55 Plus of Rochester, #31: January – February 2015

Meet Award-winning Author David Cay Johnson

55

Does it Matter If Your Partner Is a Lot Younger?

RETIREMENT Six Milestones You Hit After 59 1/2 Expert: Many People 50 and Older Could Be Great Adoptive Parents

COAST TO COAST ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Canandaigua couple drives on Route 20 from Boston to Newport, Ore., in a British MG.

Priceless

PLUS Issue 31 January / February 2015

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

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January / February 2015Member - 55 PLUS 3 FINRA/SIPC

CONTENTS

55 PLUS

55 PLUS

January / February 2015

12

14

Savvy Senior 6 10 AGE GAP Financial Health 8 • Does it really matter you chose a My Turn 18

partner 15 years younger or older?

12 Addyman’s Corner 37 PARENTING Long-term Care 46

• Expert: Many people 50 and older could be great adoptive parents

Travel 40 14 ROLE MODEL

• Minister, church founder takes page from his grandmother’s book

16 GIVING LAST PAGE Ange Aleo still cutting hair in Greece with seven decades of experience 4

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

• Painter John Speciale’s creations bring joy to many

20 PROFILE

• Meet Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston

roc55.com

20

29

24 REMEMBERING

• Jenny La Sala shares her dad’s story

29 PETS

• What about the pets?

32 COVER

• Canandaigua couple travels coast to coast in a British MG

38 HOME

• How to select an appraiser

40 PHOTOS

• How to preserve photo images

44 ARTS

• Robert Marvin pushes boundaries with his funky brand of fusionist art

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January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

5

savvy senior

By Jim Miller

Free and Low-Cost Legal Services that Help People in Need

W

here can seniors turn to for free or low-cost legal help? There are actually a number of free and low-cost legal resources available today to help seniors, but what’s available will depend on where in Upstate New York you live, the type of legal assistance you need and your financial situation. Here are several resources to check into.

Legal Aid: Directed by the Legal Services Corporation, legal aid offers free legal assistance to low-income people of all ages. Each community program will differ slightly in the services they offer and income qualifications. See lsc.gov/find-legal-aid to locate a program in your area.

Pro Bono programs: Usually sponsored by state or local bar associations, these programs help low-income people find volunteer lawyers who are willing to handle their cases for free. You can look for a pro bono program through the American Bar Association at findlegalhelp.org, or through lawhelp.org.

Senior Legal Hotlines: There are a number of states that offer senior legal hotlines, where all seniors over age 60 have access to free legal advice over the telephone. To find the states that offer this service and their toll free number, visit legalhotlines.org.

Senior Legal Services: Coordinated by the Administration on Aging, this service may offer free or low-cost legal advice, legal assistance or access to legal representation to people over the age of 60. Your area agency on aging can tell you what’s available in your community. Call the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 to get your local number.

National Disability Rights Network: This is a nonprofit member-

6

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

ship organization that provides legal assistance to people with disabilities through their Protection and Advocacy System and Client Assistance Program. If you or your husband is disabled, visit ndrn.org to find help in your state.

Other Options: If you can’t get help from one of these programs, or find that you aren’t eligible, another option is to contact the local bar association, which may be able to refer you to a low-fee lawyer. Or, you may want to consider hiring a lawyer for only part of the legal work and doing other parts yourself. This is known as unbundled legal services.

Many bar associations offer public service-oriented lawyer referral services that will interview clients and help identify the problems a lawyer could help them with. If a lawyer can help with your problem, the service will provide you with a referral to a lawyer. If the problem does not require a lawyer, the service will provide information on other organizations in your community that may be able to help. Most of these lawyer referral services conduct their interviews and make referrals over the phone.

To contact your local bar association, go to americanbar.org and type in “state and local bar associations” in the search field to find their state-bystate directory.

And finally, if you are an AARP member, one other discount resource that may be able to help you is AARP’s Legal Services Network from Allstate. This service provides members a free legal consultation (up to 45 minutes) with an attorney along with 20 percent discounts on other legal services you may need. To locate a lawyer near you, call 866-330-0753.

55PLUS roc55.com

Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Lou Sorendo

Contributing Writers

Deborah J. Sergeant, Ernst Lamothe Jr., Jessica Gaspar John Addyman, Ken Little Sandra Scott, Jessica Spies Deborah Blackwell, Mike Costanza

Columnists

Jim Terwilliger, Susan Suben Jim Miller, Bruce Frassinelli

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

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Mailing Address PO Box 525 Victor, NY 14564 Subscription: $15 a year © 2015 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.

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

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January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

7

financial health

By Jim Terwilliger

11 Years of Retirement-related Milestones

R

emember the days when it seemed like an eternity waiting those one or two years until we could drive… or vote… or graduate?

Fast forward 40 or more years, and we are faced with a series of new, not-nearly-as-exciting milestones related to approaching and entering into retirement.

But now it seems like the time between years is moving much more quickly. Or haven’t you noticed? I sure have.

While these new milestones may not be as exciting as those in our

youth, they are of critical importance to our ultimate quality of life in retirement. Many trigger decisions that can impact our lives significantly.

Let’s explore a few.

59 ½ Retirement Plan Distribution Penalty Disappears With a few exceptions, distributions from pre-tax IRAs and employer retirement plans generally carry with them a 10 percent federal tax penalty in addition to federal and state income taxes on the distribution amount. This penalty vanishes at age 59-1/2.

Additionally, for New York state income tax payers, distributions from such plans after this age, up to $20,000 per taxpayer, is exempt from NYS taxable income each year.

60 Social Security Survivor Benefits First Available Widowed spouses can first access survivor benefits at age 60 at a reduced level — 28.5 percent lower than the full benefit available at the survivor’s full retirement age (currently age 66).

The full benefit most often is equal to the deceased spouse’s actual benefit although it can be higher or lower if the deceased spouse had not yet started Social Security. The marriage must have lasted at least nine months, and the surviving spouse cannot have remarried prior to age 60.

The same benefit is available to divorced individuals if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.

Survivor benefits can be received while still deferring one’s earned 8

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

benefits, ultimately switching to enhanced earned benefits later.

62 Social Security Earned or Spousal Benefits First Available Folks can first access their own earned benefits or spousal benefits, whichever is greater, at age 62 at a reduced level — 25 percent or 30 percent lower, respectively vs. the benefit available at full retirement age. An unreduced spousal benefit generally is equal to one-half of the other spouse’s full retirement age benefit.

A spousal benefit cannot be taken unless the other spouse has at least filed for his/her own benefit.

Spousal benefits are also available to divorced individuals based on the ex-spouse’s work record. If the divorce occurred at least two years prior, it is not necessary for the exspouse to file for benefits, but the exspouse must be eligible to file. Again, the marriage must have lasted at least 10 years.

65 Retiree Medicare First Available

Generally, folks must apply for Medicare Parts A and B at age 65 if they want to avoid a penalty later.

An exception applies if covered by a “creditable” employer health insurance plan with a company having at least 20 employees. Folks who are already receiving Social Security benefits will automatically be enrolled in Medicare Part A at age 65.

Once enrolled in Medicare Part A, those still working and covered by a

company plan cannot participate in a Health Savings Account (HSA), associated with a high-deductible health insurance plan. But they can participate in a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Both allow pre-tax set-asides for out-of-pocket health care expenses, although the former is more flexible.

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66 Full Social Security Earned or Spousal Benefits Available This is the current full retirement age. Starting one’s earned benefits at this point offers a number of advantages, including 1) enjoying full earned benefits and 2) allowing a spouse to start receiving spousal benefits. This is the earliest age at which one can “file and suspend” which allows a spouse to receive spousal benefits but still defer the start of one’s earned benefits.

Age 66 is the age at which spousal benefits are maximized — the optimal age for a homemaker, for example, to start receiving spousal benefits. It is also the earliest age to elect to start spousal benefits if choosing to defer one’s enhanced earned benefits to a later age.

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70 Security Earned Benefits Maximized By waiting until age 70 to take earned benefits, the monthly payment is enhanced by 32 percent compared to the full retirement age benefit. This deferral strategy also maximizes survivor benefits for a married couple regardless of which spouse passes first.

Use caution when trying to find your way through this time maze and avoid potentially costly mistakes.

Partnering with a trusted financial planner to help you through is your best bet.

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55+

age gap

Age Difference: Does it Matter?

Some say age is just a number, others say substantial age difference between couples may create problems

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

f you and your sweetheart have 15 more years between you, consider your relationship extra special.

The 2011 US Census reports that only 1 percent of couples have a 15year age gap between them. Whether your age gap is not that large or larger, marrying someone with several years’ difference in age presents challenges different from most couple’s.

“This may cause additional stress on the relationship that was not expected at the Kobertstein 10

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

onset,” said Kristin Kobertstein, licensed marriage and family therapist in Canandaigua.

If one partner is retired and the other still works, disagreements about money can arise, as well as how the couple spends their time.

“One person may want to travel and enjoy retirement with their partner but the other may not be ready to stop working,” Kobertstein said.

“Another factor that comes up is if the couple is used to one person working then they retire — managing the new Bob Carey relationship with both of them home Santa.to the more becomes a newasaspect marriage.”

With a significant gap, genera-

tional differences on budgeting can strain the relationship, especially if one is still working.

Familial dynamics and responsibilities can also foster disagreements.

One partner may have already reared children and feel that part of life is done while the other yearns for youngsters. One may struggle to cope with rearing small children while the other’s elderly parents are ailing.

Intimacy can also cause strife.

“Due to the aging process, sexuality changes [because of] hormone shifts, cancer or prostate issues,” Koberstein said. “One partner who is older may be less able or less interested in sex which can cause hurt emo-

tions and a change in intimacy.”

The younger person may likely become a caretaker for the older partner, just as the younger one hits the prime of life.

That change “may impact what they do with their free time or quality time,” Koberstein said.

But it’s not all bad news. Koberstein maintains that age gap couples also experience a few positive aspects unique to their situation.

“When different generational cohorts mix, it can bring a new perspective and energy to a relationship and help to foster a strong connection,” Koberstein said. “Different is not always bad. When we move to the twilight years it is essential and proven to prevent depression and other health issues if we learn new things remain connected to social outlets, and stay active we will love longer and happier lives.”

Though age gap couples may lack complete cultural overlap, learning about decades the older spouse experience or the latest technology that comes easily to the younger spouse keeps life interesting.

Younger partners may enjoy the maturity, wisdom and financial stability of older partners as well.

“If any of the stressors are present, I suggest couples always talk about it, read about it, learn about it, and realize they are not alone,” Koberstein said. “By talking with peers, counselors, doctors, and religious community leaders couples can gain a perspective and learn to look at any struggle as a challenge to foster a closer relationship and growth not a problem to get over.”

Every couple, regardless of ages, experiences differences of perspective and culture. An age gap is simply another example that may be overcome and even enjoyed. By openly discussing potential problems in advance of or early in the marriage, couples can avoid many struggles.

Says Susan Cattalani, a psychiatrist in practice in Rochester: “Couples that make a true commitment to their marriage upfront and love each other in the beginning seem to be able to support each other throughout life experiences.”

In life and love, age is just a number.

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55+

parenting

Dirk and Phyllis Bakhuyzen (center) adopted Will (left) from South Korea and Leah (right) from China through Bethany Christian Services.

Going for Adoption Expert: Many people 50 and older could be great adoptive parents

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

W

hether you’re still rearing children, childless or an empty nester, have you considered adoption?

Nancy Dykstra-Powers, New York director for Bethany Christian Services, wishes you would.

The organization started No One Without (NOW) and estimates there are more than half million children in foster care in the U.S. “Out of those, 110,000 are legally free for adoption,” said Dykstra-Powers. “There is a great need for loving homes for those children.”

