55 Plus of Rochester, #29: September – October 2014

EE

Savvy Senior Life Insurance: Do You Still Need It?

FR Changes in NYS Estate Tax Laws May Impact You

55 PLUS Issue 29 September / October 2014

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

BUY OR RENT? Real estate agents discuss pros and cons about renting or buying a home

GREECE CHORAL Conductor Ralph Zecchino retires after 44 years on the job

VIC MONTGOMERY

59

Ex-Marine and Honeoye resident helps start program that will help veterans across the country

Age of Jill Bates of Rochester when she first competed in a triathlon

Following in her grandmother’s footsteps: Meet the beekeeper of Brighton, Pat Bono

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September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

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CONTENTS

55 PLUS

55 PLUS

September / October 2014

10

20 Savvy Senior 6 Financial Health 8 Trends 14 My Turn 18 Addyman’s Corner 33 Long-term Care 46 Visits 48 Last Page Joe DiPonzio, a winemaker from Chili, has more than 26 medals for his wines.

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

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10 ATHLETICS • Jill Bates: First triathlon at 59 years of age

16 REAL ESTATE

• At your stage in life, should you buy a home or rent it?

20, 39 PROFILE • Conductor Ralph Zecchino • Ernest L. Hicks

24 COVER • Veteran creates self-help communities for those who have served the country

28 INVESTMENT • Owning a franchise in your plans? Find out the pros and cons

roc55.com

36 30 RED WINGS • Dave Welker is the man behind window No. 2 during Red Wings’ games

34 FULFILLMENT • Following on her grandparents’ footsteps, Pat Bono devotes time to beekeeping

36 THE ARTS • Profile of three artists who never stop

41 THE ARTIST • Rochester artist masters stained glass with mix of skill sets

44 LEARNING • Osher: For Those Still Eager to Learn

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5

savvy senior

By Jim Miller

Do You Still Need Life Insurance?

W

hile many retirees choose to stop paying their life insurance premiums when they no longer have young families to take care of, there are a few reasons you may still want to keep your policy. Here are some points to consider that can help you determine if you still need life insurance in retirement.

Dependents — Life insurance is designed to help protect your spouse and children from poverty in the case of your untimely death. But if your children are grown and are on their own, and you have sufficient financial resources to cover you and your spouse’s retirement costs, then there is little need to continue to have life insurance.

But if you had a child late in life or have a relative with special needs who is dependent on you for income, it makes sense to keep paying the premiums on your policy.

You also need to make sure your spouse’s retirement income will not take a significant hit when you die.

Check out the conditions of your pension or annuity (if you have them) to see if they stop paying when you die, and factor in your lost Social Security income too. If you find that your spouse will lose a significant portion of income upon your death, you may want to keep the policy to help make up the difference.

Work — Will you need to take another job in retirement to earn income? Since life insurance helps replace lost income to your family when you die, you may want to keep your policy if your spouse or other family members are relying on that income.

If, however, you have very little income from your retirement job, then there’s probably no need to continue with the policy.

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

55PLUS Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Lou Sorendo

Estate taxes —

Life insurance can also be a handy estate-planning tool. If, for example, you own a business that you want to keep in the family and you don’t have enough liquid assets to take care of the estate taxes, you can sometimes use a life insurance policy to help your heirs pay off Uncle Sam when you die.

It’s a good idea to talk to a disinterested third party (not your insurance agent), like an estate planning expert or a fee-only financial planner to help you determine if your life insurance policy can help you with this.

Life Settlement Option —

If you find that you don’t need your life insurance policy any longer, you may want to consider selling it in a “life settlement” transaction to a third party company for more than the cash surrender value would be, but less than its net death benefit. The best candidates are people over age 65 who own a policy with a face value of $250,000 or more.

Once you sell your policy, however, the life settlement company becomes the new owner, pays the future premiums and collects the death benefit when you die.

How much money you can expect to get with a life settlement will depend on your age, health and life expectancy, the type of insurance policy, the premium costs and the value of your policy. Most sellers generally get 12 to 25 percent of the death benefit.

If you’re interested in this option, get quotes from several brokers or life settlement providers. Also, find out what fees you’ll be required to pay. To locate credible providers or brokers, the Life Insurance Settlement Association provides a referral service at lisa.org.

Writers

Deborah J. Sergeant Ernst Lamothe Jr., Mike Costanza Renee Rischenole, Debbie Waltzer Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

Columnists

Jim Terwilliger, Susan Suben Jim Miller, Bruce Frassinelli Laura Thompson, Jennifer Weidner Tammy Mogilski, Brian Bedford

Advertising

Donna Kimbrell, Marsha Preston H. Mat Adams

Office Manager

Laura J. Beckwith

Layout and Design Chris Crocker

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 Subscription: $15 a year © 2014 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

Social Security

Q&A

Q: I understand that to get Social Security disability benefits, my disability must be expected to last at least a year. Will I have to wait a year to receive benefits?

A: No. You do not have to wait a year after becoming disabled to receive disability benefits. In fact, you should apply for disability benefit as soon as you become disabled. It may take months before a final decision is made on your claim. If your application is approved, we will pay your first Social Security disability benefit for the sixth full month after the date your disability began. For example, if your disability began on January 15, we would pay your first disability benefit for the month of July. However, we pay Social Security benefits in the month following the month for which they are due. So, you will receive your July benefit in August. To learn more, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/disability.

Q: My grandmother receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. She may have to enter a nursing home to get the long-term care she needs. How does this affect her SSI benefits?

A: Moving to a nursing home could affect your grandmother’s SSI benefits, depending on the type of facility. In many cases, we have to reduce or stop SSI payments to nursing home residents, including when Medicaid covers the cost of the nursing home care. When your grandmother enters or leaves a nursing home, assisted living facility, hospital, skilled nursing facility, or any other kind of institution, you must notify Social Security right away.

Learn more about SSI reporting responsibilities at www.socialsecurity. gov/ssi. You can call Social Security’s toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to report a change.

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financial health

By Jim Terwilliger

E

Why Changes in NYS Estate Tax Laws May Impact You

state tax planning is easy to put off.

First, most folks do not want to think about their demise or that of family members.

Second, deciding how to allocate a lifetime’s worth of wealth and possessions among family, friends and charity is tough work.

Third, federal and state estate tax laws and exemptions are constantly in flux. Planning is challenging when the rules change frequently.

Fortunately, thanks to action taken by the NYS Legislature in April, we have more certainty at the state level — at least for a while — understanding that no government action is ever permanent. The changes made will significantly reduce the number of estates subject to NYS estate tax.

Over the past 15 years, the federal government actively modified the laws that dictate how much of a taxpayer’s estate will be subject to federal estate tax. The federal exemption from estate tax is now $5,340,000 per person and is indexed to increase for inflation annually.

Meanwhile, New York appeared to be “asleep at the wheel” with no revision to the exemption from estate tax of $1 million. Florida, for example, does not have a state estate tax. This made moving out of New York state to Florida an appealing concept: a $5 million estate would save approximately $400,000 that would be otherwise paid in New York estate tax simply by relocating a domicile!

In an effort to stem the tide of taxpayer emigration, New York at long last modified its state estate tax exemption. In true New York fashion, however, the laws are complicated and continue to perplex even sophisticated advisers. For estates of decedents dying between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015, the New 8

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

York exemption is $2,062,500. On April 1, 2015, the exemption increases to $3,125,000. In April, 2016 it increases to $4,187,500, then increases to $5,250,000 the following year.

Starting Jan. 1, 2019, the New York estate tax exemption will be aligned to the federal estate tax exemption, which is then likely to be around $5,900,000. New York’s maximum estate tax rate was left unchanged at 16 percent, although the legislature may revisit the rate structure next year.

The increase in the state exemption will alleviate state estate tax for individuals and couples whose assets are less than the new exemption amounts. However, it’s not a slam dunk for the purpose of encouraging people to remain residents of New York, for two reasons.

First, there is a spousal portability feature in the federal estate tax law, such that a surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse’s unused exemption as well as the a full exemption in his or her own estate, effectively doubling the exemption available to the second estate.

The New York exemption is not portable between spouses. Therefore, a surviving spouse who has approximately $10 million of assets can avoid federal estate tax by applying the unused exemption from the first spouse, but that same spouse in New York would be subject to fairly significant New York estate tax.

Second, the New York law provides that if an estate is worth more than 105 percent of the New York exemption amount, the estate would pay the same tax as if the laws had never been revised and the exemption were still only $1 million. Also estates between 100 percent and 105 percent of the exclusion would begin to lose exemption value fairly rapidly.

If you’ve heard the term “estate tax

cliff” recently, it refers to this particular issue.

Once the New York exemption matches the federal exemption, the tax impetus to move out of state will no longer exist for someone who has less than the exemption amount.

However, an individual with assets in excess of that amount will still have reasons to consider changing a domicile to a more tax-friendly state.

Alternatively, that person may wish to engage in estate planning strategies to reduce the taxable estate.

It’s important to consult your advisers regarding such strategies to ensure they are implemented properly, as the recent New York tax law changes implemented a few other quirks, such as including certain gifts made by a New York resident between April 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2018 in his or her gross taxable estate. Also, will design techniques, including the use of a bypass trust created at the death of the first spouse, can help defend against the lack of NYS portability.

If your estate plan is not up to date, a conversation with your financial professional and attorney team is definitely in order.

Jennifer Weidner, Esq., is the co-author of this article. She is vice president and trust administrator officer with Wealth Strategies Group, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company.

James Terwilliger, CFP® is the senior vice president and financial planning manager at the group. They can be reached at 585419-0670 or by email at jweidner@cnbank. com or jterwilliger@ cnbank.com.

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55+

athletics Jill Bates of East Rochester celebrates her participation in the Tri in the Buff, a triathlon at Evangola State Park near Buffalo that incorporates a half-mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a 3.2-mile run.

First Triathlon at 59 From spectator to competitor: woman tests her physical strength

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

J

ill Bates had been on the sidelines long enough.

She watched so many of her friends take the challenge and run 5K events and marathons. She would be there cheering them on and giving them all the emotional support they needed. Then one day, she decided it was time to run.

“People too often say they are too old to start something new or they are too old to do something they haven’t done in the past. That always upsets me because then you are failing before you even try,” said Bates, 60, of East Rochester. “I wasn’t going to be 10

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

that person. I was going to at least try.

And if I failed, so be it.”

Well, she didn’t fail. Bates, who has been an avid runner for the past nine years, is a clear example that age is nothing but a number.

Born in Buffalo and growing up in Hamburg, running was something that never really crossed her mind as an enjoyable experience. That continued into her adult life. But then she decided to lace up her shoes and start competing in races at 51.

Enlisting some of the same friends that she had cheered on before, she joined their running group,

with Bates being one of the oldest members. That fact actually motivated her along with seeing other people compete in races.

“You would see people who had to overcome so many challenges to run a race. I saw people with prosthetic legs in front of me. That made me think you can’t have any excuses for not doing something,” added Bates.

Slowly, running began a passion and she started running a bevy of 3.1mile races before eventually graduating to 9.3-mile races. Bates wanted to take it to another level this year. She

“People too often say they are too old to start something new or they are too old to do something they haven’t done in the past. That always upsets me because then you are failing before you even try.” was turning 60 and heard all the interesting stories of what others did to mark their momentous occasion.

She heard about people biking 100 miles or climbing one of the highest mountains. While she wasn’t quite ready to do the latter, what did cross her mind was to accomplish something physically taxing. She enlisted the help of a trainer, Colleen Flaherty.

