Javorsky. The cost is $3.

• Aug. 29: Birthday Party Luncheon @ noon. Eat free if you have an August birthday!

• Aug. 31: Hard of Hearing Support Group meeting @ 10:30 a.m.

A nutritious lunch is served on Tuesdays and Fridays; a fancier lunch is offered on Wednesdays. A $1 donation is suggested for the meals, other than $3 for Regeneration. Round-trip transportation is available for $3.

Reservations are required 24 hours in advance for all meals.

Other activities offered at the facility include: • Tuesday: Free matinee movie @ 12:30 p.m.

• Wednesdays: Crochet class @ 9:30 a.m., Tai Chi class @ 11: 30 a.m., and Bible study @ 1 p.m.

• Fridays: Joy Club @ 9:30 a.m. and Bible study @ 1 p.m.

For more information, please call 402-898-5854.

We want to hear from

you!

• Do you gave questions about the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, its programs or services?

• Do you have a comment about the agency and how it serves older adults in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties?

• Maybe you have a story idea for the New Horizons.

Send your questions,comments, story ideas, etc. to

DHHS.ENOA@nebraska.gov We appreciate your interest in ENOA and the New Horizons.

Please support NH advertisers!

Chronicling life as a caregiver

By Guy Magar

W

hether it’s your wife, husband, child, relative, or a close friend you’re caring for, it’s paramount you become the best caregiver possible. As a caregiver for my wife, Jacqui, during her brave journey to beat leukemia, here’s what I learned and can share as I honor and applaud caregivers everywhere.

• Be the trusted advocate. No matter the illness, the medical journey to heal is lengthy and complicated especially if the battleground is cancer. It’s important to make sure you understand the treatment your doctor has initiated for your loved one, no matter how complex, and that all questions have been answered including the many what, ifs, and whens.

If you need to research various options or get second opinions, make it happen.

If you need a clinical trial, find it. If the patient is overwhelmed or can’t focus, they must know the caregiver is the responsible advocate and is knowledgeable of the best possible medical journey. If they do, they’ll feel protected, loved, and empowered to focus on healing.

• Become the cocoon around your loved one. Every day I’d get into Jacqui’s bed and we’d hug tightly as she’d wrap herself around me while we chatted or napped. I always made sure she felt totally surrounded and completely cocooned by my love, strength, and positive attitude.

As a caregiver, you have to supply that grounding and safety net. No matter how bad, creepy, or doubtful a patient may feel, you have to provide an unconditional, unbending, concrete tower of absolute certainty about positive progress as well as an ocean of love that will not allow anything bad to happen. As caregiver, you must be the unmovable rock of strength and security.

• Don’t just be present, be a partner.

Work in partnership with your loved one.

Be there to support them with any and all treatments from MRIs to IV line cleanings.

Whether double-checking with the nurses about the drugs they’re hooking up, making sure the bed is made or freshened while the patient is in the shower or bathroom, scheduling the physical therapists to keep your partner active and limber, dealing with the three meals and snack orders, you’re there to deal with the many details that make up daily hospital life.

An unspoken team partnership is crucial for caregivers to bring to the table and for patients to rely on. It was my commitment to make sure Jacqui felt her partner was engaged with the journey 24/7. She knew it,

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Page 10

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New Horizons

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August 2012

felt it, and counted on it.

• Keep them active and involved.

Sometimes it’s just being there to open the shades and point out how beautiful the sunrise is that morning. Sometimes it’s sharing an important front page story in the news, or breaking out a favorite game to encourage their competitive spirit to win.

Sometimes it’s playing a CD of oldies but goodies and getting up to do some crazy dance steps to make them laugh. Better still; get them to dance even if it means they’re standing on your feet because they’re too weak to stand on their own.

The caregiver must become the dependable all-around partner for the patient.

The more you take on your shoulders, the less remains on the patient’s.

When you’re ill, the world feels like it’s closing in on you. It’s important for the caregiver to keep enlarging the boundaries and keeping the patient involved with the outside world. The will to live and being active with the outside world is crucial therapy.

• Arrange for small doses of one on one time with special friends and family. Your loved one values friendships, and some concentrated time with a dear friend or family member can be restorative. Have a special friend come over for 10 minutes to an hour (depending on how your loved one is feeling that day) and occupy you with a task nearby. If you need to regroup, grab a cup of coffee with a friend or get on the phone with a college buddy. Do whatever it takes to remain strong, clear-minded, and balanced. Your own positive mental outlook is crucial to your partner.

The caregiver must become the dependable all-around partner for the patient. The more you take on your shoulders, the less remains on the patient’s. Needless to say, this includes everything going on with your home and financial concerns such as paying bills and keeping family and friends informed.

I was busy, as all caregivers are. And every single day, I am deeply grateful for Jacqui’s healing.

(Magar is a television and movie director in Hollywood.)

Clair United Methodist Church honors Peggy Wayne-Hunter

O

n Saturday, July 14, the congregation at Clair Memorial United Methodist Church, 5544 Ames Ave., and its Pastor Portia Cavitt, honored congregation member Peggy Wayne-Hunter who has been singing at the church for 40 years.

“My journey is and has been a blessing. In obedience to God, I embarked on a mission of singing some 40 years ago and it has been a spiritual blessing,” Wayne-Hunter said.

“A special thanksto my family Peggy and friends for supportng me,” Wayne-Hunter she added.

Corrigan Senior Center

You’re invited to visit the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. this month for: • Tuesdays: Farmers’ Market at 12:30 p.m. For more information, see page 18.

• Monday, Aug. 13: Hawaiian Beach Party and Bingo.

Wear your tropical clothes. Beach ball blast and costume contest @ 10 a.m. Island music by Ase D. L’Bert @ 11:15. a.m. Hot or cold lunch @ noon. Door prizes and more.

• Thursday, Aug. 16: Lazy, Daisy, Crazy Days of Summer Dinner & Mega Bingo. The special noon lunch menu is BBQ beef on a bun, tator tots, green beans, a tossed salad, and strawberry rhubarb pie. Mega bingo ($3 fee) – with $100 in cash prizes – will follow lunch. The reservation deadline is noon on Friday, Aug. 10.

• Monday, Aug. 20: August Birthday Party and Bingo.

At 11 a.m., enjoy musician Billy Troy sponsored by the Merrymakers. A noon lunch with a hot or cold choice is available.

• Monday, Aug. 27: Dog Days of Summer. Enjoy lunch, Bingo, dog trivia, & Coke/root beer floats after lunch.

• Wednesday, Aug. 29: Senior Day at the Nebraska State Fair featuring a free concert by Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers. Call 402-731-7210 for details.

The Corrigan Senior Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $3 donation is normally suggested for the meal. Reservations are normally due by noon the business day prior to the meal you wish to enjoy.

We offer card games, bingo, ceramics, exercise, woodcarving, and loads of fun!

For meal reservations or more information, please call Lynnette at 402-731-7210.

SeniorHelp volunteer opportunities The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s SeniorHelp Program has a variety of volunteer opportunities available for persons of all ages that provide services to help older adults in ways that support dignity and independence in their daily lives.

For more information, please call Karen Kelly at 402-561-2238 or send an e-mail to karen.kelly@nebraska.gov.

• Companionship: Volunteers are needed to visit clients in Omaha zip codes 68102, 68104, 68105, and 68112 as well as in Fremont.

• Transportation: Drivers are being asked to take older adults grocery shopping every other week in the Omaha area, to medical appointments as needed in the Omaha area, and to transport an older adult in Bellevue to the food bank twice a month.

• Handyman/Home Maintenance: Volunteers are needed to provide home repairs in the Omaha area. Other projects include installing a hand railing in a garage for an 82-year-old in Fremont, building a ramp for a 78-year-old in Fremont, and caulking windows and repairing the floors in a trailer home in Murray.

• Household Assistance: Volunteers are being recruited to provide housekeeping, sorting, and organizing in the Omaha area,

August 2012

•

and to grocery shop by a list for 65-year-old in Bellevue.

• Meals Delivery: Drivers are needed to deliver midday meals in Omaha zip codes 68114, 68134, and 68144 • Lawn Mowing: Volunteers are needed to mow lawns in the Omaha area.

• Painting: Volunteers are being asked to paint the inside and outside of homes in the Omaha area and to paint and seal a basement wall and railing in Bellevue.

• Yard: Volunteers are being recruited to clean gutters, rake, trim bushes, haul debris, and wash windows in the Omaha area.

Other projects include cleaning windows for a Springfield resident and cleaning a yard in Fremont.

New Horizons

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Page 11

Ben, Freddie helping kids find paths to success

Ben Gray represents District 2 on the Omaha City Council.

By Leo Adam Biga

signment plan accountability committee.