The program promotes adoption

12

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

through awareness. Many children in foster care wait for more than a year before adoption. Bethany’s website states, “Nationwide, an average of 23,000 youth ‘age out’ of the foster care system every year. Over half of these youth lack a high school diploma and within two years, 30 percent experience homelessness or incarceration. More than half of the young women will have children, who also enter the foster care system, and the cycle continues.”

Generally, your age presents no barrier to adoption.

“There’s not a hard-and-fast rule about how old someone can be,” Dyk-

stra-Powers said, “but when adopting an infant, people need to keep in mind that birth moms and dads have a say in the home where the child is placed.”

She said that she has told many people 50 and older that they could be great adoptive parents.

“I do know we have a few older couples,” said Lisa Maynard, director of Dykstra-Powers

adoption for Hillside Family of Agencies in Rochester. “One is over 65 and they adopt internationally. A few years ago, we finalized an adoption with a mom in her 70s. We look for parents with a plan for who would care for their children should something happen to the parents, but that’s what parents should do anyway regardless of age.”

Older adoptive parents may not have the energy of their younger counterparts, but their maturity can help them better cope with the challenges of adoption in general and with the particular challenges of children that are harder to adopt.

Some adoptive children have experienced trauma, have ongoing mental or physical health issues or belong to a sibling group that must be adopted together.

“Someone who perhaps has successfully parented and has empty nest syndrome may be interested in adopting a sibling group, like an 8-year-old and 12-year-old,” Dykstra-Powers said.

She said that the emotional and physical needs of the children are a

big part of the process of matching children to families. Adoptive parents also have a say in the type of child they wish to adopt.

As with any addition to a family, adoption brings adjustment. Adoptive agencies can help with financial and psychological support. New York state offers a training program that lasts about 10 to 12 weeks. Ongoing help is also available through a variety of community organizations.

“The main thing is that the family is open to getting training, exploring loss, abandonment and attachment issues, and seriously consider if they are going to be best suited to a child of a similar race or do they live where they could adopt a child of a different race,” Dyskstra-Powers said. “Those are the types of questions I’ve always encouraged families to ask themselves.”

Adoptive families also must pass a home assessment and background check. Offenses from the distant past may not be held against an adoptive parent. Most agencies work on a caseby-case basis.

A medical exam must verify they

have no health concerns that would prevent them from providing adequate care. Home ownership is not a requirement, nor is wealth.

“We look to see that they are financially stable,” Dykstra-Powers said. “They have to have the means to provide for a child.”

As for other earmarks of a good adoptive family, Lisa Maynard of Hillside Family of Agencies in Rochester said they look for traits such as “flexibility, empathy, compassion and a thick skin,” she said.

The cost of the adoption itself may be partially or wholly covered by grants from the military, employers, and federal and state tax credits.

Many attorneys who offer pro bono services like to donate hours toward completing adoptions.

“Every child deserves a loving home,” Dykstra-Powers said. “I’ve been doing this for over 25 years. I’ve seen so very many children from orphanages and foster care really thrive when they have the love of a mom and a dad. It can be one of the most marvelous things in the world to unite a child with their forever family.”

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January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

13

55+

role model

Paying Homage Minister, church founder takes page from his grandmother’s book

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

A

grandmother’s love is wonderful. But a grandmother’s wisdom is eternal.

Minister Lawrance Lee Evans Sr. had both and it led him straight to the path of ministry and leading a life of duality. It all began with his grandmother, Martha McMiller Jordan, who was a mentor to him until the day she passed away.

She was a member at Second Baptist, a church in Braceville, Ohio. He would tag along with her to visit parishioners in her role.

“She was doing the type of work that people would call today case management, but for her, it was just reaching out to church members and giving them a platform to talk about their problems and be there for them,” said Evans, 69, of Rochester.

While watching her, he was amazed by many things. However, ultimately it was the way she dealt with each parishioner in a delicate and kind manner that affected him. She was tolerant of people, while still being able to be frank and honest with them. Not a pushover, but still a kind soul. That kind of duality stuck with him.

“No matter who she talked with, she never pre-judged someone. She examined their lives and knew that 14

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

we were all striving to be better,” said Evans. “It’s very easy to put labels on people and be the judge who calls this person good and this person bad. But that was something that she didn’t believe in. She recognized a person’s humanity.”

We are all a product of our environment. With that being said, it is not surprising that he became a minister. Yet, it was far from his first choice. Attending Howard University, he intended to become a civil engineer or lawyer. It was all planned.

Then he had a conversation with his grandmother and she introduced a vision into his life. He needed a career where he could truly reach people, and not only on a superficial level. It was one of the things she mentioned to him before she died.

Heeding her words, he attended Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, never thinking as a Midwestern guy he would ever live in New York.

Along with becoming a minister, he later down the road worked for Rochester General Hospital, now a part of Rochester Regional Health System, as a case manager. He worked with programs and events in South Wedge and other areas of

the city. You could call it paying homage to his grandmother.

Church founder — He became the founder of a church in southeast Rochester called First Community Interfaith Institute Inc., established in 1970. Evans said Christians must focus on looking beyond someone’s past and we are all unfinished beings.

He helps his parishioners and others that he comes in contact with improve their lives and not get bogged down by the negative.

He started teaching teenagers, helping them become the leaders of tomorrow through education.

The organization, which celebrated its 44th anniversary, continues to remain strong today.

Evans remains active in the daily functions of the church, such as fundraising and operating the church’s educational activities.

Learning from his grandmother, he guided the institution to follow what he terms “Doology,” or learning more about the African American culture and the diversity of African people. In the doctrine, people are also taught that positive action in your community or organization is more valued than just complaining.

Minister Evans with his 2-year-old granddaughter Olivia. The photo was taken in spring 2014 at First Community Interfaith Institute Inc., the church he established in 1970. Minister Evans had just completed church service.

“What I love about this organization is the focus is on being positive. So many times people think pessimistically about life and our young people and they have so much to offer,” added Evans. “What I like to tell them and others is that you have to do your best and let God do the rest. Too often we want God to do his best while we rest.”

Zebedee Coleman, a student of Evans, describes him as a man who has increased the knowledge

of everyone around him.

“He has helped in my personal and professional development,” said Coleman. “He did improve my academics and has inspired my family members to complete their education. Because of Minister Evans’ Doology, I have a better relationship with myself and God.” Lorretta A. Walker has known Evans for years. She views his spirit and his commitment to others as a shining example to others.

“Minister Evans is a great person because he sets an example for his adult students,” said Walker, a trustee and the accountant of First Community Interfaith Institute Inc. “He tells us to persevere despite the odds, and he has done so for 40-plus years in Rochester. He sacrificed a lot to allow me to set up my sole proprietorship in his house.

Despite the odds, I have stayed in business for almost 13 years.”

January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

15

55+

giving Painter John Speciale’s creations bring joy to many

Happy ‘Disc’-overies!

I

By Jessica Gaspar

f you ask John Speciale what he’s good at, he will likely tell you he is a handyman and, by trade, is good at pretty much anything.

Can he switch out a sink faucet anymore? Well, not as well as he used to. These days, he will likely call someone to do that for him, but rest assured, he’s changed out his fair share of sink faucets in his day.

In the basement of his Webster

16

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

home, Speciale has set up shop for his many different projects. His most famous — or maybe infamous — project yet involves small discs about 4 inches in diameter that he cuts from a sheet of Masonite on a jigsaw.

He traces images over them with a piece of carbon paper.

“When I get them traced, that’s when I go to my favorite brushes,” he said, holding up a small paintbrush,

its bristles about as thin as the tip of a sharp pencil.

He then creates some of the most detailed animations by hand.

As he’s out and about — from the car repair shop to the doctor’s office and anywhere in between — he will hand them out to anyone who crosses his path. He doesn’t accept anything in return for them.

Most people are amazed by his

creation, which is usually a cartoon character — Tweety Bird, Mickey Mouse and Oscar the Grouch to name a few. He has also made small football helmets with popular NFL team logos as well.

“I get a kick out of their reactions,” he said.

His generosity has helped console a crying child at a local car dealership. The toddler began to fuss, so he handed one of the discs to the child’s mother who then passed it over to her child. The child quieted down within seconds. At that moment, the small gift was likely a lifesaver for that mother.

Speciale, who turned 87 in October, recalled giving a few to a manager at the Tops Friendly Markets grocery store he frequents.

“She was fascinated by them,” he said.

Because of his small ornaments, he has gained a kind of celebrity status.

He estimated he has handed out hundreds of these ornaments over the years. He has dozens in his basement, and he keeps a box of them in his car at all times. He started making the discs in 1996 after he and his wife Lorraine moved to Webster.

World of Disney One of his daughters, Sue, decorates a Christmas tree every year with Walt Disney ornaments. Wanting more for her tree, she asked her dad if he would make some for her.

The handyman started and hasn’t stopped.

“He did so many, everybody wanted one,” Lorraine said.

Shortly after moving into his home, Speciale found an old piano in the basement.

“I wanted to get it out of the basement,” he said. “I started taking it apart and thought, ‘Well, I can make a bench out of that.’”

So he did.

That piano-turned-bench is now his workstation. At the bottom of the piano just above the pedals is a small electric heater, which keeps him warm in the cooler months. Above that, he has set up several different shelves. On one, he has affixed a light so he can see as he paints. He uses another shelf for his vast array of acrylic paints and small paintbrushes, and another to keep other odds and ends like primer

other, which Speciale can no longer recall, Mrs. Stein had to remove the painting.

“She felt so bad that she gave me a $1,” Speciale said.

He laughed, remembering $1 was like $100 back then.

His love for painting is clear. He’s always looking for ways to improve his projects. One innovation he created is a power-generated paint mixer.

What was the reason behind this invention? He used to shake the bottles by hand, and he remembered thinking, “Well, I could be painting,” and voila — an idea was born.

Perfect for ornaments

In the basement of his Webster home (opposite page), John Speciale, 87, has set up shop for his many different projects. His most famous — or maybe infamous — project yet involves small discs about 4 inches in diameter that he cuts from a sheet of Masonite on a jigsaw.

He traces images over them with a piece of carbon paper. He estimates he has handed out hundreds of these ornaments over the years. and semi-gloss.

When asked how long he’s been painting, he pauses to think. Decades, he said. At least since he was in grammar school at No. 4 in the city of Rochester.

One of his most treasured memories is from sixth grade.

“Mrs. Stein asked me if I would paint a Holland Dutch page on one of the blackboards,” Speciale recalled.

The image was of a Dutch boy in a garden of tulips done in watercolor paints.

“She liked it so much. It was about as big as a card table,” he said.

A few days later when young Speciale arrived at school, Mrs. Stein was upset. For some reason or an-

Another improvement is in the construction of the discs. Most have a small hole drilled in the top with a string looped through so they can be hung, so the most obvious use is for a Christmas tree ornament.

He laughs recounting giving one to a woman and hearing her say, “Oh! That would go nice on my Christmas tree!”

But, his hope is the discs will be displayed year-round. He is now toying with the idea of affixing magnets to the back so they can be hung on refrigerators.

His art is also featured at Denny’s restaurant in Greece every year around Christmastime. Sue works there as a server and asked him to paint a train set which is displayed in the diner for patrons to enjoy through the holiday season.

Speciale also painted a logo on the gymnasium wall at Greece Athena High School of a Trojan — the school’s mascot.

He chuckles remembering the night in March 2006 when Jason “J-Mac” McElwain scored 20 points at the end of a Greece Athena basketball game. The local news was there that night. As J-Mac was scoring all those points, Speciale’s painting could be seen in the background. Later that night when he and his wife were watching the news, Speciale was excited.

“I hollered to her, ‘Look! Look!

It’s up on the wall!” he said.

Speciale has no plans to stop creating anything anytime soon.

“I’ve been doing it since I was a kid in grammar school,” he said. “ I just like art.”

