55 Plus of Rochester, #41: September – October 2016

Deciding What to Do in Retirement Man to Walk 500 Miles in Europe to Raise Funds for Nonprofit

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free 10 Fun Things to do for FREE in the Big Apple

PLUS Issue 41 September / October 2016

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Going the Distance Rochester-area runners — like Deborah DeMott — take on huge challenges despite age

Political Correctness Have We Gone Too Far?

11

Tips to Prevent Break-ins 537 incidents of breaking and entering in Rochester in just five months. Find out how you can protect your home

One Neighborhood (19th Ward in Rochester), Five Friends, 60 years

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September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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CONTENTS

55 PLUS

55 PLUS

September / October 2016

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14

Savvy Senior 6 Financial Health 8 Dining Out 10 My Turn 16 Addyman’s Corner 39 Visits 46, 48 Long-term Care 49

26 12 RETIREMENT • Dan Mayers of Al Sigl talks about plans for retirement

14 SAFETY

• Experts weigh in on how to protect your home against burglars

Sister Mary Louise Mitchell is the new director of pastoral care at St. Ann’s.

She talks about spiritual care, career 4

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46 26 CARING

• For physician Brenda Baratta, house calls not a thing of the past

30 COVER

18 PROFILE

• Rochester-area runners take on huge challenges despite age • Experts: How to extend our lives in a healthy way

20 FRIENDSHIP

• Man to walk 500 miles (in Europe) to raise fund for nonprofit

• Bonnie Ross recognized for her community work Last Page Q&A

roc55.com

• Together forever: Connected through the 19th Ward in Rochester, friends’ bond is forever

22 VOLUNTEERING

• Jean Laitenberger has giving back in her blood

36 JOURNEY

42 HELPING HANDS

• Team of volunteers always deploys when disasters strike

46 VISITS

• New York City for free

September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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savvy senior

By Jim Miller

M

Deciding What to Do in Retirement

any people, when asked what they want to do when they retire, will say they want a mix of travel, play and meaningful work. Specifics, however, tend to be few and far between. But planning how to fill your time in retirement is just as important as the financial planning aspect. Here are some resources that can help.

Online Tools

A good starting point to figuring out what you want to do in retirement is at LifeReimagined.aarp.org. This is an AARP website that can help you rediscover what truly matters to you and focus on what you really want to do. It offers a variety of online exercises and programs that will hopefully spark some ideas and give you inspiration.

Encore.org is another good resource that helps people who are seeking work that matters in the second half of life. Click on “Resources” on the menu bar and download their free Encore Guide, and consider purchasing a copy of their “Encore Career Handbook” (available at Amazon.com or BN.com for $10.50)

by Marci Alboher, which is excellent.

Also check out the free e-book called “The Age for Change,” which can help answer the question: “What now?” You can download this at ComingOfAge.org.

And, if you’ve never taken a personality test before, this too can be a good tool to help you figure out what type of activities or work you’d like to do. A good option for this is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment, which you can take online at MBTIcomplete.com for $50.

Personalized Guidance

If you want personalized help, you can also get one-on-one guidance from a retirement or life planning coach. Some resources that can help you here include LifePlanningForYou. 6

55 PLUS - September / October 2016

com, which has a free exercise called EVOKE to help identify a path that might suit you best in later life, and provides a directory to registered life planners to help guide you.

Also see: RetirementOptions. com, which will connect you with a retirement coach who will give you an assessment to help reveal your attitudes and opinions about work, family life, relationships, leisure time and more.

And the LifePlanningNetwork.org, which is a group of professionals and organizations that help people navigate the second half of life. You can also find life and retirement coaching at the International Coach Federation at CoachFederation.org.

Coaching sessions typically range from $75 to $300 or more, and usually require four to six sessions to get the most out of the process.

If you’re primarily interested in volunteering, finding a retirement job or even starting a business when you retire, there are lots of resources that can help here too.

For volunteering, PointsOfLight. o r g , Vo l u n t e e r M a t c h . o r g a n d SeniorCorps.gov and help you search for opportunities, or even create one on your own.

To look for job ideas, sites like RetirementJobs.com, Workforce50.com and RetiredBrains.com list thousands of jobs from companies that seek older workers. FlexJobs.com can help you find good work-at-home jobs.

CoolWorks.com and BackDoorJobs. com are great for locating seasonal or summer jobs in great places. Or to search for freelance opportunities in a wide variety of areas, there’s Elance. com and Guru.com.

And if you’re interested in starting a new business, the U.S. Small Business Administration offers tips, tools and free online courses to entrepreneurs that are 50 and older at SBA.gov/ content/50-entrepreneurs, as does the nonprofit association Score at Score. org.

55PLUS roc55.com Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Lou Sorendo

Contributing Writers

Deborah J. Sergeant , Ernst Lamothe Jr., Jacob Pucci, Arn J. Albertini, Jana Eisenberg

Columnists

Jim Terwilliger, Susan Suben Jim Miller, Bruce Frassinelli John Addyman, Lian Gravelle

Advertising

Donna Kimbrell, Anne Westcott H. Mat Adams

Office Assistant Michelle Kingsley

Layout and Design Eric J. Stevens

Cover Photo

Chuck Wainwright

55 PLUS –A Magazine for Active Adults in the Rochester Area is published six times a year by Local News, Inc., which also publishes In Good Health–Rochester—Genesee Valley’s Healthcare Newspaper.

Health in good

Rochester–Genesee Valley’s Healthcare Newspaper

Mailing Address PO Box 525 Victor, NY 14564 © 2016 by 55 PLUS – A Magazine for Active Adults in the Rochester Area.

No material may be reproduced in whole or in part from this publication without the express written permission of the publisher.

Third class postage paid at Syracuse, NY. Permit Number: 3071

How to Reach Us P.O. Box 525 Victor, NY 14564 Voice: 585-421-8109 Fax: 585-421-8129 Editor@roc55.com

September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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financial health

By Jim Terwilliger

More on Qualified Charitable Distributions

O

n Dec. 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). This legislation addressed many individual and business tax provisions, which expired at the end of 2014.

One provision made “permanent” that benefits seniors is the socalled qualified charitable distribution (QCD). We covered this change briefly in a past column. Let’s take a closer look to better understand and appreciate the value that this option offers to seniors.

Understand that IRAs are tax-efficient goldmines when it comes to charitable giving, both pre-and postdeath. The use of QCDs from IRAs during one’s lifetime can provide some very attractive tax-reduction benefits.

Quite simply, the QCD provision allows a taxpayer aged 70 1/2 and older to transfer up to $100K annually directly to one or more charities from his or her traditional pre-tax IRA and not have the distribution included in taxable income.

Perhaps the most-valuable feature is that required minimum distributions (RMDs) may be used to fund these transfers. This bestows the greatest benefit on folks who do not need their RMDs for household cash flow. In this case, such transfers allow both RMD obligations and charitable interests to be satisfied simultaneously.

The big advantage here is that such distributions are not included in adjusted gross income (AGI). Why is this important? n Medicare Part B premiums are now greatly impacted by AGI. Per-person premiums start at a base of $121.80/month for modified AGIs (AGI plus tax-exempt income) up to $85K for single taxpayers or up to 8

55 PLUS - September / October 2016

$170K for married filing jointly. At the other end of the scale, for modified AGIs exceeding $214K single or $428K married, the Part B per-person premium jumps to $389.80/month with an additional Part D premium of $72.90/month thrown in for good measure. In between, there are an additional three tiers of increasing Part B and Part D premiums tied to increasing modified AGIs. In 2017, the rates are projected to increase substantially, and in 2018, the tiers will become more aggressive in terms of lowering the modified AGI thresholds to engage more Medicare beneficiaries in the higher tiers.

Note that the connection between Medicare premiums and income has a two-year gap. In other words, your 2015 modified AGI will impact your 2017 premiums. n Taxation of Social Security benefits is impacted by income (defined as “combined income” which is equal to AGI plus tax-exempt interest income minus one half of the Social Security benefit). The portion of benefits that is taxable increases from zero to a maximum of 85 percent. The maximum is reached when combined income exceeds $34K for single taxpayers and $44K for married filing jointly. n Exposure to the 3.8 percent Medicare tax on net investment income is impacted by income. Here, the tax is 3.8 percent times the lesser of 1) net investment income or 2) AGI less $200K for single taxpayers or less $250K for married filing jointly. Note that while net investment income itself does not include IRA distributions, taxable IRA distributions are includable in AGI, which in turn can mean the difference between being in the 3.8 percent tax territory or not.

Some additional benefits of QCDs are:

n Since a QCD is not taxable, charitable gifts made in this manner cannot also be listed as itemized deductions. No double dipping allowed.

But for higher income taxpayers who find that itemized deductions are partially phased out (the so-called Pease limitation), a QCD transfer is a better tax deal compared to a charitable itemized deduction. n For taxpayers who do not itemize deductions and do not need their RMDs, use of the QCD yields a tax benefit for charitable dollars given via this approach that otherwise would be lost if given directly to the charity in cash. n QCDs can also be used with inherited IRAs for which annual RMDs must start in the year following the original IRA owner’s death. n QCDs are exempt from the rule that charitable deductions for cash gifts cannot exceed 50 percent of your AGI in the year of the gift.

Other features and watch-outs include: 1) QCDs are not allowed for gifts to donor-advised funds; 2) QCDs are not allowed from employer retirement plans such as 401(k)s; 3) QCDs can only include distributions that otherwise would be 100 percent taxable; 4) QCDs can only include transfers that would otherwise be 100 percent tax-deductible; and 5) Roth IRAs are not suitable QCD sources.

Proper and beneficial use of QCDs requires knowledgeable planning. Be sure to consult with your financial planner to make the best use of this attractive charitable-giving option.

James Terwilliger, CFP®, is senior vice president, financial planning officer at Wealth Strategies Group, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company. He can be reached at 585419-0670 ext. 50630 or by email at jterwilliger@cnbank.com.

Request either or both of our free booklets from our website www.AlbrightBuild.com

James W. Albright, CAPS, GMB, CGR, CGP 5205 Johnson Hill Drive, Canandaigua, NY 14424 Cell (5850 230-4280; Fax(585) 396- 5879 albright1.j.s@gmail.com www.AlbrightBuild.com September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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DiningOut

By Jacob Pucci

Restaurant

Guide

The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond

I

f The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond were a few hours north of New York City, it’d be a weekender’s delight.

The 100-acre farm, of which about one-third is Northeast Organic Farming Association-New York certified organic, helps supply the adjoining restaurant, housed in a red barn atop a small hill.

The restaurant is surrounded by trim lawns and lush trees. Fields and apple orchards line the quiet road at the bottom of the slope.

Our meal started, as many good things often do, with a glass of Finger Lakes Riesling and a pint of IPA

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from Good Shepherds Brewing from nearby Auburn while we sat on the restaurant’s back patio.

The yard was an oasis; what little traffic there was on the main road was silenced by the tall trees.

We chose to continue our meal on the back patio, though the restaurant’s main dining rooms — rustic, but refined with exposed wooden beams and chandeliers — were like the inside of an old farmstead. It would have been a great setting for our meal had the weather not been perfect.

Dinner started with an order of bruschetta ($11). At Elderberry Pond, the bruschetta is sliced from a crusty

batard, larger than the traditional narrow baguette. The menu changes nearly daily, so we were lucky to stop in when the bruschetta was topped with a warm mix of mozzarella, parmesan and artichoke hearts.

Bites of briny artichoke and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar kept the potent cheese in check. The generous portion disappeared in minutes.

Much of the menu was sourced from the farm, or in the case of my T-bone steak ($38), from a nearby farmer, where the cattle are grass-fed and pasture-raised. The steak was prepared simply — salt, pepper and deeply browned to the desired medi-

Bruschetta at Elderberry Pond is sliced from a crusty batard, larger than the traditional narrow baguette, topped with a warm mix of mozzarella, parmesan and artichoke hearts.

um-rare — but properly.

The accompanying mushroom demi-glace — rich, but not cloying — was an excellent pairing.

Both the steak and seared duck breast ($34) were served with potatoes and green beans picked from the farm. The potatoes were boiled, smashed and served with butter, salt and pepper. The nooks and crannies on the redskin potatoes allowed for the butter and demi-glace to soak in, creating a product far greater than its humble parts. The green beans, with just a bit of snap and a generous grind of black pepper, were evidence of a restaurant that isn’t afraid to season its food.