The Grays were vocal propof you follow local news then you nents of the “one city, one school can’t help but know the names district” plan. Her public stature Ben Gray and Freddie Gray. began to rise when she replaced What you may not know is that Karen Shepard on the Omaha they’re married to one another.

Public Schools Board of Education He’s instantly recognizable as in 2008. Freddie’s since become a vocal Omaha City Councilman board president. The demands of the (District 2). He’s also a prominent position leave little time for consultplayer in the Empowerment Neting work, which she misses, but work, One Hundred Black Men, and she may have found her calling as a other community initiatives. Ben public servant leader. was a public figure long before that “I like governance, I really do,” as a KETV photojournalist and the she says. “I have a strong feel for activist-advocate executive produc- it.” er and host of the station’s public The size of responsibility she caraffairs program Kaleidoscope, ries can be daunting. which weekly found him reeling “Sometimes I think about what against injustice. a big job it is. The Omaha Public Until recently his wife wasn’t Schools district is one of the largnearly as well known, though in cer- est employers in the state and I’m tain circles she was tabbed a rising the president of the board that’s in star. Freddie actually preceded Ben control of this entity. That’s kind into public service when appointed of scary. I am not as confident as to the Douglas County Board of it comes across but I have a voice Health. At the time she was office and I believe in using it for all these manager at NOVA, a mental health kids.” treatment facility. Along with Ben, Since assuming the board presishe co-chaired the African-Ameridency Freddie’s public profile’s incan Achievement Council. She was creased. In truth her private life was also a paid administrator with the compromised as soon as she became organization which works closely Ben Gray’s wife in 1991. “It put me with the Omaha Public Schools. in the spotlight. There’s so many It’s not the first time the Grays things that marrying somebody in worked in tandem. They have a the public eye does, and you don’t video production business together, have a choice, you’re going to be Project Impact. He produces-directs. public at that point.”

She’s in charge of continuity.

She suspects sharing his notoriFreddie’s also worked as a straety has worked to her advantage. tegic planning and management “There’s a lot of stuff Ben has consultant. afforded me the opportunity to do.

Her longstanding interest in Without him people wouldn’t know education led her to volunteer with me from a can of paint and that’s the Omaha Schools Foundation and probably how I would have lived serve as a member of the student as- my life and I would have been comContributing Writer

I

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August 2012

Freddie has been on the OPS Board of Education since 2009. fortable and OK with that.”

That each half of this pair holds a highly visible public service office makes them an Omaha power couple both inside and outside the African-American community.

Each represents thousands of constituents and each deals with public scrutiny and pressure that gets turned up when controversy arises. That was the case last spring when he led the fight for the nondiscrimination ordinance the council eventually passed and Mayor Jim Suttle signed into law.

In June Freddie found herself squarely in the media glare in the fallout of the scandal that erupted when sexually explicit emails OPS superintendent-hire Nancy Sebring made and sent came to light. Sebring later resigned under fire.

The Grays make sure to show their solidarity and support in crisis.

Just as Freddie turned out for city council hearings on the ordinance, Ben attended the first school board meeting after the Sebring flap.

They act as sounding boards for each other when they feel they need to. “Sometimes we do,” he says, “but most of the time we don’t.”

“If I want to bounce something off of him I can do that but I have my board members to do that with and he has his council members,” Freddie says.

“If you’re married and you’re connected you know when it’s time to intervene and say let’s have a discussion about this,” Ben says.

“Sometimes you just want to come home and veg out. The last thing you want is to talk about it. I don’t bring it home unless there’s a strategy, like when the Sebring thing happened we needed my expertise

as a journalist, we needed legal counsel, we needed all of that, so that week was all about that.”

Ben’s proud of “how well she handled that situation, adding, “That was her defining moment.”

“A lot of times the conversation is after the fact, because I can’t wait to talk to him to respond to the media when they’re in my face. I know if I need to I can reach out and he’s going to respond,” Freddie says.

“The other thing is, we don’t always agree with each other. There’s been times when we’ve been able to change each other’s opinion or stand but not real often. But we don’t fight about it.”

T

he Grays have been making a difference in their individual and shared pursuits for some time now. The seeds planted during their respective journeys have borne fruit in the public-community service work they do, much of it centered on youth and education.

“We believe in children, I can tell you that, we believe strongly in children,” says Ben. Freddie calls it “a passion.”

Their work has earned them many awards.

They have seven adult children from previous marriages. They mentor more. By all accounts, they’ve made their blended family work.

“One of the things we did was we started having family dinners, and we started that before we got married,” says Freddie, “I still had one daughter at home with me. My older daughter was away from home. His children were still at home with their mom. Both of us were smart enough to figure out that with this --Please turn to page 13.

Grays elected to Omaha’s city council, school board --Continued from page 12. new young person, let alone me, in the picture spending time with him that could be difficult.

So we started having family dinner on Sunday and all seven of the kids would come. And we still do family dinner today.

“It was a wonderful way to bring our families together. And when people talk about a blended family, if you’ve ever done something like that and made it a tradition of your house for everyone to come together, it really and truly does blend them.”

Two of their kids live out-of-state now, as does one of their 11 grandchildren (they also have a great grandchild), but that still leaves a houseful.

“So generally on Sunday it’s a zoo time,” Freddie says. “He loves it. He’s like they could all move back tomorrow. I’m the one that says no they cannot move back here and they have to go home now. They’re so close.”

T

hough born and reared in Cleveland, Ben’s made Omaha his home ever since the U.S. Air Force brought him here in the early 1970s. He’s built a life and career for himself and raised a family in his adopted hometown.

Freddie’s an Omaha native but her father’s own Air Force career uprooted her and her six sisters for a time so she did part of her growing up in Bermuda and in California. She returned in the early 1960s. The Omaha Central High School graduate raised a family here while working.

Whether in vote deliberations or media interviews each seems so poised and at home in this milieu of politics. As accomplished as they are today each comes from hard times far removed from these circumstances.

For example, the man Omahans know as Ben Gray is called by his street name “93rd Street Butch” in his old stomping grounds of East Cleveland, where after suffering the loss of his working class parents at age 13 he fell into a life of organized crime. Numbers running, pimping, and drug dealing. His extended family was well entrenched in the black criminal underworld there. Its pull was something he avoided as long as his parents were alive but once they were gone, he succumbed to a life he’s sure would have ended badly.

Ben’s older sister Mary Thompson, whom he

Before joining the Omaha City Council, Ben was a photojournalist for KETV. calls “my guardian angel,” and her husband took Ben and his younger brother, Doug, into their home and raised the boys right, modeling a fierce work ethic. But the call of the streets won out.

“The guys that I was dealing with, the guys that I knew were real life gangsters. They do stories about these guys. Shondor Birns. Don King.

Before he was a (boxing) fight promoter Don King used to run Cleveland. He ran all the drugs.

The Grays live in a house previously occupied by retired Lt. Col. Charles Lane, Jr. of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Lane nameplate can still be found on the front door.

August 2012

And then he stomped a guy to death. When he went to prison his territory was split up, primarily between three different individuals, and one of them was my uncle.”

Gray was arrested and sentenced to a youth incarceration center. After graduating a year late and near the bottom of his class he entered the military. His life’s never been the same since.

“The Air Force changed who I was,” Ben says.

“The military was my way out. Had I not joined I don’t think I would be alive. I was headed down a pretty dark path.”

He graduated from the Air Forces’ aerial photography school with honors. “People ask, ‘What was different?’ My response is always the same – discipline and expectations.”

That training is so ingrained, Ben says, “I’m disciplined about everything,” whether the selfpressed clothes he wears, the tidy home he keeps, the legislation he advances, or the youth outreach he does.

“The intention of the military is to complete the mission and I complete the mission. When it came to the equal employment ordinance I had to complete the mission. When it came to the budget I had to complete the mission.”

He says leaving his old environment behind was the best thing he could have done.

“My sister readily tells folks all the time that while she hated to see me go she was in a lot of ways glad to see me go because she didn’t think I was going to make it if I stayed there.”

“That’s what she told me once,” says Freddie.

“She said, ‘We’d thought he’d be dead or in jail.’

But they’re so proud of who he is today.”

When Ben goes back to visit relatives and friends, as he did with Freddie in July, he’s clearly a different person than the one who ran the streets as a youth but to them he’s still Butch.

--Please turn to page 14.

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Page 13

Ben escaped a life of crime on the streets of Cleveland while and didn’t like that at all. I didn’t like the fact welfare workers could just come over to my place and go through my stuff.”

Freddie shares her experience of learning to listen to the right advice and to make better choices.

“I talk to these young women now, and I’m very open about it. I don’t preach.”

But she tries to do for them what women did for her. “I was blessed to have those women in my life. A number of them became my mentors.