January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

17

my turn

By Bruce Frassinelli bruce@cny55.com

How Basketball Became a Dirty Word for Awhile

W

My stint as a basketball coach: a turtle could lead the team with the same degree of success

hen you have three-quarters of a century in the book of life, it’s not unusual to survey those 75 years for some improbable, zany moments where you slap the side of your head. You don’t necessarily proclaim: “I should have had a V-8,” but you smile in embarrassment and marvel about the unlikelihood of the adventure.

My you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me experience was the season when, at age 19, I coached a girls’ basketball team, which wound up going 26-1.

Understand that the closest I had gotten to a basketball until this point was being a scorekeeper for my high school basketball team. I lettered in football, baseball and track.

Now, I did play a fair amount

of Puff basketball in our dining room with my son, Mike, but I am pretty sure that doesn’t count.

My short-lived career as a coach was not something I sought. It fell into my lap by default. The girl whom I was dating at the 18

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

time was a member of this team.

She and her friends loved basketball and wanted something more challenging than pickup playground games. Their Catholic high school did not have a girls’ basketball team yet, but the administration agreed to sanction a sport club that did not have varsity status.

They needed a “responsible” person who would arrange scheduling of games, help line up transportation, make sure the girls observed decorum and modesty, and, oh, yeah, coach the team.

I was so starry-eyed about this girl that I was dating that if she had asked me to fly to the moon, I would have asked, “When is the next rocket ship leaving?”

Manipulator that she was, she popped the question as to whether I would be coach after planting one of her most sensuous kisses on me. I guess I must have said yes, because the next thing I knew I had the team gathered at the high school gym, and they were listening in rapt anticipation as I gave my first Knute Rockne-style pep talk.

After a crash course on learning the mechanics of girls’ basketball — this was 1958 when the rules were different than

they were for boys’ basketball — I was ready to strategize and come up with several plays in advance of the team’s opener.

I found out almost instantly that this team would be built around an incredibly gifted and talented shooter who had near-deadly accuracy from just about anywhere within 20 feet of the basket.

Backed by her 37 points, our team routed the opposition in the opener, and, from there, we were virtually unstoppable. Our star forward scored nearly 1,000 points for the season, averaging just about 35 points a game.

Although I was hailed by the girls, their parents and families and the school’s athletic director as a genius, the truth is that a turtle could have been coaching this team and done just as well. So long as our star shooter was on the court, there was a pretty good chance that this team was going to win.

The lone loss occurred when our star sprained her ankle in the fourth quarter of the final game of the season, had to leave the game, and we lost by two points.

Because of the incredible showing of the team and the support it generated among parents and the communities, the school decided to establish girls’ basketball as a varsity sport with a qualified coach. My brief tenure as a coach was history.

Just as well: My girl and I broke up shortly after basketball season. I felt used, and the word “basketball” became a dirty word for awhile.

Social Security

Q&A

Q: What is the earliest age that I can apply for my Social Security retirement benefits?

A: To apply for Social Security retirement benefits, you must be at least 61 years and 9 months of age and want your benefits to start in the next three months. You can begin receiving retirement benefits as early as age 62, but if you take benefits before your full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced permanently.

Q: Can I delay my retirement benefits and receive benefits as a spouse only? How does that work?

A: It depends on your age. If you are between full retirement age and age 70, and your spouse is receiving Social Security benefits, you should apply for retirement benefits and request that the payments be suspended. Then, you can choose to receive benefits on your spouse’s Social Security record. By doing so, you will earn delayed retirement credits up to age 70, as long as you do not collect your benefits on your own earnings record. Later, when you do begin receiving benefits on your own record, those payments could be higher than they would have been otherwise because you earned delayed retirement credits.

Q: I am about to retire, but I still have a young child in my care. Will I receive additional benefits for the child I care for?

A: When you qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, your children may also qualify to receive benefits. Your eligible child can be your biological child, an adopted child or a stepchild. In limited circumstances, you may also get benefits for a dependent grandchild.

To receive benefits, your child must be: unmarried; under the age of 18; between 18 and 19 years old and a full-time student (no higher than grade 12); or 18 or older and disabled from a condition that started before age 22.

Q: Will my military retirement affect my Social Security benefits?

A: No. You can get both Social Security benefits and military retirement. Generally, there is no offset of Social Security benefits because of your military retirement. You will get full benefits based on your earnings. You can find more information in the publication Military Service and Social Security at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

Q: My spouse died recently and my neighbor said my children and I might be eligible for survivors benefits. Don’t I have to be retirement age to receive benefits?

Big or small, we ship it all

A: No. As a survivor, you can receive benefits at any age if you are caring for a child who is receiving Social Security benefits and who is under age 16. Your children are eligible for survivors benefits through Social Security up to age 19 if they are unmarried and attending elementary or secondary school full time. If you are not caring for minor children, you would need to wait until age 60 (age 50 if disabled) to collect survivors benefits. For more information about survivors benefits, read our publication Survivors Benefits at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs.

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55+

profile

Digging Deeper Behind the scenes with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston, a Brighton resident

By Mike Costanza

P

ulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and bestselling author David Cay Johnston has always been drawn to writing about subjects that others have ignored.

“My entire career, since I was 18 years old, has been built around covering things that either were not being covered well, or were not being covered at all,” says Johnston, who calls the Rochester suburb of Brighton home.

Down through the decades, Johnston’s investigative skills, desire to dig into subjects and issues, and lucid reportorial style have taken him to prestigious newspapers around the country. Along the way, he has exposed the ways that rich companies use the U.S. tax code to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, detailed abuses of police power, and helped a man avoid being imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.

The 65-year-old is also a wellknown speaker and columnist and 20

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

a contributing editor for Newsweek, and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN and Al Jazeera.

Born in San Francisco, Johnston moved around California with his family until they settled in Santa Cruz, a city that sits about 80 miles south of his birthplace. By the age of 10, he was working part-time to help his family make ends meet.

“My parents were poor,” he explains.

By the age of 13, Johnston was working several jobs, including four paper routes. When he reached his senior year of high school, he began writing a column about his school for a local weekly newspaper.

“Almost immediately, they asked me to cover meetings of the school board, city council, various things at night,” he says.

Instead of accepting the figures that school administrators and government officials released at face value, he checked them by hand — calculators hadn’t been invented.

Johnston’s reworking of the numbers turned up information other local journalists had missed.

“My editors asked why other reporters didn’t have these things,” he says. “I immediately recognized there’s an opportunity.”

Johnston began covering stories for a second local weekly, and ceased taking high school classes during the day. Instead, he took night classes at a high school for adults until he’d acquired his diploma. Shortly after turning 18, he did his first investigatory story.

“It was about cost overruns at the new county courthouse in Santa Cruz,” he explains.

The piece caught the eye of a San Francisco radio station, and the young reporter found the story he’d broken out on the airwaves.

“That really got my attention,” he says. “It has this transformative effect of, ‘holy mackerel!’”

The story also “ticked off a lot of people,” according to Johnston,

David Cay Johnston January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

21

though he seemed to relish the idea.

“I like pointing things out and making change happen,” he says.

Johnston’s work also caught the eyes of the editors at The San Jose Mercury News, a well-known daily that covers the San Francisco Bay area, who called him in to offer him a job.

During the interview, the paper’s managing editor asked him what his future plans would be if the paper hired him. Johnston’s answer reflected his confidence and his drive to succeed as a journalist.

“In 10 years, I’m going to run this joint,” Johnston replied. “He hired me.”

At 19, Johnston was the youngest staff writer at The San Jose Mercury News.

He dove right into his new job.

“I had the lead story on the front page within a matter of just a couple of months,” he says. “It was fun, and I knew that I could have an effect on the world.”

Over the next four-and-a-half years, Johnston covered anti-war radicals, African American political issues, land development issues and other subjects for the Mercury News.

In 1973, the University of Chicago offered him a five-month fellowship to study economics. Though he was a married father of five, he headed off to the university.

Once Johnston had completed his studies, he signed on as an investigative reporter with the Lansing, Mich., bureau of The Detroit Free Press. His expose of news manipulations and blackouts at WJIM-TV, a Lansing station, and at five related stations, forced a broadcaster off the air.

A new position beckoned to Johnston in 1976, and he moved back to California to join The Los Angeles Times as a reporter.

“I wrote the first reconstruction of a drive-by gang shooting in America, and it ran on the front page,” he says.

Decades later, Johnston is still able to remember how the victim died.

“He was killed by a single .22-caliber bullet that weighed less than a dime,” he says.

Helps with acquittal Another crime story also grabbed Johnston’s attention, though for different reasons. It began with the mur22

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

der of a former minor league baseball player who had been out with his wife.

“Three black kids decided to kill the first white guy they found just for the fun of it,” Johnston explains.

Three trials of the alleged leader of the murderous gang, Tony Cooks, ended in hung juries, but the fourth ended in a conviction. The judge in the case threw the conviction out on a technicality, and the state was trying Cooks for the fifth time.

Johnston was preparing to file a story on the case — one which described Cooks as the perpetrator of the crime — when he decided to give the young man’s attorney a call. With the lawyer’s assistance, the reporter met with Cooks, and asked him why he’d killed the victim.

“He burst into tears,” Johnston says. “Cold-blooded, racially motivated murderers don’t cry over things

David Cay Johnston at a Glance n Wanted to be a Los Angeles

Police Department homicide detective when he was 14, but went on to chronicle the department’s abuse of power. n Considers himself “a tried and convicted heretic.” n Once ran into a burning building to get a better shot of the fire for his newspaper. n Broke the story in 1990 that Donald Trump had a “negative net worth.” In other words, he owed more money than he had. n Has proposed a new gift and estate tax law, and is drafting the statutes for that law. n Just completed two years as President of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. a nonprofit devoted to improving the quality of investigative reporting.

like this.”

The reporter dug deeper into the case, and learned three facts that indicated Cooks had not committed the murder. Unfortunately, The Times’ editors initially refused to run the piece because they couldn’t accept what he’d found. The paper also refused to allow him to dig deeper into the story for more solid evidence of the young man’s innocence.

Johnston refused to stop digging.

With the help of one of the Times’ editors — who helped cover for him as he worked — he devoted another 1,800 hours or so to the story, devoting time to it when he could. Johnston eventually found the real murderer and confronted him.

“When we finally got the story in the paper, it was terrific,” Johnston asserts, with a touch of pride.

When the story came out, Johnston brought Cooks to the LA Times’s press room, and pulled the issue containing the story right off the press for him. Though the real murderer could not be tried for the crime, when the evidence that Johnston had unearthed was revealed at the fifth trial, Cooks was acquitted.

Cooks went on to marry, according to Johnston, and to put his freedom to good use. When his sister-inlaw’s children needed a home, Cooks and his wife took them in, cared for them, and sent them to college.

Taking on authority Johnston’s refusal to accept the case against Cooks was not the first time he’d taken on those in authority or the last. For about three years, he steadily wrote about the extensive political spying that the Los Angeles Police Department performed back then under Chief Daryl Gates. Gates took a hard-line, aggressive, paramilitary approach to law enforcement, but some of Johnston’ stories were considered too hot for the paper to handle.

“One of the stories The LA Times would not let me put in the paper was that he had undercover officers around the world,” he says. “There were people who were identified in the (US) House Un-American Activities Committee’s reports and others as leading communists who were actually LA police officers.”

Gates was forced to resign in the

55+ wake of the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of the LAPD officers who had been charged with assaulting African American motorist Rodney King. According to Johnston, Gates’ autobiography “has a line where he says he had officers undercover in Moscow and Havana.”

Johnston’s jousting with the LAPD drew the kind of attention that most of us probably would not welcome. Johnston was twice-divorced at the time he lived in Los Angeles, and while there, met and married Jennifer Leonard, his wife of 32 years.

“The LAPD spied on our first real date,” he says.

Seeking to intimidate the reporter, Gates told him that he was under police surveillance. It didn’t work.