She worked several times a week to increase her muscle strength to perform the physical activity. She targeted the Tri in the Buff, a triathlon at Evangola State Park near Buffalo that incorporates a half-mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a 3.2-mile run.

Knowing her body had to be strong to protect it against injury during this grueling challenge, she believes teaming up with a physical expert helped tremendously. She incorporated yoga, chiropractic care and massage therapy in her training regimen.

Waves of opposition “I had to get stronger if I was going to endure this challenge,” said Bates. “The swim in Lake Erie was very choppy; some of the hardest waters people had seen before. But this was something that was on my bucket list and I wasn’t going to be deterred.

I said to myself no matter what happens, I am going to finish this.”

Flaherty, the trainer, saw the dedication Bates put into the venture as she was training. She focused on increasing flexibility and strength so her body could withstand the run, bike and swim aspects. She makes sure people remember that cross training with weights such as bands,

Jill Bates started running at age 51. Gradually she started participating in different competitions and in the last year or so she started training for a triathlon, Tri in the Buff, in Buffalo. She has been trained by Colleen Flaherty, who owns Baby Bump Academy in East Rochester.

September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

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55+

athletics

“It feels good to compete in life. It is always good to have something push you. It shows that you can deal with things mentally and physically and that carries over to other aspects of your life. It makes you mentally strong and it makes you feel like you can handle anything.” medicine balls, or kettle bells is vitally important to prevent injury and help them excel in their events.

“Jill was all in. She was determined to do the very best that she could and there was no quit in her,” said Flaherty. “There was a steady focus throughout the process and she knew that it would take nothing less than that to get through the triathlon.”

Flaherty opened Baby Bump Academy in East Rochester last year, a studio that educates and empowers female athletes or women who have never lifted a dumbbell in their life to exercise. The women range from those who have begun pregnancy to grandmothers.

“Exercising, being flexible and maintaining a good core can help prevent falls or hip issues, especially for seniors. You are never too old to start exercising and staying active helps you keep both your mind and body where you want them to be,” she said.

Physical, mental cohesiveness At first, Bates thought she would do one marathon, check it off the list and be done with it. However, after experiencing the thrill of completing 12

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

Group of friends and family cheer on Jill Bates (third from the right) during her participation in the a triathlon competition in July in Buffalo. such a challenge, she may be back for more.

“It feels good to compete in life.

It is always good to have something push you,” said Bates. “It shows that you can deal with things mentally and physically and that carries over to other aspects of your life. It makes you mentally strong and it makes you feel like you can handle anything.”

Along with her running group, she has the support of her family. She has been married for 39 years and has two children. In addition, her grandchildren, Jaidyn, 6 and Jake, 3, keep her busy.

Even though running is her passion, it isn’t her sole love. It must share a space in her life with fashion.

Owner of Jill Bates Fashion, 320 N. Washington St., her three-decadeold business is a destination for sew-

ing and clothing alterations for formal occasions.

The business specializes in wedding gown alterations, restoration and wedding gown preservation, as well as bridesmaid dresses and prom dresses.

“It’s funny because this was a little hobby of mine that turned into a business,” she said. “Designing women’s formal wear gives me such pleasure.”

As for keeping in shape, Bates has some advice for people her age: Stop acting their age.

“Baby boomers are aging, and we hate it,” she said. “I started training for the marathon to prove to myself that my body was still physically able to be pushed, and to show others they can do the same. Everyone has to age, but you don’t have to get old.”

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4C 4/21/14 3:56 PM

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55+

trends

The Last Reunion, the Final Good Bye A woman says good bye to the father she finally reconciled with

By Laura Thompson

H

e’s gone. He left us, finally, on Aug. 1, 81 years young, still making plans, still looking forward. He left us in a shockingly short span of time, three weeks between hosting his last family cook-out and his death, a time marked by the disorientation we felt when we realized a human being could deteriorate beyond all repair in 21 days.

We were prepared, we thought, for this passage, despite that there is a void left in our lives and a disjointed feeling we cannot quite shake. The main man in the family has gone, and surely the universe has shifted.

He was such a tough, ornery man you thought he would never die.

Time and time again, he outsmarted or otherwise bested death. I’m lucky, I know, to have reached the age of 55 and to have had both parents until recently. Many of my peers lost one or both parents in earlier years.

I’m also lucky that both my father and I lived until we could finally put aside our differences and find some common ground.

My father was not a good father.

He was a former active duty combat Marine who desperately longed for sons. God, in a fit of pique, gave him three daughters, and Dad never quite recovered from this loss. He did his best to turn us into sons by proxy. We played baseball and worked alongside him in the woods. He barely tolerated and frequently complained about our girlish desires for dresses,

14

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

curls and patent leather.

We were a traditional family, with a stay-at-home mother who contributed little to the household income.

My father was a poor financial planner, and he struggled to provide us with the bare necessities. Throughout my childhood he complained of the expense my sisters and I represented, always voicing, once again, his desire for sons to begin with.

I was the first to leave, although I

was not the oldest. I had simply had enough of him, and left them all, returning only occasionally in the intervening years. I could not doubt he was my father, sharing certain personality quirks as well as facial features with him. But I did not like him for the most part, and frequently wished he were a kinder, better man.

One who liked daughters, perhaps, or simply valued that which was his.

But it was not to be, and he was nev-

55+

real estate

Buy or Rent?

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

M

any people nearing retirement consider moving from their large, family-sized home to a smaller one that will better suit a couple.

Now that the children are gone, it’s time to downsize and, in the process, shed some of the responsibilities related to a larger home and property.

Thing is, more and more retirees are opting not to buy a new home.

“We are seeing a lot more people reconsidering renting instead of buying because of convenience,” said Richard Sarkis, a real estate broker for 30 years, who is affiliated with Nothnagle Realtors in Rochester.

Some of the clients at his company, he said, want to rent so they don’t have to worry about all expenses included with home ownership.

“They’ve had a 2,200 sq. ft. house with all that upkeep, like sealing the driveway and clearing snow and they don’t want all of that [upkeep]. We’re 16

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

seeing more of that.”

Most renters also enjoy landlord-provided maintenance to the property and any included appliances. Plus, if the retirees want to travel, it’s easier to do from an apartment than leaving behind a large home with a yard.

Some retirees switch to renting because of financial reasons.

“People in that age group don’t

Richard Sarkis, a real estate broker for 30 years.

“We are seeing a lot more people reconsidering renting instead of buying because of convenience,” he says.

want a mortgage,” Sarkis said. “Some don’t have enough equity in their home because they put their kids through college.”

He added that the age group most interested in renting is people 70 and older. For some retirees in that range, diminished ability to drive makes renting an apartment in town a feasible way to stay independent. Living within walking distance of resources like public transportation, dining and entertainment can delay the stage where they rely on others.

Julie Forney, real estate broker for 10 years and part of Sarkis’ team, said that for people in that position, “it’s a lifestyle thing.”

Chris Costello, owner and real estate broker with Costello Real Estate in Canandaigua, has also observed the shift toward renting.

“A lot of people are saying they’d rather rent, but you see that more in the cities,” he said. “In cities where

Julie Forney, real estate broker for 10 years, says some retirees may opt to move downtown, where they can walk to restaurants, theater and other events. “It’s a lifestyle thing,” she says. there are a lot of things going on, that attracts more people who can walk to where they want to go. You let the landlord take care of the difficulties.”

Of course, buying a small home, townhouse or condominium can help decrease the size of the space a retiree needs to clean and maintain as well as reducing utility costs. A dwelling that’s part of a homeowner’s association may also include maintenance for shared space.

Some people don’t like the fact that rentals tend to use the cheapest fixtures and lend toward “a cookie

cutter appearance,” said Andy Griffith, broker and owner of Remax Properties in Canandaigua. “Someone in that age bracket has probably owned a home for many years, so they can personalize a home to what they want.”

Homes that are paid off represent an asset that doesn’t depreciate in value easily and older retirees can consider a reverse mortgage to draw equity from their home for added income.

Among retirees who buy a downsized home, Griffith of Remax Properties has seen a surge of interest in patio homes, which offer a small yard and one-level living so gardeners have some space to putter but not too much maintenance.

If you decide to downsize, consider the layout of the new home.

One-level homes with wide doorways, main floor laundry, and no interior steps (such as a sunken living room) can help you stay independent for longer. Even if you have no mobility challenges, an acute injury or illness can make navigation difficult in some homes.

For Broker, Buying is Always the Best Way

With interest rates still low and many motivated sellers who have finally adjusted prices to reflect our ‘new economy’ after the recession, buying is a much stronger investment move than throwing dollars away on rent,” said Anne Caprini, broker/ owner of Caprini Realtors in Canandaigua. “ I n addition there are the tax writeoffs for mortgage interest and taxes which can often make owning comparable to monthly rental expenditure.

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Senior Apartments Villas for Lease • Patio Homes For Sale September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

17

my turn

By Bruce Frassinelli Email: bruce@cny55.com

How the ‘King of the Hill’ Learned Not to Bully

W

ith the overriding concerns about bullying in our schools in recent years, it is time for me to fess up to being a schoolyard bully when I was a kid.

Quite frankly, if someone today did what I had done, he would probably be expelled from school, possibly even charged with assault and harassment.

But this is now, and that was then.

Despite what you are about to read, none of my victims ever reported me to the teacher or other school authorities, nor, to the best of my knowledge, did they ever rat on me to their parents.

I vividly remember being the top dog of my 35-member class in a small, coal-mining community in centraleastern Pennsylvania. I assumed this position at age 6 (first grade) when I beat up another kid in my class who also aspired to be king of the hill. I retained dominance for four years until shortly after the start of fifth grade.

To retain this lofty realm, I routinely beat up and taunted any guy who challenged my authority or mouthed off to me. For the record: I never laid a hand on any of the girls.

At our small elementary school, there were four play periods — before school, during two recesses (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and during a one-hour lunch break at the noon hour.

We had no school buses, so most of us went home for lunch. My home was just three blocks from the school, for example. After lunch, I walked back to supervise activities until school resumed at 1 p.m. This still gave me the better part of 30 minutes to reestablish my authority, if necessary, and handle any malcontents in the schoolyard.

During these periods, I set the agenda for the games we played.

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Mostly, the guys played together; the girls had their own games. Once in awhile, though, both sexes got into action together. For example, when we were in first and second grades (1945 and 1946), we played “War,” especially since the Second World War was fresh in everyone’s mind.

In this game, half of the guys (the most popular ones, according to my determination) were the allies, while the others (the least popular, by my reckoning) were soldiers of axis nations (Germany and Japan). I would not allow any of the enemy to be Italians, because my parents were immigrant Italians and loved the United States. I figured it would be an insult and disrespectful to them to have Italians portrayed this way, even if it was for fun.

In “War,” the girls had their limited roles. They were nurses who would swoop into action to tend to a wounded allied soldier. The

Barbara Hall, 73, amassed a collection of 100,000 vintage postcards that started in the late 1960s.

“wounded” enemy soldiers were left to die with no medical help.

We had no weapons, not even toy replicas. Our make-believe rifles were activated by hand and arm motions and by the sound effects we made.

A rifle sound was something like a sharp-sounding “koo-koo” — with an emphasis on the “k.” We also had make-believe machine guns — “rat-atat-a-tat-a-tat” — and hand grenades, which we pretended to lob, followed by a gutteral sound in our throat to designate the explosion — “ploooooo.”

Periodically, after the shots or explosions, someone would fall to the ground pretending to be hit.

That’s when one of the girls would run to the wounded soldier ’s aid, determine where the wound was, put her hand on the make-believe wound and make a “click, click, click” sound while rotating her hand on the wound.

The soldier was instantly healed and returned to the battle good as new.