One of them was LaFern Williams. I’ll never forget her and Miss Alice Wilson, the director of the Woodson Center in South Omaha. I spent so much time there. My big sister Lola Averett was another. There was a time when anything and everything she did I would do. She still models everything I could ever hope to do and to be.”

Freddie says women like her sister, who worked at GOCA (Greater Omaha Community Action), along with Carolyn Green, Juanita James, Phyllis Evans, Sharon Davis, and Beverly Wead Blackburn, among others, encouraged and inspired her.

When Gray attended GOCA meetings she says she was at first too shy to speak up at but Lola and Co. helped her find her voice and confidence.

“They honestly would make me stand up and ask my question.”

--Continued from page 13.

Oh, they see he’s transformed all right, but he’s Butch just the same.

“When we’re in Cleveland I immediately go back to referring to him as Butch,” says Freddie.

“That’s what everybody knows him as. I don’t think anybody (there) knows him as Ben.” “It’s interesting when you leave a place and you come back to it, because when I visited the corners I used to be at – even though a lot of the same people were still there – it wasn’t the same for me. They knew it and I knew it,” Ben says. “A friend of mine told me, ‘This is not your place anymore,’ and he was right, it wasn’t. I didn’t fit.

“When I was doing the things I was doing I fit right in, as a matter of fact I ran the show for the most part.”

“Discipline is a method of working with people and molding people into what they should be as adults.”

O

n a plane ride the couple made 20 years ago to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Cleveland; Ben revealed his past for the first time to Freddie.

“I said, ‘Babe, when we get to Cleveland you’re going to hear some stories about me.’”

Then he asked her to marry him.

“Yeah, that plane ride was interesting,” Freddie says, “and I still said yes.”

She has her own past.

Living in the South Omaha public housing projects called the Southside Terrace Garden Apartments, near the packinghouse kill floors her father worked after his military service ended, the future Mrs. Ben Gray grew up as Freddie Jean Stearns.

Life’s not always been a garden party for her.

She got pregnant at age 17 and missed graduating with her senior class. She struggled as a young single mother before mentors helped her get her life together.

“It was not all a fairy tale life. The personal feeling of disappointment, not just letting my parents down but all those sisters behind me.

That humbled me for a really long time.”

Long before marrying a celebrity and entering the public eye or serving on the school board, Freddie quietly made young people her focus as a mother and mentor. She calls the young people under her wing “my babies.” Just as women helped guide her she does the same today.

She can identify with young single moms “who think their lives are over,” telling them, “I thought that was going to be it, that I was going to be on welfare for the rest of my life. I looked around at where I was – the projects – and I saw a lot of it around me. Mothers who had never been married. I was on public assistance for a

Page 14

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Freddie says she’s been very blessed in life to have great female role models. “They took special care of me and others. They took care of the community, too. They made it safe. They protected and loved. These women touched a lot of lives.”

Those that survive continue fighting the good fight into their 70s and 80s, according to Freddie. “They haven’t stopped. I wouldn’t even say they’ve slowed down.” She says when she sees them “you can bet your bottom dollar I’m in their ear saying, ‘I’m making you proud, I’m doing the right thing.’”

It’s what Freddie’s babies do when they’re around her. All of it in the each-one-to-teach-one tradition.

“I’ve always had the passion for those who are behind me, young people. I just collect them, I don’t know what else to say. Anyone who really knows me knows that I talk about my babies.

And they know who they are and they know what I expect from them. I can’t tell you how they’re selected, I don’t know how. But there is that group and they are my babies and I love them with all my heart.

“I’ve told them, ‘My expectations are you’ve got to take care of Miss Freddie when she’s old.’ They laugh at that. But I need them to take care of me. They’re going to be my doctor, my mechanic, (and) my attorney. And then they get it; they understand what I’m telling them. That they’re going to take care of me because I can’t do it forever.

“So they’re going to have to do these things,

•

August 2012

they’re going to need to be on the board of health, on the school board, work at NOVA. They need to take care of the world. They know that’s my expectation.”

Freddie is a wise elder and revered “Big Mama” figure in their lives.

“When they see me they call me Mama Freddie or say, ‘How you doin’ Mama Freddie?’”

She recently lost one of her “babies.” When she got the news, she says, “it knocked me to my knees and I’m not talking figuratively. I was walking down the hall looking at Facebook on my phone when I saw it. I was very thankful Ben was here because I dropped to the floor. And then the phone started ringing and it was some of the other babies calling to check on me and me needing to check on them.”

Just as Freddie’s been a force in the lives of young people for a long time, so has Ben, who’s made at-risk youth his mission. As part of his long-time gang prevention and intervention work he even founded an organization, Impact One, that supports young people in continuing their education and becoming employable.

Because he’s been where they are, he feels he can reach young men and women whose lives are teetering on the edge of oblivion.

“It’s amazing how quickly you can spiral down into some really deep stuff if you let yourself, so I understand,” he says. “When people ask me why I deal with gang members it’s because I know ‘em. I know how they think, I know what they think, I know most of ‘em don’t want to do what they’re doing because I didn’t.

“But you get to a point after a while where it becomes a lifestyle that makes it very difficult for you to get out of and the only choice you have sometimes, and the only choice I see for a lot of these young men, I hate to say this, is to leave here. I don’t like the brain drain. A lot of these people are really smart. But they’ve cast such a bad shadow that I don’t know how you stay here. I mean, I think there has to be some time between their leaving and coming back.”

Ben says something missing from today’s street dynamic is a kind of mentoring that used to unfold on the corner.

“At that time we had older guys that were able to talk to the younger guys.”

Kind of like what Ben does today.

“Someone might say, ‘Stop, don’t do that, that’s crazy.’ Or, ‘If this is what you’re going to do, here’s how you do it.’ Those kinds of things.

These young men don’t have that. A lot of them don’t. I’m talking about across the country.

There’s nobody on that corner anymore who’s --Please turn to page 15.

Freddie was inspired by the strong women in her life --Continued from page 14. older who can tell them…”

“It used to be the young guys on the corner and the wiseguys that went back to the corner gave people words of wisdom, and that’s gone,” says Freddie, who’s known her share of hard corners.

“That’s lost,” says Ben. He says what’s missing from too many of today’s homes and schools in the inner city and elsewhere is the kind of discipline he got from his parents, his sister, and the military.

“I think most of us want it, we just don’t know we want it. Discipline is a method of working with people and molding people into what they should be as adults. That’s what it is. And that’s what my father tried to do for me in the brief time he was on this Earth.”

Gray sees a disconnect between some of today’s African-American youth and schools.

“I think what’s missing from majority minority schools is a pathway to get young people to know who they are. Our African-American students don’t know why they are. They don’t know the background. In the classroom they get a real strong dose of European history but they don’t get much about who they are.

“When there’s little or no discussion about you then how do you sit there and maintain an interest in being there?”

OPS has struggled closing the achievement gap between African-American students and non-black students. Gray says before any real progress can be made “you’ve got to get them to stay there and keep them interested,” an allusion to the high truancy and dropout rates among African-American students.

The problem has thus far defied attempted remedies.

“In spite of efforts by the Empowerment Network, Building Bright Futures, and others to address core problems like truancy and drop-outs in the (North Omaha) Village Zone we’re losing kids, they’re not staying in school. And they’re not staying in school because the influence of the street is such a strong influence. I know it,” Ben says, “Those streets call you, man, and you can be in that classroom six hours a day but you’ve got to go home and when you do go home you go to an environment that’s primarily unhealthy.

“So in spite of all we’ve done in that Village Zone we’re not winning.”

Ben doesn’t pretend to have the answers. He knows the problem is complex and requires multiple responses. But he does offer an illustration of one approach he thinks works.

“Teachers are constantly amazed I can address

a school assembly and keep kids’ attention. Staff don’t get it. Freddie gets it. I talk about where the kids came from, I talk about who they are, I talk about what their history has been. They listen because they don’t (usually) hear that. That’s part of the missing piece of why they don’t stay. They don’t feel there’s anything there for them.”

He doesn’t claim miraculous results either.

“Any of us who are involved in this effort who talk to these kids know they’re not going to hear everything we say right away. They’re waiting to hear if we’re genuine. I tell them, ‘I’m not here to get all of you; I’m not here to convince any of you of anything. One of you is going to hear what I say, respond, and react to what I say by becoming a leading citizen in this community. So I’m just here to get my one.’

“That’s when they start listening. They want to be the one.”

Freddie appreciates better than most the challenge of educating children when so many factors bear on the results.

“We don’t produce widgets, we produce the citizens that are going to run this country. That’s exactly what we’re doing every single day. Every single one of these kids is an individual who deserves to have an individual touch them. It’s about that one-on-one relationship if we’re going to get kids to succeed, and if we don’t get this right then I think that says something about what the state of this country will be.