The duck breast, seared to a rosy medium, was among the most tender bites of duck I’ve ever eaten, with a pleasant gamey flavor often absent from an inferior product.

The warm weather called for a refreshing dessert and the lemon cake tower fit the bill. The lemon mousse sandwiched between the two pieces of cake was zingy and packed with fresh lemon. Even the cake, which has a tendency to be overly sweet, but otherwise dull, had a great zip of lemon flavor.

Like the cake, the blueberry sauce that topped the tower relied on fresh fruit, rather than sugar, for flavor. When the raw ingredients are so good, it’s best to let them speak for themselves and that’s exactly what Elderberry Pond does.

Lemon cake dessert: The lemon mousse sandwiched between the two pieces of cake was zingy and packed with fresh lemon and blueberry sauce.

The sun began to set through the trees as we wound down from dessert. Though Elderberry Pond is only minutes from the city of Auburn and the village of Skaneateles, its secluded perch off a winding gravel road makes guests feel further away from civilization.

The restaurant won’t blow you away with unique flavor combinations or high-tech cooking techniques.

Rather, its focus is on high-quality ingredients prepared simply but excellently, and served in a setting few restaurants in Upstate New York can top.

Elderberry Pond is one of the region’s best examples of ingredient-driven cuisine. It’s a pastoral but elegant restaurant that serves as a welcome reminder that the farm and countryside are never far away.

The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond Address: 3712 Center Street Rd, Auburn, N.Y., 13021 Phone: 315-252-6025 Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed from January to mid-March.

Website: www.elderberrypond.com

The duck breast, seared to a rosy medium, was among the most tender bites of duck I’ve ever eaten.

The steak is prepared simply — salt, pepper and deeply browned to the desired medium-rare — but properly.

September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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55+

retirement

Q&A

with

Dan Meyers

By Arn J. Albertini

After 30 years with Al Sigl, former leader plans to enjoy gardening, volunteering and studying classical Greek

A

fter 30 years at the helm of Al Sigl, Dan Meyers stepped down as president in June. During his tenure, the agency tripled in size physically and expanded its reach to serve four times more adults and children with disabilities. Earlier this summer, Meyers sat down with 55 Plus to reflect on his time with Al Sigl and to share his plans for the future.

Q. Why retire now?

A. For the past five years, my board and I have been trying to put together a timetable for my retirement that was best for me and was most advantageous for the organization.

With the Celebrating Abilities campaign well underway, we agreed that June was a good time for me to step down.

For decades, the funding streams and the categories of funding available for programs for agencies have been relatively stable.

But with the Medicare redesign,

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especially in New York state, those funding patterns are changing and there are new requirements for getting money to fund programs.

This changes the way we do business and it requires investing in new technology. We know this is going to continue to evolve as time goes on.

The Celebrating Abilities campaign is designed to meet these new needs by raising money to support renovations, for new technology and equipment, as well as supporting our endowments for future needs.

I think the campaign will all give Al Sigl and its partner agencies the platform for providing services for the next generation of people with special abilities and needs.

Q. What will you do now that you’ve retired?

A. I’m still working parttime for Al Sigl, which I’ll keep doing for a year. They’ve been very kind to give me an office and

I’m helping out as best I can.

After 30 years in the nonprofit administrative arena, I’m looking for a hands-on volunteer experience, something that takes me away from Rochester for a little while.

I just want to enjoy myself in a different environment from here and sort of exercise my volunteer muscles in a different way.

And I’ll still be an active member on the boards of Rochester Regional Health and the George Eastman House.

I’ll also have more time for hobbies and other interests.

I’m a passionate gardener and anybody who gardens knows that this summer we’ve been doing a great deal of watering.

I’m looking for an opportunity to study classical Greek. In high school and college, I took a lot of Latin classes and now I want to add classical Greek the menu. Then, I can read more classical texts in their original language and hopefully get the flavor better. That’s why you

read the original language, to get the flavor. We’ll see how I do. I hear it’s pretty tough to learn classical Greek.

Also, I’ve got a stack of unread books on my bedside table. And my goal is to read The New Yorker the week that it arrives.

I’ve got a bit of a backlog.

Q. Any travel planned?

A. This fall, I have a river cruise from Budapest to Prague. And I’m planning a trip to London. My hope is that the freedom of being retired will create opportunities to do something I couldn’t do before.

Q. Anything on your bucket list?

A. I’ve always wanted to see Easter Island; it’s just not near anywhere, which is part of the adventure.

Q. What will you miss the most about Al Sigl?

A. The people who rely on our agencies are incredible. I think

they’re role models for all of us.

There’s a naturalness, there’s a determination that is very refreshing and very encouraging to the spirit.

Every one of them has climbed their own Mount Everest or has reached the next breathing stop along the way. That determination, strength, endurance, stamina; that’s what we’re all trying to do here on earth and these people are knocking it out of the park.

I’ve cherished the many friendships I’ve been able to develop at work.

Plus, we work with a terrific professional staff and dedicated volunteers. It’s a pretty rich mix of goodness. That’s not PR, that’s really the truth.

Q. What are you most proud of?

A. I guess I would say it’s that we’ve found a way to grow and change and still honor the founding principles.

Our vision is that we can achieve more together. It’s work

to sustain that and we could have easily dropped the ball and we didn’t. We’ve changed but in lots of way I think we are stronger and better as a result of the change.

We all share a strong commitment to the dignity and independence of the people that we served. That sort of deep, blue flame of the mission of serving people with disabilities is what propels all of us.

I’m proud of the fact that I’m leaving Al Sigl in really excellent shape. We will continue to grow, change and evolve to expand commitment to people of all abilities.

Q. What will you miss the least?

A. Meetings. It’s a big, complex organization, it’s collaborative, it’s very volunteer-driven and people are really engaged so there’s a lot to talk about.

There’s a lot of meetings and they’re a good thing. It’s not that they’re a bad thing, but I don’t have to do them anymore.

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September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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55+

safety

11

Tips to Prevent

Break-ins

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

B 1

urglary: you think it will never happen to you until it does.

How can you reduce your risk of break-in? Local experts shared their tips.

Keep your home locked.

“Everybody opens their windows to get fresh air and they leave windows open and doors unlocked to go for coffee.

Most entries are open entries. I, personally, check throughout the house before I leave. I really think many of these crimes are crimes of opportunity. There is a heroin epidemic in our country and locally.

Drugs are more of an issue and that increases entries and break-ins. The best area to start is to make sure all windows and doors are locked.”

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2

Keep your home well-lit. “I recommend motion lights around the home, especially around the entries and the driveway near the front door. I have a dim night light and it gets three times brighter if there’s motion.

– From Adam Wood, Absolute Home Security, Rochester

3 4

Get a quality security system.

“A lot of times when they’re thinking of a security system for their home, they settle on price alone. As a result, they don’t get the proper protection they need.”

Don’t give burglars hiding spots. “Keep your bushes

trimmed and low. Many people have nice greenery in front of windows and it’s a way for a burglar to hide.”

537 incidents of breaking and entering have been recorded in Rochester between Jan. 1, 2016 to May 31, 2016 — just five months.

5 6

Keep your garage door shut. “A lot of home owners

will leave the garage doors open in the evening. I go running at dusk and I see a lot of garage doors open.”

Don’t open the door to strangers. “Get a peephole;

they’re cheap. Once you open the door, they’re in your home because it’s so easy to push your way in. Greet the individual first. If they say they’re from RG&E, ask them to put their ID badge up to the window.

Make a phone call to R&G and tell them who is there representing

their company. It’s pretty easy to make an ID badge with a home printer. When in doubt, call 911. Tell them you have a suspected utility worker at your door. They’ll send a police car to your home quickly and now if he’s legit, he’ll stay there.

If they’re not legit, they’ll leave.”

– From John Romero, Keystone Security Systems, Rochester

7

Brand New!

Turn your alarm system on.

“Eighty percent of all burglaries happen through doors, which is why alarms work. If they kick in the door and the alarm goes off, they will leave. People should get into a routine of turning on their alarm before going to bed and whenever they leave the house.”

8

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Keep your house looking lived-in while you’re gone.

“Have a light on. Turn the radio on. Have someone mow the grass while you’re away and have the Post Office hold your mail so it won’t pile up.”

9

Let burglars know you’re there. “If someone knocks

on your door and you don’t want to answer it, the worst thing you can do is make someone think you’re not home. Burglars want to know if someone’s home.

If he kicks in the door and there’s a screaming person, he has a reason to hurt you. Instead of not responding, say, “Who is it?” without opening the door or flip the light on. Now they know at least you’re home.

They don’t want confrontation.

They want an empty house.”

– Alan Des Grange, ADG Security, Hilton

10

Watch your online activity. “Don’t post

pictures of your vacation while you’re gone or tell about the restaurant while you’re there. Everything being mobile, it’s very easy for people to pick up a phone and see where you are.”

11

Advertise your security system. “Security

signs and stickers decrease your chance of break-in by 75 percent.”

– From Phil Sidore, Upstate Alarm, Rochester

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September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

15

my turn

By Bruce Frassinelli Email: bruce@cny55.com

Political Correctness: Have We Gone Too Far? Watch what you say or do because the Politically Correct Police Corps may be on duty

S

ome school districts have banned Halloween because of its being “overtly religious.”

Others have banned this wildly popular fall observance as “the devil’s handiwork.”

In Seattle, “brownbag lunch” is no longer an expression used in government documents, so as not to appear racist. Some schools have changed “Easter eggs” to “spring spheres” and, in some places, movements exist to change the term “snowman” to “snowperson.”

Welcome to PC — the wacky world of political correctness.

According to Alex Francis, writing in The Pendulum, “At its worst, the overbearing political correctness is no different from the Orwellian idea of newsspeak — the effort to change the way people think by changing the way they speak. We are at a point in this country where people need to grow up and realize that there are a lot of real problems out there that are more important than whether the word `snowman’ is sexist.”

We are a contradiction of double standards. I remember in 1993 when Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s penis with a knife while he was asleep, then drove off with it and threw it into a field.

John’s penis was subsequently found and surgically reattached.

The late night talk shows went into overdrive yakking it up over this bizarre incident, which occurred in Manassas, Va. One can only imagine what type 16

55 PLUS - September / October 2016

of late-night characterizations would have been made against John Bobbitt, a native of Buffalo, had he cut off his wife’s private parts. I guarantee that the laughing would have been nonexistent.

African-American comedians can disparage other ethnic groups and those with alternative sexual persuasions with impunity, yet white comedians who do the same are called racist. Comic Sam Kinison was nearly blackballed when he joked insensitively about actor Rock Hudson and other

homosexuals.

Scores of phrases have subtlty infiltrated our language to help us be less offensive or to make reality less real, less harsh.

People are no longer “heavy,” “overweight” or “fat.” They are now “calorically challenged.” Comedian Arthur Godfrey had a No. 1 hit in 1947 with the “Too Fat Polka” — “I don’t want her, you can have her, she’s too fat for me…”

The lyrics also included: “She’s a twosome, she’s a foursome; if she’d lose some, I would like her

more some.” Can you imagine the firestorm that such a song would trigger today?

Don’t call us “bald.” We’re actually “follically disadvantaged.”

People don’t “fail” today; they experience “delayed success.”

The garbage man of old is now a sanitation engineer.

If Elvis were alive today, he wouldn’t be allowed to sing “In the Ghetto;” rather, it would be “In the Disadvantaged Area.”

The next time you are stopped by a police officer who thinks you may have been drinking, you can assure him or her that you are just a bit chemically inconvenienced.

If you lose your job, you are not unemployed; you are “involuntarily leisured.”

The mindset today is to cushion and protect us from life’s harshness.

To show you how weird this has become, all you need to do is to pick up a Styrofoam cup of McDonald’s coffee and read “contents are hot.” How’s that for a shocking revelation. Yes, it has come to this — warn us against the obvious.

The interior of our automobiles are billboards of warnings about airbags, seatbelts, safety devices, alarm systems and how to strap in our children.

The latest rush to judgment is occurring as the result of school shootings throughout the country.

So as not to take any chances with a student harboring hostilities, we will pounce on any innocent 8- or 9-yearold who, in a moment of frustration, utters a throwaway threat.