“I have been roughed up by black radicals, teamsters, longshoremen,” Johnston asserts. “I am not easy to intimidate.”

‘Maestro’ of his beat After leaving The LA Times in 1988, Johnston headed to The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he covered casinos as chief of the Atlantic City

Bureau. Bill Marimow, the Inquirer’s editor, was Johnston’s boss at the time, and has remained in touch with him.

“He is incredibly perceptive, and he is very quick to be able to size up a situation, analyze the facts, and then write a very lucid story about his perceptions,” Marimow says. “He was also what I would call a ‘maestro’ of his beat.”

Johnston’s research into Atlantic City’s casinos went into his first book, “Temples of Chance: How America, Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc. To Win Control of the Casino Business.”

Leaving The Inquirer in 1995, Johnston made his way to The New York Times. There, he brought his customary energy and attention to detail to the coverage of tax policies and their effects.

“The tax system was just obvious to look at, because it plays such a major role in the economy,” he asserts.

Johnston’s diligent, comprehensive coverage of tax issues received worldwide acclaim when he was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting. The citation accom-

Publications from David Cay Johnston

AS an author: The Fine Print: “How Big Companies Use “Plain English” to Rob You Blind” Free Lunch: “How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill)” New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller

Perfectly Legal: “The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich — and Cheat Everybody Else” Investigative Book of the Year award winner

New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller

Temples of Chance: “How America Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc. To Win Control of the Casino Business”

As an editor: Divided: “The Perils of Our Growing Inequality” Johnston has been awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting, and presented with an IRE Medal and the George Polk Award.

Source: David Cay Johnston

profile

Bill Marimow, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s editor, was J David Cay Johnston’s boss at the time, and has remained in touch with him. “He is incredibly perceptive, and he is very quick to be able to size up a situation, analyze the facts, and then write a very lucid story about his perceptions,” Marimow says. “He was also what I would call a ‘maestro’ of his beat.” panying the award lauded Johnston “for his penetrating and enterprising reporting that exposed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code, which was instrumental in bringing about reforms.”

When asked how he felt when he received the news, Johnston responds quietly, though with a touch of pride.

“That was the most wonderful day,” he says.

The reporter also seems proud when speaking of a story he covered back at the beginning of the first George W. Bush administration. Bush had not revealed the most important parts of his tax plan while running for the presidency for the first time, but put forward a tax bill right after taking office. Johnston says he looked the bill over, and saw something in it that made him “jump out of my chair.”

“I went to my editor’s office, and said, ‘There’s a stealth plan in here January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

23

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55 PLUS - January / February 2015

that will save the super-rich of America, people like Bill Gates, unlimited sums of money,’” he explains.

The “stealth plan” came in the form of a measure to repeal the gift tax. A staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee revealed that the measure would cut taxes for the very richest Americans by a quarter of a trillion dollars, Johnston says. Other taxpayers would have to make up that loss.

About 10 days after the Bush administration revealed its tax plan, Johnston’s story appeared on the front page of The Times. That April, the administration “very quietly withdrew” the measure repealing the gift tax from its tax package, Johnston says.

Johnston left The Times in 2005, but has continued reporting on tax issues and other subjects that have drawn his attention. He is particularly concerned about the state of the country, and of journalism.

“Self-government, democracy will not continue to exist without a vigorous, competitive, independent journalism,” he asserts. “The founders knew this.”

While polls have shown that substantial numbers of Americans still demand news, many of them do so only to reinforce their own beliefs.

“That’s the reason Fox News prospers, even though it has been thoroughly shown to have no regard for facts,” he asserts. “I call it ‘Faux News.’”

Nowadays, Johnston spends much of each week in his Brighton home office, working as a columnist for such publications as Al Jazeera America and The National Memo, and a contributing editor for Newsweek. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the Syracuse University School of Law. “What I teach is the law of the ancient world, the regulatory law and tax and property law,” he says.

When not working, he enjoys reading, gardening, bicycling, and spending time with his wife and his eight grown children and five grandsons. The couple particularly enjoys watching movies.

“We are complete saps for any romantic comedy,” he says. “Jennifer and I would rather watch a bad romantic comedy than anything else.”

55+

remembering

Letters from My Father Writing to tell her dad’s story, and touching other veterans in the process

By John Addyman

E

very veteran has a story, Jenny La Sala says.

“Most of them don’t know it,” she adds.

She found this out first-hand, and continues to marvel at the effect each veteran’s story has on others — and on the veteran himself…or herself.

La Sala, of Gananda, near Macedon, wrote a book in 2012 after her mother, Betty Lou Tharp, died. “My Family Com­­pass,” penned under the pseudonym “Ann Stone,” was about La Sala’s dysfunctional family and the secrets they kept from one another. Her mom’s mental illness. Her father’s stress disorder after a decorated career as a World War II paratrooper.

She found the first book healing.

“A lightness took over,” she says.

But her second book, about her dad, was a revelation that keeps on giving.

Jenny’s father, David Tharp, jumped with the 101st Airborne on D-Day and took a bullet in his leg.

He was doing his job as a radio operator while the Germans were trying to overrun his position in Bastogne. A shell exploding right above his head put him in the hospital again.

He spent a lot of time in hospitals, 11 of them. The physical wounds healed. The shell-shock didn’t.

Growing up, La Sala remembers her dad crying in the night, jumping at sudden loud noises. “He had quite an extreme temper. When he broke out in it, everything froze.” He talk-

ed about the war, but only in veiled, parsed and oblique reference.

Betty Lou and David were high school sweethearts.

When he went to war, he was a faithful correspondent.

He wrote about the war, about what was going on around him.

A f t e r her mother’s death, La Sala re m e m b e re d that she had kept all of her father’s letters from World War II. She found them in a box, scattered them on the floor, and began reading them.

Interwoven among the letters was a La Sala story. Things he said in passing long after the war was over became vivid in reading the source material, in his own handwriting.

“My dad was the very glue that

held the family together,” La Sala said. He died in 1999.

But he had demons. “He would cry and moan all the time in his sleep,” she said.

La Sala put the letters together in a chronological string, adding notes to help readers understand timeframes and long-ago concepts.

The outcome was “Comes a Soldier’s Whisper,” published in 2013.

January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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On publishing, La Sala found that her dad’s struggles resonated not only with World War II veterans — who wrote to her — but to other veterans of other conflicts. Knowing what David Tharp went through and striking empathetic cords in themselves, other veterans found whispers in themselves seeking voice.

Jenny Tharp’s first marriage was to Jim Markson. They had two kids.

Jim was a Vietnam vet, and he had his own set of demons.

“Our relationship had always been difficult,” she said. “It was not a pleasant divorce. It was a difficult break-up. He wouldn’t go to therapy; I did. He had night terrors. He did not go for help until 2002 — after two of his Vietnam buddies committed suicide.” Jenny and Anthony La Sala were married in 2005.

After getting some kind of sense of what her father’s book might mean to other veterans, La Sala sent it to Jim last year. He read it and had a life-changing conversation with her shortly after.

“He said, ‘I can’t get over the fact there was so much your dad said that I can relate to.’ He found his own letters, the ones he wrote when he was in Vietnam. In re-reading them, they brought him right back to Vietnam — the smells, the air, the feeling. He had written the truth about what was going on.”

Jenny and Jim decided to collaborate on another book — Jim’s letters, plus his reflections today. “Vietnam and Beyond” was published in September.

The effect of telling his story, of revisiting his past, has helped Jim, La Sala says. “Our kids say, ‘Daddy is different. He laughs a lot. He’s no longer combative.’ He’s virtually healed.”

“I encouraged Jim to embrace all vets of all wars in his book,” she said.

The text includes letters from 10 other Vietnam vets and those who served in Korea and Iraq, and five women vets are included.

La Sala’s “Comes a Soldier’s Whisper” Facebook page and twitter account have taken on lives of their own as a conduit for other veterans who have stories to tell. She has a set of survey questions she sends out to vets who correspond with her.

“They tell me they have no sto-

ry,” she said. “I ask them to fill out the survey, and they tell me, they don’t have much to say. I get the survey back, take out all the questions, and the story emerges. I send it back to them in story form, and it has quite an effect on them.”

She has talked to veterans who, with age and dementia, “can’t remember yesterday.” But they remember World War II vividly. “When they read other veteran’s stories, it’s healing for them.”

“My mother was always trying to get my father to go to church,” La Sala said. “He’d say, ‘I don’t believe in God anymore. If there was a God, why did he let all those people die?

Why did I make it through?’

“We all have our crosses to bear. I never questioned him about the war.

I didn’t know how to ask him. It was almost that I absorbed his sadness… he walked around with it. It wasn’t depression; it was different.”

La Sala’s brother was in the Gulf War. “He came back so changed. He came back angry and depressed and none of us knew.” He died of a heart attack in 2009.

“War changes a soldier and changes his family, too,” she said. “I hope to help everyone on the home front open their eyes and understand we will always have soldiers. We need to help them medically and psychologically.”

Her Facebook page has become a tablet for veterans to write on, to share their war experiences, their feelings…their own whispers. “Every one can bring a different view and aspect,” she said.

“After I read his letters, it was almost like my dad was whispering to me all these years,” she said, “all these sentiments that soldiers today can relate to.”

La Sala donates a portion of the book profits — and they’re modest, she says — to Operation First Response, an organization that supports America’s wounded warriors with their personal and financial needs.

“For the last 15 years they’ve been helping transition soldiers back to civilian life,” she said.

“Comes a Soldiers Whisper” and “Vietnam and Beyond” are available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and “Whispers” comes in print, e-book and audio book forms.

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nostalgia

51 Years Ago: Dramatic Changes 1964 was a year of transition that featured many cultural changes

By Ken Little

T

he mindset of millions of impressionable baby boomers changed forever the night of Feb. 9, 1964.

That’s the night when millions of young, impressionable eyes and ears were exposed to The Beatles for the first time, via the popular Ed Sullivan television variety show.

The Rolling Stones followed on Oct. 26, 1964 on the Ed Sullivan Show, demonstrating the “British Invasion” was in full force.

The year 1964 had plenty of other milestones for those coming of age in America.

It’s hard for many to believe 51 years have passed since the moptopped quartet from Liverpool filled the black-and-white television screens watched by a nation — more than 73 million viewers, to be exact.

It was a time when the Vietnam conflict was beginning to escalate, and many of the sons and daughters of World War II veterans began to question why fighting was necessary.

For consumers, it was a time of relative comfort and prosperity as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” took shape and massive urban renewal programs during the “War on Poverty” changed the landscapes of many U.S. cities.

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy the previous November in Dallas was still a fresh memory for Americans who continue to seek answers about who is responsible for Kennedy’s death to this day.

When the Warren Report commissioned by LBJ to study the facts behind the assassination was first released to the public in September 1964, polls showed that only 56 percent of Americans agreed with its “lone gunman theory.”

Some sought diversions from newspaper headlines about the Boston Strangler and television news reports that brought the Vietnam Conflict into the living rooms of Americans nightly on news shows like the “CBS Evening News” with Walter Cronkite.

One place to go in 1964 was to a local movie theater or drive-in.

There, they could thrill to the actions of Agent 007, James Bond, as played by Sean Connery. “Goldfinger” was one of the year’s biggest hits, along with “Mary Poppins” and “The Pink Panther.”

Rock ‘n’ roll invasion — The first members of the baby boom generation were born in 1946 to returning World War II veterans and their spouses. The last members of the baby boom generation were born in 1964, just over four million in the U.S. By then, the younger generation had adopted rock ‘n’ roll as their own.

Transistor radios were a must-have accessory for many teenagers, along with record players to spin the 45rpm records that blared out the latest hits.

Chart-toppers in 1964 by The Beatles included, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love” January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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55 PLUS - January / February 2015

and “A Hard Day’s Night,” also the title of the Beatles’ popular first feature-length film.