“If we’re not addressing poverty now then 20 years from now we’ll be having the same conversation.”

“Poverty is going to be the thing that kills us if we don’t take care of it and the only way I know to do that is to provide our children with the necessary skills to become employable.”

She’s keenly aware of criticism that the school board has ceded too much power to the superintendent.

“I understand people say that thing about the board being a rubber stamp but they don’t come and listen to the committee meetings and hear the board in dialogue. By the time there’s a news sound bite we’ve already talked about it or figured it out or tabled it. Those things happen during the day (when the cameras aren’t on).

“But trust me we’ve got this. My job is to provide the superintendent with guidance in saying, ‘This is what you will do.’ There has to be parameters. We’ve got statutes to follow.”

In seeking solutions to bridge the achievement gap, she says, “I’m talking to other districts’ board presidents and members, not just when I’m on the Learning Community, but other times, too. That hasn’t happened much before.”

Freddie says more collaboration is necessary because studies show that wherever kids live, whatever their race, if they live in poverty they underachieve.

“Poverty is a problem. If we’re not addressing poverty now then 20 years from now we’ll be having the same conversation.”

Breaking the cycle is an OPS district goal.

“At the board level it’s looking at careers. We

August 2012

do kids a disservice when we say everybody’s going to college because that’s a lie and we all know it. But we do need to supply them with the necessary skill sets so they can be productive citizens.

“We’ve got to get these young people to the place where they can get jobs, where they can get out of poverty.”

Ben has been active in the Empowerment Network’s Step-Up Omaha program to provide young people summer training and employment towards careers.

As both of them see it, everyone has a stake in this and a part to play, including schools, parents, and businesses.

“There’s room at the table for everybody and everybody has to have a foot in this and has to step up. The focus has to be on what can we do together,” Freddie says.

Now that she’s solidly in the public eye in such a prominent job she hopes African-American women follow her.

“I have to say this for other women who find themselves feeling like they’re voiceless: If you can see it, you can be it. There’s a lot of young African-American females who are just sharper than sharp, that could run rings around me all day doing this, but they don’t feel like they have a voice.

“And so I really hope they are paying attention because again Miss Freddie is not going to be doing this for the rest of her life and some of them are going to need to be sitting on this board.”

Ben Gray feels the same way about the young men and women of color he wants to see follow him into television, politics, or wherever their passion lies.

Both with his own children and those he’s “adopted,” he’s taken great pains exposing them to African-American history and culture and encouraging them to engage in critical thinking and discussion.

“I wanted them to be more aware, I wanted all of our children to be aware of what’s around them and what it takes to survive. And to know who they are and what their history is, and some of them can tell you a lot better than I can tell you now.

“We have two that are like our own who are former gang members. Both of these guys are brilliant young men, and given a different set of circumstances would be someplace else.”

Ben and Freddie Gray are living proof what a difference new circumstances and second chances can make.

(Read more of Biga’s work at leoadambiga. wordpress.com)

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Resource Handbook is available online, as a hard copy

C

opies of the 2012 to 2014 ElderCare Resource Handbook are available online or as a hard copy from Care Consultants for the Aging.

The 10th edition of the publication provides information about programs and services for older adults in eastern Nebraska. Divided into five sections, the ElderCare Resource Handbook lists options for medical support, home health care and support services, living options, senior services, and government, financial, and legal services.

The ElderCare Resource Handbook is available three ways: • For $7 at the Care Consultants for the Aging office, 7701 Pacific St., Suite 100.

• By sending your name, address, and a check or money order for $10 to Care Consultants for the Aging, 7701 Pacific St., Suite 100, Omaha, Neb. 68114. The book will be mailed to you.

You can also order the handbook using your credit card, by calling 402-3981848.

• By logging on the Internet to www. careconsultants.com. Click on the Resource Handbook tab.

For more information, please call 402398-1848.

Access to legal information Legal Aid of Nebraska operates a free telephone access line for Nebraskans age 60 and older.

Information is offered to help the state’s older men and women with questions on topics like bankruptcy, homestead exemptions, collections, powers of attorney, Medicare, Medicaid, grandparent rights, and Section 8 housing.

The telephone number for the Elder Access Line is 402-827-5656 in Omaha and 1-800-527-7249 statewide.

This service is available to Nebraskans age 60 and older regardless of income, race, or ethnicity.

For more information, log on the Internet to http://www.legalaidofnebraska.com/ EAL.

Lewy Body Support Group The Metro Omaha Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) Support Group will meet on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m. at the Millard branch of the Omaha Public Library, 13214 Westwood Ln. LBD is a group of progressive brain diseases that are the second leading cause of degenerative dementia among older adults, affecting more than 1.3 million American families.

More information about Lewy Body Dementia is available online at www.lbda.org/ go/awareness.

For more information about the support group, please log on to annt88@cox.net or call Ann Taylor at 402-452-3952.

r u o y d e e n e W

! t r o p p su

I would like to become a partner with the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, and help fulfill your mission with older adults.

ENOA

Traditional funding sources are making it more difficult for ENOA to fulfill its mission. Partnership opportunities are available to businesses and individuals wanting to help us.

These opportunities include volunteering, memorials, honorariums, gift annuities, and other tax deductible contributions.

$30 = 7 meals or 1.75 hours of in-home homemaker services or 1 bath aide service for frail older adults. $75 = 17 meals or 4.75 hours of in-home homemaker services or 4 bath aide services for frail older adults. $150 = 35 meals or 9.5 hours of in-home homemaker services or 8 bath aide services for frail older adults. $300 = 70 meals or 19.25 hours of in-home homemaker services or 16 bath aide services for frail older adults.

Other amount (please designate)__________________________ Please contact me. I would like to learn more about how to include the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging in my estate planning.

Name:_____________________________________

Please ma donationil your tax deducti with this fo ble rm to: Easter

n Office oNebraska n Aging Address:___________________________________ Attention : Jef City:______________State:_____ Zip: __________ Phone:____________________________________

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4223 Ce f Reinhardt Omaha, nter Street NE 6810 5-2431 (402

) 444-665

4

August 2012

Dealing with loneliness Loneliness – the unpleasant feeling of emptiness or desolation – can creep in and cause suffering in people at any age. But it can be especially debilitating to older adults and may predict serious health problems and even death, according to a new study by University of California San Francisco researchers.

The team analyzed data in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study by the National Institute on Aging conducted on 1,604 older adults between 2002 and 2008. The research, published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine, focused specifically on the question of loneliness and its impact.

“In our typical medical model, we don’t think of subjective feelings as affecting health,” said study author Carla Perissinotto, M.D., M.H.S., assistant professor in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics. “It’s intriguing to find loneliness is independently associated with an increased rate of death and functional decline.”

One of the more surprising findings of the team’s analysis is that loneliness does not necessarily correlate with living alone. The study found 43 percent of surveyed older adults felt lonely, yet only 18 percent lived alone.

“We are interested in identifying the different factors that cause adults to become functionally impaired and ultimately at risk for nursing home admission,” Perissinotto said. “The aging of our population and the greater odds of institutionalization make it important for us to think about all the factors that are putting elders in danger, including social and environmental risks.”

Researchers at UCSF focused on death and a decrease in the ability to perform daily activities such as upper extremity tasks, climbing stairs, and walking.

People who identified themselves as lonely had a 59 percent greater risk of decline and a 45 percent greater risk of death.

“This is one of those outcomes you don’t want to see because it was terrible to find out it was actually true,” Perissinotto said. “We went into the analysis thinking there was a risk we could find nothing, but there actually was a strong correlation.”

Perissinotto and her colleagues believe the impact of loneliness on an older patient is different from the effects of depression. While depression is linked with a lack of enjoyment, energy, and motivation, loneliness can be felt in people who are fully functional but feel empty or desolate.

The “baby boomer” generation – those born between 1946 and 1964 – represents the largest population growth in U.S. history. Some of them now are part of the 39.6 million Americans older than age 65. That number is expected to more than double to 88.5 million by 2050.

As that population continues to expand, Perissinotto hopes to be able to start to integrate social and medical services for older patients more comprehensively and be more mindful of what kinds of social interventions they require.

“Asking about chronic diseases is not enough,” she said.

“There’s much more going on in people’s homes and their communities that is affecting their health. If we don’t ask about it, we are missing a very important and independent risk factor.

“We don’t think we can change genetics, but we can intervene when someone is lonely and help prevent some functional decline,” she said.

“When your spouse dies, there’s a missing space in your heart,” said 85-year-old jazz singer Barbara Dane, whose husband died in 2010. “You still want to know that someone cares about you. Connection to other people becomes even more important at this point in your life.”

Dane credits her active social life to her positive outlook on life.

“A lot of people around me are aging, and some are not doing so well,” she said. “Some who never developed social skills are having the hardest time and those are the ones we need to watch out for.

