55 Plus of Rochester, #57: May – June 2019

Savvy Senior: How You Can Stop Frustrating Robocalls

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PLUS Issue 57 • May/June 2019 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

The Green Party Activist Alex White, 55, has twice run for mayor. He says his political aspirations are not yet quenched

INSIDE

The Graying of Monroe County Rochester had the fastest growth in older adults of any city, increasing 36 percent between 2007 and 2017

17 Tips to Spruce Up Your Backyard Over 50? Watch Out! You May Be the First to Be Fired

6

Things You Need to Consider Before You Retire

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55 PLUS

CONTENTS

‘

Savvy Senior: How You Can Stop Frustrating Robocalls

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PLUS

May / June 2019 To subscribe to 55 PLUS and receive it at home or at the office, please see coupon on page 41.

Issue 57 • May/June 2019 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

The Green Party Activist Alex White, 55, has twice run for mayor. He says his political aspirations are not yet quenched

17 Tips to Spruce Up Your Backyard Over 50? Watch Out! You May Be the First to Be Fired

INSIDE

The Graying of Monroe County

6

Rochester had the fastest growth in older adults of any city, increasing 36 percent between 2007 and 2017

Things You Need to Consider Before You Retire

22

ROC55.com

26

Savvy Senior 6 12 FINANCES • Six things you need to Financial Health 8 consider before you retire Dining Out 10 14 HIRE ME Addyman’s Corner 44 • Getting a job at 55-plus more challenging as companies look for Long-term Care 48 younger employees

55 PLUS Q&A

Katrina Smith, 59, is a top wealth adviser. She talks about trends, mistakes people make and what she advises people to do when it comes to investments

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55 PLUS 35 26 MYSTERY • Rochester’s infamous “Double Initial Murders” won’t die due to new book, continuing coverage

28 COVER • Alex White: The Green Party activist still not happy with the status quo

16 AGING

35 BARBERSHOP

• The rapid graying of RochesterMonroe County

Besanceney continues hard at work

18 GARDENING

38

• At 83, Honeoye Falls barber Henry

38 COACHING

• Does your backyard seem a little blah?

Here are 17 suggestions to change that • Plus: Gardening with grandkids

• Toastmasters leader has worn many hats: nurse, police officer, clown

22 DECOR

• Retired physician is now devoted to bringing an old synagogue back to life

• Sweet Charity Resale Boutique & Shop in Fairport supports Advent House

42 RENOVATION

Had a Stroke.

Back on Stage.

Musician Todd Hobin KNOW THE SIGNS • CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY

Central New York music legend Todd Hobin knew nothing about stroke — but he does now. That’s why he’s raising awareness about stroke risk factors and its signs and symptoms.

F.

FACE DROOPING

A. S.

ARM WEAKNESS

SPEECH DIFFICULTY

T.

TIME TO CALL 911

Fact: Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. Important to know: Stroke can happen to both men and women — at any age.

Good news: Stroke is preventable by managing medical risk factors and healthy lifestyle choices.

What to do: Time lost is brain lost. So it’s vital to know the signs of a stroke — F.A.S.T. Four words to live by: Call 911 and say, “Take me to Crouse.“ When it comes to stroke, every moment matters. As one of just 10 hospitals in New York State tohave earned Comprehensive Stroke Center status, and with the region’s newest ER and hybrid ORs, Crouse offers the most advanced technology for rapid stroke diagnosis and treatment

Read Todd’s story and learn more: crouse.org/toddhobin.

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

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savvy senior

By Jim Miller

R

How You Can Stop Frustrating Robocalls

obocalls make up around 50 percent of all phone calls today, and it’s only getting worse. Americans were hit with 26.3 billion robocalls in 2018, a whopping 46 percent increase from the year before. Fortunately, there are a variety of tools available today that can help you greatly reduce them.

Register Your Numbers — If you haven’t already done so, your first step to limiting at least some unwanted calls is to make sure your home and cell phone numbers are registered with the National Do Not Call Registry. While this won’t stop illegal robocalls, it will stop unwanted calls from legitimate for-profit businesses who are trying to sell you something. But be aware that political organizations, charities and survey takers are still permitted to call you, as are businesses you’ve bought something from or made a payment to in the last 18 months. To sign up, visit DoNotCall. gov or call 888-382-1222.

Home Landline Tools — To stop calls on your home phone set up the “anonymous call rejection” option.