The Beach Boys answered from California with surfing-inspired hits like “I Get Around,” while the Detroit hit-making assembly line known as Motown churned out classics like “Baby Love” by the Supremes.

Other memorable hits from 1964 include “Rag Doll” by The Four Seasons, “Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison and “House of the Rising Sun”

by The Animals.

It was a golden era for television sitcoms, dramas, and spy adventure series inspired by James Bond. “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” debuted in 1964, as did “Bewitched,” “The Addams Family,” “The Munsters” and “Gomer Pyle.”

Notable American public figures that died in 1964 include Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Harpo Marx and former President Herbert Hoover.

The average American in 1964 had an annual income of $5,880. That may have been enough to make a down payment on a new Ford Mustang, which cost about $2,300.

Substantial homes in nice neighborhoods could be purchased for under $20,000. Many baby boomers grew up in just such neighborhoods, surrounded by droves of similar-aged playmates.

Cigarettes were burning by the billions in 1964, with more than 60 percent of the adult U.S. population confirmed smokers. That same year, U.S. Attorney General Luther Terry issued a report that smoking may be hazardous to the health of smokers.

A gallon of gas went for 25 cents in 1964. Cheap gas and youthful enthusiasm for speed paved the way for a whole generation of “muscle cars” that included the Mustang, Pontiac GTO and Chevrolet Chevelle.

Americans were also beginning to see a profusion of “Bugs” on the road.

Inexpensive VW Beetles became one of the iconic products often associated with the baby boom generation.

It still cost 10 cents to make a pay phone call in 1964. A first-class postage stamp was 5 cents, and a loaf of bread could be had for about 20 cents.

“And that’s the way it [was],” to paraphrase Walter Cronkite’s evening news signoff.

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pets

How About the Pets?

Simply mentioning pets in the will and choosing a custodian may not be enough to ensure their future care, estate planning experts say

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

M

any people making their final plans designate beneficiaries for their money and other assets yet don’t think about their pets. But experts say furry family members — cats and dogs and other pets — are property and they should be included in estate

planning.

Don Twietmeyer said the topic doesn’t come up often with clients at his practice, Trevett Cristo Salzer & Andolina, PC, which serves Rochester. But it should.

New York offers the option to designate an honorary trust for pets and

name a trustee who uses the money you set aside in trust to care for the pet until its natural death.

Obviously, it’s important to place sufficient funds in trust. You don’t need to plan for a ultra-posh life like celebrity pets in the news. Just figure a reasonable amount per year to cover the cost of pet food, toys, vet visits and supplies. Multiply that amount by the number of years your pet could reasonably live. Any leftover funds when your pet dies goes January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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to whomever is the beneficiary of that trust, which may or may not be the pet’s caretaker.

Most of the time, Twietmeyer said, clients who think of their pet simply mention the animal in the will and which family member they would like to care for it. Unfortunately, these designations aren’t as binding as a pet trust, he said. If the pet is just mentioned in the will, the recipient of the animal and money may more easily keep the money for his own use. The pet is just as disposable as an unwanted painting.

“If it’s not set up in trust format, there’s nothing to stop the pet custodian from euthanizing the pet,” Twietmeyer Twietmeyer said.

“Trust provisions make sure that the pet will be taken care of the rest of its life.”

Regardless of which option cho-

sen, pet owners should at least first ensure that the “godparents” are capable of and have the desire for caring for their pet. They should be willing to find a good home for the pet should some unforeseen conflict such as moving to a no-pet apartment or developing allergies make pet ownership incompatible.

What’s most important is “getting it down in writing,” said Anne Catillaz, vice-president Sage Rutty & Co., Inc., a financial services firm in

Rochester. “Documenting pet wishes in an estate planner can see that your wishes are carried out, if family members are close.”

Planning for pets should include provisions for future pets to avoid revising legal documents later.

As with any other final planning, discussing your wishes with family and including their input can help ensure your pets receive the care you would give them after you die.

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55 PLUS - January / February 2015

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55+

cover

Me and My MG

Canandaigua couple takes the road less traveled in a car less likely

By John Addyman

F

igure it was one of the three: a crackpot idea, a bucket-list item check-off or the trip of a lifetime — and they did it.

Rob and Carole Lillis, 60-somethings from Canandaigua, pulled up stakes and ventured cross-country for 5,170 miles in the summer of 2013, following — and only following — Route 20.

No interstates if they could avoid

them. No chain hotels — only B&Bs and local mom-and-pop hotels and motels. No chain restaurants or fastfood places, eating only where the locals told them the best (and sometimes the only) food was.

And they did this all in a 1973 MGB. It was an adventure, especially considering what they were driving. The MGs were great little cars to

The Lillises started their five-week trip on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, the beginning point of Route 20, in the shadow of Fenway Park. And they stuck with it. They finished the trip at Route 20 in Newport, Ore., 3,365 miles away, meandering through 11 states.

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drive, pretty simple to repair — thank God for that — but reliability was not a strong suit. In fact, it wasn’t a suit at all.

Their little red MG has a four-cylinder 1.8-litre engine, a four-speed transmission, 95 horsepower and power nothing.

A telling comment came near the end of the trip in Oregon, where an MG cognoscenti sidled up to Rob and asked the pregnant question about the car and the trip.

“What broke?”

“Just a starter and a fuel pump and one flat tire,” said Rob. “Oh!” said the questioner, “So nothing by British standards.”

The trip took five weeks to complete and was marked with friends and family all along the route, kind of a Lillis Tour de America.

And it was America they found.

“You have to be flexible and open-minded to do something like this,” said Carole. “You have to want to have an experience and to meet people. It restores your faith in mankind. We found that our country is not as torn apart or divided as people would have you believe on television.

It was good to see that. Did we meet America? I think we did.”

Carole is a professor at Keuka College, teaching writing, introduc-

Rob and Carole Lillis aboard their MG. January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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tion to children’s literature, and she is the director of the Academic Success center. She met Rob at Betty & Herb’s Blue Streak Lounge in Cleveland while they were both in college and he approached her with a line that shouldn’t have had a chance, but did.

“I told her she was the prettiest girl in the place,” he said.

Not long later, as a couple, they found they had an affinity for successful trips in a car.

“I had a 1959 Plymouth, big fins and all, and we entered a road rally.

There were MGs and Alfa-Romeos and Porsches — and we won it. They were furious,” said Rob. But in the interest of full disclosure, when he entered, he was sandbagging Carole as a ringer — the rally involved clues for Cleveland locations, and she was a native.

Looking at the other cars in the rally, Rob spotted a red MG he said he’d love to have one day. “It took me 40 years to get it,” he said.

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55 PLUS - January / February 2015

Rob is a research consultant who evaluates school programs for drugabuse prevention and works with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on states’ drunk-driving programs, among many other projects. His degrees are in psychology, and he and Carole went to grad school together at the University of Rochester.

Three years ago, Rob started planning the trip. Carole humored him.

“My first thought was, ‘Oy!’” she said. “I had breast cancer in 2010.

Once you go through a situation like that, and with my daughter-in-law in 2011, same thing, you tend to be a little more open-minded. My fear was that something will happen to this car and it will break and Rob’s heart will be broken. He kept saying, ‘Everything can be fixed.’”

But to avoid fixing while on the trip, Rob started getting his 40-yearold British car ready. Over that twoyear period he replaced the tires, the

wheel bearings, springs, radiator, the suspension, the radiator hoses, the water pump and more. He rebuilt the seats and bought new wire wheels.

And for the piece de resistance, Andy Bell of Steele and Bell in Canandaigua rewired the whole thing, replacing all the fabric-covered and notoriously fault-prone Lucas gear.

Still, a lot had to come together to even get the trip off the ground. Every nook and cranny of space had to be utilized. “I knew we were really going when I put my rear end in the seat and the car started,” Carole said.

They trailered the car to Boston for the start on Commonwealth Avenue, the beginning point of Route 20, in the shadow of Fenway Park. Route 20 ends in Newport, Ore., 3,365 miles away, meandering through 11 states.

Taste of Americana “We hit every light leaving Boston,” Rob said.

The Lillis plan was to cover a bit

more than 200 miles a day, with the itinerary calculated to be in Yellowstone Park on the Fourth of July for a family gathering, and ending up in Oregon a few days later.

A minor glitch happened in Cazenovia, near Syracuse, where the Lillises stayed at the Linklear House.

“He left his laundry bag there,” Carole said, looking at the ceiling.

“They sent it on, first to Medina, Ohio, then to Dyersville, Iowa. The lady who owned the bed-and-breakfast in Dyersville saw it in the post office and picked it up for us.”

The pair drove back through their old haunts in Cleveland, and were sorry they did. “I grew up in East Cleveland,” Carole said. “It was a wonderful place. It’s been abandoned.”

A dinner at the Timbers Restaurant in Angola, Ind., was comprised of two pork chops, and all the fixings, for $5.99. “The waitress, Pam, sat down to talk with us,” Carole said.

“She’d lived in San Diego until she met the man of her dreams, who was from Angola.”

“People would see our car and that would be the conversation-starter,” Rob said.

At a bed-and-breakfast outside of Chicago, the Lillises met two couples from New Zealand and another couple from Sweden. And that was

Rob on his MG: “Gotta love a wooden steering wheel. where the first mishap occurred — a flat tire.

The “Field of Dreams” baseball field in Dyersville, Iowa, was a special place. Rob and Carole had pizza and nachos at the English Pub (owned by Mike English, who had an MGA).

It was in Dyersville that the Lillis MG’s starter seized.

“When you have a British car, you need two things,” Rob advised, “a cell phone and AAA membership.”

A mechanic couldn’t get the starter to

The Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, was one of the must-see stops along the way for Rob Lillis and his wife, Carole.

react until he hit it with a hammer. It kicked over, but it had to be replaced.

Being an opportunist, Carole went to get her nails done while a new starter was installed. She also joined the Dyersville Historical Society and the couple went to a Latin mass at the town’s basilica.

The Lillises stayed in the only room to be had within 75 miles in Newman Grove, Neb., in a B&B that was the home of a former mayor.

There was a grandma-and-grandparun 1950s-style motel in Chadron, Neb. — the Bunk House Motel. It was there that the MG started spewing brake fluid.

“My grandson can fix anything,” said the owner. And that’s what happened.

At Mount Rushmore, Rob and Carole saw 100 new American citizens sworn in. At Custer Park, Carole got close to a herd of 14 wild burros.

Rob went fly-fishing in Casper, Wyo. On the way to Cody, Wyo., the fuel pump gave up the ghost in Gray Bull, Wyo. The MG and the Lillises were stuck. A store manager kept them company until 10:30 that night.

He had bought an MG in France and they swapped stories for hours. The AAA driver took them to Cody, dropping them off at their motel, which had a corral next to it.

“At Yellowstone, we stayed at the Old Faithful Inn — no phones, no Internet, no TVs. We sat around and talked and watched buffalo walk by,” Carole said.

January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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All of this came out of the MGB. It took two years of planning to prepare for a five-week trip in an MG, and a good portion of the planning was how to fit all of this in a two-seat sports car with a modest trunk.

The Rob and Carole Lillis 1973 MGB is happily parked in Portland, Ore. after its five-week, across-the-country trip.

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55 PLUS - January / February 2015

Portions of the trip were sad because a segment of America had disappeared with the advent of the interstate highway system. “We saw ghost towns, hundreds of closed motels and motor courts, Rob said. “Out west, whole towns were gone.”

The couple took lots of pictures, some of which are on the trip’s website, www.whilewestillcan.org, and Rob is writing a book and making presentations to interested groups.

He’s also lapsing into a Prince Edward Island state of mind as he plans for the next MG adventure.

“We’ve always loved antiques and history,” he said, and that’s what their trip was — looking at history from behind the wheel of an antique.

“Life is like driving a car,” Rob said. “You need to look in the mirror, but not for too long.”