I don’t know about you, but if I were locked up every time I made a disparaging remark about school, an administrator, teacher or fellow student, I would not be here to write about it.

As youngsters, we routinely bragged that “my father can kill your father.” Today, that remark might cost a kid several days in juvenile detention. (Oh, sorry, I meant to say “under-aged rehabilitation facility.)

Make no mistake about it: Even jokes or pranks will not be tolerated in this climate of hysteria.

So watch what you say, do or even think, because the Politically Correct Police Corps may be on duty, and I assure you they are not laughing.

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September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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profile

A Woman of Distinction Bonnie Ross, a former teacher who heads Ontario County Partnership, recognized for her community work

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

A

s a former high school teacher in the Adirondacks, Bonnie Ross enjoyed what she always called the ‘aha’ moments. It’s the time when she sees a student finally get a concept or turn the corner in academic life.

“There is nothing like seeing a young person advance and watch them make the steps to having a better future,” said Ross, 63, of Canandaigua. “It is what I truly love doing and something I didn’t want to stop doing.”

Ross was honored recently by state Senator Rich Funke as the Woman of Distinction for the 55th senate district for a career in teaching and also working as a healthcare executive.

“Bonnie is representative of the very best that our community has to offer,” said Funke. “Following her successful career she could have retired, but instead she chose to give back and our community is now better for her service. She focuses on positive changes affecting all of Ontario County and is a true leader in our community.”

It was an unexpected accolade.

“I was absolutely thrilled, over-

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whelmed and deeply humbled,” said Ross, who holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration and in her 30-year career has served as an administrator in California, Texas, Kansas City and New York state. “Each year, they recognize women in their district that they think have done good work, and it really is an honor to be recognized while doing something I love.”

Two years ago after a short stint in private consulting, Ross was named the executive director for the Partnership of Ontario County.

The independent nonprofit organization runs community programs for child advocacy, juvenile justice, mental health and various youth-related initiatives, serving the area since 1998. Its mission is to create, support and administer alliances to cultivate positive social change.

“In a way, this is the best retirement job that I could have,” said Ross. “This gives me an opportunity to be some place that has passion and vision. We are here on the frontline of the community helping young people deal with challenging situations and helping them grow in many wonderful ways.”

The organization also understands that something needs to be in place to support those whose family members succumbed to grief.

The organization uses a grief program titled Journey Through Loss.

“Sometimes the fight is still going on to help rescue a family member and sometimes the fight has ended for one reason or another. There has to be a support group for people dealing with this loss because it can be incredibly difficult,” added Ross.

Bonnie Ross has always believed early intervention programs remain key to stemming the tide of negative behavior. Data from her organization supports that theory. In a study of 2,000 people aged 12 to 25, 3 percent reported using heroin in the last 30 days of the report. The average age for a youth using non-prescribed pain killers for the first time was 11 years old.

Last year, Ontario County sheriff’s office reports eight deaths from overdoses. There have already been seven cases this year.

Under Ross’ leadership, the partnership launched added six new programs while growing the organization’s reach by over

Bonnie Ross, executive director of Ontario County Partnership, is honored by state Senator Rich Funke with the 2015 Woman of Distinction Award.

86 percent within two years.

“Bonnie has supplied positive energy and enthusiasm to the partnership team,” said Philip C. Povero, Ontario County sheriff and chairman of the board for the Partnership of Ontario County.

“As executive director, Bonnie works tirelessly supporting alliances which cultivate positive social change. The collaborations Bonnie has helped form focus on enhancing the quality of life for all residents of Ontario County.”

In the past year alone, she has helped the organization open family support centers in Canandaigua, Phelps-Clifton Springs and Geneva.

The partnership has also installed three medication drop boxes in Canandaigua, Geneva and Victor, and conducted 10 heroin forums to students and the community reaching more 2,500 people.

“I heard a story from one of our bus drivers who said the next few days after the forum, students were talking about the program and wondering why would someone throw their lives away by taking drugs. They were really inspired and they created a public service announcement on their own because they wanted positive change for their fellow students,” said Ross.

Donna Besler-Tatum, who is the executive director at CARENet, said Ross has shown unbelievable

dedication to an important program called Nowhere to Go, an initiative that helps the homeless.

“When it became apparent that we were seeing more pregnant clients that were either homeless or going to be homeless, it was time to meet and address this issue,” said Besler-Tatum. “When we realized how many other citizens in the community wanted to get involved in helping with the homeless issue, we met with Bonnie and it was wonderful. Her enthusiasm and dedication when she worked with the group had me in awe.”

Besler-Tatum remains impressed with Ross’ dedication and passion that she sees month after month.

“Bonnie continues to help our clients by helping to secure donated items that are needed when our clients find housing,” she said. “She continues to donate to our largest fundraiser, our Chocolate Gala, where we hold a silent auction and raffle. This allows for us to keep our doors open and all of our services free.”

Kathryn Bluett, nurse practice manager and co-founder of Nowhere to Go, has seen the tenacity and love for others that her colleagues brings everyday. The organization, which was one of the six new programs Ross added, is a community forum that discusses how people might care for men, women and children

in immediate crisis situations with nowhere to turn. She has worked with Ross for several years trying to bring a low- cost health center to the Canandaigua area, which has manifested itself in Jordan Health Center, a comprehensive personalized family organization for all individuals regardless of the ability to pay.

“Bonnie is a consummate professional who strives to understand the mission and vision behind the task before she begins to develop a plan for direction,” said Bluett. “Since the start of Nowhere to Go campaign, we have been able to educate the community on homelessness, collaborate with various nonprofit agencies and that is something we would have never be able to do if not for Bonnie.”

Ross credits her success for having the proper work-life balance. She makes sure not to let life take her away from the many aspects worth enjoying.

A native of Vermont, Ross and her husband, Gary, operated a bed and breakfast in Canandaigua for the past 13 years. The Victorian Bed & Breakfast located in the Finger Lakes Region of Central New York, offered guests a quiet and solitude escape. “It was a wonderful experience that we had but we sold it,” she said. During her spare time, she enjoys researching her family genealogy and has found and connected with cousins all over the country.

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friendship

Friends being goofy and dressed up for Halloween in 2008: Peggy Schmitt Taylor, Cathy Horn Page, Patty Tyrell Darling, Kathy McDonough Olney and Kathy O'Hara Macartney.

One Neighborhood, Five Friends, 60 years Together: Connected through the 19th Ward in Rochester, friends’ bond is forever

By Jana Eisenberg

B

y definition, you have to be “of a certain age” to have had friendships that last 60plus years.

You also have to have grown up during a certain time in American history. Friends since kindergarten or 1st grade — Patty Tyrell Darling, Kathy O’Hara Macartney, Kathy McDonough Olney, Cathy Horn Page and Peggy Schmitt Taylor — fit the bill. They all grew up in Rochester’s 19th Ward in the 1950s.

When asked individually what has made their friendship endure, the five friends credit many of the same reasons.

“We all went to St. Augustine’s Catholic school,” says Darling. “Even if you weren’t Cath20

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olic, everything revolved around the parish. If you lived in the 19th Ward, your parents probably grew up there, too. Everyone knew each other’s family. I can’t describe it any way except ‘Happy Days.’”

She’s referencing the TV show “Happy Days” which ran from 1974-1984 and provided a nostalgic view of America in the 1950s.

“The 19th Ward was a great neighborhood,” said Macartney.

“We walked everywhere. We hung out at each other’s houses, and when you were in someone’s house, you were part of the family.”

Walking together to school and home for lunch, to ice skate, swim, go to church, hang out at the corner sweet shop, go canoeing (or

“oaring,” as it was colloquially called) on the Genesee River — the women grew up in what truly does sound like an American idyll.

Their common experience adds to their relationships now, they say.

“It’s a comfort when you’ve shared so much,” says Olney.

“We’ve laughed, cried, been through good and bad. We’re able to support each other, and it’ll always be that way now.”

“It’s amazing what we can talk to each other about,” says Page. “We’re so close. That’s part of the reason it’s lasted so long.”

Taylor concurs, adding, “We’re very supportive. We’ve shared weddings, births. Several of us have been through difficult times.

Five friends: Patty Tyrell Darling, Cathy Horn Page, Peggy Schmitt Taylor, Kathy O'Hara Macartney and Kathy McDonough Olney in a 2011 photo.

Patty Tyrell Darling

Cathy Horn Page

Peggy Schmitt Taylor

We have some similarities: We’re all feisty and opinionated. We also accept our differences. We feed on each other’s wit and humor.”

Laughter, fun, and the occasional misadventure are other common themes for the friends.

“We’d have pajama parties every weekend in high school, often at my house,” says Darling. “It was such a safe neighborhood. We danced in the streets in our baby-doll pajamas!

As we got older, we still would have ‘pajama parties.’ While we talk about

Kathy O’Hara Kathy McDonough Macartney Olney people we’ve seen from the neighborhood, we also talk about kids and grandkids. Our parents used to yell at us to go to sleep — but the problem now is that we start drinking at 4 in the afternoon, and we are yawning and falling asleep by 9.”

Hanky-panky “The church was right across from the soda shop. We’d tell our parents that we were going to 11 o’clock Mass,” recollects Macartney

Rochester’s 19th Ward With around 22,000 residents, the 19th Ward is the largest neighborhood of the city. Due to its prominence, many people not familiar with the area confuse the 19th Ward with the Southwest Quadrant as a whole. The SW Quadrant, also called Sector 4, actually contains five other neighborhoods. (Plymouth-Exchange in particular is often

mistaken for part of the 19th Ward.)

The 19th Ward is bordered from its northern edge, by West Avenue, Genesee Street, Scottsville Road, and the Erie Canal.

The southeastern portion is called Brooks Landing and is connected to the University of Rochester River Campus via a pedestrian bridge.

Source: RocWiki.org

of the occasional youthful subterfuge. “We’d get the church bulletin, hang out at the soda shop, then go home and say we were at church.”

“We’re constantly laughing,” says Olney. “We have that common core, so we always know what the others are talking about. Who has pajama parties when you’re in your 60s?”

The world has changed so much — with technology, security and mobility — that their own children, nieces and nephews don’t automatically have the ability to foster such long-term relationships.

“Where we came from and the era that we grew up in bonded us,” says Page. “A lot of people say they’ll stay in touch after high school, but within a year you’ve lost track. Today’s kids aren’t as tight as we were.”

“All those years that we grew up in such close proximity — the five of us never lost that old-fashioned neighborhood feeling,” adds Taylor.

“When you’ve known someone over 60 years, ‘one lies and the other swears to it,’” attests Darling. “They know more about me than my husband and kids do. There are no secrets, and you don’t guard yourself.

These girls have known everything about me since I was 6 years old; it’s kind of like having four sisters.”

Future plans include more travel and get-togethers. “You look forward to being with people who you’ve known all your life. It’s precious, and you don’t want to ever lose it. We’ll always be close,” says Macartney.

Boozy lunches, movies, themed Halloween dress-ups — things haven’t really changed that much for the gang.

“They’re wonderful girls, and I love them to death,” says Olney. “We never run out of things to talk about.

I have their back; they have mine. If you’ve put up with each other this long, you’ll do it until you die.”

“They’re just such great friends. I love ‘em all to pieces,” says Page. “When we get together we have an absolute ball.”

Taylor, who recounts both hilarious and touching anecdotes, says, “The most important thing is that all of us can count on one another for help in any way, shape or form. They are my family.”

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volunteer

Laitenberger helping Relay for Life at Eastview Mall in Victor.

Finding her Serenity ‘Mega-volunteer’ Jean Laitenberger has giving back in her blood

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

S

ometimes taking something personal is a good thing.

When Jean Laitenberger’s father had cancer spread through his toes, liver, spleen, brain and lung, she knew she couldn’t take care of him full time by herself.

Unfortunately, decades ago when he was sick, there was little to no hospice care around the area.

“I just felt something needed to be done,” said Laitenberger, 72.

That yearning spirit of attacking a problem when there is need has become one of the pillars of her volunteer career.

Laitenberger’s contributions to the community include being an active member of Saint Patrick’s Church since 1969 and the Victor-Farmington Volunteer Ambulance Corp. for 27 years while acting as director of training for two years and then president for two years.