This is a free landline-calling feature available from most telephone companies. It lets you screen out calls from callers who have blocked their caller ID information — a favorite tactic of telemarketers. To set it up, you usually have to dial *77 from your landline, though different phone services may have different procedures to set it up. Call your telephone service provider to find out if they offer this feature and, if so, what you need to do to enable it.

Another solution is to sign up for Nomorobo, which is a free service for landline phones but only if you have a VoIP landline carrier. Nomorobo uses a “simultaneous ring” service that detects and blocks robocalls on a black list of known offender numbers.

It isn’t 100 percent foolproof, but it is

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an extra layer of protection. To sign up, visit Nomorobo.com.

Cell Phones Tools

To stop unwanted robocalls and texts to your cell phone, ask your carrier about caller ID options that help identify, filter or prevent callers that aren’t legitimate.

For example, AT&T provides its subscribers a free app called “AT&T Call Protect” that has automatic fraud blocking and suspected spam warnings, and you can manually block unwanted calls. Since March, Verizon offers free spam alerting and call blocking tools to its users. T-Mobile offers free “Scam ID” and “Scam Block” to combat robocalls and spam.

And Sprint customers can sign up for its “Premium Caller ID” service for $2.99 per month to guard against robocalls and caller ID spoofers.

Call Blocking Apps — Another way to stop nuisance robocalls on your smartphone is with call-blocking apps. These can identify who is calling you and block unwanted calls that show up on a crowd-sourced spam and robocaller list.

Some top call-blocking apps for iPhones and Androids include Nomorobo (Nomorobo.com), Hiya Caller ID and Spam Blocker (Hiya.com) and Truecaller (Truecaller.com).

Nomorobo costs $2 per month, while Truecaller and Hiya apps are free to use, but offer upgraded services for $2 and $3 per month.

Spam Proof Phones There are also phones you can buy, like the Samsung Galaxy S, Samsung Note, or Google Pixel phone that have built-in spam and robocall protection in place. Samsung’s Smart Call feature flags calls if suspects are spam, while Google Pixel phones have built-in spam call protection. Users with Caller ID enabled will get a warning if a suspected spam call or robocall is received.

55PLUS roc55.com

Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Lou Sorendo

Writers & Contributing Writers Deborah J. Sergeant Christine Green, John Addyman Ernst Lamothe Jr. Christopher Malone, Ken Little Kimberly Blaker Todd Etshman, Lynette Loomis

Columnists

Jim Terwilliger, Susan Suben Jim Miller, Bruce Frassinelli

Advertising

Anne Westcott, Linda Covington

Office Assistant Beth Canale

Layout and Design Dylon Clew-Thomas

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.

Mailing Address PO Box 525 Victor, NY 14564 © 2019 by 55 PLUS – A Magazine for Active Adults in the Rochester Area.

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financial health

By Jim Terwilliger

Understanding the Roth IRA Five-Year Rule

I

n past columns, we frequently extolled the virtues of the Roth IRA. Congress did us a big favor when creating this retirement-plan bucket that allows us to fill it with investments and then let the investments grow tax-free forever.

There are rules that must be followed, however, to make this all work. Some are on the input side, others are on the distribution side. As with any IRS-related matter, there are a few exceptions to the rules that are associated with disability, death and first-time home purchase.

• Input side. Direct Roth IRA contributions can be made annually, subject to certain limits — currently $6,000 with an additional “catch-up” amount of $1,000 for those age 50 and older. The ability to contribute is limited by federal adjusted gross income (AGI).

Annual contributions can be no higher than earned income — W-2 or net self-employment income. For married couples, one spouse’s earned income allows a non-working spouse to also make contributions.

Another contribution option is the so-called “back-door” method, which removes the AGI limitation.

This option was discussed in a previous column.

Yet another option is to convert traditional IRA funds into a Roth IRA. Taxes are owed on the pre-tax portion of any converted funds. There is no limit to the amount that can be converted nor is there any AGI limit.

Finally, a Roth 401(k) plan can be rolled over directly to a Roth IRA with no tax consequences, and a traditional 401(k) plan can be rolled over directly to a Roth IRA. Again, the pretax portion of such a conversion is taxable.

So far, so good. It is on the distribution side where things get messy and the five-year rule comes into play.

• Distribution side. First, it is

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important to define what constitutes a “qualified distribution.” A qualified distribution is one that takes place on or after age 59 1/2.