When the car arrived back in Canandaigua from its cross-country trip, Rob replaced the brake cylinders and clutch and parked it, ready for the next weekend ride.

“My grandson will have this MG,” he said. “We’ll have to find another one for my granddaughter.”

addyman’s corner

By John Addyman

New Year’s Eve Memories From rabblerousing to vigilance, parents live through it all

M

y wife and I aren’t too concerned about what we’ll be doing New Year’s Eve. We know we’ll get the call.

Right before Christmas, or maybe the day after, one of our children will be on the phone or texting us.

“We have some kids that would love to spend New Year’s Eve with their grandparents!” will be the message.

And of course, we’ll say, “Sure.”

On that night, a half-hour before the ball drops in Times Square, at least two of the grandkids will still be fighting to stay awake.

The other — our oldest grandchild, Lucie, who’s 9 — will already be asleep. She’s too smart to stay awake for all the glitzy hoopla. Our little guys, Jeremy and Jaden, will stick it out until the bitter end.

At midnight, my wife and I will kiss the kids, wish them all a Happy New Year, and get them right to bed so they don’t fall asleep on the couch.

Jeremy, who’s 6, may do what he did last year. He needed to be carried off to bed after falling asleep 10 seconds

after the New Year struck.

Several minutes later, my wife and I will go to bed ourselves, listening to the merrymakers out on the street in our village, the ones who are yelling or lighting fireworks.

The next morning, the grandkids will be up early with me, because I’m the one who cooks them pancakes and bacon and sausage.

Somewhere late in the morning our children — the parents of our grandkids — looking a bit worse for wear after a night of enjoying holiday spirits, will start showing up.

It’s quite a moment. I look at my children — the red eyes, the frizzy hair, the half-done make-up or coif — and say to myself, “I used to look like that, too, when you guys were babies.”

Things have changed over the years. Our parents had a whole different way of celebrating New Year’s Eve. My friend Jay’s mom would walk outside on her country hillside and bang a big pan with a wooden spoon, letting all the cows and chickens know it was a new year.

Fright night My parents figured that the best way to have a pleasant New Year’s Eve celebration and make sure the kids were OK was to invite friends and their kids over for the evening. In those days, when Scranton, Pa., had four television stations, no cable, no VCRs, no smartphones and no DVDs, the evening’s savior was the public TV station (channel 44 as I recall), which would broadcast horror movies around midnight. Every other station had already signed off.

Every New Year’s Eve, the movie shown was the original “Frankenstein,” but later, when the station discovered it had a cult following, the playbill expanded to “Bride of Frankenstein,” “Dracula” and others.

It was a New Year’s Eve marathon.

I could never stay awake much past the second movie, so I don’t really remember what followed.

Then it was the college years, and New Year’s Eve was a date night on which you drank so much you were happy to remember the name of your

January / February 2015 - 55 PLUS

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date the next morning.

After that, because of career and business and more serious relationships, New Year’s Eve meant more formal parties, more careful dress, and the right partner for the evening.

One exception to this was a party of fellow teachers from my middle school in Berwyn, Pa. at the assistant principal’s house. He made his own wine and insisted we drink a great deal of it. I know I got home that night; I just don’t remember how.

Next was marriage, and the parties seemed to get more neighborly and you either dressed up or you dressed in costume. I remember going to a party as a wizard and every time I tried to hug somebody in friendly greeting, the brim of my pointy hat would hit the woman in the forehead.

I never went as a wizard again.

When kids arrived on the scene, my wife, Gayle, and I stayed home while they were really little. Then we moved to a small town where everyone knew everyone else, and our New Year’s Eve ended at the home of our friends the Carusos, with all the kids around until well after midnight.

The kids grew up. That’s when we became reluctant to go out on New Year’s Eves because we were monitoring the return of each kid safe and sound. When the ball dropped in Times Square was when we started worrying about how long it would take for the last kid to be accounted for.

Those were nights we couldn’t sleep until everyone was tucked in.

We might have been in bed, but my wife and I could clearly hear the doorknob turn on the front door.

Eventually, the kids got wise to us and stayed at a friend’s house on New Year’s Eve. Gayle and I had gotten so unaccustomed to going out ourselves, we decided we’d just have a nice dinner, watch a movie and go to bed early.

Bo-ring.

“You know what we need?” I asked my wife 10 years ago.

“What?” she asked.

“Some grandchildren,” I said.

We got our wish.

For this New Year’s Eve, I have a new wish.

“What’s that?” my wife asked.

“A DVD of ‘Frankenstein.’”

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home

How to Select an Appraiser Need to sell all or most everything you have accumulated over the years? An appraisal can help, but beware of who you hire

By Jessica Spies

W

hen preparing to downsize, a person looks at selling nearly everything in his or her home, which may include valuable items and collectibles.

“Future assisted living residents face the burden of getting rid of most of their property,” said appraiser Pamela Bardo.

Property ranges from silver flatware to basketball jerseys to jewelry

— items that may have significant market value and are eligible for appraisal.

“At this difficult time, the residents and his or her family are occupied with the challenge of a new living situation and the burdens of property,” Bardo said.

Challenges include determining what property to keep or to get rid of and finding a trustworthy appraiser.

According to Edward Becker,

an appraiser for 40 years, the appraisal process, which can often be a challenging process when downsizing, can be further complicated as it’s a chance for potential scammers to take advantage. Becker, who has owned the Colony Shop Antiques & Art since 1983, said that those who are downsizing are in a vulnerable place and can be preyed upon by scammers. The Colony Shop, which is based in Fayetteville, near Syracuse, was opened in 1926 and is the oldest art and antiques gallery in the Syracuse area.

Some of these scammers include those who claim they are appraisers and will both appraise and buy the item that is to be appraised. An appraiser should never buy the product that he or she appraised, according to Becker.

“There’s a buyer and an appraiser. One can’t do both,” he said. “It’s unethical to appraise then buy.” Becker said this is because it’s too biased and if the buyer and appraiser is the same person, that person can appraise the product for a lower value than it is worth in order to get a deal.

“An appraiser would tell you the market value or replacement value,” he said. “An appraiser would sell on consignment and would give a commission.”

Becker said that if an appraiser is proposing commission, the seller should read the contract carefully paying special attention to timely payment, price guarantee and commission.

“Do not just sign the contract,” he said.

Becker added that a seller should expect payment after each item is sold and should not be waiting months for payment.

Becker said that he has not just seen scammers portraying themselves as appraisers but that he has also seen several instances of people taking advantage of old or sick people including healthcare workers, doctors and family.

“There are no holds barred when it comes to assets,” he said.

Becker said that there are ways a person can protect themselves when

going through the appraisal process.

To navigate the appraisal process, the seller should first find a trustworthy appraiser.

“The best avenue to a reputable appraiser is through a referral or by word of mouth,” he said.

According to Bardo, it is not necessary for the seller to make a determination over what should and should not be appraised but rather, the appraiser would be able to assist in making that judgment.

“The appraiser will know very quickly what should be sold and kept; what is of high value and what isn’t,” she said.

Bardo suggests finding an appraiser through the three appraiser associations in the United States: the American Society of Appraisers, the Appraisers Association of America and the International Society of Appraisers.

Bardo recommends that the seller’s chosen appraiser be certified through one of the associations. To become certified, appraisers take courses of study, exams and need to pass a national exam called the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, which is a federal requirement for an appraiser to become certified.

According to Bardo, it is important to find an appraiser who is certified and doesn’t just belong to the association. This distinction is typically made by the appraiser on their

website.

“It’s very important to get someone who lives by a code of ethics and has published standards,” she said. “It’s important at a time when people are vulnerable that they get someone quality.”

Bardo, who has been an appraiser for 34 years, owns Bardo Consulting Group, Inc. and the subsidiary StoneBridge Services, Inc., and is certified with both the Appraisers Association of America and the American Society of Appraisers. She is based in Chicago but travels across the country as part of her business.

Becker said that the chosen appraiser should be knowledgeable in the specific items that they are appraising.

“A good appraiser has a good eye for things,” he said. “You see things other people don’t in items.”

Appraisers can also be found through referrals from a museum, friend or antique dealer.

To determine the worth of an item, an appraiser typically completes research on the piece to get the updated information on its worth.

Becker said that he warns sellers to avoid free appraisals.

“With free appraisals, you get what you pay for,” he said.

The going rate for an appraiser is roughly $175 to $250 an hour across the country, according to Bardo.

“You never want someone who charges by a percentage of the value,” she said.

Bardo said the appraiser should be someone who has “no vested interest in the outcome of the appraisal.”

Becker recommends that the seller should get a few opinions to determine what the product is worth.

Following the appraisal, an appraiser can also arrange a sale on a commission basis or recommend a venue to best market the item.

Becker said that while there are many ethical appraisers, there are still those who don’t have the seller’s best interest in mind.

“If you have been mistreated by an auction house, eBay lister, dealer or appraiser, contact the Better Business Bureau, the appraiser’s professional organization, the district attorney or your lawyer,” he said.

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photos

Reviving the Past

Rochester businesses specializes in preserving photo images

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

f you’re like many 55-plussers, you probably have a lifetime of photos in albums and frames, all in varying conditions. Fortunately, you can preserve and even restore your favorite photos for yourself and posterity.

Daniel Jones operates Daniel Teaches throughout the greater Rochester area. He said the key to restoration is good quality equipment, starting with a scanner.

Jones teaches technology to seniors privately and in groups.

“Make sure that the scanning capabilities allow a high resolution, like 300 dpi, which is 300 digital pixels per inch,” he said. “The higher the resolution, the better you’re going to be able to manipulate the photo to correct the tears or enhance the colors.”

Many PCs come preloaded with software to enhance photos, but the most common software to restore photos is Adobe Photoshop.

Jones advises printing through pros such as shutterfly.com or snapfish.com because of the low cost and

Todd Parker, owner of ROC Shots Video Service in Rochester, with client Angela Sinacore of Rochester.

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their quality. Their laser prints last longer than soluble ink jet versions.

Jones recommends using archival DVDs for their longevity. Jones also backs up his important files online on Crash Plan.

“That’s the safest, most permanent way to back up files you have,” he said. “You can access them securely from anywhere in the world remotely.”

Some anti-virus software also sells off-site back-up services, as do some photo printing sites. You could also start a free website such as on Weebly or Wordpress with access only to your family. Google offers Picasa, a free service to organize and share photos, too.

“Make sure that you do your research with companies and make sure what they actually do with your photos,” Jones said.

Flash drives or an external hard drive can also provide on-site backup.

You may want to give copies to family members also.

It’s also smart to include passwords to online photo sites or backups in your end-of-life documents so that your family may access your files after you pass away. Only trust passwords with a family member whom you would trust with your bank account numbers or other important information.

People can try to restore photos using special software programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Picasa, or take the photos to specialists.

The digital route If you’re not up to restoring your photos, contact a company like Lumiere Photo in Rochester. Proprietor William Edwards said many clients are surprised at how well digital restoration works.

He advises clients to store photos away from acidic products, like cheap photo albums or everyday boxes, ultraviolet light, including hanging photos in direct sunlight, and moisture, such as storing photos in an attic or basement.

Many people who label photos do so incorrectly. Edwards said they should use a No. 2 pencil, not ink, unless they use archival ink, which is acid-free. Instead of labeling photos only on the back, he recommends writing on the album page, in case a photo is removed and not immediately replaced. Using a corresponding letter and number system can minimize the amount of writing actually on the photo, such as “A23P3” for “album 23, photo 3” on the page and the photo.

Most people also

don’t get specific enough.

“Sometimes when labeled, the photo was created at the turn of the century and the identifier is ‘Mom’ or ‘cousin Lily’ and we’re so many generations removed we have no idea who it is,” Edwards said.

Record the person’s full name, age (if known) and the date. Other known details are helpful too.