It also includes Boy Scouts of America as both a Cub Scout 22

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den mother for Pack 50 and a Boy Scout treasurer for Troop 60; Serenity House of Victor, serving as treasurer and board member; and Kiwanis Club of Farmington-Victor since 2002, previously serving as secretary and currently serving as treasurer with a focus on the Victor Food Cupboard and Golisano Children’s Hospital.

“I do a lot, I know, but it is all because I enjoy it so much. Friends joke that ‘volunteer’ should literally be my middle name,” said Laitenberger. “I have always felt the art of volunteering, and yes I call it an art, because it is really dying right now. I think people should give back and I want to live by example.”

While working a full-time job, Laitenberger has always enjoyed the opportunities to help other people. This trait is something she has proudly passed onto her son, Jay, a teacher and active member of the Boy Scouts of America.

“I was always seeing Jean volunteering at community events,” said Mitch Donovan, executive director of the Victor Chamber of Commerce. “I used to say, ‘You’re everywhere!’ When I saw the breadth of her volunteer initiatives over the years, I was amazed.”

Laitenberger has continued to support the growth of programs to benefit the citizens of the Victor and Farmington areas. Her passion for volunteerism has been a significant family value that she has also passed on to her three grandchildren.

Laitenberger has been a resident of Victor since 1969 with two sons graduating from Victor Central School.

Giving of herself While her children were growing up, she saw a need in the community to help. The journey began with volunteering at the Victor-Farmington Ambulance Corps, where she took

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Jean Laitenberger with her son, Jay Laitenberger, at an Alzheimers awareness event. She has been very active in many organizations in the Victor area. an emergency medical technician course. At that time, the organization was 100 percent volunteers.

“It was a wonderful experience because you could take our children there and they could see all the valuable work that was being done. Also, if we had to go out on an emergency, there was always someone there to watch them,” said Laitenberger.

“All the mothers got together and it really became a large community.”

She continued to work there even as her children were older, even working her way to vice president of the Ambulance Corps.

Her father’s sickness did become a catalyst for the change she believed was necessary in the Victor area. In 1996, the Serenity House board was formed and charged with the responsibility of raising capital necessary to establish a conveniently located, homelike facility where two residents and their families can receive 24-hour care at no cost.

In April 1999, the dream of a comfort care home became a reality when their first patient was admitted.

“I was on the original group that looked into getting a hospice started in Victor,” said Laitenberger.

“When my dad passed away from cancer, there wasn’t really any in the Rochester area. Since that time, we have cared for 100 residents and 24

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their families from several surrounding towns including Bloomfield, Canandaigua, Farmington, Geneva, Honeoye, Penn Yan, Rush, Shortsville, Victor, Webster, and several other communities with referrals from Ontario-Yates Hospice, Genesee Region Home Care, area hospitals and family members.

“The facility is a ranch home on four tranquil acres featuring orchards, wildlife and gardens. It has all the comforts of home: separate bedrooms for each resident, guest room, and a commonly shared living room and kitchen where families are welcome to cook, share meals and relax as you would at home.”

Serenity House is supported by contributions of people and businesses in the surrounding communities, by donations, memorials, yearly fundraisers, and various grants.

Laitenberger is amazed by what it all has become. The more she thinks about the situation, it was more than just her father’s sickness that brought the volunteer bug into her life. He was also a man who volunteered at his church and other areas.

“He was a hardworking man and still found time to do extra work to help others,” said Laitenberger. “He got involved in these things young.”

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caring

House Calls Not Thing of Past Dr. Brenda Baratta prescribes personal interaction

By John Addyman

W

e all know someone like this. An elderly man or woman, someone who lives in that house over there, someone we seldom see.

We might check on them every so often, but maybe not often enough. We’re all too busy.

Perhaps you know this elderly neighbor doesn’t have much family in the area.

And you haven’t seen the car out of the garage in a long, long time. In fact, you’re

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Brenda Baratta and her physician-in-a-box case containing blood-pressure cuffs, an otoscope, pulse oximeter, reference books, some supplies, thermometer, earwax removal kit, and electronic medical records MR (laptop).

She makes house calls. not sure they drive anymore.

And if you think about it, you might wonder if they’re sick or ill — and that’s why you haven’t seen them.

Maybe you wonder, “How do they get to a doctor?”

Or even, “Do they get to a doctor?”

Brenda Baratta, 55, of Webster, thinks about that all the time.

And she’s a doctor.

But in the midst of thinking about whether those nice folks who have lived in that house for years need medical care, she’s driving her

SUV over there, and she’s going to stop in and make a house call.

That’s what she does. She’s a physician who makes house calls, part of the physician house calls program hosted by Jewish Senior Life in Rochester.

She’s on the road at least three days a week, sees all of her 140 patients at least once a month — some more often when needed — and spends between 40 minutes to an hour with each patient.

And it’s Medicare-funded.

“We take regular insurance,” she said. “I’m not a concierge doctor. What I do is completely within the bounds of general medical billing — no extra charges.”

Her target population is something baby boomers know very well: the frail elderly who are homebound and have no means to get to a doctor. The only criteria to be seen by Baratta are that you’re over 65 and have some significant impediment to seeing a doctor.

Don’t worry about finding her — she’ll come to you.

Her territory is eastern Monroe County, servings parts of Rochester and points east.

And she wants people to know about the service.

Her goal is 200 patients.

What exactly does she provide?

Through the Jewish Senior Life Physician House Calls program, Baratta has on her team a nurse practitioner, a registered nurse, a caseworker, a clinical nurse psychologist, and an office secretary.

She brings a significant range of services into a patient’s home with her — primary medical care, coordination of care with other providers, review of medications and methods of taking them, assessing a patient’s abilities to perform daily activities, and care-planning. It’s a one-stop-shop that comes to you.

And time. She spends time with each patient.

Baratta came to this practice about a year ago. A University of Rochester Medical School graduate, she and her husband, Tony, an enterologist, found one another in the first year of med school, and they got married in the third year. First daughter Vanessa — now a doctor — was born as Brenda finished her residency at Genesee Hospital, where she was in the emergency room.

For the next 25 years, Baratta raised two daughters — Julianna, now at Dartmouth, followed Vanessa — and worked for Lifetime Health as the primary care physician wherever they needed her.

And for all those years, she never had her own “panel of patients.”

That changed when Jewish Senior Life offered her the job.

“It was right at the time I had already transitioned to using electronic

She’s on the road at least three days a week, sees all of her 140 patients at least once a month and spends between 40 minutes to an hour with each patient.

Half of Baratta’s patients are over 95. medical records in my office through Lifetime,” she said. “I was feeling the disconnect already. I had a 15-minute visit with a patient, but only five minutes face-to-face time and 10 minutes working with the electronic record. That’s kind of the standard in the medical community. That’s the way it is for doctors who are based in an office. It just seemed so frustrating for a primary care doctor.”

Time of the essence Time was the difference. Time to see a patient at home. Time to discuss things. Time to answer questions.

Time to make sure the patient’s understanding is high and anxiety low.

“One of the things we especially do in the physicians house call program is that when we’re dealing with an elderly patient, we take the time to hear, connecting, getting to know what their home situations are, what affects them, their thoughts,” she said. “I couldn’t establish that connection in the short time we have, many times, in the office.”

She invests the time to personally coordinate many facets of care for a patient. “I just thought, ‘This is exactly the way I want to practice medicine,’” she said.

“I knock on their door, walk into their homes. I really get the flavor of a patient,” she said. “I’m in their home. You cannot realize how special that is as a doctor. It’s so unique to have that insight into how a person lives. It really impacts their life, their health, impacts what

I can do for them and what obstacles they have and how can I help them.

“What kind of services do they need in that home? I’m there to help keep that patient in their home. That can’t always be done in a doctor’s office. It’s just too limiting to figure that out in the short period of time.

“I want my own patients. These are my own patients. They may have other consultants. I coordinate with cardiologists and nephrologists. I do home lab draws. I limit emergency room visits because so many times they can’t get out and they wait until they’re so sick they end up in the emergency room. I can catch those issues sooner.”

Half of Baratta’s patients are over 95. Many are still as independent as they can be and many are in assisted living.

Once someone transitions to skilled nursing care, he or she ceases to be her patients. The other half of her patients are aged 85 to 95.

This population of the elderly can present some daunting issues to the people trying to take care of them.

“If I have someone with any mental health issues, I have a clinical nurse psychologist who will evaluate a patient at home. I have a lot of patients who have dementia and behavioral issues that have to be addressed by a clinical nurse psychologist,” she said. “I have a social worker that goes to the home.

The patient may need more nursing care or be involved in a community program, or assisted living or other care. The social worker helps facilitate that. I help families with transition of care, and levels of care, because it’s complicated.”

Addressing end-of-life issues She has also seen a huge shift in end-of-life care and planning because it is something she is involved with often.

“Our world has become so complex that we have to talk about so many end-of-life questions,” Baratta said. “Do you want to have CPR? Do you want to have a feeding tube? Do you want IVs? What level of comfort care hospitalization do you want?

“There are so many decisions an older patient has to make that they September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

27

Dr. Baratta visiting with a patient in the Rochester area. never believed they would have to deal with. I have to help them navigate that. They have choices.

It becomes confusing for family members to make these decisions.

It takes time and patience to explain it, time and patience to help people have the end of their lives played out the way they choose.

That was not a reality 10 years ago.

“Now I can help patients understand they can have dignity, they can have control, they can have some level of participation in healthcare. When most people go to their doctor, they don’t understand that they can be active participants. This program allows that.”

Many elderly are afraid of insulin, for instance, and Baratta ends up doing some education as well as providing support.

“These patients have diabetes and their lab tests show it’s progressive and affecting their kidneys and affecting their heart and lungs. So many times they’ll say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want insulin.’

And a doctor in a doctor’s office will say, ‘OK, I understand that.’

“I have the actual time to explain why it’s important to control 28

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your blood sugar. I will say, ‘I’ll have a nurse come out here and help you, you’re not alone, you don’t have to do this without support.’

It’s scary for an elderly patient.

“The other thing that surprised me about this practice I wasn’t anticipating that sometimes, patients make choices with their conditions and co-morbidities. They can choose to not have aggressive care. It’s OK not to have surgery. Palliative care is really important to be presented to a patient, as is hospice care. One of the first things that happened to me, I had a patient who had ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], where a patient loses all control of his body, but the brain stays active and alert.

“His religious belief did not allow him to refuse DNR [do not resuscitate],” Baratta said. “I helped him understand natural death and what it meant to choose not to have a ventilator and have end-of-life play out that way. It was a gift to his wife and to him. Sometimes helping people to check out is rewarding.”

The amount of time she spends with her patients also breeds another benefit to Baratta. Some of her patients become friends, too.

One woman, a 97-year-old survivor of a concentration camp, asked the doctor to play Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” the next time she came to the assisted-living facility.

“I’ll bring my music,” said Baratta, an accomplished pianist.

When she started with physician house calls, Baratta thought she’d be swamped.

“I thought when this started, the phone would ring off the hook,” she said. But the ramp-up has been slower than expected. She has room for a lot more patients.

“People have a difficulty with change, especially the elderly. They have their own physicians in the community and it’s difficult to change to an unknown entity,” she noted.

There are no religious mandates or affinities in the program, and although she may refer some patients who need assisted living care to the Jewish Home, “they can go to any skilled nursing facility or assisted living community,” she said.

“I believe in this program so much. If we get the patients, we’ll hire more doctors. I am so excited about this,” she added.

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cover

Going the Distance Rochester-area runners take on huge challenges despite age

By Arn J. Albertini

A

lthough David Coyne, 64, of Avon doesn’t run the 115 miles a week that he used to when he was younger, he’s still running several marathons, half_ marathons and triathlons every year.

And just because he’s not running 115 miles a week doesn’t mean he’s kicking back with his feet up on the couch.

Instead of running every day, he works in cross training, biking, swimming or a workout on the elliptical machine.

And some days, he’ll take an eight-mile run in the morning, at 5:30 a.m., so he can fit it in before work, and then bike 25 miles after work.

Besides cutting back on running miles, Coyne said as he has grown older, he’s started occasionally taking Arnica pills and sometimes, ibuprofen. “But, I try to stay away from the pills,” he said.

All that cross training, plus having his three children grow up and move out, got him back into triathlons after a 35-year break.