In addition, the Roth IRA owner must have opened a Roth IRA, any Roth IRA, at least five years prior to the distribution. The five-year clock starts ticking on Jan. 1 of the year the first Roth IRA was opened, even if it is no longer open or is not the source of the distribution.

• Distribution side (earnings from direct contributions). We have to worry about two potential negative consequences — penalty and tax.

– Penalty: The earnings portion of a distribution taken prior to age 59 1/2 receives a 10 percent penalty even if the five-year rule is satisfied. If taken after age 59 1/2, there is no penalty regardless of the five-year rule.

– Tax: The earnings portion of a non-qualified distribution (not satisfying both age and five-year rules) is taxable. If both rules are satisfied, no tax is owed.

• Distribution side (principal or basis from direct contributions). Distributions of principal are not taxed or penalized even if a distribution is non-qualified. The ordering rules deem that principal (basis) is distributed first until no principal remains.

So, for direct contributions, you can always remove your original contributions anytime with no penalty or tax consequences.

• IRA-to-Roth IRA conversion distributions are more complex. Each conversion is treated separately, with a new five-year clock assigned to each conversion. Let’s take a look at the treatment of distributions of conversion money from a Roth IRA. – The earnings portion of a distribution of conversion dollars is treated as described above for penalty and tax.

– The basis portion of a distribution of conversion dollars taken prior to satisfying the five-year rule receives a 10 percent penalty. If taken after age 59 1/2, there is no penalty regardless of the five-year rule – As with direct contributions, the basis portion of any distribution of conversion dollars is considered a return of principal and, hence, is not taxable.

• Distributions from rollovers.

For traditional 401(k)-to-Roth IRA rollovers, subsequent distributions from the Roth IRA are treated identically to the conversion descriptions above. For Roth 401(k)-to-Roth IRA rollovers, the rules become even more complex. To minimize penalties and taxes for the latter, let’s just say it is best if the five-year rule is satisfied for both the “sending” Roth 401(k) as well as the “receiving” Roth IRA. • Non-qualified distribution ordering rules. When a Roth IRA contains a mix of inputs, non-qualified distributions can contain a mix of five-year clocks, contributions, rollovers and earnings. In this case, distributions are deemed to come first from contribution basis, then conversion/rollover basis, and finally earnings. Figuring all this out guarantees a headache for whomever does the calculations!

The best way to stay on the safe side of managing your Roth plans is to engage with a trusted financial planner to help guide your way through this maze.

James Terwilliger, CFP®, is senior vice president, senior planning adviser, CNB Wealth Management, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company. He can be reached at 585-419-0670 ext. 50630 or by email at jterwilliger@cnbank.com.

Memorial Day. Remember those who served.

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

9

DiningOut

By Christopher Malone

Restaurant

Guide

The New Zealand rack of lamb in all its glory with a side of potatoes — at Edibles.

Edibles Restaurant and Bar Foodie and family-friendly Rochester restaurant serves up something for everyone

D

ining out in Rochester yields a lot of excitement.

There are tough decisions to be made when narrowing down places. The selling points of Edibles Restaurant and Bar, 704 University Ave., were the eclectic menus and catering to all diets, stylish aesthetics and its open-mindedness. How many places offer a Sunday brunch and drag show series called “Drag Me to Brunch”?

Um, one.

The restaurant sits in the arts district. There are murals. There are statues. There’s even a bus stop that’s an

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umbrella. Plus, Edibles sits inside a historic mid-1800s flatiron building.

Due to the unique architecture of the building, the dining area is on the smaller side but seating capacity increases once the weather is warmer, thanks to outdoor seating. We arrived for a 6 p.m. seating, and the nearly saturated restaurant was packed 45 minutes later with families, couples and individuals of all ages. The seating situation is also pretty tight — needless to say, reservations are highly encouraged.

We kicked off the evening with a bottle of red wine. The California 7

Moons red blend, ($34), which retails between $10-$12, was pretty good.

Edibles also gives patrons the option of bringing their own bottles and charging a $15 corking fee; on Mondays the fee is waved.

The list of appetizers (half-priced on Tuesdays) presented very tough choices. So, we opted for the sampler platter. The three of us were able to enjoy five appetizers for a reasonable $26. Two of each app (besides the tots) were presented: pierogi ($13 for standalone appetizer), truffle tots ($9), crispy duck legs ($14), lunchbox shrimp ($16), and salmon cakes ($14).