For truly vintage photos, such as daguerreotypes and silver photos, get professional assistance in preserving them, since these antique process-

es require unique handling and archiving. But in general, avoid acidic containers and albums.

Edwards said many people make modern copies of historical photographs so that if they want to display or share them, they can preserve the original images.

“If you have hundreds of photographs, do a good job of editing and make critical selections,” Edwards said. “But the ones you don’t use, put them in an appropriate storage container of some kind. Save all of them.”

If you want to more easily share photos, consider a digital slideshow.

Todd Parker, proprietor of ROC Shots Video Service in Rochester, incorporates clients’ restored photos and video clips into video scrapbooks, along with video interviews with them.

“It is a lot of fun to see a customer’s face when they watch their video on TV, and see their pictures again, especially when they haven’t had a good look at the picture for many years.”

One client with macular degeneration had not seen his photos in decades, but could see them on a large screen.

Most videos contain 20 to 40 photos that correspond with the interviewee’s comments.

Parker also converts VHS tapes and other formats and saves his finished projects on DVD and MP3 formats.

It may take time to sort and restore your treasured photos, but considering the memories they evoke, it’s worth the effort.

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Hi-Tech

5 Warning Signs That You May Be The Victim of a Hi-Tech Scam

By Kfir Luzzatto

H

i-tech scammers rely on the excitement of the layperson, who sees the (imaginary) opportunity to participate in an adventure, which is not only profitable beyond imagination, but is also groundbreaking. The lowest form of hi-tech scam, however, happens in the medical field and I can’t think of anything crueler than giving false hope to a terminally ill person, just to make a profit.

Cancer and High-Tech Scams Cancer scams come in different types and sizes and include those directed to the patient and his or her

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family, targeting one individual at a time, but also others that are planned on a much more grandiose scale.

A word of warning before proceeding: We should not confuse failure with malice. Many goodfaith attempts to find cures for different types of cancer, fail. Those are not scams; that’s how medicine (and science in general) advances.

The scientists working on a genuine project did hope to make a breakthrough, but their hopes were dashed. Still it wasn’t all for nothing because the knowledge acquired through their failure may help others get on the way to success.

Why High-Tech Cancer Scams Work Who doesn’t want to find a cure for cancer? Even “only” for one type? The allure of a project that brings hope of success is such that it saps your common sense and switches off all the warning lights.

That’s how high-tech scammers sign you up, take your money or use you to build the credibility that they need to go after the big investors. Then they may find an investor who has sickness in the family and who hopes to beat the cancer that is plaguing his dearest or himself, by funding the development of the

“miraculous cure”. After the first one invested, signing up others is easy.

Why High-Tech Scams are Everybody’s Business For a high-tech scam to succeed the scammer must create a semblance of seriousness. Articles are written by well-meaning (but clueless) journalists, about the “medical breakthrough”; Irrefutable “proof” is provided by the scammer, which leads to a clear conclusion: it is only a matter of time (and money) before the “cure” is made available to one and all.

And people start to hope again, without knowing that they have been made fools of and no real help is in sight.

How to Avoid High-Tech Cancer Scams In order to succeed, a scammer must present a façade of seriousness — a degree in medicine or life science, a CV showing that he has a relevant background (possibly faked), and often an apparently reliable person, who endorses him.

The following five warning signs should alert you that the person you are dealing with may be a scammer: 1 — Too good to be true: the project in which the person is involved is extremely exciting, promises a cure for a variety of unrelated illnesses and conditions and is already in an advanced stage of development, which makes success almost a certainty.

2 — Unverifiable results: the medicine or device has been tested on a person whose name is provided, but no details of how this person can be contacted to verify those results are made available.

3 — Name dropping: names of physicians, professors and people well known in the medical field (or of persons unknown but with impressive names) are thrown in the air, but no actual documentation exists to show that those individuals are in fact in any way connected with the developer or with the cure, or indeed that they exist.

4 — Secretiveness: No actual details of the cure are provided because of the need to keep them secret, since “once disclosed, the cure is so simple that everyone can steal it”.

Vague promises are made, to supply details “once the investor has come

The lowest form of hitech scam, however, happens in the medical field and I can’t think of anything crueler than giving false hope to a terminally ill person, just to make a profit. on board and invested some money”.

5 — Enthusiastic supporter: a supposedly independent supporter is brought on stage, who talks to you enthusiastically about the project and its prospects. Often scammers need a sidekick to convince investors to put money into dubious projects. The enthusiastic supporter could be an ingenuous person who genuinely believes in the project, or may be a participant in the scam.

If you see any of those signs, don’t give them any money, unless an independent, reliable expert has made a convincing case for you, why you should invest in the project.

If you DO NOT see any of those signs, it may mean that you have missed them, so don’t give them any money either, unless an independent, reliable expert has made a convincing case for you, why you should invest in the project.

Remember: Groundbreaking medical projects are high-risk investments. Do not invest any money in such a project, unless you are prepared to take the risk of losing it.

Kfir Luzzatto was born and raised in Italy, and moved to Israel as a teenager.

Luzzatto has a PhD in chemical engineering and works as a patent attorney.

He lives in Omer, Israel, with his fulltime partner, Esther, and their four children. Luzzatto has published extensively in the professional realm. For almost four years, he wrote a weekly “Patents” column in Globes (Israel’s financial newspaper). He is also the author of the new novel, ExtraLife, Inc. For more information, visit www.kfirluzzatto.com

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arts

Making Magic With Mixed Media

Sculptor Robert Marvin pushes boundaries with his funky brand of fusionist folk art

By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

T

hough we tend to regard painting, sculpture and gardening as separate art forms, for multi-faceted artist Robert Marvin, all of the aforementioned mediums overlap in one continuous blur of creative expression.

The unofficial artist-in-residence at his day job of 17 years, Lilac Coin Laundry on Monroe Avenue in Rochester, the 55 year-old city resident can be found drawing four days a week at the laundromat’s front desk when he’s not busy helping customers.

Marvin works at a prolific clip, usually completing from two to seven pieces per week, depending on the medium, size and detail of the work.

“If I’m doing black-and-white drawings, I’ll put out 20 drawings in a week. That’s the luxury of my position as a laundry attendant. As long as the work is done, everything’s clean, and everybody’s happy, the owners actually encourage me to do it,” Marvin said from his front porch overlooking the colorful front garden of his South Wedge home.

From his most basic sketches to his busiest, most eye-popping sculpture — two of which can be seen as permanent installations on South Avenue — Marvin’s work conveys jubilation and movement via an abstract, angular style somewhat reminiscent of late New York City “pop art” icon Keith Herring, only with a distinct and more fluid sense of form.

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lines, wouldn’t necessarily appear out of place in cartoons or comic books.

Yet they also bear an unmistakable resemblance to Native American, Maori, and ancient Greek design aesthetics, among others.

Marvin, who is almost entirely self-taught, studies and freely blends art styles from across an impressively broad range of cultures and historical periods. As a result, his work appears instantly familiar yet eludes easy categorization. Even the garden in front of his home — a riotous yet tightly structured arrangement of color and shape — mirrors the friendly brand of controlled chaos one sees in his drawings.

Oftentimes when he uses gel pens and markers on post-consumer paper, or mylar, gold leaf, and acrylic ink on bristol canvas, or various tactile juxtapositions in his sculptures, Marvin marries materials that weren’t meant to go together. He stresses the idea that, as an artist, “you’ve got to see what a particular medium can and cannot do.”

Appropriately enough, he refers to his style as “folk funk fantasee fusion.” The origins of this folky, fusionist style trace back to Marvin’s tiny Southern Tier hometown of Bloomerville. The town is named after 19th-century women’s rights/ temperance advocate Amelia Jenks Bloomer, after whom “bloomers” — women’s garments popular in the mid-1800s — are also named.

A single lane consisting of five houses, Bloomerville barely yields

any concrete results on a Google search.

Avoca Town Historian Judith Wightman confirms that the town has grown “by a handful or more” homes since Marvin’s youth.

“You are now entering — and leaving — Bloomerville,” Marvin jokes.

Brown bagging it At age 12, Marvin started to concentrate seriously on drawing, initially on brown paper grocery bags.

“As a young boy, I was absolutely fascinated by grocery bags. I loved the paper. I continually drew on it, I fabricated things with it, and I made miniature cities out of it. As I grew to understand myself as an emerging artist, that became my medium,” he said.

By 16, Marvin had advanced to sculpture and gravitated to folk art.

“I was doing driftwood sculpture and carvings,” he recalls. “Because my outlet was the county fair and state fair, I would carve whales, birds, and all that sort of thing.”

Apparently, according to Glenda, his partner of 33 years, Marvin also made shadow boxes. Marvin himself doesn’t remember, but after a backand-forth exchange between the two, it’s determined that one of his own shadow boxes hung in the kitchen of his Rochester studio apartment when the couple first met in 1980.

When Marvin relocated to Rochester in 1979, he was instantly smit-

Robert Marvin withn his sculpture “Something More” for the Business Association of the South Wedge Area’s Parking Meter Totem Project, circa 2008. Photo by Cheryl Amati Martin.

ten. “I would come up and visit on weekends, because my best friend was studying fashion merchandising at Bryant & Stratton College,” he said.

“Back then, Rochester was happening downtown that took your breath away.

“I loved it, and immediately fell in love with the arts community. It was just a vortex of creative energy.

Right away, I found studio space in the Cox Building on St. Paul Street downtown. You could go from the Cox Building — which had painters, jewelers and dancers — and walk through downtown to Heaven, Milestones, and the Rathskeller where there’d be live music.”

Where Writers & Books is now, there was a community arts space named All Of Us, he said.

“I was just drawn to that place. It was amazing. When I walk in there now, I still feel that energy that used to be there. Being from a small town, this was Metropolis. I’d been in New York City, but Rochester just felt right.

It was so alive,” he said.

Since then, Marvin has owned and operated several of his own galleries, at one point including one in a space above Lilac laundry. For both better and worse, he has witnessed significant shifts in the makeup of the city’s neighborhoods. Still, in spite of the decline of Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, and Xerox, his local commissions have increased over the last decade, and he remains optimistic about the future of downtown.

“There’s no way to stop this city’s rebound,” he said. “It’s just happening. Go down and look at the garden behind Windstream. It’s amazing.

There are things happening now that I’ve never seen downtown.”

In the meantime, Marvin diligently plugs away, bringing his vibrant imaginary world to life in two and three dimensions. As his work spreads, mostly via private commissions, to places such as New York, Chicago, Toronto, and Tokyo, the laundromat’s customers supply him with a steady stream of inspiration.

“There’s one piece series that I call ‘If Looks Could Kill,’” Marvin says with a grin. “It’s based on a lady who was in a vile mood, so I drew butcher knives cascading out of her head. That’s what it felt like to be around her.”

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long-term care

By Susan Suben

The Conversation

The conversation will be different depending upon who you are talking to.

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nevitably, long-term care (LTC) is becoming a rite of passage for our parents and us due to the fact that we are living longer. I’m sure many of you are already taking care of your parents or a spouse or seeing your friends and family members assuming the role of primary caregiver.

Having taken care of both my parents for over seven years, I know that nothing stays the same. Tragic health events occur without warning.

You cannot change what happens but you can be better prepared.

That being said, having a plan for LTC is a necessity. Having “the con-

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versation” to create and put that plan into effect is the pre-requisite. What exactly is “the conversation”? How do you start it? What should be discussed?

The conversation will be different depending upon who you are talking to.

Your parents are very reluctant to divulge information pertaining to their finances. You may not know how much money they have put aside to take care of themselves should an illness occur. They may not want to appear dependent in your eyes. They have always taken care of you. Role

reversal is hard for them to come to terms with because it validates the fact that they are aging.

The one thing to bear in mind — and I found this to be true with my own parents — is that they do not want to be a burden to you. If you take the approach that you need to know certain information because it will make things easier for you in the future, they tend to be more open to discussion.