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“With the cross training I was doing, I decided to get back into them,” he said.

Coyne completed his 45th Boston Marathon in April.

However, two of those marathons don’t officially count since he didn’t register.

“Back in the early days, my brother went to college in Boston and he said, ‘Hey, why don’t you borrow Mom and Dad’s car and come to Boston and we’ll run the marathon’,” Coyne said.

Now that this year’s Boston Marathon is over, Coyne is training for several triathlons, marathons and half marathons.

“I’m ready. Training has been going well for as busy as I am,” said Coyne. He co-owns New Way Equipment and Pool Center with his brother, Alan.

He spoke with 55 Plus in late June, one of the busiest times for the pool business.

“I’m on my feet 10 to 12 hours a day and then I go running,” he said.

“For at least three to four weeks, I’m running on tired legs.”

After the early summer pool season is over, Coyne said he picks up the intensity level of his training.

Often, his early morning prework workouts are with his friend and training partner, Tom Jarvis.

“He’s a great training partner. If you’re planning to meet somebody, he’s always there. I guess I’m always there too,” he said.

He also trains with his girlfriend, Kim, who is joining him for several of the races. “We train together as a couple and we’re having a blast. We make it a lot of fun. That’s what life is about,” he said.

Coyne’s running career started as a freshman in high school.

He started out the year playing football. “I was 135 pounds. I was playing third string,” he said.

His older brother, Bob, was running cross-country and doing well, so the younger Coyne decided to give it a try. It’s the same brother who would later convince him to join

Deborah DeMott, 62, is a relatively new runner, having started just six years ago, but it’s become a passion.

“I’m addicted,” she says.

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David Coyne, 64, of Avon, used to run 115 miles every week. Although he no longer keeps that routine, he still runs and does other types of exercises.

Coyne completed his 45th Boston Marathon in April. him for the Boston Marathon.

“I found out I was pretty good at it. I ran hard and practiced every day.

I found I could keep up with the top runners,” he said. “And I was having fun. I’m still having fun.”

Often, if you see a runner in a long endurance race, you expect to see the pain of that race on his or her face. Not so for Coyne. “Typically, if you see me, I have a big smile. I’ve always been able to feel relaxed, feel comfortable with myself and run at a good pace,” he said. “It’s a God-given talent. I’m lucky to have it.”

Coyne was on two of the Avon teams that won four Section V titles in a row.

After graduating high school, Coyne went to Monroe Community College. He practiced with the crosscountry team, but couldn’t compete in any of the races because he had a job on the weekends with the United States Postal Service.

After he graduated, he kept running with the Rochester Track Club. “A lot of guys I was running 32

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with were some of the better runners in the country,” he said.

Beyond the enjoyment he gets from running, Coyne said he also likes the community that follows the sport.

The running community For Mary DaSilva, 69, of Brewerton, the community around running is a key attraction.

“Ultra-marathon runners are a pretty close-knit community. I’m extroverted and like to be around people. I love the community,” he said.

It’s a community that extends beyond the course.

When runners come to the Syracuse area, DaSilva hosts them in her home. She’s hosted runners from New York City as well as Bogota, Columbia.

For DaSilva, running has also been a good way to stay connected to people and keep her busy now that’s she’s retired from Lockheed Martin.

“Once you retire, all of a sudden all the long days you put in are gone,” said DaSilva said. “You have to have something to keep you going.”

DaSilva had played softball into her mid 50s, but stopped in the late 1990s.

“I’d had a headache in the back of my head for four months straight, 24 hours a day,” she said.

She went to a doctor and found out she had a meningioma brain tumor. She stopped playing softball and for about six years, the brain tumor didn’t give her any problems; she just needed an MRI every year to keep an eye on it.

Then, in 2005 she got bad news.

“The neurosurgeon said, ‘It’s time.

It’s got to come out now’.”

“When I was getting wheeled into the operating room I was thinking, ‘Wow, I might not come out of there.’

It gave me a whole outlook on life,” she said.

Soon after she got out of the hospital and returned at work at Lockheed Martin, her boss hosted a meeting with a motivational speaker from Fleet Feet. After the meeting, her boss, who was a runner, announced he was starting a lunchtime running club and invited everyone to join him.

“I was the only one who showed up,” she said.

At the time, she was 60 and she started out running 5Ks (3.1 miles).

“I kept coming in first in my age group,” DaSilva said. “That kind of kicked in my competitive nature. It was time to move on to something more challenging.”

That’s not to say that 5Ks are not competitive, said DaSilva. But, she said she wanted to push herself and try longer distances.

These days she runs ultramarathons, which is anything over 26.2 miles and up to 100 miles.

Sometimes there is no set distance and instead runners compete on how many miles they can run in a set time, like 12 hours.

In 2011, at the Mind the Ducks 12 Hour race at Seneca Park, DaSilva ran 57.2 miles in 12 hours, setting the U.S. track and field record for the 60-to-64 age group.

“I held that record until last year when someone beat me by less than half an hour.”

DaSilva will turn 70 in September

and hopes to set the record in the 70to-74 age group in May, once again at the Mind the Ducks race.

Sometimes ultras are continuing loops on a set course, which was the case for the Mind the Ducks race where she set the record.

But DaSilva’s favorites are trail courses.

“You’re running through the woods and the scenery is beautiful.

You might see a deer crossing your path. It’s a tougher course, but it’s a more enjoyable one.

I just love being outside.”

The races that are just continuous loops do have advantages, she said.

Friends, family, other runners and the race volunteers all pack the course, DaSilva said.

“They’re all right there cheering you on so it’s easy. I shouldn’t say it’s easy; it’s just that the way the race is set up, you’re motivated to keep going,” she said.

For the trail runs, on the other hand, you see runners at the aid stations throughout the course and there’s not much of a crowd, she said. It’s more of a challenge to stay motivated.

“It’s mental challenge but I found a phrase I like in a book I read — ‘Pain is temporary, pride is forever,’” DaSilva said. “I love being out there, as painful as it is.”

In addition to the ultramarathons, DaSilva is in a local Syracuse track league where she is a sprinter. “Usually you’re either a

These days Mary DaSilva, 69, of Brewerton, runs ultra-marathons, which is anything over 26.2 miles and up to 100 miles. “Once you retire, all of a sudden all the long days you put in are gone. You have to have something to keep you going,” she says.

distance runner or a sprinter at my age, but I do both,” she said.

DaSilva has also run marathons, but she prefers the longer distance ultra-marathons.

“I think it’s easier to run an ultra then a marathon. In a marathon, you’re running all out for 26 miles,” she said.

With an ultra, however, you need to pace yourself, she said. And you need to stop to eat and drink water.

Running an ‘addiction’ Deborah DeMott, 62, is a relatively new runner, having started just six years ago, but it’s become a passion.

“I’m addicted,” she said. “If I don’t run for two or three days, I start to go through what I feel is like withdrawal. I can’t explain it; my legs are like, ‘All right we need to do something’.”

“It’s like if you need to have a piece of chocolate every day. I have to go run,” she added.

Beyond the physical benefits, DeMott said running is therapy for her.

“It just allows me to take a deep breath and deal with all problems of the day,” she noted.

She works as a nurse manager for Rochester Colon & Rectal Surgeons.

Community is also a strong draw for DeMott.

“Rochester is a very supportive environment no matter what your speed is. You don’t have to be an elite runner,” DeMott said.

Being a part of the community is what keeps her going, she said.

“I am blessed to have the ability and opportunity to engage in these activities and surround myself with an amazing community of runners,” she added.

She’s still trains with Fleet Feet as part of the Brooks Fleet Feet Sports Race Team.

“It’s like a support group,” she said.

The team is open to all ages and ability levels. It promotes commitment to training, supporting each other and giving back to the running community.

“It’s just another way to surround your self with individuals of all abilities and share one’s strengths in supporting each other,” she said.

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Deb Demott and her son. They've run several races together, including this one, the Ragnar relay, where a team of 12 runners runs 200 miles (each of them runs a chunk, totaling 200).

Six years ago, the last of DeMott’s three sons moved out and she was looking for something to keep her busy.

Her niece-in-law told her about the Winter Warrior training program at the Fleet Feet store.

“At first, my main goal was to meet people and get to point where I could run a 5K. It just kind of evolved from there,” she said.

She’s always been athletic, but prior to six years ago, she hadn’t had much experience with running.

“When I first started, I couldn’t even run a mile without stopping,” she said.

Now, she runs marathons (26.2 miles) and half marathons (13.1 miles) as well as other endurance races, including long-distance relays.

Whether it’s bracing subzero temperatures in a blizzard or sweltering 90-degree heat, DeMott said there’s a sense of accomplishment when the run is finished, which helps make the anguish during the run worth it.

“I guess I feel like it’s a victory when I get through a tough, blizzardy day when I would otherwise would be just sitting on a couch doing nothing.

I love the challenge,” she said.

However, DeMott said she prefers those cold temperatures of the winter runs as opposed to the heat of the summer.

DeMott said she enjoys running solo, but also as part of a team.

“It’s something you can do with family,” she said.

In 2011, DeMott and her youngest son ran the Marine Corps Marathon together, in celebration of him returning home from a tour with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. They’d made a pact they would run the race together before he left.

Last year, the pair were part of a Rangar relay team in the Adirondacks, where a team of 12 splits up 200 miles. “It’s about 36 hours of running between the 12 of us,” she said.

This year, DeMott recruited her 6-year-old granddaughter to run a 5K with her.

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Tips for a Longer Life

Geriatrician talks about ways we can extend our lives in a healthy way

By Arn J. Albertini

S

ince the 1960s, life expectancy has been increasing steadily.

And as people live longer, they’re staying more active, said physician Robert McCann, chief of the medicine department at Highland Hospital, who is board-certified in geriatrics and internal medicine “We’re not just adding years to life, we’re adding life to years.

McCann Sixty today is not going to feel like 60 25 years ago.”

One of biggest reasons people are living longer is lifestyle changes, like people exercising more, said McCann.

“Exercise is absolutely essential.”

This includes cardiovascular activities like running or walking, as well as resistance training with weights, he said. It’s also important to incorporate activities that keep you flexible and help your balance, like yoga, McCann said.

Staying socially engaged can also help you live longer, said physician Richard Mittereder of Unity Hospital, board certified in geriatrics and family medicine.

“Some people are very active in their church or very active in volunteer groups or they find interests in clubs where they play games,” he said. “Any and all of those things seem to make a difference in aging gracefully.”

For some, choosing to keep working and putting off retirement

“We’re not just adding years to life, we’re adding life to years. Sixty today is not going to feel like 60 25 years ago.”

– Robert McCann, chief of the medicine department at Highland Hospital, is a way to stay socially engaged, as much as it is a way to keep earning income, said McCann.

“For a lot of people, [retirement] is harder than they thought it would be because they don’t have a plan.”

Controlling your diet is also a key piece in prolonging your life, Mittereder said.

When it comes to what you eat, the Mediterranean diet, with a focus on fruits, vegetables and fish and not eating as much red meat, is a good model, he said.

“Most people at least know what to avoid, even if they sometimes Mittereder don’t avoid [those foods].”

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables, especially those rich in antioxidants, is also good for

your brain, Mittereder said.

“If you can work to improve your nutrition you can do dramatic things to continue to help your brain stay healthy and active.”

You also want to keep your brain active by doing puzzles, playing a musical instrument, learning a new language or even playing video games, Mittereder said.

“Anything that stretches your brain function seems to help forestall brain deterioration.”

Spirituality, whether it be through involvement in an organized religion or other avenues, can also help prolong your life, Mittereder said.

“I do believe if you have some sort of spiritual attachment that does something to help. It doesn’t have to be religious and it doesn’t even mean a certain kind of god.”

Some studies have shown that practicing mindfulness can help satisfy that spiritual need, he said.

“It’s simply a matter of using ways to help your brain to stay calm and not get stressed. We don’t have the full answer to why that is. It may be in the limbic system where emotion plays a great role in how we respond to things.”

Quitting smoking and moderating how much alcohol you drink also goes a long way toward prolonging your life, said McCann.

“Smoking is probably the most preventable risk.”

Lifestyle changes are big part of the increase in life expectancy, but advances in medicine, like better medicines for blood pressure and cholesterol, better methods to manage those conditions and improved surgical practices also play a major role, said McCann.