After I had beaten up a few challengers to my throne, the rest of my male classmates kept in line and were reluctant to challenge me. After a few years, I not

only terrorized my own classmates and kids who were a year or two younger in the same school and the in-town Catholic school, I thought it was time to branch out, extend my domain and take on those who were a year or two older than I. I was big for my age, so I matched up or exceeded the size of some of those who were a grade or two ahead of me. I made it a point to beat up a couple of the older kids who were not very strong or athletic, thinking I was sending a message to their classmates not to mess with “the Frazz.�

One day, in fifth grade, several of my friends and I were playing in the stadium near our junior high school.

A kid from a nearby community was visiting relatives in town and was at the stadium playing football with some of his family members and their friends.

I made the mistake of thinking that he would serve as a good example to take word and a few scars back to his hometown about how he and his friends wouldn’t want to mess with me if they happened to come to my town.

When I walked up to him and told him to leave the stadium, he told me what I could do with my ultimatum. I was stunned but not deterred. I gave him a hard shove to show him who was boss.

The expression on his face transformed into that of a wounded beast from the depths of hell. He let out a loud scream, charged me and hit me full speed around the waist. I went flying and landed on my back.

Before I even had a chance to process what was happening, he was on me like an uncontrollable demon and straddled my chest. He kept punching me in the face and arms, which I used to try to protect myself.

In less than a minute, I was a bloody mess. Crying uncontrollably, I ran home only to receive a spanking from my mother for getting into a fight.

My bullying days had come to an inglorious end. To this day, 65 years later, I was never in another physical altercation of any kind. I had learned my lesson.

As for the young man two years my elder who vanquished me, he went on to become a prominent dentist in the area where I lived. He recently died, which made me recall the unintended life lesson he taught me.

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Calling it Quits After 44 Years Considered the soul and guiding force of Greece Choral Society, long-time conductor Ralph Zecchino retires from active duty, along with wife Sandy, also a choir member

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

A

A portrait of former Greece Choral Society conductor with his wife Sandy. Ralph went to school in Chicago, where he met Sandy. Some of their classes overlapped and so did their love for music and each other. She was a pianist.

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t some point every leader retires. Ralph Zecchino will chuckle at that sentence because he doesn’t consider himself anything more than one man in an ensemble group. Most humble people don’t always recognize the impact they have on the collective group, but others do.

“Where do I start? How do you convey the joy, the privilege it has been to be a member of Ralph’s choir?” said Wayne Penney, president of the Greece Choral Society. “I’m no expert, but I don’t know of any community choir, anywhere, that’s been around since 1970, especially with the original director. He has been our rock, soul and consistent guiding force.”

Conductor Zecchino, 80, just retired from the Greece Choral Society after 44 years. He led the group for the majority of time and his love of music kept him going even as the practice and events added up.

“It was just the right time. My wife, Sandy, and I were in the group for a long time and we decided this would be the best time for us to leave and just enjoy something new,” said Zecchino.

Music began for him early on during his teenage years. When he was 14, he was a migrant worker picking cherries in Spencerport and Albion. On his way to those locations, he could be heard singing whatever tune came into his head.

He said the Italian women noticed and compli-

Greece Choral Society celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2010. Ralph Zecchino and wife Sandy are in front of the group. They are retiring after 44 years as members of the choir.

mented him on his voice.

“That was really the first time I figured I could sing,” he said.

But it wasn’t always a guarantee that music would be at the forefront of his life.

He wasn’t sure where life would lead him when he graduated from Jefferson High School in Rochester.

His family didn’t have enough money to send him to college so he started working at Eastman Kodak. But suddenly, baby food came to the rescue.

His mother started working at Gerber, a company that offered its first collegiate scholarship to employees’ children.

“I didn’t have any money to go to college so I was just going to work because that was my only option,” he said. “I am so thankful to my mom and, of course, Gerber. They paid for a lot of my school. Life would have gone differently without it.”

He went to school in downtown Chicago, where he met his wife, Sandy. Some of their classes overlapped and so did their love for music and each other. She was a pianist.

“I was an only child and my mom brought me a piano when I was 9 years old,” Sandy said. “I wasn’t even sure I wanted to play it or didn’t know if I liked it, but I tried it. And obviously I ended up liking it.”

In Chicago, he would sing at nu-

merous venues, including Chicago Stadium where the Blackhawks hockey team played. He was called to be a substitute singer when they needed someone to belt out the national anthem. He would also sing in lyric operas and performed in close to 90 performances in three years while in Chicago. While performing, he would teach youth choir on the side. As a native of Rochester, he eventually longed to go home.

There the couple taught music throughout their years: Ralph teaching in Chicago, Rochester and Greece school districts and Sandy teaching in the Rochester school district.

Understanding that it is the responsibility of one generation to teach and mold the other when it comes to music was one of the reasons why they gravitated toward educating younger kids.

“I have taken kids from Greece Arcadia to Europe and other field trips where they had the opportunity to hear and play music. Things like that leave an incredible impression on them,” said Zecchino. “Many of them are now teaching music themselves so that makes me proud.”

Then they both joined the Greece Choral Society. It was something they thought they would do for a little while before moving on. It took more than four decades for them to exit the

stage.

Penney, the president of Greece Choral Society and a member of the group since 1995, said if he had to come up with one word to describe the choir it would be longevity. And he believes one of the factors has been Zecchino’s leadership. “His drive and enthusiasm has inspired decades of countless singers,” said Penney. “His passion was infectious. He had the unique ability to bring out the beauty in every piece of music. He always challenged us to be better, strive for excellence and never accept less than our own personal best.”

Both members will be missed.

“Ralph and Sandy both gave unselfishly, with no thoughts to their own inconvenience or gain,” added Penney. “They gave with love and bared their souls, to give the citizens of Greece the most beautiful music possible. Ralph has touched so many people through the decades. We were blessed, truly blessed, to call him our director, but most of all, our friend.”

The Choral Society has been around for 44 years and the group still has a few members who were there from the beginning. “Music is a gift that bring beauty to the world,” said Zecchino. “People who can sing or play an instrument bring a harmony to life and I think just make the world a better place to live in.”

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

Older Adults Sharpest in the Morning: Study

O

lder adults’ minds may be sharpest in the morning, a new small study finds.

Canadian researchers used functional MRI to monitor the brain activity of 16 younger adults (aged 19 to 30) and 16 older adults (aged 60 to 82) as they did a series of memory tests while subjected to distractions.

When the tests were conducted between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., older adults were 10 percent more likely to be distracted than younger adults.

But that gap narrowed when the tests were conducted between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., according to the study recently published online in the journal Psychology and Aging.

The findings offer strong evidence that older adults’ brain function can vary widely during the day, according to the researchers at the Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care in Toronto.

“Time of day really does matter when testing older adults. This age group is more focused and better able to ignore distraction in the morning than in the afternoon,” study author John Anderson, a Ph.D. candidate at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute and the psychology department at the University of Toronto, said in a center news release.

Older adults’ “improved cognitive performance in the morning correlated with greater activation of the brain’s attentional control regions — the rostral prefrontal and superior parietal cortex — similar to that of younger adults,” he explained.

In practical terms, Anderson said the findings suggest that mornings might be the best time for older adults to schedule their most mentally challenging tasks, such as doing taxes, taking a license renewal or other test, trying a new recipe, or seeing a doctor about a new health problem.

“Since older adults tend to be morning-type people, ignoring time of day when testing them on some tasks may create an inaccurate picture of age differences in brain function,” study senior author Dr. Lynn Hasher, a senior scientist at the research institute, said in the news release.

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Community of Veterans Ex-Marine and Honeoye resident helps start program that will help veterans across the country

By Mike Costanza

M

ore than three decades ago, Victor Montgomery III set out to help fellow veterans deal with the issues they have carried with them out of the service.

“I have a passion to help that vet sitting before me,” Montgomery says.

“It’s in my heart.”

That passion for vets led the 70-year-old ex-Marine to help bring a new type of self-help program to the Finger Lakes, one that is geared specifically to the needs of those who have served their country. The Vet Life Operation Not Forgotten program allows veterans to gather together to help each other cope with the difficulties they encounter after leaving the service.

“We have a lot of veterans that fall out of the [VA treatment] system and try to do it on their own through self-medicating, through suicide, through all kinds of things like homelessness,” says Montgomery, the program’s national director. “I believe we need to reach out and bring those figures down.”

The centerpiece of the program is the Vet Life Community, a type of 12-step group. Veterans who join such groups can gather weekly to discuss their issues and concerns and reach 24

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out to each other with assistance and support. No need for last names, no requirement to talk and discussions don’t leave the room.

“It is based on the AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] model,” Montgomery says.

Since the first Vet Life Community meeting was held in Canandaigua last September, the local program has grown to encompass six groups — including those for men, women, teens and families. The meetings are held at a variety of sites — one takes place at Cadence Square, a residential treatment facility that the Finger Lakes Addictions Counseling and Referral Agency opened on the campus of the Canandaigua VA Medical Center. All of the groups and the materials they provide are free and confidential.

“You can walk in the door,” Montgomery said. “I don’t need to know where you’re from or who you are.”

As of this writing, Montgomery was running all of the Vet Life Communities, but planned to train senior life coaches — volunteer mentors — to take on those duties for their groups. The mentors would also be available to help guide veterans who have entered the local court system.

Montgomery’s groups could prove very valuable. Huge numbers

of vets suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health issues as a result of their service-related experiences. Greater numbers still have turned to alcohol or drugs to medicate themselves, and at least 22 veterans commit suicide every day. Unfortunately, though facilities like the Canandaigua VA Medical Center might provide excellent service, some vets aren’t comfortable coming to them.

“They fear the stigma of going into a clinic or the VA, or in to see a doctor,” Montgomery says.

It was for such veterans that Montgomery organized the Vet Life Communities. After suffering trauma in his own life, he knew how they might feel.

Born in Beverly Hills, Calif., the second of five children, Montgomery was raised in what he called “good neighborhoods” in that city, and in nearby Santa Monica.

“My parents and grandparents all had college degrees and made excellent incomes as entrepreneurs and business executives, owners, inventors,” Montgomery says.

They also made history — or at least, touched a part of it. Thomas Foster Hamilton, Montgomery’s maternal grandfather, was an aviation

Victor Montgomery in July at the Veteran War Memorial in the town of Richmond.

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Montgomery during a book signing promoting his book, “Healing Suicidal Veterans: Recognizing, Supporting and Answering their Pleas for Help.” pioneer and friend of Charles Lindberg who founded his own aircraft company. His mother, an interior decorator and homemaker, volunteered at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She was at the hospital on a fateful day in 1968.

“She was on duty at the hospital the day when Robert Kennedy was shot,” Montgomery says.

Kennedy, a U.S. senator who was vying for the Democratic nomination for president, was in Los Angeles for a campaign stop. He died at the hospital.

Montgomery’s father was an insurance executive. He and his wife sent young Victor to a ranch boarding prep school in Arizona from seventh through 12th grade. During the summers, he worked at a ranch closer to home, where he fixed fences, baled alfalfa, herded Hereford cattle, and spent long hours in the saddle.

“I couldn’t walk for days at the trail end, because the inside of my legs were so raw,” he says. “I loved the life.”

While his father wanted him to enter the insurance business, Montgomery joined the U.S. Marines in 1963, right out of high school. He was assigned to the military police after 26

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completing advanced infantry training, and stationed first in Japan and then in Southeast Asia.

“They transferred us to Chu Lai, Vietnam, and Da Nang, where we went along to help secure the airfields,” he said.

Dodging death Though Montgomery admits that he was “not in the trenches” in Vietnam, his time there proved harrowing.