“People my age need to appreciate who they are,” she said. “Everyone has some skill and if they want to expand their horizons, they need to figure out what they can use to pull themselves back into the stream of life.”

The mean age of the 1,604 participants in the study was 71 years old. Researchers limited their analysis to participants age 60 and older. Eighty-one percent were Caucasian, 11 percent African American, six percent Hispanic, and two percent of an unknown ethnicity.

Calendar of events August 2012 2 Tour de Zoo @ Henry Doorly Zoo 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. $15 for Zoo members $20 for non Zoo members 402-738-2038 4 53rd Annual Omaha Coin Club Show Metro Community College South Omaha campus 27th & Q streets 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FREE 5 Gritty City Trolley Tour Durham Museum 1:30 p.m. $20 402-444-5027 7 Magic City Trolley Tour Durham Museum 6 p.m. $20 402-444-5027 Tempo of Twilight Featuring Lemon Fresh Day Lauritzen Gardens 6 to 8 p.m. $3 and $7 402-346-4002 10 Cox Music & Movies Holland Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m.

FREE 402-345-00606 Sounds of Summer Concert Series Taxi Driver Shadow Lake Towne Center 72nd Street and Highway 370 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

FREE 402-537-0046 11 MAHA Music Festival Stinson Park Aksarben Village Noon to 11 p.m.

FREE 402-537-0046 Maps, Mazes, & Obstacles Durham Museum 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. $5 to $8 402-444-5071 Sweet Corn Festival Lauritzen Gardens 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

402-346-4002 14 Millionaires & Mansions Gold Coast Trolley Tour Durham Museum 6 p.m. $20 402-444-5027 16 Aksarben Ribfest Through Aug. 18 Aksarben Village 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

402-212-1388

17 Sounds of Summer Concert Series High Heel Shadow Lake Towne Center 72nd Street and Highway 370 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

FREE 402-537-0046 18 From Expositions to Jazz Musicians Trolley Tour Durham Museum 10:30 a.m. $20 402-444-5027

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For now, it sets you free.

With Lifeline by Immanuel, you can enjoy an independent lifestyle in your own home — knowing that you can call for help if you ever need it. One push of your Lifeline button connects you to someone with access to your medical history, someone who can evaluate your situation and immediately send help. To learn more about the security and peace of mind provided by Lifeline, call (402) 829-3277 or toll-free at (800) 676-9449.

19 Millionaires & Mansions Gold Coast Trolley Tour Durham Museum 1:30 p.m. $20 402-444-5027 21 Gritty City Trolley Tour Durham Museum 6 p.m. $20 402-444-5027 How the Brain Works Durham Museum 6:30 p.m. $5 to $8 402-444-5071 Tempo of Twilight Featuring Crown’s Folly Lauritzen Gardens 6 to 8 p.m. $3 and $7 402-346-4002 24 Riverfront Wine Festival Also Aug. 25 Stinson Park @ Aksarben Village $30 to $60 402-850-6776 Sounds of Summer Concert Series Soul Dawg Shadow Lake Towne Center 72nd Street and Highway 370 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

FREE 402-537-0046 25 Magic City Trolley Tour Durham Museum 10:30 a.m. $20 402-444-5027 26 Heidi Joy Concert Joslyn Art Museum 2 to 4 p.m. $25 to $35 402-614-3331 31 Sounds of Summer Concert Series Hi Fi Hangover Shadow Lake Towne Center 72nd Street and Highway 370 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

FREE 402-537-0046

www.immanuellifeline.com

WHITMORE LAW OFFICE Wills • Trusts • Probate

Ask A Lawyer: Q — What is the difference between a Power of Attorney and an Executor?

A — Someone who has a Power of Attorney has the legal power to act for you if you are incapacitated or otherwise unable. This power can be limited to specific areas or as wide as you choose. It ends if and when you become able to once again act for yourself. An Executor (also known as the Personal Representative) is the person who is responsible for seeing the last wishes of the deceased carried out and for settling the estate after a death.

Have a question about estate planning? Give us a call!

AARP Legal Service Network • No Charge For Initial Consultation

7602 Pacific Street, Ste 200 • (402) 391-2400 http://whitmorelaw.com

MOVE-IN SPECIAL

Leo Vaughan Manor

Independent living Apartments for seniors 55+ 3325 Fontenelle Blvd.

Call for an appointment today!

402-453-1070

August 2012

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• Historic building • One and two bedroom apartments • Near Benson and Saddle Creek Shops • Quality living – affordable rent • Secured entry • Elevator • Community room • Washer/dryer laundry room

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Produce on sale Tuesdays at the Corrigan Senior Center

Jesse Robert – who brings fresh produce grown on five Nebraska farms – sells tomatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, onions, etc. to older adults at the Corrigan Senior Center.

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crowd of older men and women gathers around the white van.

“How much are the tomatoes?” asks a man roasting in the hot summer sun.

“How much is the corn?” says a woman standing next to him.

“The corn is 50 cents an ear, $5 for a dozen,” answers the man wearing a straw hat.

Just another typical Tuesday

afternoon outside the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. The man in the straw hat, Jesse Robert from Nebraska at the Market, is selling a variety of produce, popcorn, artwork, honey, jewelry, clothes, and other items created and grown by 107 Nebraska businesses from 65 cities across the state.

“I’ll keep bringing the produce as long as the farmers keeping bringing it to me.”

Through October, he’s selling a variety of fresh produce including tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and corn at places like Corrigan, the Ralston Senior Center, 7301 Q St.; and the Oak Valley Apartments, 12555 Krug Ave. For more information on Nebraska at the Market sales times, dates, and locations, call 402-346-6975.

Arthur Shuffty recently purchased five tomatoes for $4 at the Tuesday afternoon farmers’ market at the Corrigan Senior Center.

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n a recent Tuesday afternoon at Corrigan, Jean Gadiela fills a plastic bag with an assortment of fresh produce costing $6. She pays for the items using coupons secured through the Nebraska Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.

Administered by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Department of Health

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August 2012

Robert with Corrigan Senior Center particpant Rose Hopkins. and Human Services State Unit on Aging, the program provides fresh, locally grown fruits, vegetables, and herbs for older Nebraskans.

Recipients must meet age and income guidelines to be eligible for the $48 in produce coupons.

Robert also accepts cash and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards.

“This is a lovely program,” Gadiela says. “I’m glad he comes here (each week).”

Arthur Shuffty, who buys five fresh, red, ripe tomatoes for $4 from Robert, says he really appreciates the program. “I have no way to get to the grocery store.”

Center manager Lynnette Staroska said Shuffty is typical of the men and women who attend the farmers’ market at Corrigan, 75 percent of who rely on Robert because they don’t have reliable transportation.

“I’ll keep bringing the produce as long as the farmers keeping bringing it to me,” Robert said. “If we break even, we’re happy.”

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lways looking for creative things to do at the Corrigan Senior Center, Staroska and participant Rita Murphy recently planted some eggplant seeds in a large container that sits

near the facility’s front door.

Within weeks the eggplant was blooming and Staroska began planning a meal for the men and women who attend the South Omaha senior center. “We’re going to make Eggplant Parmesan,” she says smiling at the idea.

For more information on Corrigan activities, please see page 11.

Corrigan Senior Center manager Lynnette Staroska with the eggplant which was grown inside a container at the South Omaha facility.

Check out becoming a volunteer with Study: Spouses of sepsis patients at higher risk of depression the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging Severe sepsis, a body’s dangerous defen- it’s the most common non-cardiac cause of

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he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, Ombudsman Advocate Program, and Senior Medicare Patrol Program are recruiting older adults to become volunteers.

Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions must be age 55 or older, meet income guidelines, have a government issued identification card or a driver’s license, able to volunteer at least 15 hours a week, and must complete several background and reference checks.

Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions receive a $2.65 an hour stipend, transportation and meal reimbursement, paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, and supplemental accident insurance.

Foster Grandparents work with children who have special needs while Senior Companions work to keep older adults living independently.

Ombudsman advocates work to ensure residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities enjoy the best possible quality of life.

Ombudsman advocates, who must be age 18 or older, are enrolled through an application and screening process.

These volunteers, who are not compensated monetarily for their time, must serve at least two hours a week.

The Senior Medicare Patrol program helps Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect, and prevent health care fraud.

These volunteers, who are enrolled through an application and screening process, are not compensated monetarily for their time.

For more information, please call 402-444-6536.

sive response against an infection, not only diminishes the quality of life for patients, it also puts their spouses at a greater risk of depression, a joint University of Michigan Health System and University of Washington School of Medicine study shows.

Wives whose husbands were hospitalized for severe sepsis were nearly four times more likely to experience substantial depressive symptoms, according to the study in a recent issue of Critical Care Medicine.