“Those made a dramatic difference in terms of sudden death from a cardiac event. When I was a child, it was not uncommon for someone to just drop dead at their desk from a heart attack.”

Advances in bypass surgery, for example, help alleviate heart issues right away before they become serious and potentially fatal, he said.

“We have much better treatment to help people live longer.”

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journey

Walk of Hope

500-mile walk in Europe to raise funds for Lifetime Care

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

H

erb Tierney walks because he’s grateful. He walks because his life could have ended more than a decade ago. Finally, he walks for the many others who can’t.

In September, Tierney, 70, of Rochester, will undertake a 500-mile trek across France and Spain to raise money for Lifetime Care’s hospice program. For 33 days, he plans to cover 15 miles a day. Known as the Camino de Santiago, Tierney calls the journey a celebration of life and good health care.

“Life has been interesting and has taken me through a lot, but I’m so thankful to still be alive and able to help others,” said Tierney.

For 20 years, he has worked at Lifetime Care, an organization serv36

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Herb Tierney trains for a 500-mile trek across France and Spain to raise money for Lifetime Care’s hospice program. ing 33,000 home care and hospice patients per year in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region, including the counties of Monroe, Wayne, Seneca, Cayuga, Yates, Schuyler, Ontario and Livingston. Its focus is on the delivery of compassionate, personalized care to adults and children who are ill, injured, dying or grieving.

“Taking care of people in the healthcare field is something that I have been passionate about,” said Tierney. “There are a lot of things that have happened in my life. It’s tough

to know even where to start.”

The beginning might lie someplace in 2001 when he had a biopsy done on his larynx, also known as the voice box. Soon he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer so his larynx was removed, affecting his speech.

“Lifetime Care took care of me.

They made sure my needs were met,” said Tierney. “They treated me like family and that helped with my re-

continued on page 38

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September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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profile

from page 36 covery. We are a close-knit community here and I don’t know what I would do without that support.”

He had to give up patient care after a total laryngectomy in 2003, and now works in administration at Lifetime Care. He knew that he could still do so much to help others in need.

“I have worked with Herb Tierney for over 20 years and consider him to be not only a colleague, but also a good friend,” said Priscilla Lynn, hospice supervisor nurse for Lifetime Care. “When he was involved in direct patient care, Herb believed in and practiced a holistic approach to the comfort and well being of our hospice patients and their caregivers. Despite the challenges with his own health that he has faced and overcome, he has remained dedicated to the Lifetime Care organization and the hospice program. I have learned a lot from Herb and wish him a safe and successful journey.”

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His walk Known primarily as a Christian pilgrimage for the past 1,100 years, Tierney’s European quest predates Christianity. It was previously known as “Via Compostella to Finisterre,” loosely translated as walk to the ends of the earth under the Milky Way. He has been training for the walk as a fundraiser for Lifetime Care, walking six to 15 miles a day with a backpack. He walks to prove that those who survive a scary healthcare diagnosis can continue to thrive beyond recovery and for those who fell short of the journey.

“I want to walk for all the cancer survivors and I want to walk for those who tried hard and didn’t make it,” said Tierney. “If I can raise money for the hospice and help anyone, then I will. I also want to show that even as we get older, we can accomplish the opposite of what people think we can do. We can continue to live our lives and do incredible and physical things

and it’s a great way for older people to stay active and engaged in life.”

After 13 years living cancer-free and two decades as a Lifetime Care hospice nurse, the walk from the town of St. Jean Pied au Port in France across the Pyrenees Mountains and into Spain provides a backdrop to an interesting and grateful life.

“I would like to give back in the form of dollars some of the love I have received from this company,” Tierney said about his fundraising effort. “Accomplishing this will also help me set even greater goals for my future.”

Although his 35th wedding anniversary with his wife, Liz, takes place during the pilgrimage, he will not be alone, walking instead with his friend David.

He hopes other employees across the organization and the community will support the fundraiser by clicking on “Herb’s Walk” at Lifetimecare. org. All donations will go directly to Lifetime Care Hospice.

addyman’s corner

By John Addyman

Storing Memories

M

Closet organizing puts many a man to the test

y college education ruined me as a husband. I know this because I had a flashback while reading an article for a closet-organizer system.

The article was aimed at parents whose kids were about to start college and, therefore, would be living in a dorm for the first year of school. The article pointed out that this particular organizer would keep the closet neat and tidy, and it could be set up in 30 minutes or less in a standard collegedorm closet.

Thirty minutes or less on the first day a kid is in his dorm room, on moving-in day. Yeah, right.

Dad is going to unload the organizer, get out his tools, assemble the organizer and insert it in the closet while the child is moving into the room, meeting new friends, excitedly and nervously exploring, with a doting mother helping to unpack and arrange everything — in 30 minutes.

And the new college kid is hoping people don’t come into the room and get a first impression of the family by checking out Dad’s butt-crack as he crawls around in the closet on his hands and knees.

For Dad, the construction of the closet organizer is an important ritual, perhaps the last thing he can do for a child whom he will leave at the college. The next time he sees that son or daughter, he or she will have immeasurably changed.

All dads know this, of course, and most dads are prepared enough that not only have they packed all the tools to put the organizer together, they also have a roll of paper towels for the moment on the drive home where they have to pull off the road and have a good, cleansing cry.

Been there, done that.

I did not have an option for a closet organizer when I went to college. I didn’t have a lot of clothes or a lot of shoes or a lot of stuff. In those days — and I was in school when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were presidents — if you had a small TV in your room, you were a rich kid. We did have record players. No laptops — those were more than 30 years away. You did a term paper on a typewriter, and when I started school, submitting handwritten term papers was acceptable. No CDs. Eight-track tapes were around, and cassette tapes were just becoming available. No iPods. No DVDs. VHS tapes hadn’t happened yet.

Whatever I didn’t need and couldn’t fit in a drawer or hang up went onto the floor in the closet. In the first days of school, the floor in the closet was pretty bare. As the year went on, things got dark and crowded in that closet.

In the years before college, my closet organizer was my mom. Dirty clothes would go into the hamper, and clean clothes would appear a week later in my closet or drawers, neatly arranged. It was a perfectly

fine system.

Ironing things out But in college, I had to learn to use a washer and dryer, and when the college laundry raised its prices on pressing shirts, I had to learn how to iron. In fact, the laundry room was the place to be on a Sunday morning or after midnight on almost any night of the week, because so many guys were doing their ironing. As I recall, the quarterback of our football team was particularly deft with a Westinghouse steam iron.

My senior roommate, Ira, was good at ironing. In fact, he was good at everything; I was messy. I drove him crazy. I was up all hours of the night. I drove him crazy. I told him late at night, when the lights were off and we talked about life, that his big plant — a gift from his girlfriend, Joanie — was waiting on the windowsill to attack him as soon as he fell asleep. Then I’d nudge the bottom of the plant with my foot — which he couldn’t see in the dark.

The plant would move.

“See?” I told him. “Your plant is

continued on the next page September / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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from previous page waiting.”

I drove him crazy.

When the time came to leave college and go home for the summer, my drawers were full of clean clothes, and there were clean things hanging neatly in the closet, but the floor in the closet was full of everything else we’d collected through the year.

Fast-forward to today.

I’ve been wearing the same couple of pairs of shorts all summer.

I told my wife, Gayle, I was going to buy some new shorts.

“No, you’re not,” my wife said.

“Not until you take some of the old cruddy shorts out of the drawer and do something with them. Give them away, throw them out, burn them as tiki torches in the back yard – but do something with them.”

I paused. “I’m going to get some new sandals, too.”

“No you’re not,” she told me.

“Not until you get rid of some of the stuff you have in the bottom of the closet.”

“Like what?” I asked.

She held up green-and-black running shoes that were falling apart.

“I use those to cut the grass,” I said.

“They are starting to grow their own crop,” she said.

She held up two pairs of my nursing shoes.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re not nursing anymore,” she said. “Do something with them.”

She held up three pairs of decrepit sandals.

“I wear them every once in a while,” I explained.

“Deal with them,” she said.

Then she held up a pair of sandals I hadn’t worn yet. And a pair of shoes I hadn’t taken out of the box. And golf shoes (I’ve played golf twice in the last 40 years). And she was only halfway through the closet.

“For special occasions,” I explained.

She was wiping dust off the shoes.

“You’re driving me crazy,” she said.

I learned it in college.

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Social Security

Q&A

Q: I’m reaching my full retirement age and thinking about retiring early next year. When is the best time of year to apply for Social Security benefits?

A: You can apply as early as four months before when you want your monthly benefits to begin. To apply, just go to www.socialsecurity. gov/applytoretire. Applying online for retirement benefits from the convenience of your home or office is secure and can take as little as 15 minutes. It’s so easy!

Q: I went back to work after retiring, but now the company I work for is downsizing. I’ll be receiving unemployment benefits in a few weeks.

Will this affect my retirement benefits?

A: When it comes to retirement benefits, Social Security does not count unemployment as earnings, so your retirement benefits will not be affected. However, any income you receive from Social Security may reduce your unemployment benefits.

Contact your state unemployment office for information on how your state applies the reduction to your unemployment compensation.

Q: I prefer reading by audio book. Does Social Security have audio publications?

A: Yes, we do. You can find them at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

Some of the publications available include What You Can Do Online, How Social Security Can Help You When a Family Member Dies, Apply Online for Social Security Benefits, and Your Social Security Card and Number. You can listen now at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

Q: Can I refuse to give my Social Security number to a private business?

A: Yes, you can refuse to disclose your Social Security number, and you should be careful about giving out your number. But, be aware, the person requesting your number can refuse services if you don’t give it.

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helping hands

Meet the Action Team Volunteers

They form the lifeblood of American Red Cross in the greater Rochester area and are always ready when disasters strike

By Lynette Loomis

W

hat do a local house fire, tornado, mudslide and a hurricane have in common?

Ambulance corps, police and fire departments rush to control the scene and minimize loss of life. People’s lives are changed forever. Since 1881, when Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross, disaster action team (DAT) volunteers have provided relief to victims of local events, as well as national and international disasters.

In the greater Rochester community, DAT volunteers number in the hundreds and they come from all walks of life, differ in their life experience and range in age from teens to in the 80’s. Disaster responders serve in more than 30 positions within activity groups, available to deploy whenever needed.

D A T volunteer Jerry Miller, 42

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60, was in the U.S. Army for 26 years and has been in emergency medical services for 25 years.

“I was in the military on 9/11 and was at the World Trade Center following its collapse. Our unit had been activated to help survivors and control the situation. The worst thing I have ever seen is 9/11. I was there for over two weeks, right on the pile.

Red Cross volunteers were continually helping us with food and water.

It made an impression on me. When my military career ended, my brother Francis talked me into volunteering for the Red Cross.”

Miller says there are some similarities between the military and Red Cross. Both have consistent training, rules and procedures to follow. The common protocol assures order and consistency in an emergency. “We each have been trained for our role and understand what is expected of us to be efficient and supportive in our roles in disaster relief. Of course there are times when you have to make a snap decision, but you draw on your training at all times,” he said.

“Because I am still employed, I am able to respond only to local disasters, most of which are house fires.

The fire chiefs in Monroe, Ontario and

Livingston counties can ask the fire dispatcher to call Red Cross. We have people dispatching DATs 24 hours a day. The team meets at Red Cross and we take the Duffy,” he added.

A bequest by Margaret Duffy, a longtime Red Cross volunteer, made the rolling RV office possible. It is specially equipped to provide two private interview rooms and store emergency supplies.

“Once we arrive on the scene, the team determines what type of help is needed. We listen, help devastated people get their thoughts together and call their family. The goal is to focus on their most immediate needs,” explains Miller. Red Cross provides vouchers for emergency housing, food and clothing. It also helps people find emergency housing for their pets who are also traumatized by fire. Some hotels will accept pets and some shelters can provide a safe place for 24-to-48 hours.

“I have seen the devastating effects of fires from loss of life to multiple- and single-family homes being completely demolished. When a life is lost, mental health counselors help people through the initial phases of shock and grief. It is never easy but we do our best to offer a sense of con-

trol and some comfort knowing that even complete strangers care about them.”

José A. Latalladi Jr., disaster program manager for the greater Rochester chapter of the Red Cross, encourages all people to consider volunteering.