“Mortars, snipers and rockets rain in on your position from time to time, and you live day-to-day on an attack fighter group airstrip with feelings of hypervigilance most of the time,” he says.

The experiences took their toll.

“I was leading a chemically dependent, alcoholic’s lifestyle by the end of my Marine tour,” Montgomery says.

After being honorably discharged in 1967, the 22-year-old continued living that lifestyle.

“I was drinking wildly and fighting, consuming large quantities of booze,” he says. “I went to the VA ER on two separate occasions for alcohol poisonings [and] pancreatic inflammations.”

Montgomery married and became a father, but his demons continued to take their toll.

“Deep down, I knew I was in trouble,” he says.

Finally, at the urging of his family, Montgomery headed off to the local VA facility to see whether some kind of treatment might be available that could help him.

“I was 36 years old, and went for an interview evaluation for the first time in my life,” he says. “I had a diagnosis of alcohol dependency with substance abuse, and co-occurring post traumatic stress disorder as a result of several exposures to beating and abuse trauma as a child, and on duty as a Marine rifleman.”

The VA immediately admitted him to its new alcohol and drug treatment program in Fresno, Calif. After two years of inpatient and outpatient treatment, Montgomery completed the program, the first person to do so.

“Got clean and sober over 33 years ago, and haven’t looked back,” he says.

Montgomery so impressed his therapists that they asked him to volunteer for the program after his discharge.

“They asked me, ‘Can you sit in on our groups?’ and I started getting really involved,” he explains.

Drawn to the idea of helping others, Montgomery went on to obtain the kind of training that would help him do so. After acquiring a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Vanguard University of Southern California — he graduated summa cum laude — he headed to the University of Phoenix in Arizona, where he obtained a master’s degree in education.

He also underwent specialized training in suicide crisis intervention with veterans, performed graduate studies in clinical psychology, and completed the requirements for becoming a certified and registered addiction specialist and a certified master addiction counselor.

Diffusing crises Montgomery has put that training to use through the years in a variety of positions in the counseling and addictions therapy fields. After work-

55+ ing as a counselor and case manager for a private agency in California for several years, he eventually came to the Finger Lakes region, where he performed crisis intervention and addictions therapy for the National Veterans Suicide Crisis Hotline at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center.

After Montgomery left the hotline in 2009, he put some of his experiences in a book. “Healing Suicidal Veterans: Recognizing, Supporting and Answering their Pleas for Help” details some of the techniques he used to help suicidal vets.

“I have what I call ‘heart-to-heart resuscitation,’” he says. “Over and above clinical theory and models, there’s a very simple remedy, and that is showing that vet how much I care that he is sitting there or she’s sitting there right now, alive, and needs my care and compassion.”

Montgomery also went on to perform group and individual drug and alcohol therapy for FLACRA at its facility in Newark, Wayne County.

Bill Fox, director of treatment at FLACRA, calls Montgomery a “very empathetic” counselor who was par-

George Hamlin IV, senior policy adviser and chairman of the board of the Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Hamlin and his bank donated a total of $50,000 to the program, and established the Vet Life Community Founder’s Circle, a nonprofit foundation designed to generate additional financial support for it.

More on the Programs For information on Vet Life Operation Not Forgotten or Vet Life Communities, or to find a community, go to:

https://operationnotforgotten.com Donations to the Vet Life Community Founder’s Circle should be sent to:

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. 72 S. Main St. Canandaigua, NY 14424 c/o George Hamlin IV ticularly able to help his clients deal with difficult experiences.

“Most people who have substance use disorders have had trauma,” Fox notes. “He was very skilled at post-traumatic stress disorder issues.”

Montgomery also had what Fox described as “a particular affinity for working with veterans.”

“I know that he sees other veterans as his comrades,” says Fox, who is a Vietnam War veteran.

“Healing Suicidal Veterans” caught the attention of Steven Schiffman, founder and executive director of Life Renewed, Int., a Georgia nonprofit that provides self-help programs and materials.

“The case studies and [Montgomery’s] devotion ­— after he left the military — to counsel veterans, was of great interest to me,” Schiffman says.

Life Renewed sought Montgomery’s expertise regarding veterans and 12-step programs. The company invited him to its headquarters in the Atlanta area in February of 2013.

“He came and collaborated with us to complete the Vet Life Step-ByStep 12 Step Program,” Schiffman explains. “Vic adapted the steps for our veteran population.”

Montgomery also helped write some of the material the program uses to guide community members

cover

on their journey toward healing. All who work for the program are volunteers, except Montgomery.

Once back in New York state, Montgomery began organizing the first Vet Life Communities.

“There was not a Vet Life Community until I came on the scene,” he asserts.

Montgomery also turned to George Hamlin IV, senior policy adviser and chairman of the board of the Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co., for help with financing the communities. Hamlin, a decorated Vietnam War pilot who flew over 100 combat missions, was immediately drawn to the idea of veterans helping veterans.

“It struck me right away, coming out of a combat experience,” Hamlin says. “You can’t talk to people who haven’t been through it — they just don’t understand the emotional content.”

Hamlin and his bank donated a total of $50,000 to the program, and established the Vet Life Community Founder’s Circle, a nonprofit foundation designed to generate additional financial support for it.

“We’re out there raising money and we’re beginning to get contributions,” says Hamlin, who is chairman of the foundation.

These days, Montgomery spends 40 hours a week or more running Vet Life Communities or on other activities for the program while looking for members whom he could train as life coaches.

“I want to make sure vets are carefully coached and mentored, and that our resource documents are there for them to get the proper help,” he says.

Montgomery also works as a substitute teacher for a local school district, and is an ordained minister, as well as a father, grandfather, and husband. He and his second wife, Diane Joy Montgomery, enjoy hiking, kayaking and camping. They are also active in their church, though one wonders how much time Montgomery will have for himself in the future.

“We’re going to be setting up communities in Georgia and throughout the country,” Schiffman says.

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investment Owning a Franchise in Your Plans?

Franchises offer easy way to business ownership

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

C

onsidering a post-retirement business? It makes good sense to start a business after you’ve retired so you can stay busy, continue to use your skills and make additional income. Many retirees who want to start a business turn to franchise opportunities.

Franchises offer many advantages to those interested in business ownership.

Doug Mabon, director of the board of SCORE Greater Rochester and associate broker with Business Brokers New York, said that for many, franchises offer an easy way to get into business.

If you need to borrow some money to get the franchise rolling, “banks may be more willing to lend because they know the franchise organization,” Mabon said. “The [U.S. Small Business Administration] keeps a verified list of franchises that they approve SBA loans for.”

Franchises also offer the advantage of a ready-to-go operation. The business plan, training, procedures, employee manuals, branding and more are already done for you.

“There’s a check and balance so it helps the franchisee run the business better,” Mabon said. “That kind of support helps promote your success.

They want you to succeed so you keep paying the franchise fees and they don’t want to hurt the track record of selling their franchises.”

Franchisers typically offer initial and ongoing support to franchisees. If

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

you start a business from scratch, you may not have that kind of mentoring.

Franchises are also easier to sell than independent businesses when it’s time to get out of the business.

National name recognition also helps franchisees succeed. Consumers feel a measure of assurance that if they’ve purchased a service or product at one franchise, your new franchise will probably replicate their past, good experience.

But name recognition may work against you, too, if a franchisee in another area delivers poor service.

“The more that becomes repetitive, the harder it can be for the franchisee,” Mabon said. “It is a liability for the franchisor and franchisee. It does cause the franchisor to build discipline into the system and methods.

Nothing is ever 100 percent.”

Virginia Smith, manager of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Rochester branch office, advises would-be franchisees to think about the effect that national coupons have on their franchise.

“You have no control over whether the national franchise puts these in the Sunday paper,” she said.

Not honoring the coupons at your location runs the risk of displeasing customers.

You also must operate in the way that the franchise dictates. If you discover a better process, “you can’t do it that way because the franchise says you can’t,” said Smith.

Smith also urges prospective

franchisees to consider a franchiser’s track record.

“Are sales going up?” she said.

Since so many franchises are opening up, both national and local, it pays to thoroughly research the franchise to make sure you want to invest your time and money.

Peggy Penders, representative of the Better Business Bureau in Upstate New York, said that people interested in buying a franchise should proceed with caution. “Like any other investment, there’s no guarantee of success.

There are a lot of details about control and input you should know about before proceeding.”

She named as just a few of the possible red flags: high pressure sales, urgency in your decision making, inflated return on the investment and sketchy details.

“If you’re considering buying a franchise, consider working at one so you have experience with that brand,” Penders said. “How is this brand valued? It’s feet-on-the-ground experience.”

You should also travel to visit several other franchisees in different locations. Choose ones that have been established at least three years ago to ask about how supportive the franchise is, how their investment is panning out and how bright their outlook is. Observe how carefully they adhere to the franchise rules. A lack of success may indicate they do not follow the franchisor’s guidelines.

“Whether we have information or

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Virginia Smith, manager of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Rochester branch office, advises would-be franchisees to think about the effect that national coupons have on their franchise.

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we don’t isn’t an indicator [of trustworthiness],” Penders said, “because our business reviews are placed by marketplace activity. Not every business is going to have a BBB review; however, every business should have these types of practices in place.”

Consider your own capabilities.

Someone who has never managed other people may be more successful in a franchise where the owner completes most of the work hands-on, especially if his background aligns with the new business. But someone comfortable and experienced in managing may be capable of starting a franchise that differs from his own work history and hiring people to do the work.

“You don’t have to go into a franchise where you have a lot of experience,” Mabon said. “An affinity for handling problems is more important.

They can teach the skills to do the job, but can people handle the stress when part of the team doesn’t show up or when other things go wrong?”

As with any other business, a franchise requires dedication, patience and persistence. But these are traits most 55-plussers already possess.

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55+

red wings

Red Wings’ Man Behind Ticket Window No. 2 Dave Welker still enjoying his job with the Red Wings — nearly 40 years after he started

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

S

ometimes you don’t have much time to make a good first impression. In Dave Welker’s case, he has mere seconds.

When a Rochester Red Wings fan walks toward ticket window No. 2, they will find a person who many call the friendly face of the franchise.

Welker has been working for the organization since 1976 in many forms, but most know him as the dil30

55 PLUS - September/October 2014

igent, warm and knowledgeable man who does more than just hand out baseball tickets to prospective attendees.

“Dave is hands down one of the most generous and thoughtful people I have ever met in my life He is always thinking of other people before himself,” said Rob Dermody, director of ticket operations for the Rochester Red Wings. “He has done

a lot of things to keep things running smoothly. I sometimes say if I am half as good a person as Dave is then I am doing something right.”

As a full-time teacher at Bay Road School in Webster, he was looking for a job when students were away taking their summer vacation. And as a baseball enthusiast, when he heard about the ticket position, it seemed like an ideal fit — except he didn’t

hear anything for months and figured sometimes you don’t get what you want.

Then the day before opening day, the Red Wings didn’t have enough people to sell tickets. He heard about the opening, got ready that morning and prepped for a long, exhausting interview. To his surprise, the general manager asked him only two questions; can you type and can you name the major league team associated with the Red Wings. He had taken typing in high school thankfully and, of course, he knew that at that time the Baltimore Orioles were associated with the Red Wings.

“There is probably no one else in history that got a job because they answered two questions right,” said Welker, who now is manager of the ticket office and accounts paid and received.

“Being a teacher you get 10 months to forge a relationship with a student. At a ticket window, you get 30 seconds,” said Welker, 64. “You have to listen to what the customer wants and send them away with a smile. Both jobs you have to be able to deal with people differently. I really do enjoy my relationships with customers.”