Sepsis happens when an infection such as pneumonia or an urinary tract infection throws off the immune system, prompting it to attack the body it’s designed to protect.

This exaggerated inflammatory response can trigger damage to vital body organs, bleeding, organ failure, and possibly death.

Severe sepsis is responsible for four times more hospitalizations than heart attacks and is a leading cause of death among older Americans.

“We know that patients who survive sepsis face many new problems, but we know little about the emotional toll it takes on patients’ loved ones,” says senior author Theodore J. Iwashyna, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.

With hundreds of thousands of Americans hospitalized for severe sepsis a year,

critical illness. The rapidly growing number of hospitalizations and disabilities caused by the condition especially impose overwhelming burdens on older spouses.

This study suggests patients’ spouses may benefit from greater support and depression screening.

Physicians may also consider including non-spousal family members and support networks to help facilitate patients’ recovery post ICU-care.

“Depression in family members could affect end-of-life decisions in the ICU and impact a loved ones’ caretaking ability so interventions may improve the outcomes of patients themselves,” says lead author Dimitry S. Davydow, M.D, M.P.H., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington.

“Providers must learn to assess the burden of follow-up care on patients’ spouses to help improve the health and quality of life for this growing population of older Americans,” he said.

While older women clearly showed greater risks for depression if their spouses were hospitalized for severe sepsis, data was less definitive for husbands in the same situation. Authors noted these findings might be due to older men possibly being less willing to report depressive symptoms.

All-In-One Oxygen System A Healthier COPD Solution No more Tanks! No more Carts!

So discrete you can hardly tell she’s using oxygen.

August 2012

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Heartland Family Service Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Heartland Family Service Senior Center, 2101 S. 42nd St. for the following: • Aug. 2, 9, & 16: Make jewelry with Gail from WhyArts?

• Aug. 6: National Root Beer Float Day. Root beer floats will be served after lunch.

• Aug. 6: Birthday party with music by Billy Troy from the Merrymakers @ 10:30 a.m.

• Aug. 21: Red Hat Society meeting and Cheddar, 121st and L streets.

• Aug. 24: End of summer picnic.

• Aug. 30: Talk by Clayton Freeman from the Alzheimer’s Disease Midlands chapter @ 10:30 a.m.

The Heartland Family Service Senior Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is normally served at noon. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to attend.

A nurse visits Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call Karen at 402-552-7480 for details.

Regular activities include Tai Chi classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday @ 10:15 a.m.

For meal reservations or more information, please call Karen Sides at 402-553-5300.

ENOA thanks businesses for donating to Car-Go programs in Blair, Fremont The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program would like to thank the following Blair and Fremont area businesses that have donated funds to the agency’s Car-Go programs.

The Car-Go program is a service in which volunteers use their own vehicles to provide free transportation for older adults in Blair and Fremont to medical appointments, trips to the grocery store, pharmacy, etc.

The program is funded by ENOA, an annual grant from the city of Blair, and donations for local businesses and residents.

• Heartland Family Dentistry of Blair • First State Bank of Fremont • Heartland Family Health and Chiropractic Clinic of Fremont • Fremont Eye Associates • Wal-Mart Super Center of Fremont

A Caring Community Called HOME! Independent & Assisted Living

• No Entrance Fee • Medicaid Waiver Approved • All Utilities & Housekeeping Included • Spacious 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments

49th & Q Street • 402-731-2118 www.southviewheightsomaha.com

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An industry dedicated to making life easier for nation’s diabetics

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whole industry has grown up around freeing diabetics to lead less restricted lives. Tubeless insulin pumps, a needleless blood-glucose monitoring system, and diabetic-friendly frozen foods are among the innovations helping people with the metabolic disorder to live lives on the go.

With the number of diabetics growing worldwide – 246 million at last count, according to the World Health Organization – businesses are motivated. In 2011, diabetes therapeutic products were a $23.7 billion dollar industry feeding a growing population that’s starving for a better quality of life, says Chef Robert Lewis, “The Happy Diabetic,” author of two cookbooks for people with the metabolic disorder.

“It wasn’t long ago that Type 1 diabetics had to be sure they packed ample sterile syringes and insulin, whether they were going to work for the day or on a road trip,” he says. “Monitoring blood sugar levels, which is crucial to keeping vital organs healthy, was painful, primitive, and hit-or-miss.

“And food? That’s been the hardest. A diabetes diagnosis can feel like a life sentence of bland eating,” he says.

Among the “firsts” Lewis says diabetics can look forward to: • The first tubeless insulin pump. Thirty years ago, people with insulin-dependent diabetes had to give themselves shots around the clock to control their blood sugar levels. In some cases, diabetics were hospitalized to ensure they got the insulin necessary to prevent ketoacidosis, a condition that can lead to coma and death.

In 1983, the insulin pump was introduced. It attaches to the body and provides continuous insulin injections. But while it was a major breakthrough, it can be bulky and awkward, with a dangling catheter.

The most recent innovation is a streamlined version called the OmniPod. It has no tubes, it’s smaller, and it attaches anywhere on the body with adhesive. It also has a built-in glucose-monitoring system.

• The first needleless glucometer. The

Symphony tCGM System uses ultrasound to monitor blood-sugar levels which will free people from the painful pricks needed to get a small blood sample for testing multiple times a day. The device, which attaches with adhesive to the body, continuously tracks glucose levels day and night and can send the readings to your smart phone.

Under development for more than a decade, Symphony is undergoing the studies necessary to win regulatory approval.

• The first diabetic-friendly frozen meals. Meals-in-a-Bun (www.lifestylechefs.net) will arrive in grocery stores in the Northeast beginning in July and roll out across the country through the end of the year. They’re low on the glycemic index, low in sugar and carbs, high in soluble fiber, low in trans fat, high in lean protein, and low in sodium, Lewis says. “And the best thing is, they are delicious.”

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he five varieties – two vegan and three vegetarian – include selections like Thai Satay, mushrooms, broccoli, and tofu in whole-wheat flax bun. “This is particularly exciting because while there have been advances in equipment that makes life easier for diabetics, there haven’t been for convenient, packaged foods,” he adds.

Diabetics who do not watch what they eat may wind up suffering kidney damage, stomach problems, heart disease, pneumonia, gum disease, blindness, stroke, nerve damage, complications during pregnancy, loss of limb, and other health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

But many Americans are trending toward healthier diets, eating less meat, gluten, salt, and sugar, Lewis says. Tasty foods developed for diabetics will be excellent choices for them, too.

“What’s good for diabetics is good for everyone,” he says. “And you don’t have to give up one teaspoon of flavor.

“There’s a reason why I am called ‘The Happy Diabetic.’ I have discovered the joy of nutrition-rich food.”

Medicare workshops

Theatre Organ Society show on Aug. 12

olunteers Assisting Seniors (VAS) sponsors free New to Medicare workshops on the last Wednesday of each month for persons: • Approaching Medicare age who are confused about their options.

• Who are employed but aren’t sure how Medicare works with their employer insurance.

• Who are caring for their parents and have questions about Medicare coverage.

The New to Medicare workshops are held at Vatterott College, 11818 I St. For more information or to register, please call VAS at 402-444-6617 or visit www.vas-nebraska. com.

he River City Theatre Organ Society will present Hurray for Hollywood II on Sunday, Aug. 12 at the Rose Theater, 20th and Farnam streets.

The 3 p.m. performance will feature El Capitan Theater organist Bob Richards back from California by popular request. The Pathfinders men’s chorus from Fremont, Neb. and pianist Alex Zsolt will accompany Richards as he plays the Rose’s mighty Wurlitzer organ.

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eneral admission seating is available for $15 in advance or $20 at the door the day of the show.

Tickets can be ordered by mail through the RCTOS, 2864 Katelyn Cr., Lincoln, Neb. 68516.

For more information,

log on the Internet to www. rctos.com or call 402-4211356.

Quilts on display through Aug. 25 An exhibit featuring more than 75 quilts will be on display at the Sarpy County Museum through Aug. 25. The museum is located at 2402 Clay St. in Bellevue.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the first Sunday of each month from 1 to 4 p.m.

While donations are appreciated, admission is free.

For more information, please call 402-292-1880 or log on the Internet to www.sarpycountymuseum.org.

Learn more at NIH website

Physician: Hip replacement surgery can be an effective way to relieve pain, restore function for older adults

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nformation about hip replacement – including reasons to have the surgery, how to prepare for and recover from it, and ways to avoid complications – has been added to NIHSeniorHealth.gov the health and wellness website from the National Institutes of Health.

Consumers can visit the website http://nihseniorhealth.gov/hipreplacement/whoneeds/01 to learn more about this surgery, which occurs most often among people between age 60 and 80.

