YOUR SPACE, YOUR STYLE

TRACI MCBRIDE JOINS THE NORTHEAST OHIO BOOMER MAGAZINE TEAM

Stop for a minute and consider your living space. Does it suit your or your lifestyle? — Not the life you lead when you were raising kids, or building a career (unless you’re still doing both), but your authentic, where-you’re-at-now life.

If there’s still too much of your old life hanging around and you want to do something about it, then you’ll like our new columnist, Traci McBride.

McBride is already a feature writer for Northeast Ohio Boomer magazine, but is expanding her role as a columnist, starting in this issue with Life Spaces. She brings decades of style experience to our readers. A Realtor for more than 25 years, she was staging homes long before home staging was a profession. Now she inspires and consults for home decor inside and outside, covering gift giving, holiday decorating and entertaining.

She says we can live our best lives while using “the good stuff.” So go ahead and pull out the good dishes, the good towels, the items you’ve set aside for special occasions. Our everyday lives are worthy of our best.

A believer that style is everevolving, McBride says we don’t have to give up style while we navigate life challenges. She loves helping others determine what is important to them now and how they can reflect that evolved style in their spaces.

Learn more about McBride’s decor styling (Zhooshing Spaces with Tee) at Zspaces.TeeMcBee. com or contact her at Traci@ TeeMcBee.com.

Y Not?

TRAVEL, EXERCISE, AND MAKE FRIENDS AT THE YMCA OF GREATER CLEVELAND

Cool Stamps & Collectors

If you’re curious about stamp collecting (philately for the uninitiated), then head to the free Great American Stamp Show, Aug. 10-13 at the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, where you’ll find hundreds of people eager to talk stamp stuff.

The show is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. It’s the largest gathering of stamp enthusiasts in the nation with 80 dealers and 300 exhibits.

The U.S. Postal Service will release new stamps that weekend, and there’s an area for beginners to learn about collecting and to get free stamps and supplies.

Northeast Ohio resident and longtime collector Dennis Sadowski is helping organizers get the word out about the show. Stamp collecting, and hobbies in general, have waned in popularity because folks turn to electronic media and smartphones for entertainment, he notes. A show like the one coming here may ignite an interest that becomes a lifelong hobby. Stop in and see. Cleveland last hosted the national show in 1999.

Art, culture, history, geography and more: if there’s a story to be told, it’s probably found its way on a stamp. Learn more about stamp collecting and the Great American Stamp Show at stamps.org.

No matter how old you are, taking care of your body is important. That’s old news. But what you may not realize is that for those of us 50 and older, it is especially important because something as simple as a fall or common cold could cause longterm complications. The YMCA of Greater Cleveland has all sorts of programs to accommodate the interests and abilities of older adults with classes that are not only fun but also functional.

The YMCA’s Active Older Adults (AOA) programs include water exercise, strengthening and cardio classes, yoga and stretching classes, and walking clubs.

And the YMCA of Greater Cleveland also sponsors trips. This is a perfect opportunity for the single traveler or friends who want to leave the planning to someone else. The Y has more than 55 trips this year; some local day trips to museums, and others as far-flung as Iceland and Ireland.

Learn more about the YMCA of Greater Cleveland at clevelandymca.org. For trip information, contact Loni Beverly at lbeverly@clevelandymca.org.

Quick: Who won the 2023 Mind Challenge for the New Majority?

If you answered “Broadview Heights,” then maybe you should join a trivia team.

Now in its fifth year, the wildly popular trivia competition pitting teams from Northeast Ohio senior and rec centers against each other wrapped up the season in June. The Broadview Heights team (shown above) took the title for the third consecutive year, beating

Willoughby Hills in the finals. Dozens of teams competed throughout the spring in lively trivia competitions. Two-time champion Mentor finished third and Beachwood landed in fourth place.

Broadview Heights won $2,500 for their city. Willoughby Hills got $1,500, Mentor received $1,000 and Beachwood brought home $500. The tournament was founded by Phil Levine and Art Greenberg. Dates for the 2024 tournament will be posted at themindchallenge.com.