It’s no surprise that interacting with people would become Welker’s passion. This is a man who at first was going to major in journalism. Then he worked at a Webster playground with kids and changed his major to elementary education.

“The Red Wings do a fantastic job in making it a family atmosphere,” he said. “You see young kids coming to the game, you see high school and college couples attending games and enjoying it because they also once came here as kids.”

His life was filled with many of his loves at the same time: teaching fifth and sixth graders, working at a baseball stadium and spending time with his wife, Martha, who got a job with the Red Wings’ office in guest services, just so she could spend more time with him. One of Welker’s sons, Craig, also works in the ticket office. He started as a member of the grounds crew in 1987. He admits that he was a workaholic throughout marriage. But that also had a silver lining because it forced his wife to apply for a Red Wings position and share in

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31

addyman’s corner

By John Addyman

The Magic Day…Is It Coming For You?

I

called the library the other day. I had a question, but the librarian was in a meeting.

The pleasant woman who had answered the phone said she would leave a message for the librarian for me.

To get the message right, she asked, “Can you spell your last name?”

Gee. “Yes,” I told her, “I believe I can!”

At our local convenience store, the young woman behind the counter (who is almost always smiling and pleasant), took the items from me to ring them up and asked, “Is this everything, Honey?”

It was.

When I had surgery a few months ago, the nurse who was searching for a vein in my hand told me sweetly, “This is going to pinch a little, Honey…”

It did.

On my back in the dentist’s office, looking at the really awful poster of a hot air balloon on the ceiling, I felt the dental hygienist poking one of my wisdom teeth around. She asked, in some small amount of wonder, “Has this always been a little loose, Honey?”

It has.

There comes a spot in your life when you know you’re old. You suspect it for awhile, but then someone confirms it for you…or you do it yourself.

When I spent some time with my friends from my high school’s class of ’62, we thought about this. What’s the event, what are the circumstances, what’s the tipping point when you actually say to yourself, with some conviction, “I’m old.”

I’m not going to debate the philosophy of or thinking that you’re only as old as you feel or only as old

as you think.

You’re old when other people think you’re old — and, frankly, without much thought. People look at me and see a wizened, crotchety old fart.

But inside me, in my mind, I’m thinking, “Hey, I’m still 23 years old and looking for a good time!”

And these people who make the age judgment respond in a like manner.

They call me “Honey” when do not have an ongoing connubial relationship. Hell, we’re not even friends.

And they ask me if I can spell my last name.

My classmates and I decided that there is a day, a fulcrum in your life, when you know that things have changed.

It’s the eve of your 70th birthday.

Why then, you ask?

Because on that evening, when you’re still 69, you probably don’t tell people what your real age is. But the next morning, when you’re now officially 70 years of age — and someone asks you how old you are — you’ll tell them. It’s magic.

You’ll tell them because you have this epiphany overnight. You’ll realize, “I made it. I’m 70. I’m still alive.

I know where my feet are. I can spell my name.” When my wife yells “Honey!!!” downstairs I know I’ve screwed something up or she’s waiting for me to go someplace.

I think my life will change in other ways on the day I turn 70.

Suddenly, just like that, all of those people who blithely call me “Honey” will be my friends and I’ll smile my best addled smile at them.

The nice people who ask me if I can spell my name? I’ll tell them, ‘Let me think about that for a second…I think my wife wrote it down for me somewhere…let me take off my shirt and see if it’s printed on the collar…”

Or maybe not.

I think we’re on the cusp of a new social awakening in America, with so many baby boomers about to turn certain ages. I and my classmates are a little ahead of the curve. We know where the pasture is — we’re not ready to be put out there just yet.

Many of us are still taking care of our parents, and our kids, and our grandkids, being much more involved with family than our parents — many of whom died younger than we are — ever were.

I think about the energy of the 1960s — the social upheaval and the willingness to try radical new things, and the business energy of the ‘90s when the Internet started to take hold and computers became part of our lives, and the new century, when our back yards became the rest of the world.

We’ve lived through all of that, and learned lessons from it.

So many of us want to leave the world a better place, and are so incredibly frustrated with how hard that is at the moment. We are a restive, restless generation that still wants change and the old institutions haven’t a clue how to deal with us.

Personally, I think we’re just getting started.

All around me, I see people who have completed successful work and professional lives who are now jumping into civic work, community work, public service and politics. They are part of a new landscape.

Right now, we’re playing nice.

But soon, very soon, we will be more demanding, seeking change that benefits our families and communities for a new generation. We won’t be set aside. We won’t be quiet.

We won’t take a seat at the back of the bus. editor@roc55.com And by the way, don’t call me “Honey.”

September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

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55+

fulfillment Scattered around the property are eight to nine honey supers — boxes used as a beehive to manage and collect honey by a beekeeper. Pat Bono is shown next to one of those honey supers.

The Beekeeper of Brighton Following in her grandparents’ footsteps, Pat Bono devotes time to beekeeping

By Renee Rischenole

P

at Bono, owner of Seaway Trail Honey in Williamson, began beekeeping as a hobby nearly four decades ago, then turned her hobby into a business eight years ago.

While growing up, Bono’s grandparents had kept bees and owned a shop in New Jersey where they sold honey-related items.

“It wasn’t until my grandfather died and my grandmother took over the business that I became more interested in what it took to become a beekeeper,” Bono said.

During the 1970s as a teenager, Bono took courses related to beekeeping at Delaware Valley College in Pennsylvania and it was then that it became her newfound hobby.

Bono, 58, lives in Brighton, but purchased the Williamson property and barn roughly seven years ago where she could run her beekeeping business. The barn, also known as the

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

Honey House, and the land that it sits on is located a half mile from the shore of Lake Ontario.

This is where all the honey-making magic happens.

Scattered around the property are eight to nine honey supers — boxes used as a beehive to manage and collect honey by a beekeeper. The boxes resemble wood desk drawers, the most common depth of each box is 6 5/8 inches. Each super houses eight to 10 frames that are hung within where the bees store the nectar they have collected that is inside the honeycomb.

At harvest time Bono takes the frames out of the boxes and brings them inside the Honey House where honey is then extracted. Bono then strains the honey. She chooses this method over filtering.

“Filtering will remove the pollen and pollen is like the fingerprint for honey,” Bono said. “Most manufac-

tured honey has no pollen in it.”

Currently there is no definition of honey standards for honey sold in New York state, but Bono said there are numerous natural benefits of honey that contains pollen. She added that consumers of honey tend to think that natural honey is unprocessed yet most grocery store honey is heated.

Honey that is heated does not contain any pollen.

Bono is a strong advocate for standards of production and labeling of honey so as to preserve its wholesomeness for the consumer as well as laws against adulteration.

According to Food Safety News tests show that more than threefourths of honey sold in United States grocery stores isn’t what the honeybees are producing. Bono said that some commercial types of honey may contain honeydew, glucose, dextrose, molasses, sugar, sugar syrup, invert sugar, or any other similar product or

products, other than the nectar of floral exudations of plants gathered and stored in the comb by honey bees.

“Having a pure product is much better than having a product that is of poor quality, potentially tainted and at the worst causing sickness,” Bono states on her website.

Besides being a professional beekeeper, Bono is head of the Rochester Beekeepers, a group that gathers once a month to meet and talk about bees, honey and beekeeping. Some of the top experts go to the club where they all teach each other and give confidence to one another as well.

Bono conducts workshops and has a series of beekeeping videos on her website. She also has many awards and distinctions that include best of show for honey, New York State Fair 2013, and blue ribbon for honey, New York State Fair 2013. She said she is proud to have Seaway Trail Honey served at the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Luncheon in Washington D.C. You might be asking yourself why and how Bono’s honey is of such good quality and the answer to that is that her honey is unpastereurized, raw, no chemicals and is kosher certified.

“To ensure purity and quality, I sell honey gathered only from my bees at the farm,” Bono said.

“I make honey every two weeks and check the bees once a week to see how much honey the bees have produced,” Bono said.

Each season provides a different honey depending on what is in bloom. Some flavors include apple blossom, locust blossom, buttercup, milkweed, white clover, Goldenrod and many others depending on the season.

“A lot of people like that as the flowers change through the seasons so does the honey,” Bono said.

You can purchase Seaway Trail Honey at several locations that include the Brighton Farmer’s Market, Little Bleu Cheese Shop in Rochester’s Southwedge, Simply New York in Seabreeze as well as from the online store.

Also on the website you can find a list of bee-friendly plants, recipes, photos, educational videos, contact information and links for many resources. The website can be viewed at www.seawaytrailhoney.com.

Honey extracted by Pat Bono at her Seaway Trail Honey in Williamson.

Pat Bono, a 58-year-old resident of Brighton, operates Seaway Trail Honey in Williamson. “It wasn’t until my grandfather died and my grandmother took over the business that I became more interested in what it took to become a beekeeper,” Bono says. She is shown in the Honey House with her honey extractor.

September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

35

the arts Passionate About the Arts

55+

By Debbie Waltzer

I

f you love what you do, then why would you ever stop? Visual artists Jan Hewitt Towsley, Carter Rich and Boo Poulin have successfully practiced their crafts for decades, and they look forward to enjoying many more years of professional engagement. Although the three have never met, their studios are all located in close proximity to one another within Rochester’s vibrant Neighborhood of the Arts. Their synergy, passion and enthusiasm no doubt is fueled by the collective energy of this nurturing environment.

Here are their tales:

Jan Hewitt Towsley “Weaving gives me the joy of discovery.”

Jan Hewitt Towsley maintains a studio on the second floor of Anderson Alley.

She is the past president of the Weaver’s Guild of Rochester.

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55 PLUS - September/October 2014

Enter Jan Hewitt Towsley’s fiber arts studio on the second floor of Anderson Alley, and you enter a world of color and texture.

Towsley, 61, owns multiple looms of all sizes. Huge spools of yarn, cotton thread and metallic materials line the walls of the space. Each loom is dressed with current projects, from scarves and table runners to ritual items and massive wall installations.

Towsley, a 1988 graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology’s weav-

55+ ing and textile design program, has produced commissions for Strong Memorial Hospital, the Lipson Cancer Center, RIT’s College of Science and the Susan B. Anthony House.

A past president of the Weaver’s Guild of Rochester, Towsley’s work is for sale at the Memorial Art Gallery and the Oxford Gallery.

Weaving is her passion.

“I’m very much a textiles person,” she says. “I can easily work on 50 pieces at once because I’m at different stages with each project.”

While raised in a family of quilters, basket weavers and lace makers, Towsley’s first exposure to loom-produced work occurred during her senior year in high school. She read an article about a textile professor’s art exhibit at RIT, went to see the show and decided on the spot to pursue textile arts as a career.

Towsley has served as a teaching artist for various school districts for the past 25 years. Her alma mater, the Rush-Henrietta School District, possesses 16 looms and Towsley enjoys sharing her craft with the district’s

seventh graders.

In addition, she works with developmentally disabled youngsters at Edison Tech High School, and loves encouraging them as they create handmade projects.

Towsley, a married grandmother of two, also serves on the faculty of the Weaving & Fiber Arts Center in the Piano Works Mall in East Rochester.

“I’m a lifelong learner and always love trying new things,” she says.

“Weaving gives me the joy of discovery.”

Carter Rich “I can’t imagine doing anything else” Carter Rich is a quiet fellow. Tall and lanky, he spends his days amid wood of all shapes and sizes, sawdust and the stirring sounds of symphonies emanating from his radio, tuned to WXXI.

the arts

Rich, 66, is a woodworker, and his modest shop on Sager Drive belies the beauty of his creations on display in homes, stores and corporate offices across the country.