The most common reason for hip replacement surgery is pain and disability from osteoarthritis of the hip, which occurs when cartilage in the joint breaks down, causing bones to rub together.

“Osteoarthritis of the hip can lead to severe pain and stiffness, impairing one’s ability to function normally,” said Stephen I. Katz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), which developed the topic for NIHSeniorHealth.

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lthough hip replacement is typically a highly successful procedure and an effective treatment for arthritis, the decision to have the surgery is not always an easy one, especially for older adults.

“Surgery of any type involves risk, and older adults might understandably be hesitant about having hip replacement surgery,” says Dr. Katz. “But if less invasive treatments such as medications and physical therapy have not helped, hip replacement has proven to be an effective way to relieve pain and restore function.”

Adequate preparation for surgery and appropriate arrangements for an extended recovery are critical to a successful outcome, and the new topic includes helpful details about the importance of physical therapy and arranging for assistance after surgery.

“Older adults considering hip replacement surgery would benefit greatly from reading this new addition to NIHSeniorHealth,” adds Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which collaborated on the topic with NIAMS. “It is an excellent source of information about the surgery itself, as well as the pre and post-operative phases of the procedure.”

Creating awareness of screening benefits for diabetes available under Medicare.

The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s National Senior Corps Association programs have joined forces with Novo Nordisk and the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions to help educate older Nebraskans about the 2012 Medicare Diabetes Screening Project.

Men and women age 65 and older will be encouraged to use free preventive diabetes screening benefits offered through Medicare.

For more information, please call Enoa Aging ext. 224 or 246.

ENOA at 402-444-6536

School of Pharmacy and Health Profession

New Horizons Newspaper

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Some common sense tips for keeping you UNO poetry contest open comfortable during summer’s hot, humid days Entry deadline is Sept. 21

to older adults, students

By Jen Vogt

By Lakelyn Hogan

Midwestern summers are famous for their high s the average lifespan becomes longer, a growing humidity and severely hot number of children are encountering older adults temperatures. With so few every day. More children have living grandparents breaks from the extreme than ever before. According to a MetLife Report, heat this summer, it’s espeAmerican Grandparents, the number of grandparents was cially important to be heat at a record high in 2010 at approximately 65 million. By savvy.

2020, it’s projected there will be 80 million grandparents Heat related illnesses and in the United States, making nearly one in three adults a deaths occur when the body grandparent. is unable to compensate for The University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Department of high temperatures and cool Gerontology recognized this growing trend and is always itself properly. Normally, looking for ways to bridge the generation gap. In 2009, an the body is able to cool annual intergenerational poetry contest, Poetry Across the itself by sweating. However, Generations: Building Bridges to Success for Urban Youth, sometimes sweating isn’t was created in the Omaha area with the goal of bringing enough and the body’s temtogether the young and the old in a unique way. perature can rise rapidly.

UNO gerontology professor Dr. Lyn Holley is a key According to the Centers player in the creation of the poetry contest. She says, for Disease Control and “An annual contest with prizes for youth and elders Prevention (CDC), very could encourage people to express their thoughts in high body temperatures may poetry, and reading and discussing the poetry could damage the brain or other bridge the generation gap. It might also deepen the poet’s vital organs. understanding of their own life experience.”

Heat related deaths and The intergenerational poetry contest is a collaboration illnesses are preventable, so among the UNO Dual Enrollment Program, the Omaha it’s crucial that people know Public Schools Dual Enrollment/Gifted and Talented how to care for themselves Program, the Omaha Public Library, the UNO Department when dealing with the exof Gerontology, the Sigma Phi Omega UNO Chapter, the treme heat of summer. The UNO Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR), the following helpful hints will UNO Service Learning Academy, and the Lewis and Clark help you prepare to endure Middle School Vocal Arts Program. the rest of this hot Nebraska To be eligible for the young person’s category poets weather: must be entering grades 7 to 12. To be eligible for the older • Drink plenty of fluids. persons’ category, poets must be age 50 or older.

During hot temperatures, Contestants are required to submit two original poems, it’s especially important to one about life as a teenager and one about life as a person at increase your levels of fluid least 60 years old. The entry deadline for poems is Sept. 21. intake no matter what acRepresentatives from the Omaha Public Library and tivities you might be doing.

Celebrate Poets will judge the younger and older poems, Drinks that contain alcohol respectively. The first, second, and third place finishers or high levels of sugar can receive a cash prize in each category. Six honorable increase the amount of body mentions are also recognized. These awards are presented fluid you lose, so avoid at the Winner’s Reception on Oct. 14. Contestants are them during a heat wave. invited to a poetry slam to read their poems on Oct. 21.

It’s important that you drink Last year there were 50 young contestants and 45 older fluids regularly, even before contestants. you start feeling thirsty. If To submit a poem or for more information, visit www. your doctor has limited the omahapoetsplace.net or contact Cindy Waldo, VP Sigma amount of fluids you should Phi Omega – UNO by email at cwaldo@unomaha.edu. drink, be sure to ask how http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/ much you should be drinkstudies/2011/mmi-american-grandparents.pdf. ing during the summer.

• Wear appropriate clothing and sunscreen.

CarFit events set for Omaha, Fremont Choose lightweight, light colored, loose fitting clothOlder adults in Omaha and Fremont will have an ing for the summer months. opportunity to participate in a free CarFit check during This is more than just a August. Developed by the American Society on Aging, AAA, the American Occupational Therapy Association, and AARP, CarFit is designed to determine how well older drivers fit their vehicles.

Trained technicians representing the Creighton University School of Occupational Therapy and AARP will perform 12-point checks that take about 20 minutes.

The checks will help ensure older drivers are seated properly in their vehicles and that their seat, seat belt, mirrors, steering wheel, head restraint, gas and brake pedals, and other controls are positioned properly.

Here’s the schedule:

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Friday, Aug. 10 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

AgeWell by Immanuel 6801 N. 67th Plz. • Suite 100 (Building with blue awning) To register, call 402-829-3200 Call weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Friday, Aug. 24 9 a.m. to noon Fremont Area Medical Center 450 E. 23rd St. (NE corner of 23rd & Clarkson) To register, call 402-727-3329 Call weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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August 2012

fashion statement; it will help you remain cooler during the heat of the day. If your activities take you outdoors, protect yourself from sunburn by wearing a widebrimmed hat and sunglasses.

Apply sunscreen 30 minutes prior to going outside and reapply as directed on the package.

• Schedule activities carefully and pace yourself. Try to limit your outdoor activities. If you must go outside, schedule activities for early morning or late evening when the heat is at its most bearable. Look for shady areas to rest, and pace your activity, especially if you are not used to spending time in the heat. If you feel light-headed or weak, find a cool area in which to rest.

• Call on a friend. When working in extreme heat, be mindful of your friends or co-workers and ask them to look out for you. If you’re age 65 or older, ask someone to call and check on you twice a day. If you know someone in that age group, make it a point to

check on them. According to the CDC, individuals 65 and older are less likely to compensate for heat stress effectively and are less likely to sense and respond to a change in temperature.

Use common sense and remember these last tips and focus on keeping cool!

• Do not leave anyone, especially infants, children, or pets, in a parked car.

• Avoid hot foods or heavy meals that can add heat to your body.

• If at all possible, stay indoors in an air-conditioned environment.

• Provide plenty of fresh water to pets, and leave water in a shady area for pets that live outdoors.

• Keep yourself informed of hot weather health emergencies by checking in frequently with local weather reports.

With a little bit of preparation and some easy preventative measures, you can enjoy your favorite summer activities safely!

(Vogt is with Midwest Geriatrics, Inc. in Omaha.)

Find out if you qualify for a free exam through EyeCare America

Farmers Market Wednesdays at Charles Drew Health Center

The Farmers Market at the Charles Drew Health Center – 2915 Grant St. – opmagine not being able to read the newspaper, watch erates Wednesdays through Sept. 5 bringtelevision, or drive your car. These are a few of the ing the nutritional benefits of fresh fruits challenges older Americans may face due to ageand vegetables to Omaha families. The July 18, 2012 related eye disease. By age 65, one in three Amerimarkets feature six to eight vendors selling cans has some form of vision impairing eye disease. eligible items each week.

Mary Yet, maintaining eye health and the independence For the second year, WIC vouchers will Here’sfor your ad for classified be section for the August issue.

Please let it comes with can be a real challenge those on athe fixed accepted at the Charles Drew Farmers income.

Market which is open from 3 to 5:30 me know if this is okay, or if you have any changes, give me a call @ p.m.

This summer EyeCare America, a public service prothe general public.

402-444-4148.

If okay mail yourfor check for $16.00 to: gram of the Foundation of the American Academy of Oph “The North Omaha community has a Newgreat Horizons thalmology, is reminding older men and women to not lose new resource with the Charles Drew sight of their independence.