Miller said volunteers can be trained in a combination of in-person and on-line training. “New volunteers can be paired with an experienced mentor to show them the ropes.

And no matter what the disaster, you are always paired with someone; you are part of a team,” he said.

Hurricane ready Eighty-year-old Gail Hirst has seen many changes since she and her husband began volunteering in 1999 when they lived in Florida.

Seventeen years later and living in R o c h e s t e r, she remains enthusiastic and committed to her work as a DAT volunteer.

“In Florida, we always had an evacuation kit ready in a hard-sided brief case with our house and car keys, check books and some cash as well as the key to our safe deposit box,” she said. “Since moving to Rochester, I am not as concerned about a disaster I might experience but find great satisfaction helping people in other parts of the country. It is immensely satisfying to aid people at a most difficult time of their life.

“When we first started volunteering, we were trained to work in a variety of disaster settings and it could be anything affecting people from a flood or hurricane to an overturned tanker truck. Of course, there have been very touching moments. In Hurricane Sandy, I had the feeling that I wished I could do more for people. I worked in the office as the casework supervisor, sending people out to where they were needed and reviewing cases.

“In 9/11, we had a disaster service center in Tampa because many

Florida residents were touched by someone residing in New York. We helped with casework and trying to help people get up north to a funeral or keeping them up-to-date on where they could find out about missing loved ones. Meeting their immediate needs was our function and our assistance was tailored to those needs.”

Hurricane Irene in 2011 was one of the most devastating hurricanes and hit the eastern U.S. Hirst acknowledges that technology came to their aid in the form of a global positioning system.

“With that kind of devastation, there are no street sign or landmarks left standing so it is disorienting even for the people who live there, much less Red Cross volunteers who come in from all over the country,” she said.

“We even traveled into the wild to see if someone’s house was still standing and if people were truly missing.”

One of the benefits of DAT volunteer training is that training is the same in every chapter in the country.

“Because you all receive the same instruction, you can go anywhere and fit right in to form a team,” Hirst said.

“Although we come from all walks of life, we are like-minded and know the procedures. And you are never alone.

There is always support. I am in my 80’s and still communicate with Red Cross volunteers that are decades my junior with whom I have served.

“People don’t realize that everyone can make a difference. I can deploy and serve or work from home and assist people in other states because of the Internet and cell phones,” she said. “Even with a broken back, I was able to work from home. I would encourage anyone to consider being a DAT. There is no cost for the training and when you deploy, your transportation, meals and lodging are all covered by contributions.”

Paying it forward Greg Langen, 65, started volunteering for the Red Cross almost four years ago after retiring from a career in social work.

“I see my work with the Red Cross as an opportunity to ‘get back to my roots,’ and help people in a direct and meaningful way, often during some of the worst times in their lives,” he said. His wife, Anita, concurs.

“Volunteering for the Red Cross

has been good for Greg because it gives him a chance to use his social work and organizational skills from his career and continue to make a difference in the lives of people. I know he finds the work rewarding and that the people he assists really appreciate the help from the Red Cross,” she said.

Locally, much of what Langen does as a DAT volunteer is respond to house fires.

“In addition to having room to interview two families at a time in the Duffy, we also stock snacks, water, blankets, comfort kits, laundry kits, clothing, and last but not least, Mickey Mouse dolls donated by Disney to give to the kids. I’ll never forget the looks on the faces of the kids we helped who were burned out of their house last Christmas Eve. All their presents were destroyed as well as everything else they owned, but they lit up when we were able to give each of them a Mickey Mouse doll,” recalls Langen.

“Our main mission on a DAT call is to provide for the immediate needs of the fire victims. A fire scene is typically very chaotic, and the fire victims may feel overwhelmed by the emotional stress of their loss. Imagine that you lost your identification, all your medications, your food and clothes and everything else you own,” he said. “You have no idea where you are going to sleep tonight, where your next meal is coming from, or what you are going to wear tomorrow. Providing assurance to fire victims that you are there to help them deal with all of that is very helpful to them and rewarding for the volunteers.

“We can reach our health services nurse volunteers right from the Duffy who arrange for the replacement of all their medications. We can also bring in mental health services if needed by the clients — a very valuable service in the case of an injury or death. We can immediately provide food, clothing and transportation allowances, as well as lodging. In addition, our caseSeptember / October 2016 - 55 PLUS

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veterans

work volunteers provide information and referral services in the days after the fire to help our clients get their lives back in order. After responding to a house fire, you know you have made a meaningful impact on the clients you have served, and always feel grateful that you were able to help.”

Langen says he is always amazed by the resilience of people. “Sometimes that is with the support of family and friends, and often is it because the Red Cross is there for them. Red Cross volunteers provide a human connection and a sense of community support during difficult times, things we all need when dealing with life’s most difficult challenges,” he said.

At a recent deployment in flood-stricken Texas, Langen reported his experience. “We were driving down a rural road that had just that day became accessible and noticed an elderly woman walking aimlessly in a nearby field. She was plodding around in circles for no apparent reason. We stopped and called out to her to see if she needed any help. It turns out she had Alzheimer’s disease and had wandered away from the car where her son had told her to stay while he checked on his house. Her confusion was exacerbated because the flooded area looked so different that she didn’t know where she was.

We escorted her out of the field and reunited her with her son when he came back out to the road.

“I’m not sure whether we saved a life today, but we surely alleviated some suffering. This was a very rewarding day.”

Veteran of disasters A Marine Corps veteran (19641969) and retiree from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Sarah Perkins has been deployed to 43 disasters. She began DAT work 11 years ago. Watching news footage of Hurricane Katrina touched Perkins.

“I sat in the safety of our home and thought that there has to be more I can do than write a check,” she said.

The local chapter of the Red Cross conducted a massive volunteer recruitment drive. She completed her paper work and was deployed to Lou44

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isiana as a life, safety and asset protection responder, and became a disaster responder.

P e r kins explains how the two levels work.

“DAT volunteer work is the entry level work all volunteers experience.

In addition to DAT service at the local level, we are each given the opportunity to select an activity group from more than 30 in which to serve,” she said. “We are given all the training needed, and are allowed to select whether we will serve with our region, within the state, the division, or nationally. Many of us choose to serve nationally, deploying as disaster responders on that level, and continue to work within DAT at the local level concurrently.”

“With such an urgent, large-scale disaster occurring, one of the things the team I was on did was to serve as our own internal security force.

We monitored our own volunteers as workers, to make sure they were suitable and to double check background checks and to look after everyone’s safety,” explains Perkins. The first time she went, she stayed for 12 days but a mold-induced infection drove her back to Rochester for treatment.

After recovering, she returned for another 18 days. “One of the important things we learn in our training is not to become a victim, no matter what the disaster,” she said.

One of her most touching moments, and there have been hundreds, was assessing the home of an elderly gentleman in the Binghamton flood in 2007 created by days of torrential rain.

The mayor had asked the Red Cross to visit him. The man would not leave his dog Mickey. There are often more animals at risk in a disaster than places that can accommodate them and human families are loathe to leave the pet members of their family.

“His home was filled with mud

and he had fans going but the smell of mold and mildew was unmistakable.

We encouraged him to get the rugs cleaned immediately, or better yet remove them entirely, but his reason for not doing so brought tears to our eyes. His wife had passed away and the rug was the last thing for which she had carefully saved money,” she said. “As he relayed this to us, we could see the pain in his face. This rug was an important memory to him.

To have it removed was almost like losing even more of his wife from his life. As we left, Mickey still was looking out the living room window for his mama to come home. That memory will be with me always.”

“I think it’s a real wake up call to realize that people’s possessions aren’t just ‘stuff’. They are the memories that shaped their lives and center them,” said Perkins. “We laugh in gratitude and relief when in the debris we can uncover something a person thought was lost. We might overturn some debris and there is a single picture or a piece of china. Having this small possession helps them hold onto a celebration and regain some control over their upturned life.”

Next to her tenure in the Marines, Perkins says her involvement with the Red Cross during wildfires, floods and hurricanes has been one of the most meaningful and gratifying experiences of her life.

“To help someone who has lost everything they worked their whole life for, to sit with them and offer emergency assistance, to listen and offer encouragement and help them plan for getting through the next 24 hours is enriching. We always walk away with more than the clients do,” she said.

“At age 69, I am still well able to be deployed to a disaster. While I know there will come a time when that is not realistic, I know there will continue to be opportunities to help here in the Greater Rochester area.

There will always be a place for DAT volunteers. I think this work is in our blood,” she added.

Those interested in volunteering may apply at redcross.org.

Selling Your Business and Receiving a Fair Price

Jim Terwilliger: How to Plan for a Successful Retirement

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External Drive, Cloud: What’s the Best Way to Store Photos?

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any business owners know of someone who sold their business for 10x its value and assume they will receive the same. The owners seek a competitor or customer seeking a synergy who would pay a strategic premium. Unfortunately, strategic buyers are few and far between.

For some owners, the fair market value of their business is enough — or they do not wish to auction their company. Most owners are unaware of an alternative. An employee-stock ownership plan (ESOP) offers another solution which allows the owner to sell the company for a financial price.

ESOPs pay fair market value for the shares of a company, as determined by an independent valuator and trustee after a thorough due diligence process and negotiation of the purchase price. A third party buyer will perform the same review. An ESOP cannot pay a strategic premium, but any business who knows or worries that a strategic buyer will never appear should explore this option.

Unlike a sale through an investment bank, an ESOP transaction rarely involves a large success fee on the sale of the company.

Unless a truly strategic buyer already exists, an ESOP offers a business owner a financial price for the shares of his company and should be explored as an option. An ESOP may not be the right move for you, but you should consider a sale to an ESOP in any succession plan.

Lian Gravelle, Esq., is an ESOP compliance counsel who works at ESOP Plus®: Schatz Brown Glassman LLP in Rochester. Visit www.esopplus.com or email lgravelle@esopplus.com.

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Savvy Senior: Paying Income Tax on Social Security Benefits

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Fun Things to do for FREE in the Big Apple

The Staten Island Ferry has been carrying passengers between Manhattan and Staten Island since 1905 and has been dubbed “One of the world’s greatest and smallest water voyages.”

The ferry runs 24 hours a day, year-round and it’s free of charge.

New York City for Free

By Sandra Scott

N

ew York City is always on the list as one of the most expensive cities in the world and thus one of the most costly places to visit. There are ways to cut costs such as buying theater tickets for half price at TKS, using hotel points (if you have some) to defray the cost of accommodations, and buying reduced ticket packages such a NYC Explorer Pass. However, they are many free things available for tourists.

Big Apple Greeters: Take a free tour with a greeter. Big Apple Greeter is a nonprofit organization that matches visitors with New Yorkers who want to share the city they call home. All greeters are volunteers “friends” — they are not paid professional tour guides, and tipping is not allowed.

The only requirement is that one must be staying at least two nights within the five boroughs of NYC. A typical tour is a walking tour of an area where the greeter has expertise and usually lasts two to four hours.

The greeter does not visit museums but shows visitors the city from

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their perspective. Requests should be made three to four weeks ahead of time. The Big Apple Greeters is part of the Global Greeter Network.

Central Park: Most parks are free but most parks are not like Central Park. The Central Park Conservancy offers a variety of inexpensive tours but visitors are free to explore the park on their own. Free downloadable maps are available on the conservancy’s website or one can be picked up at one of their visitor’s centers. Of special interest are places like Strawberry Fields with the “Imagine” mosaic located across the street from the Dakota where John Lennon was killed and the statue of Balto, the sled dog who saved Alaska’s children from a diphtheria epidemic and inspired the yearly Iditarod Race. There are scenic trails, monuments, statues, a dairy, a carousel, and many events from yoga to Shakespeare presentations.

Staten Island Ferry: The Staten Island Ferry has been carrying passengers between Manhattan and Staten Island since 1905 and has been dubbed

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“One of the world’s greatest and smallest water voyages.” The ferry runs 24 hours a day, year-round.

The five-mile, 25-minute ride offers majestic views of the NYC skyline — day and night. It is necessary to get off and then reboard for the return trip. Avoid rush hour. Vehicles are not allowed but bikes are. The ride has been free since 1997.