Starting out as an assembly person at the Dundee Casket Co. in the mid-‘70s, Rich has spent the last 40 years honing his skills while working with designers and architects in shops in New York, California and London.

Today, he produces cabinetry, furniture and custom commercial work, including intricate display units at The Red Barn in Pittsford Plaza, as well as private libraries, kitchens, staircases and dressing rooms in high-end homes.

Rich, who uses native woods such as oak, maple, walnut and cherry, has designed and built everything from custom desks and conference tables for Brighton Securities, to an elaborate wooden bow for an archer.

Wood is his passion.

“It’s something that just comes to me,” says the father of four—three violinists and one cellist—who has been married to his British wife, Lynne—a social worker—for 31 years.

“A lot of people think that woodworking is very glamorous, but it’s really physically hard work and incredibly messy,” he adds. “Still, I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s a joy to listen to a client’s dream project and help them make it a reality.”

Boo Poulin “I’ll do this as long as I possibly can.”

Carter Rich produces cabinetry, furniture and custom commercial work, including intricate display units at The Red Barn in Pittsford Plaza, as well as private libraries, kitchens, staircases and dressing rooms in high-end homes.

Boo Poulin will not share the origin of her unusual first name—but she is only too happy to share the joy she feels when creating contemporary-styled jewelry.

Perched at her studio work bench on the third floor of her Merriman Street home, Poulin describes the fun of designing unusual necklaces, bracelets and earrings using materials ranging from aluminum and rubber to plastic and stone.

A former student of Albert Paley, earned her Master of Fine Arts degree September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

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A champion of Rochester’s vibrant art scene, Boo Poulin devotes most of her time to designing unusual necklaces, bracelets and earrings using materials ranging from aluminum and rubber to plastic and stone. from RIT in 1983. Poulin says she and her classmates always veered toward the unusual.

“We were determined to be very experimental in our field,” she recalls.

“Other than Europeans, no one else at the time was using alternative materials for creating jewelry—but we decided to push the boundaries. It doesn’t matter what jewelry is made out of. If it is well designed, then that is the most important element.”

Clearly, the market agrees. Poulin, 70, has sold myriad pieces to museum shops and craft galleries throughout the country during her prodigious career, with current displays at Jewelrywerks Gallery in Washington, D.C., The Phoenix Gallery in Big Sur, Calif., as well as in Boston shops. Poulin is

a crowd favorite at the Memorial Art Gallery’s Clothesline Art Show, and her pieces range in price from $25 to $200.

A widowed mother of one and grandmother of two, Poulin — an avid yoga practitioner and voracious reader — finds artistic inspiration while viewing architecture and custom furniture. She travels to Manhattan several times each year to meet up with fellow artist friends and soak in the creative environment.

A champion of Rochester’s vibrant art scene, the Nashua, NH, native has no plans to retire.

“Art totally feeds my soul, heart and whole being,” she says. “I’ll do this as long as I possibly can.”

55+

profile

Group of Urban League of Rochester’s board members during annual meeting (left to right): Andre Godfrey, ULR board member; Ernest Hicks, chairman, nominating committee; William Clark, president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester; Rhondalynn Richards, co-chairwoman of annual meeting committee; Richard Baum, board chairman.

Enabling the Disabled

‘Champion of the people’ with special needs recognized

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

I

t’s always a shock when a person has a doctor look them straight in the eyes with grave news.

It becomes even more devastating when that doctor is talking about his or her child. The devastating news knocks some people down.

However, Ernest L. Hicks stood up, not only for his family, but for others.

Hicks recently was awarded the Kathryn Terrell Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service. He has been a champion for people with disabilities as a founding member of the United Way Overcoming Disabilities Community Investment Committee and a member of the Rochester Al Sigl Center Board of Governors.

“I do what I do not expecting or desiring recognition. Being able to serve is enough reward,” said Hicks, 63, of Rochester, who was previously manager of corporate diversity for Xerox Corporation. “I just want to do anything I can to help other people.”

On that day, his daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome, a genetic disorder. Even though she was high functioning, the news was still a shock to the family.

“I knew very little information at the time. And at that time 40-plus years ago, doctors were not very positive when they informed you of the news,” said Hicks.

“Doctors would tell you that the

child might need to be institutionalized for most of her life or that you shouldn’t expect her to live past 12 years old. That’s obviously something a parent doesn’t want to hear, but the doctor did paint a very gloomy picture,” he added.

Early on in life, working at Xerox kept him busy with a hectic schedule.

He had to travel often, consulting and making keynote presentations to organizations like NASA and countries such as China, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. He had also lectured at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, University of Buffalo, Harvard University, Cornell University and the Simon School, September/October 2014 - 55 PLUS

39

University of Rochester.

He said while he enjoyed his job at Xerox, the demanding schedule often left him with little time to give.

“That is why I was so happy decades ago when someone approached me and said I should consider joining the Arc of Monroe board and helping out,” said Hicks. “That got me on the road to volunteering, because even though I was traveling, I would revolve my work calendar around be-

ing able to participate in community events and discussions about helping people with disabilities.”

He worked with many nonprofit organizations to fundraise and put on programs. He wanted to help elevate the services that the Rochester area offered.

“I can say I am so proud of all the services that are available here. A lot of great people have gotten the word out,” added Hicks. “Once you under-

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stand everything these organizations are doing, you can also go to state and national legislative representatives and be an advocate and a larger voice.

When you become more astute, you can really champion a cause.”

He is also one of three volunteers in his church van ministry providing transportation to individuals for Sunday school and worship services. In addition, he is a volunteer instructor of taekwondo.

William Clark, president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester, has watched Hicks be a relentless force for change and improvement for all people. He believes when you get a group that cares as much about humanity, it improves the quality of life of everyone involved.

“People like Ernest make Rochester a better place to live,” he said.

“There are so many wonderful people in this community who are so vital and who are advocates for others.

Many of them don’t look for attention at all like Ernest. But I think it is nice to recognize and highlight the work they do.”

Clark knows Hicks has a passion for helping out those with disabilities. He not only wants a better life for them but he wants the stigma and misconception gone.

“He fights for programs that allow people with disabilities to have a quality life and to prove that they are capable members of society,” added Clark. “He’s just a great community-minded person and I think not enough people realize the impact he had made.”

Hicks appreciated the words Clark offered and the award from the Urban League. But his humble nature shines through every time he receives praise.

Hicks said programs nationwide have given people an opportunity to live on their own, work for themselves and have a social aspect that they enjoy. There are dozens of programs in the Rochester region targeting specific disabilities. He thinks they are the real heroes and award winners.

“People with disabilities will have some limitations, but that doesn’t mean they can’t live a fully functioning life,” he said. “There are programs that help youth all the way to seniors. It is something that continues to evolve as we speak today.”

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the artists

Timeless Art Rochester artist masters stained glass with mix of skill sets

By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

I

f you’ve ever marveled at the sheer beauty and craftsmanship of a stained glass window, you might be pleased to know that Rochester has been home to a stained glass studio for more than 100 years.

Founded in 1908, Pike Stained Glass and its proprietor Valerie O’Hara offer a glimpse into a highly specialized, even arcane process that dates back to the 7th century and requires mastery of several different artistic and scientific disciplines.

O’Hara, 60, started her apprenticeship at the studio in 1966, when she was 12 and the studio was run by her parents. They inherited the business from founder William J. Pike, O’Hara’s great uncle.

“My great-uncle wasn’t an artist himself, but he clearly had an eye for hiring skilled designers,” O’Hara said during a tour of the downtown studio space.

The studio boasts a long lineage of designers whose abilities O’Hara greatly admires, and the space is still rich with artifacts of their work.

Though O’Hara graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in fine arts (she majored in painting and minored in glass and woodworking), she said “so much of what I know was taught to me by my parents and the other people who worked here.

“When I was 6 years old, my mother sat me down to do my first watercolor. Even into their 80s, my parents would go out into fields to do plein air paintings together. I have a beautiful collection of their artwork.”

Examples of the studio’s work

Valerie O’Hara is the owner of Pike Stained Glass, an arts studio founded in 1908 by her great uncle. The studio boasts a long lineage of designers whose abilities O’Hara greatly admires, and the space is still rich with artifacts of their work.

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the artist

windows over three generations and were careful to maintain the continuity of the design aesthetic.”

While explaining these details, O’Hara is quick to credit other specialists who are integral to the process.

“One thing I would like to de-mystify is we don’t color our glass. But we do paint on the glass with a special vitreous paint that’s just like ceramic paint,” she said.

In terms of the designs on a ceramic dish, every single color has to be painted and fired in a kiln separately. O’Hara added.

“So things like lettering, facial features, and even the shading are done with an applied paint that’s A sample of Valerie O’Hara work is the centerpiece window at St. John of Rochester fired onto the surface. For the colored glass we order, church in Fairport. there’s a whole other process that requires glass-blowing,” she said. can be found in hundreds of church- Multi-disciplinary endeavor Naturally, O’Hara finds herself es throughout the Rochester area, inEven in a multi-section window, having to juggle multiple tasks, a decluding St. John of Rochester, Third the spaces in between are really im- mand that she relishes — a good thing Presbyterian, and Blessed Sacrament portant,” O’Hara said. considering all her siblings ended up as well as secular facilities such as the “If you’re off even by a little bit, choosing their own career paths over ICU waiting room at Highland Hosit throws off every single other piece. the family business. pital, and Strong Memorial rehabilitaThe fit has to be good, but there also “The variety of disciplines that tion center at Clinton Crossings. has to be room for expansion after a this work requires totally suited my The studio has even sent pieces period of 100 or so years. But it can’t personality,” she said. “For example, to locales as far away as the British be too sloppy that it doesn’t have the I was never that good at math until Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, and Rochproper support,” she added.

I found geometry. It’s so tactile that ester’s sister city, Novgorod, RusA lot of architecture, engineering, it just fit right in for me. I was also sia. Unsurprisingly, bidding on jobs and construction go into it besides the never that interested in history until requires a great deal of preparatory fine art of doing paintings, which can I discovered art history. And then the work, as well as some good old-fashrange from realistic figures to abstract whole world made sense to me! From ioned hustling. symbolism, she noted. “We have to there, whatever I don’t know, I hire “In order to sell your services, have extensive working knowledge people.” you have to do a scale watercolor of of religious symbolism, and we have When asked how much stained the window as a proposal,” O’Hara to be sensitive to nuances of differenc- glass O’Hara has at home, she smiles said. es between belief systems.” and describes what is still the most It’s usually an inch to a foot. If This work can also require a mea- cherished piece in her personal colthat gets approved, then that gets insure of patience unlike what is typical lection. terpreted into a full-scale drawing. of other art forms and small business“I have a beautiful piece right If you picture the huge cathedral es. next to the front door that my parents windows throughout Europe, every “If you’re hired to make windows made,” she said. “It depicts our famisingle one of those had a full-size for an entire church, then you suggest ly tree, with birds in the branches that drawing. From that, we make two a theme. So even if it takes 100 years to represent the four of us siblings. My sets of patterns using carbon paper or build all the windows, at least there’s baby sister is still in the nest, and I’m we can make the patterns digitally usa master plan to work from,” O’Hara just about to fly. Carved in two hearts ing computer renderings. They have said. “We did a church in Avon over in the trunk are my parents’ initials, to be very accurate — within about a a period of 66 years. We made these as if they’d carved them in the tree.”

32nd of an inch.

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financial planning

By Tammy Mogilski and Brian Bedford

What will happen to your retirement plan benefits when you die?