Farmers c/o Jeff Reinhardt,Market,” Editor said Mary Balluff, To help older Americans maintain their healthy vision 4223 division chief Center Street for health and community and independent lifenutrition with the Douglas County Health Omaha, NE 68105 was a tremendous success style, EyeCare America Department. “It offers free eye exams last year and we are expecting to build on to people age 65 and that during the coming months.”

Thanks! older. The organization The Charles Drew Farmers Market acMitch Laudenback matches eligible pacepts SNAP, Farmers Market WIC, and @ New Horizons tients with an ophthalSenior Nutrition coupons.

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mologist in their area who provides a comprehensive medical eye examination and up to one year of care at no out-of-pocket cost to eligible patients.

Since its inception in 1985, EyeCare America has helped more than 1.7 million people.

“I had excellent care and I now have 20/20 vision,” said Melva Rayles, an EyeCare America patient from Warner, Okla. “Now I can do all of my crocheting and knitting.

Thank you all so very much for giving me my eyesight back so that I can do the things I love most: seeing my husband, children, grandchildren and my great-grandchildren.”

EyeCare America is designed for people who: • Are U.S. citizens or legal residents.

• Are age 65 and older.

• Have not seen an ophthalmologist in three or more years.

• Do not belong to an HMO or have eye care coverage through the Veterans Administration.

EyeCare America is made possible through the generous support of the Knights Templar Foundation, Genentech, and Alcon.

Those interested in finding out if they qualify for a free eye exam by a local ophthalmologist may visit the online referral center at www.eyecareamerica.org.

(The American Academy of Ophthalmology provided this information.)

CLASSIFIEDS 4us out on the Web

Maple Crest Condominiums

2820 N. 66 Ave. • Omaha, NE 68104

Phone (402)884-8870

www.maplecrestcondo.com

A+ Heartland Concrete Const.

Specializing in:

Certified Grief Recovery Specialist

• Geriatrics • Chronic Illness • Depression • Anxiety • Caregiver Stress

Most Major Insurance Plans Accepted

Take charge of your future, call me today at

402-431-3459 www.kesselcounseling.com 6901 Dodge St. Omaha, Nebraska 68132

NORTH OMAHA SENIOR COTTAGES Two-bedroom units for rent • $530/month plus utilities Must be age 55 or older

Please call 402-444-4148 or 402- 444-6654 to place your ad

Lamplighter II

Some of the nicest, newer 1 bedroom apartments. Elevator, w & d, heated parking garage. Small complex. By bus & shopping. No pets or smoking.

93rd & Maple • 402-397-6921

Driveways, garage floors, sidewalks, retaining walls. patio specialists.

Insured/references.

13 year BBB Member

402-731-2094

OLD STUFF WANTED (before 1975) Postcards, photos, drapes, lamps, 1950s and before fabrics, clothes, lady’s hats, & men’s ties, pictures, pottery, glass, jewelry, toys, fountain pens, furniture, etc.

Call anytime 402-397-0254 or 402-250-9389

TOP CASH PAID

Integrity Builders

Best & honest prices paid for: Old jewelry, furniture, glassware, Hummels, knick-knacks, old hats & purses, dolls, old toys, quilts, linens, buttons, pottery, etc.

Also buying estates & partial estates.

Call Bev at 402-339-2856

Senior Citizens (62+)

Julie Kessel-Schultz, LCSW

WIC participants will be able to use Farmers Market nutrition coupons to buy the locally grown fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs for their families.

Sponsors include the Creighton University Medical Center, WOWT Channel 6, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, the Omaha Farmers Market, and the Charles Drew Health Center The Omaha Farmers Market in the Old Market is open Saturdays through Oct. 13 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The Omaha Farmers Market at Aksarben Village is open Sundays through Oct. 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Free estimates & inspections • Roofs • Windows • Siding • Gutters Storm damage specialist

Call Colin @ 402-510-7360 BBB Honor Roll member

Accepting applications for HUD-subsidized apartments in Papillion & Bellevue. Rent determined by income and medical expenses.

Monarch Villa West 201 Cedar Dale Road Papillion (402) 331-6882 Bellewood Courts 1002 Bellewood Court Bellevue (402) 292-3300 Managed by Kimball Management., Inc.

deFreese Manor

Subsidized housing for those age 62 and over with incomes under $25,050 (1 person) or $28,600 (two persons)

We do business in accordance with the Fair Housing Law.

2669 Dodge Omaha, NE 402-345-0622

Will transfer your cassettes, LPs, & 8-tracks to CD. Also VHS tapes to DVD.

402-345-3232 POOL TABLES

Moving, refelting, assemble, repair, tear down. Used slate tables.

We pay CASH for slate pool tables.

Big Red Billiards 402-598-5225

Tree Trimming John Bouska Beat the 1913 Farnamleaves!

St. #708 falling

PAID THRO SEPTEMBE 402-894-9206 68102-1915

Chipping & removal.

Your prunings chipped.

Experienced & insured.

Senior discount.

REPUTABLE SERVICES, INC. • Remodeling & Home Improvement • Safety Equipment Handrails Smoke and Fire Alarms • Painting Interior & Exterior • Handyman Services • Senior Discounts • Free Estimates • References • Fully Insured Quality Professional Service Better Business Bureau Member

402-4 5 5-7 0 0 0

Amenities include geothermal heating for lower utility bills, stove, refrigerator, microwave oven, and dishwasher.

Washer & dryer in every unit plus an attached garage and a community garden.

Contact John Boone at Holy Name Housing

402-453-6100

Enoa Aging August 2012

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New Horizons

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Immanuel Affordable Communities Immanuel Communities offers beautiful affordable independent apartment homes for seniors who are on a fixed income.

Call today to schedule a personal visit.

Income guidelines apply

Immanuel Courtyard 6757 Newport Avenue Omaha, NE 68152 402-829-2912

Assisted Living at Immanuel Courtyard 6759 Newport Avenue Omaha, NE 68152 402-829-2990

Affilated with the Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Trinity Courtyard 620 West Lincoln Street Papillion, NE 68046 402-614-1900

www.immanuelcommunities.com

Volunteers Assisting Seniors is nominated for a CLASSY Award

ENOA menu for August 2012

olunteers Assisting Seniors (VAS), a local nonprofit organization serving the older population in metropolitan Omaha, has been nominated for a 2012 CLASSY Award. The CLASSY Awards are the country’s largest philanthropic recognition, celebrating the greatest charitable achievements by nonprofit organizations, socially conscious businesses, and individuals worldwide.

The CLASSY Award for Human Services goes to an organization that’s made the most extraordinary achievement on behalf of families and children. VAS has been nominated for its efforts to help older adults navigate the complex Medicare system by providing one-on-one counseling, education, and advocacy through a network of trained volunteers.

In addition to helping older men and women with Medicare, VAS also provides assistance filing for property tax relief and offers the only court approved training class for guardians and conservators in Douglas County.

VAS provided services to 7,000 older adults and persons with a disability in the past year.

The CLASSY Awards ceremony will be held in San Diego on Sept. 22.

Wednesday, Aug. 1 Meatloaf

V

Thursday, Aug. 2 Sausage w/Onions & Peppers Friday, Aug. 3 Parmesan Chicken Monday, Aug. 6 Turkey Tetrazzini Tuesday, Aug. 7 Sloppy Joes Wednesday, Aug. 8 Roast Beef Thursday, Aug. 9 Chinese Lasagna Rollup Friday, Aug. 10 Breaded Chicken Patty Monday, Aug. 13 Cheeseburger Tuesday, Aug. 14 Creole Pork Wednesday, Aug. 15 Oven Fried Chicken Thursday, Aug. 16 Turkey Breast Friday, Aug. 17 Swiss Steak Monday, Aug. 20 Glazed Ham Tuesday, Aug. 21 Spaghetti Casserole Wednesday, Aug. 22 Breaded Fish Thursday, Aug. 23 BBQ Rib Patty Friday, Aug. 24 Sweet and Sour Chicken

How do you define “healing” in terms of end-of-life care? At Saint Jude Hospice, it’s a matter of bringing families together to honor someone they’ve loved for so long, to bring a spirit of peace to them all.

Call Saint Jude Hospice at 1-800-HOSPICE and let the healing wings take flight. www.saintjudehospice.org

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August 2012

Tuesday, Aug. 28 Pork Loin Wednesday, Aug. 29 Country Fried Steak

And love? For that we simply turn to the words of Jesus Christ: “Love one another as I have loved you.” That, above all, is our mission.

We adhere to Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.

Monday, Aug. 27 Swedish Meatballs

Thursday, Aug. 30 Turkey a la King Where love and healing flow

Friday, Aug. 31 BBQ Chicken Leg Quarter