To get the conversation going, ask them open-ended questions and listen to their answers. Start by citing a LTC situation experienced by a friend or family member. Get their reaction to it. Have they thought about how they would like to be cared for should they become ill? The more empathy and interest you show, the more likely they will recognize that your concerns are genuine and that you will do your best to fulfill their wishes. By actively listening, you can learn what is important to them, which may be very different from what you thought.

These types of conversations with parents are generally fluid and continue over time.

You will not learn everything you need to know in one sitting. It took me three years to get my mother to the point of feeling comfortable enough to tell me how she wanted to be taken care of and where. The idea of moving out of her apartment in which she lived for 54 years was frightening. But as her health changed and friends started becoming ill, she was able to think more clearly about what was in her best interest

and relay that information to me.

When talking to your parents, don’t come armed with brochures on assisted living facilities that you think they would enjoy moving into. Don’t become authoritative or get tangled up in hurtful language. Most importantly, don’t treat them like children.

Even though you want to keep them safe, you must treat them with respect.

Part of the conversation should focus on a power of attorney, heath care proxy and living will. By definition, a power of attorney (POA) is a written authorization to represent or act on another’s behalf in private affairs, business or some other legal matter. It is the most necessary document to have in place. The health care proxy will allow you to make health care decisions for your parents. The living will defines what type of medical care they would like to receive.

The LTC conversation is easier with a spouse/partner. A level of intimacy already exists regarding finances and personal preferences. Many of you will want to plan for this risk because you do not want to be a burden to your children or each other. By doing so, you will lessen the emotional, social and financial consequences of a LTC illness on your family. Your planning choices might depend upon where your children live; how a LTC illness would affect your retirement portfolio and the standard of living of the well spouse/partner. The same three documents described above also need to be in place. It may be helpful to receive advice from your attorney, financial adviser and LTC planning specialist.

Without a doubt, talking about LTC is very difficult. Families experience many ups and downs but illness by far is the hardest and scariest event to deal with. You cannot be in denial about LTC. It’s part of life, a part of aging or illness. Take a deep breath and say what you want and need to say. Only good will come of it.

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

A ‘Purpose in Life’ May Extend Yours Study found older people who felt life had meaning had better survival

A

study finds that having a sense of meaning and purpose in your life might do more than just give you focus — it might help you live longer, too.

The study, involving more than 9,000 British people averaging 65 years of age, found that those who professed to feeling worthwhile and having a sense of purpose in life were less likely to die during the more than eight years the researchers tracked them.

Over the study period, 9 percent of people with the highest levels of this type of well-being died, compared with 29 percent of those with the lowest levels, according to the report in the Nov. 7 issue of The Lancet.

The study comes on the heels of similar research published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In that study, a team led by Eric Kim of the University of Michigan found that older adults with a strong sense of purpose in life may be particularly likely to get health screenings such as colonoscopies and mammograms.

The new British study was led by Andrew Steptoe, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care at University College London. His team found that, after taking other factors into account, people with the highest levels of “purpose in life” were 30 percent less likely to die during the study period, living an average of two years longer than those with the lowest levels.

“We have previously found that happiness is associated with a lower risk of death,” Steptoe said in a college news release.

“These analyses show that the

meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival. We cannot be sure that higher well-being necessarily causes lower risk of death, since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing well-being could help to improve physical health.”

Steptoe said that “there are several biological mechanisms that may link well-being to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure. Further research is now needed to see if such changes might contribute to the links between well-being and life expectancy in older people.”

Reviewing the Michigan study, James Maddux, university professor emeritus of psychology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., said the findings make sense.

“My guess is that there are at least two possible explanations for these findings,” he said. One is that people with a sense of purpose want to be around for a long time, and in good shape.

“They take care of their health because they want to prolong a life — and a healthy life — that they find meaningful.”

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visits

New York’s Path to Freedom: The Underground Railroad

By Sandra Scott

T

he Underground Railroad (UGRR) was not a railroad nor was it underground. It was a secret network of people who hid and guided slaves to freedom. Until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a runaway slave only had to get to a free state like New York to enjoy freedom. All that changed in 1850 when the new

act required that escaped slaves had to be returned to their masters and that the people of the free states had to cooperate thus making it necessary for a runaway to find freedom in Canada. New York state with its long border with Canada became an integral part on the Path to Freedom.

There are many homes, churches, barns and other sites that were used

to hide slaves throughout New York state, some of which can be visited.

Because of the danger in aiding and hiding runaways, many of the people who helped and the places slaves were secreted will never be known.

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The National Abolition Hall of Fame: The Hall of Fame in Peterboro is the perfect place to start for an overview of the UGRR. In 1835 when the NYS Antislavery Society tried to hold its meeting in Utica they were driven out by a mob to Peterboro where Gerrit Smith welcomed reformers, especially abolitionists.

The hall of fame is located in the Smithfield Community Center where that historic meeting was held. The Gerrit Smith Estate, a National Historic Landmark is located nearby.

The Gage Home: Located in Fayetteville, a community with a strong anti-slavery tradition, the Gage Home was just one of many stations on the UGRR. Matilda Joslyn Gage publically declared her intention to defy the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law and offered her home as a safe house for runaways. Gerrit Smith, Su-

2 Hilfiker Freedom Crossing Monument in Lewiston.

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san B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were just some of the abolitionists who visited the home. One room of the house is devoted to the UGRR. The Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center: The Syracuse museum is the regional UGRR Interpretive Center with a permanent exhibit. Titled “Freedom Bound: Syracuse & the Underground Railroad” it features, among other things, a multi-media exhibition that explores Syracuse’s role in the movement along with local citizens who aided runaways. One of the more famous cases is that of Jerry McHenry a runaway who was captured then hijacked from a Syracuse jail by local abolitionists and made his way to freedom in Canada. A monument in Clinton Square commemorates the event.

Harriet Tubman House: Harriet Tubman, the “Moses of her people,” was an escaped slave who put herself in danger by making 13 trips into slave states rescuing 70 enslaved family and friends. She was a union spy and worked for women’s suffrage. Her house in Auburn was a home for the aged. She would tell the often frightened slaves that, “on my Underground Railroad, I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” She is buried in the local cemetery. Nearby is the Seward House.

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The Jerry Rescue Monument in Syracuse.

The Harriet Tubman House in Auburn.

Seward’s wife was deeply committed to the abolitionist’s movement.

National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House: The Rochester home of Anthony details her struggle to get the vote for women but also her aim of equal rights for all.

Nearby in a lovely local park is a lifesize statue of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass having tea. Douglass was an escaped slave and powerful orator who promoted the cause of freedom. He was a close friend and ally of Anthony.

National Women’s Hall of Fame: The abolitionists and women’s rights movements were closely related. The National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls honors many women who were active in the abolitionist movement, including Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the Grimke sisters who fought the injustices of slavery, racism and sexism.

Nearby is the Elizabeth Cady Stanton home. Stanton’s husband was a founding member of the New York Anti-Slavery Society.

Murphy’s Orchard: The 65-acre family-owned farm in Burt, north of Lockport, has a secret underground room accessed from the floor of the barn where runaway slaves were secreted on their way to freedom. The farm was established by Charles and Anna McClew who were involved in the UGRR. The location of the farm’s proximity to the Erie Canal made it an ideal location on the route to freedom in Canada. Tours are available.

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Lewiston: Near the banks of the Niagara River is the Freedom Crossing Monument which honors fugitive slaves who sought freedom in Canada and the local volunteers who aided them. The Niagara River was a gateway to freedom and often the last stop on the way to Canada. Nearby at Niagara University, the Castellani Art Museum has a collection of artifacts and photographs plus several informative audio stations called “Freedom Crossing.”

Starr Clark Tin Shop and Underground Railroad Museum: One of the newest museums connected to the UGRR is located in Mexico, Oswego County, where Starr Clark served as a station master. Jerry McHenry, of the Jerry Rescue fame, is the most famous of the runaways who made their way to freedom and most likely the Oswego County portion of his journey was organized by Clark.

Jerry was hidden in a local barn for two weeks before being taken to Oswego and then by boat to Canada.

The North Star Underground Railroad Museum: Located in Ausable Chasm, the museum reveals the hidden history of the Champlain Line of the UGRR with compelling stories of fugitives from slavery who passed though the area on their way to Quebec and Ontario, Canada including a multimedia production detailing the story of John Thomas and his family’s escape from slavery.

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By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

Ange Aleo, 90 Greece barber still hard at work, seven decades later Q. How did your journey to becoming a barber start?

A. At 12 years old I was sharpening razors, sweeping and beginning to give grown men haircuts at Tony’s Barbershop, owned by my father, Tony Aleo. With the radio being in the background, men would gather around pot belly stoves to get warm and talk while I saw firsthand how to cut hair and run a business.

Q. What was the key to you becoming a good barber?

A. I’m the youngest of four brothers and it helped to watch my dad and brothers cut hair. We all spent a lot of time watching my dad work.

Sometimes, we would start haircuts and he would finish them showing us the right way to do it. Other times, he would start the haircut and let us finish them.

Q. How did you get a shop of your own?

A. My father owned a shop in the Ridgecrest Plaza, where I eventually worked with him. Soon it was time for me to buy the shop from my dad in 1958. My father didn’t believe in giving it away for free so I paid him when I took over.

Q. What were some of the haircuts you were known for?

A. I would give customers my signature cut which was the straight flat top or the flat top with a patch of hair running down the middle of the head with the sides shaved. To me it looked like a duck’s behind, but people were asking for it and they liked the finished product when I was done. I joked that there was a period I called the Great Depression for bar50

55 PLUS - January / February 2015

bers, which was the Beatles Invasion.

Q. How long before you ended up retiring the first time?

A. Selling the business in 1987 was difficult. But at that time, I was getting advice that I should retire before 65 year old and start collecting Social Security. I had done it for a long time and thought I was at peace leaving it all behind. But it didn’t take long before I just couldn’t stay retired.

I had customers coming to the old barber shop asking about me or coming to me and wanting their hair cut. I missed it and it wasn’t something that I was ready to let go completely for the rest of my life.

Q. What happened after that?

A. Carol Rider purchased the barber shop in 1996 and moved it to the 69 Stonewood Ave. Then I started working with her. I plan to do this for as long as my body will allow. It is sad sometimes that some of my customers are dying that I have known for a long time. But I still like coming to work and I like to keep busy. I am having a good time and I have great, friendly customers. My customers even bring me fruits and vegetables.

Q. Tell me about your amateur boxing career?

A. I was an amateur boxer at 15 years old during my high school days. I used to get beat up in grammar school. So I talked to my older brother and I asked him how to defend myself and he said I should learn boxing.

I went to the gym every week during the winter time. I liked the sport and I did well with it. I did it for four years.

I fought several fights in Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse and I also fought

outside of New York. I got to semi-finals and was about to turn pro when I graduated from high school. But I was dating my wife at the time and my mom didn’t like the sport. She was always worried about me getting hurt. They ganged up on me and so I gave it up. I think I would have been able to do very well in it. Down the line, I could have fought Sugar Ray Robinson in a year. Always dreamed about getting in the ring with him. I never used to hurt anyone or bully anyone. I used it for my own defense.

Q. What do you do in your spare time?

A. I enjoy swimming, exercising and shadow boxing. I workout an hour in the morning and make sure I stay in shape. It is important to stay as active as possible. I go to the Jewish Community Center and YMCA because you have to stay healthy. I think about it daily. I still make house calls to nursing homes to cut residents’ hair. I also enjoy going to orchestra performances.

Ange Aleo now works at Stone Ridge Barber Shop, 69 Stonewood Ave. in Greece.

a y b d e w o ll o f e b to ly e k li t o N crowd of autograph seekers.

But to us, she’s one of 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 in 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

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