I

n general, your retirement plan benefits pass to the beneficiaries you designate on the plan beneficiary designation form. Your benefits will generally be subject to estate tax at your death and to income tax when benefits are distributed from the plan to your beneficiaries.

Who receives your retirement plan benefits after your death?

You can designate who will receive your retirement plan benefits at your death by designating a beneficiary on the plan form for naming beneficiaries. (Your spouse may have certain rights in the retirement benefits.) It is generally recommended that you designate beneficiaries, their shares, and any backup beneficiaries on the plan beneficiary form.

If you do not have a named beneficiary (or the designated beneficiary predeceases you and you do not have a backup beneficiary), benefits will be distributed according to the terms of your retirement plans (which may specify certain default beneficiaries, such as a spouse). If retirement plan benefits end up distributed to your estate, the plan benefits will be distributed according to the terms in your will. However, if you do not have a will or if the benefits cannot be distributed under the terms of your will, the benefits will be distributed under your state’s intestate succession laws.

A typical intestate succession law might give one-half or one-third to your spouse with the balance divided equally among your children.

Estate taxation of your retirement plan benefits at your death At your death, your retirement plan benefits will generally be included in your gross estate for federal estate tax purposes. However, if your retirement benefits consist of annuity payments for life that end at your death, there is nothing remaining to

include in your gross estate. There is an unlimited marital deduction for property you leave to your surviving spouse, and an unlimited charitable deduction for property you leave to charity. You have an applicable exclusion amount that can protect some or all of your taxable estate from estate tax. If your retirement benefits pass to someone who is two or more generations younger than you, such as your grandchild, there may also be generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax.

You have a GST exemption that can protect some or all of your GSTs from GST tax.

The applicable exclusion amount and the GST exemption are both equal to $5,340,000 in 2014. They are adjusted for inflation and may increase in future years.

Income taxation of retirement plan distributions after your death After your death, your beneficiaries will generally be required to take distributions from your retirement plans over their life expectancies. The rules may be more favorable if your surviving spouse is the beneficiary of your retirement plan.

Generally, property that is included in your gross estate receives an income tax basis that is steppedup (or stepped-down) to fair market value at your death. However, your retirement plan benefits do not receive such a step-up (or step-down) in basis. In general, for income tax purposes, your beneficiaries will include distributions from the retirement plan in income when received. Your beneficiaries can take an income tax deduction for estate tax attributable to the retirement plan benefits; the deduction is apportioned and taken into account as distributions are received and included in taxable income.

If you have made any nondeductible contributions, your beneficiaries can generally exclude a portion of the

distributions from taxable income.

However, if you have not made any nondeductible contributions, the entire distribution will generally be included in the beneficiary’s taxable income.

On the other hand, distributions made after your death from a Roth 401(k) plan or a Roth IRA will generally be qualified distributions that are not taxable income to your beneficiaries (as long as certain five-year holding periods are met). A nonqualified distribution from a Roth IRA is treated as first coming from your contributions (which are nontaxable), and then from earnings (which are taxable). A nonqualified distribution from a Roth 401(k) plan, however, is treated as consisting of a pro-rata share of Roth contributions (nontaxable) and investment earnings on those contributions (taxable).

State taxation of retirement benefits Your retirement benefits may also be subject to state estate, inheritance, GST, or income taxes.

Tammy Mogilski, CLU, ChFC, CFP, and Brian Bedford CASL, CFS operate Legacy Financial Planning in Rochester. For more information visit www.legacyfp.net, email info@legacyfp.net or call 585-2415250.

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learning

At Osher Lifelong Learning’s library: Nita Genova, Ed Scutt and Sharon Griffiths. The organization offers a wideranging choice of classes for adults over age 50 who have a thirst for lifelong learning.

Osher: For Those Still Eager to Learn

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

W

hether it was watching late night at home or making the trek to a movie theater, Nita Genova and her daughter, Alexandra, bonded over Bollywood movies. The movie industry, based in Mumbai, started in the early 20th century and has gained massive popularity today.

But when her daughter went away to college, Genova, 58, lost her side kick.

She was a stay-at-home mother, but wanted to stay active. She heard

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about Osher Lifelong Learning Institute during a conversation at her doctor’s office. Then she started hearing advertisements and decided to attend a preview. Four years later, she is the organization chairwoman.

“When I heard that they give you an opportunity to lead course my first class would be one on Bollywood,” said Genova, of Honeoye Falls. “I started out with 19 people taking the class the first year. Now, I have 41. The beauty of Osher is that even though I

had no previous teaching experience, I was allowed to develop and propose a course. I have learned so much about India and its culture because of my love of the movies and our members’ curiosity.”

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Rochester Institute of Technlogy, formerly called the Athenaeum, is a unique educational organization that offers a wide-ranging choice of classes for adults over age 50 who have a thirst for lifelong learning.

55+ Courses are presented in a variety of fields: the arts, literature, sciences, history and government. The classes also incorporate a combination of field trips as well as speaker lecture sessions as a complement to the course sessions. There are an average of 1,300 registrations for various classes throughout the year.

“We believe it is important that there is a social component with these courses along with an educational one. There are so many studies that talk about the importance of seniors interacting with each other. We have a lunch area, kitchen, cafe and library, all areas where people can interact.”

Genova didn’t only lead classes, but she took them as well. She enjoyed the variety of courses that were at her fingertips. Whether it was a class on understanding the human brain, a history class on the Supreme Court or William Faulkner classics, she dived into learning more about each course.

“I needed something like Osher and it really did fill the gap once my

learning

daughter left for school,” said Genova.

“While I’m sure many people have a variety of stories about how they found this place, they all seem to be happy they did.”

More than 620 volunteers

Founded in 1987 at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Osher courses are developed and conducted by members willing to share their experiences. Some classes are led by professionals who have distinguished themselves in their working years and are now eager to communicate their knowledge and insight. Other courses arise out of avocations or enthusiastic interests. In 2006, they became an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute through a million dollar grant, joining a growing national network of more than 120 university-based centers for older learners.

The Rochester organization is all volunteer-led. There are more than 620 members.

After he retired as a Hilton High School English teacher, Ed Scutt, 71, of Greece, wanted to find something to fill his time. An avid teacher and learner, Osher fulfilled both those d e s i re s . H e h e a rd about the program and started taking courses like the one offered by Genova on Bollywood. In addition, he led acting and English-related classes for seniors.

Time has flown by as he has been involved in the organization since 1999. “ O s h e r immediately grabbed my attention when I came here years ago. It is important for seniors to keep an active mind and keep an active schedule and they give you the best Nita Genova started taking some courses at of both worlds,” said Osher Lifelong Learning and four years later she Scutt.

He said as a became the program’s chairwoman.

Hilton High School English teacher Ed Scutt, 71, of Greece, got involved with Osher in 1999. “It is such a great environment,” he says. Scutt took lessons at the program and also teaches some courses. teacher, it was difficult not leading a classroom the first year he retired.

That is why he is thankful that Osher gave him a second wave of educating others. Being part of the organization also helped him when his wife, Ellen Sand, died in 2008.

“It is such a great environment,” added Scutt. “There are good, friendly people that makes you want to keep coming back.”

Genova said membership slowly grew with a strong marketing p u s h t h ro u g h r a d i o a n d p r i n t advertisements. They focused on letting the community know about the organization and its various programs.

“We have history, you can learn different languages, you can learn technology, you can learn about the great artists of our time. We have everything for you,” she added.

The organization also has a group of 40-plus “wizards.” They are in charge of making sure the technology and AV works for the many, multifaceted classes. “They may not desire to teach a class, but they are critical in making sure everything works well,” said Genova.

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long-term care

By Susan Suben

Caregivers: You Are Not Alone 16 resources that every caregiver should know about

C

aregivers are always looking for support and resources to make their day-to-day responsibilities easier and their stress levels lower. They are constantly seeking affirmation for the job they are doing caring for a loved one.

Oftentimes, they become frustrated, angry and isolated. They find it hard to maintain their quality of life while maintaining the dignity and independence of the person for whom they are caring. It is extremely important for caregivers to know they are not alone and help is available.

In August 2012, AARP put together a list of several resources that every caregiver should know about.

I’ve listed most of them below and added a small description of their services along with a few more that I’ve had personal experiences with and think will be helpful to families.

1 — A Place For Mom (www. aplaceformom.com or 866-344-8005).

Started by Joan Lunden, the company puts you in contact with local advisers who offer assistance in finding the best senior living options (assisted living/nursing homes). I’ve used this service several times and have found the advisers to be extremely professional and knowledgeable. The service is paid for by the participating providers and senior living communities so there is no cost to families.

2 — American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance (www. aaltci.org or 818-597-3227) is an independent organization that provides information on long-term care insurance and other planning solutions for agents and consumers.

3 — AARP Online Community offers caregivers a place to discuss experiences/issues with other caregivers. It’s similar to participating in a support group without having to editor@cny55.com leave home, which many caregivers

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often find difficult to do.

4 — Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org or 800-272-3900) has a wealth of information on Alzheimer’s as well as all forms of dementia. The association has numerous brochures on the phases of the disease as well as the behavior and communication issues confronted by caregivers. Referrals can be made to local chapters and support groups as well as a 24/7 helpline for crisis intervention.

5 — Alzheimers.gov is the government’s free information site for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The site includes such topics as Alzheimer’s symptoms, treatment options, caregiver resources and how to pay and plan ahead. It focuses on what to expect and how to prepare for the challenges.

6 — Arch Respite Network (www. archrespite.org) assists and promotes the development of quality respite and crisis care programs in the United States and helps families locate these services in their communities. The organization plays an active role on the

local, state and national levels.

7 — Comfort Keepers (www. comfortkeepers.com or 866-610-6430) provides care services and living assistance to seniors and disabled individuals so that they can remain independent at home. Besides assistance with daily activities, other services include transportation to doctors, respite care, Alzheimer’s and dementia care and end of life care.

8 — Eldercare Locator (www.eldercare.gov or 800-677-1116) is part of the Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and partners with local agencies on aging. It helps locate services (legal, financial, home care transportation, caregiver training, etc.) through a national database and provides unbiased outreach material for caregivers. Family members can talk to online specialists.

9 — Family Caregiver Alliance (www.caregiver.org or 800-445-8106) provides caregiver education on various diseases along with caregiver strategies, fact sheets and webinars.

Caregiver Connect is a new service that includes the national Family Caregiver Navigator designed to connect caregivers to local resources.

10 — Home Instead (www.homeinstead.org or 800-640-3914) offers non-medical home care, companion services, short-term recovery services, Alzheimer’s care and hospice care.

11 — Medicare (www.medicare. gov/caregivers or 800-Medicare) explains the different parts of Medicare, what Medicare covers and how to find Medicare providers.

12 — National Alliance For Caregivers (www.caregiving.org or 307718-8444 ) is a coalition of 50+ national organizations that focuses on research advocacy and resources for caregivers.

13 — National Association of Geriatric Care Managers (www.caremanager.org) helps locate geriatric care managers who can provide families with the guidance they need in order to take appropriate actions and make decisions in the best interest of their loved ones. Services include assessment and monitoring, planning and problem-solving, education and advocacy.

14 — National Family Caregivers Association (www.caregiveraction. org) offers education, peer support and resources for families dealing with the care of individuals of all ages who have a debilitating medical condition. The Caregivers Action Network is also available.

15 — Social Security Administration (www.social security.gov or 800772-1213) 16 — Veterans Administration (www.caregiver.va.gov or 800-2603274) distributes information to veterans and their families in addition to having a caregiver support line.