Downtown Connection: The bright red, handicappedaccessible Downtown Connection bus is a free service that connects the South Street Seaport with the Battery and City Hall Park making 37 stops along the way. The driver will also stop upon request. There are electronic “countdown clock” signs along the route that alert passengers of the bus arrival. The stops are convenient to all of Lower Manhattan, subway lines and many attractions. Service is provided seven days a week, except Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, from 10 a.m., and ends with a final run at 7:30 p.m.

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9/11 Memorial: The memorial honors the lives of those who were lost in the World Trade Center attack. The names of every person who died in the attacks of on both Feb. 26, 1993 and Sept. 11, 2001 are inscribed in bronze around the twin memorial pools. There are informative signboards including one that tells about the "Survivor Tree" discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged. Under the care of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation it survived and was returned to the site in 2010 as a living reminder of survival.

St. Paul’s Chapel, on the edge of Ground Zero, miraculously survived and has free displays but the 9/11 Memorial Museum is not free.

High Line: The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long New York City linear park built on an elevated section of a disused New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line. There are sign boards, benches and even bleacher-style seating on a section that crosses above the road where people can watch the traffic go whizzing underneath them. Knowledgeable docents offer twice-a-week walking tours giving visitors an insider’s perspective on the park’s history. It is accessed by elevator and stairs at various points.

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National Museum of the American Indian: The museum

is part of the Smithsonian Institution and is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, arts and diversity of the Native Americans of the Western Hemisphere. There are permanent displays highlighting the various Native American cultures along with changing exhibits and special presentations. It is located in the historic Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House with a spectacular lobby.

Art: The Chelsea area is home for many free art galleries. Most are between 20th to 29th street between 10th and 11th avenues. There are several museums that are always free such as the American Folk Art Museum while some art museums such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and MOMA are free Friday evenings. NYC’s sculpture collection is one of the greatest

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In Central Park, two places of special interest are the Strawberry Fields with the “Imagine” mosaic located across the street from the Dakota where John Lennon was killed, and the statue of Balto, the sled dog who saved Alaska’s

outdoor public art museums in the United States featuring some of the world’s greatest sculptors such as David Chester French.

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African American Burial Ground: One of NYC’s newest

attractions is the open-air African American Burial Ground. A construction project in 1991 uncovered more than 400 caskets of slaves from an age when New York had more slaves than any American city outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

There is a visitor center on the first floor of the nearby Ted Weiss Federal Building. Free ranger-led tours are available but must be

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requested two weeks in advance.

More freebies: There is an event or parade nearly every weekend somewhere in the city.

Street entertainers are everywhere from the Naked Cowboy in Times Square to violin players in the subway. The Juillard School of Music often has free performances.

Many of the city’s buildings have amazing interiors and can be entered free including Grand Central Terminal, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the Chrysler Building. St. Patrick’s Cathedral and NY Public Library both offer free tours.

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long-term care

By Susan Suben

No LTC Plan? What To Expect From Medica…

E

ach year we spend a great deal of time planning and budgeting for our vacation, our grandchildren’s college fund, our taxes, etc. If you’ve been reading my columns, you’ve heard me repeatedly say how important it is to plan for long-term care (LTC). But I bet many of you still haven’t done that. So what happens if you don’t have a LTC plan? Most people will spend down their retirement savings and go on Medicaid. A plan you never thought you would depend on.

Here are some facts to ponder.

On average, a 65-year-old male can live to 86.6 years of age and a female to 88.8. Seventy percent of individuals over the age of 65 will need some type of LTC services. The No. 1 risk to your quality of life, independence, standard of living, asset preservation and legacy is a LTC illness.

Right now, the average cost of nursing home care in the Rochester area is $12,000 per month; assisted living, $5000 per month, and home care $25 an hour. How long will your assets last?

You do have many planning strategies to choose from to avoid going on Medicaid. They can include LTC insurance, life insurance with a LTC component, repositioning of assets or an irrevocable trust. But for the purpose of this article, let’s assume that you haven’t done any planning at all.

What can you expect if you have to go on Medicaid?

Medicaid is the “payer of last resort.” It is a federal/state program primarily designed to pay for nursing 48

55 PLUS - September / October 2016

home care. It pays for limited home care. Very few assisted living facilities accept Medicaid. It is a means_tested program that requires certain income

The 2016 Medicaid monthly income and resource levels when receiving home care are: Individual Income

$825

Individual Resources

$14,850

Couple Income Couple Resources

$1,209 $21,750

The 2016 Medicaid monthly income and resource levels when receiving nursing home care are: Individual Income

$50

Individual Resources

$14,850

Couple Income Couple Resources

$2,890 $74,820 TO

$119,220

and asset levels. It was created to help those who are impoverished but many middle class families are relying upon it to pay for their care.

Social security, pension payments, unearned dividends, disability payments, rental income and an inheritance are all considered sources of income.

Bank accounts, securities, cash value of life insurance, annuities and vacation homes are considered resources. There is a five-year look back period along with penalty periods for transferring assets. Medicaid looks back five years at all your bank and financial accounts and will question any transfer over $2,000.

You apply for Medicaid through the Department of Social Services (DSS) in the county that you reside.

I completed my father’s Medicaid application in Cortland County. After months of gathering his financial information and providing descriptions about transactions DSS considered questionable, he was finally approved. Don’t throw anything out if you think Medicaid will be your LTC plan! It will make it much easier for your adult children or an attorney to complete your application. If you do go to an attorney, you can pay approximately $6,000.

Certain assets are considered exempt — a home (that is occupied by the Medicaid applicant or his/her spouse, the applicant’s child under 21, an applicant’s sibling who has lived there for one year with an equity interest, or a caregiver child who has lived there for two years prior to

the applicant’s institutionalization), one automobile for the community spouse, pre-paid funeral expenses, and life insurance with a face value of less than $1,500.

An IRA is exempt if it is in payment status. It will not be considered an asset but rather income. However, Medicaid can require a higher required minimum distribution (RMD) than the IRS. The basic transfer and penalty rules can be somewhat confusing.

There is no five-year look back period for home care like there is for nursing home care. For any assets transferred within the five-year look back period, there is a penalty period. The penalty period starts to run when the applicant is in a nursing home, has assets no greater than $14,850 and the Medicaid application has been filed. The penalty period is determined by dividing the amount of the transfer by the Medicaid nursing home regional rate. The regional rate for Rochester in 2015 was $10,660. If, for example, an applicant transferred $106,600 within the five-year look back period, that amount would be divided by $10,660 which means the applicant would wait 10 months to be eligible for Medicaid.

I have often heard it said that applying for Medicaid can be a demeaning and frustrating experience probably because it goes against our natural inclination to be independent and self-reliant.

So while you’re sitting in the sun on that long-awaited vacation and relaxing with that pretty umbrella drink, think about all that you saved and sacrificed to get there. Don’t let the government take it away from you because you did not plan for long-term care.

Susan Suben, MS, CSA, is president of Long Term Care Associates, Inc. and Elder Care Planning, and a consultant for Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company. She can be reached at 800-422-2655 or by email at susansuben@31greenbush.com.

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last page Sister Mary Louise Mitchell

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

New director of pastoral care at St. Ann’s Community talks about spiritual care, career Q: What is your role as pastoral director?

A: I’m here to help take care of the spiritual needs of the residents.

We believe that it is our responsibility to ensure their spiritual well-being because it is so vital in a person’s life.

God’s love is present all around us and it’s essential in flourishing this community. The love and compassion we show one another must be present in everyone here in order to truly have a loving community and I am here to continue making that a central part of life here. The residents thrive here because they sense they have that experience here.

Q: What drew you to this role?

A: There has always been something about the elder community that I feel a connection with. When I was a young nurse, I met many older people and what I saw was a spark of wisdom and lifetime experience. As a society, I don’t think we always give elders the respect that they deserve.

When you see someone who realizes they are in their final days, they recognize the essential parts of life and they see their deeper spiritual self. It is something that truly touches me.

Not only do you learn so much from elders, you can sense the compassion they have for others. A sense of love is what we are all about at St. Ann’s.

Q: What have been some of your best moments during your career?

A: Whenever you are in profession that works with people first hand, you see so many incredible things. The moments I remember are the true, genuine interaction you have and it can be as simple as a conversation with someone. And 50

55 PLUS - September / October 2016

dealing with my profession, you can see in their eyes something that is giving off life even when they are near death.

You would be amazed at how there is so much hope and joy in times where you would think people would be frightened and disturbed. It is a sense that is hard to describe until you see it. It is a powerful experience to see someone let go when they know there is not anything they can do. It really does deeply affect you and it is one of the most humbling experiences that I have ever had.

Prior to joining St. Ann’s Community, Sister Mary Louise Mitchell served as president of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester.

She is 63.

Q: How do you think your nursing background has helped you in this role?

A: A few years back, I came to the thought that everyone has a hidden wholeness. I believe the wholeness of someone is the destiny we achieve as individual and it can lead to a greater understanding of life and what we can do. Being a nurse is just an extension of helping people in any way they need and sometimes helping them let go of anything that is blocking them from their true self. Nurses help people deal with whatever comes their way and are the backbone of healthcare.

Q: What are some of the most challenging moments of your career?

A: We all are going to die eventually and that can be very difficult for anyone to deal with, let

alone during their final days. But what makes it challenging is that you realize that you are powerless to stop it. As humans, we like fixing things and having full control. It is not easy sitting there and watching someone suffer or die. Another aspect that makes it difficult is when you see someone who doesn’t have family with them on their last days.

You become their family as you stand with them in their final days and hours. You want to be present for them and help comfort them.

Q. What do you do in your spare time?

A: I am someone who loves to read. It just relaxes me. Another thing I love to do is just take nice long walks in nature. There is something about being in nature that is really enjoyable.

Rochester’s Only Freestanding Transitional Care Center.

Not a hotel.

our beautiful and comfortable rooms (But you’ll feel likeEnjoy you’re in one.) while you can. Because St. Ann’s has the latest

The Wegman Transitional Care Center brings a whole new kind of care to Rochester. It is the first and only freestanding center But in the Recovering from surgery ortransitional a stroke is care no vacation. the area.

In other words, it is separate from St. Ann’s Wegman Transitional Care Center offers advanced rehabilitative skilled building has ancomfortable. environment care in annursing environment that’sand remarkably with a single focus: helping you gain the Rochester’s onlyyou freestanding care center. independence need to transitional return home.

• Separate from St. Ann’s skilled nursing building.

And the Wegman Transitional Care Center seems • Singularly focused on helping you gain the independence you more like a hotel than a rehab center. With private need to return home. spacious rooms, private baths with personal showers, and flat-screen TVs, you truly feel like one of The Hotel-like amenities.

Most Important People on Earth.

• Spacious private rooms with shower, complimentary Wi-Fi, and flat-screen TV. • Country kitchen for use 24/7 and on-site bistro.

Specialized care to help you get better and get home fast.

• The latest technology and training to accelerate your recovery.

• Experienced, certified staff skilled in state-of-the-art rehab care.

technology and the most advanced accreditations You’re the boss. to help accelerate Where you go foryour rehabrecovery. is strictly up to you. If you a surgery scheduled, youscheduled? can preplan your stay Havehave a surgery that’s already Remember, withyou us go andfor eliminate decisions—and where rehab last-minute is completely up to you. disappointments.

So preplan your stay by reserving your room at St. Ann’s.

Call 585-697-6311.

Call Or 585-697-6311 for your free visit www.StAnnsCommunity.com Transitional Care Planning Kit or visit www.StAnnsCommunity.com.

Wegman Transitional Care Center

1500 Portland Ave., Irondequoit

Laurie Haelen Joins CNB

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust is pleased to welcome Laurie Haelen to our Wealth Strategies Group.

Laurie brings extensive experience in wealth management to her role at CNB. As Senior Vice President and Investment Officer, she is focused on meeting the overall financial well-being of her clients, while delivering an exceptional customer service experience.

As an active, lifelong member of the Rochester community, Laurie is committed to all of CNB’s core values – and to meeting the needs of her customers.

To learn more, contact Laurie Haelen at (585) 419-0670, ext. 41970, or visit CNBank.com/WSG.

CNBank.com/WSG

Financial Planning | Investments | Trust & Estate Services | Retirement

Investments are not bank deposits, are not obligations of or guaranteed by Canandaigua National Bank & Trust, and are not FDIC insured. Investments are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal amount invested.

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