In this age of technology, every caregiver should be able to ask for and receive help. Seeking assistance and guidance is the bravest thing a caregiver can do. You don’t have to go it alone.

In Good Health Genesee Valley’s Healthcare Newspaper

Pick up your free copy at more than 1,000 high traffic locations.

All about healthcare in the Rochester area. For consumers, for providers.

For advertising information, please call (585) 421-8109

in good sex talk

Delano Fraz ier, 18, is a peer mentor for Safe Sex Inc., youth leade rship program a Rochester in that about sex withhelps teens talk their parents

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Dealing wit Back Pain — h Alternatve the Way Chief of radia tion onco logy at Lipson, Dr. Meri Atan as discusses new approach to treating cancer

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Meet the WNY Wrec kers

Writer Weight Launches Loss Bo ok

The WNY Wreckers is a Rochester-area wheelcha ir rugby team that meets twic e a week.

Co-found er Jerremy Lorch said he’s been able to get exercise he the needs with out going to the gym. “Bot tom line: It’s fun,” he said.

Deborah Jeanne Sergeant Genesee , staff writ Valley Heal launched thcare New er at In Goo a book d Health, practicin spaper, g martial discussing weig has rece arts as one ntly encourag ht es people of her fitne loss. She is show to find a n ss activ vigorous hobby they ities. Her book moving. enjoy to Page 12 keep August 2014

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

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visits

Ten Top Tips When Visiting Boston

By Sandra Scott

B

oston, the capital of Massachusetts and the state’s largest city, is one of the oldest cities in in the United States. It was founded in 1630 and was the site of some key events of the American Revolution and a great place to learn about American history. Today the city is an exciting destination with something for everyone including sport fans, history buffs, and foodies.

CITYPASS: Savvy and budgetminded visitors will want to purchase the Boston CityPASS which allows admission to the New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Skywalk Observatory, Museum of Fine Arts and Old State House or the Harvard Museum with a savings of nearly 50 percent. It eliminates waiting in line, which is a real plus during the height of the tourist season. No need to rush from one site to another because the CityPass is valid for nine days.

TROLLEY TOURS: There are a variety of tour buses and duck tours all offering a menu of deals for traveling about Boston.

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Old Town Trolley Tour is an excellent choice with a hop-on-hop-off option and great perks such as a choice of free admission to the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum or Boston Harbor Cruise. Purchase online for greater savings. There is a lot to see and do so a two-day ticket is a great idea. Take the entire tour once around and then decide what you want to see before hopping off.

BOSTON TEA PARTY: If you only relive one historic event in Boston it should be at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, which opened in June 2012. The multimedia exhibits, authentically restored ships, live actors, and audience participation will bring the event alive.

You can toss the tea into Boston Harbor from a replica of “Eleanor” reenacting the historic occasion. Interestingly, the cargo was British but the ships were American owned. After tossing the tea into the harbor the tour continues with an informational video called “Let it Begin Here” and fascinating displays.

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FREEDOM TRAIL: Follow the 2.5-mile trail to 16 historically significant sites including museums, meeting houses, churches and cemeteries. Stops include Paul Revere’s house, Faneuil Hall, Old North Church, Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution also known as Old Ironsides. Walk it on your own but for a more informative tour, book a tour with “Walk Into History” led by an 18th-century costumed guide. There are several tour options of varying lengths. Learn the fascinating behindthe-scene stories. Boston on Foot also offers walking tours.

H A RVA R D : You, too, can say you went to Harvard after a tour with Cambridge Historical Tours, just one of the company’s tours of the Cambridge area. Their Innovation Tour includes both Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology plus they offer another tour of Harvard’s Natural History Museum. Harvard is one of the oldest and most prestigious American educational institutes. There are also student-led tours and audio tours for

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those who want to tour on their own.

GO TEAM: Boston is home to several major-league sports teams. Bostonians are avid fans and visitors can catch the excitement at a game by cheering for the Boston Red Sox, the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots or one of the many college teams. Check out the legendary Green Monster, the 37.2-inch left field wall at Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. Run or cheer for your favorite runner during the Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon.

MUSEUMS: The city is home to a plethora of museums including the Museum of Fine Arts, which opened during America’s Centennial. It is home to nearly a half million artworks. The Institute of Contemporary Art located on the waterfront features works of Picasso, O’Keeffe, Warhol and other famed artists. Also visit the Children’s Museum, historic homes including the 1796 Otis House, which is the last surviving mansion on Bowdoin Square, the JFK Library & Museum and many others. Some museums have days when admission is free.

FOODIES: Deciding where to eat is a dilemma as there are many excellent restaurants in all categories. You haven’t been to Boston until you cracked a few — oysters that is — at The Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in continuous service in the U.S.

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Wet your whistle with a stop at the Harpoon Brewery and check out their meal-size pretzels. And, don’t forget Cheers bar where only the outside was used in the TV show. Don’t miss the Quincy Market in downtown, where you can find all types of foods from a great variety of vendors. Looking for something on the sweet side, take a Back Bay chocolate tour.

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MORE COOL THINGS TO DO: Take a harbor boat ride. Get panoramic views of Boston from the Prudential Center Skywalk Observatory with many interactive displays dealing with Boston’s history.

Visit the Christian Scientist mother church and adjacent Mapparium, an amazing three-story glass globe.

Have afternoon tea in Abigail’s Tea Room. Take a Swan Boat ride through Boston Public Garden lagoon, a Boston Tradition since 1877. Boston Commons Frog Pond has a spray pool in summer and ice skating in the winter along with many other seasonal activities.

There are a slew of festivals and special events such as the St. Patrick’s Parade.

There are free street performances at Faneuil Hall and Harvard Square.

SIDE TRIPS: It would be impossible to experience all the things there are to do in Boston but there are also great day trips using Boston as a hub. Follow Paul Revere’s ride to Lexington and wander along Battle Road to Concord. Nearby tour Louisa May Alcott’s house and Thoreau’s Walden cottage. Other day trips include Salem, which is more than witches, and Plymouth to learn about how the Pilgrims lived. For more information check Massvacation.com and Cityofboston.gov/visitors or call toll free 800-227-MASS.

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By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

Joseph DiPonzio, 58 Winemaker from Chili has more than 26 medals for his wines.

Q.How did you get started?

A. First, my dad made wine. I grew up watching him. As he got older, he said it was getting expensive. Then when I got my first home and married, I asked him where his equipment was to make wine and he told me he sold it. I told him I wanted to start making wine and he jokingly told me that that I shouldn’t. He said it was cheaper to buy. I laughed and then I thought about it for second.

Q.Well, after your dad’s advice what did you do?

A. I wanted to give it a try. It was something that I saw my dad do and it was something that I was interested in. I started in the mid-1980s and I was marginal at best in the beginning.

I didn’t know the chemistry behind it or didn’t have the experience. It seemed the more I aged it, the worst it got. It was only drinkable in the early stages. Bad wine is very unforgiving.

Q.What did you do after that frustrating beginning?

A. It definitely wasn’t an easy road. I couldn’t just give up. At one point, I made my wine out of fresh juice. I got a six gallon bucket of juice, added yeast, fermented it and it resembled something like wine. I just had to keep trying it until I got better. I am so glad that I didn’t quit because it would have been easy to say that this was something that I wasn’t meant to be good at. It is a great feeling when you make wine and everyone’s glass is empty and so is the bottle. It truly is a labor of love. Now, I can make something comparable to what is on the shelf. It took about 20 years to really nail it down.

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Q.How did you start showcasing your wine?

A. My brother-in-law told me about some competitions. At first, I didn’t think that much of it. But all of a sudden, I decided why not try? There is a lot of work that goes into it all and I wanted to give it a try. It is a blind taste test graded by professionals. I started entering it in competitions. You are judged on clarity, color and taste. I have won awards in 29 out of 35 entries.

I was surprised by the early success because there are a lot of good wine makers out there. I’m still humbled at the fact that it comes out the way that it does and that people really enjoy my wine.

ple who are almost professional. I like to try to share my knowledge because it is a good feeling to help people out because I didn’t get here by myself.

We have over 100 members and 25 percent are women.

Q.How long does it take to make wine?

A. It depends on what kind of wine you are making. If you are making a red, then you typically ferment the fruit with the skin still on it. You crush it and put it in an oak barrel.

Over time, you turn the sugar into alcohol, measure the acid and, typically, it takes two years. Sometimes it can take 18 months to get the heavy edge out of it. It goes through a lot of changes getting better as time goes by.

That is what you need to do for your Merlots and Cabernets. White wine is a little bit of a different story. A Chardonnay can be ready in a year.

Q.When you look at your winemaking career, how does it make you feel?

A. It’s not a business to me. It is just a hobby that I enjoy. I never thought I would be doing this winemaking this long.

Q.Do you find interacting with other winemakers helps you?

A. I joined the Rochester Area Home Winemakers Association.

There is a mix of people who are where I was 20 years ago, people who are in the intermediate level and peo-

Q.What kinds of things do you do in your spare time?

A. I like watching anything sports-related like football. My favorite movie is Gladiator and I like to travel. My favorite vacation spot is Florida.

Q.What is your favorite wine?

A. My favorite wine is an oldvine Zinfandel or a Cabernet-Merlot blend. I prefer the bold heavy red variety. I make my wines year-around. I make New York and California wines in the fall, South American wines in the spring and Italian wines at other times.

r u o y n o s st e u g e b r e v e Will n favorite late night talk show.

But to us, they’re the most important people on earth.

Somewhere along the way, people forgot that being older should make you more important. Not less. But at St. Ann’s, we never forgot. So we do everything we can to provide seniors with exceptional care.

We offer a complete continuum of services. We give our residents priority if you ever need the next level of care.

And everything we do, we apply old-fashioned values stemming from our roots in the Catholic tradition.

So yes, our approach is somewhat extraordinary.

But at St. Ann’s, we believe we’re caring for the most important people on earth.

For more information, call Mary Ellen at (585) 697-6311.

www.StAnnsCommunity.com

Warm weather isn’t the only advantage of wintering in Florida.

Get trusted investment advice and significant tax advantages. After building a 125-year legacy in upstate New York, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust established our sister company, Canandaigua National Trust Company of Florida (CNTF), to serve those who migrate in the winter. We can help re-establish your trusts in Florida with CNTF as your Trustee, and you’ll benefit from the potential tax savings. Unlike New York, Florida doesn’t impose income, estate, gift, intangibles, or generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes.

We have experienced professionals available to you in both Florida and New York to provide the highest level of service year-round—which includes our Pledge of Accountability, a list of promises that includes a moneyback guarantee.* Contact Lynn Carleton today and discover what makes us different.

Lynn M. Carleton, CTFA, CSNP VP, Trust Administration Officer 1150 Pittsford-Victor Road, Pittsford (585) 419-0670, ext. 50683 In Florida, contact Paul Tarantino VP, Business Development Officer 1586 Main Street, Sarasota (941) 366-7222, ext. 50720

CNTrustCompany.com

Trusts | Estates | Investment Management Accounts | IRAs

*To see the full version of our Pledge of Accountability and the details of our Fee Refund Guarantee, visit CNTrustCompany.com/OurPledge. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust and Canandaigua National Trust Company of Florida are wholly owned subsidiaries of Canandaigua National Corporation. Investments are not bank deposits, are not obligations of, or guaranteed by Canandaigua National Trust Company of Florida or Canandaigua National Bank & Trust, and are not FDIC insured. Investments are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal amount invested. Investments may be offered through affiliate companies. Tax information presented is not to be considered as tax advice and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Neither Canandaigua National Trust Company of Florida nor its affiliated companies provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Please consult your personal tax advisor, attorney, or accountant for advice on these matters.