Edibels’ bolognese with veal, beef and pork top a pile of rigatoni pasta.

The tastings were teases. The potato pierogi were topped with caramelized onions and a drizzle of sour cream. The truffle tots coated with truffle oil and sea salt couldn’t have been crispier; my partner figured they were baked and then placed under a broiler. The chipotle aioli was thick, creamy, and could have been eaten by the spoonful.

The tender, grilled duck legs were slathered with barbecue sauce and were far from dry. The lightly panko-breaded lunchbox shrimp were entirely edible, and the sweet and sour sauce was as equally finger-licking good as the former’s barbecue sauce. The soft salmon cakes boasted their main fish ingredient, and were topped with chives and the chipotle aioli.

Although we adhered to our quick decisions, the entrees were a diverse group of enticing options. The pasta dishes were the Old World bolognese ($20) and a mushroom pappardelle. Since we enjoyed truffles on the tots and anticipated mushroom risotto with the osso bucco, the bolognese won the toss up.

The al dente-cooked rigatoni came smothered in the rich, red gravy. The meat consisted of a blend of veal, pork and beef. The blend of the three meats was a trifecta of flavor.

Compared to meat previously consumed for a review — this dish was distinctive and at a decent price.

Cards on the table — the osso bucco ($27) was a sexy standout. The braised pork shank with San Marza-

Osso bucco pork entree with savory, fall-off-the-bone meat and a side of mushroom risotto.

no tomato gravy was incredibly tender and packed with flavor. The meat slid right off the bone, which passive aggressively coaxed us to eat more. The aforementioned mushroom risotto was soft and delicious. The mushrooms were fresh and the risotto Sharing Platter: Edibles’ sharable sampler plate was creamy.

Our third op- with five appetizers: duck, pierogi, salmon cakes, tion was the New lunchbox shrimp and tots.

Zealand rack of lamb ($32) — the most expensive item Edibles Restaurant on the menu. The lamb, although on and Bar the cooler side, was cooked very well.

The grill marks added a noticeable, 704 University Ave., Rochester but not overwhelming, charred flaPhone vor. The red wine demi-glaze was a 585-271-4910 safe choice to drizzle atop lamb, and the herbed potatoes were a standard Website/Social www.ediblesrochester.com/ go-to side. They know how to cook www.facebook.com/ their lamb, and the portion size was ediblesrestaurant perfect. www.instagram.com/edibles_ With 20 percent tip, the bill came restaurant/ to $180 and change. The food quality, www.twitter.com/jmh_edibles the atmosphere, the cleanliness and Hours the knowledgeable staff — kudos to Mon – Wed.: 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.; Danielle, who was very attentive and 5 – 9 p.m. knew much about the restaurant, the Thurs & Fri: 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.; food served, and the place’s history.

5 – 10 p.m.

There have been enjoyable places on Saturday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.; 5 – 10 my dining journey to consider frep.m. quenting again, but Edibles RestauSunday: Private Parties Bar & lounge open late night rant is a place to run back to.

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

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55+

finances Things You Need to Consider Before You Retire

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Y

ou likely have many plans for after retirement — travel, hobbies and some much-needed R&R — but area financial experts say that before you enter that phase of your life, you have a few steps to consider in order to ensure your financial security. But don’t go it alone. Dan Hayes, partner and certified long-term care planner with Council Rock Wealth Advisory Group in Rochester, always advises clients to “have a team to do this,” he said. “Your tax preparer is part of this team, along with your attorney, and financial adviser. Those three parts of the team need to talk with each other to help you get to where you need to be.”

We spoke with six experts. Here is what they had to say.

1.

“Understand the plan to pay for health care expenses. Particularly for those who plan to retire before 65 and Medicare eligibility, which is at 65. If you want to retire at 62, we would caution against that because unless someone has an unusually short mortality, it’s usually not a good idea. Health care expenses for couples can run $10,000 plus per year.

That may be a shock for those who have employer-covered insurance. It could be about half for a single person. Understand COBRA from your employer, what health insurance is available on the exchange and assess any health savings accounts or med-

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ical savings accounts you’ve already accumulated. Those can be used to partially offset the cost of health care in retirement, particularly for those under 65.”

Rob Bradley, partner, certified financial planner, and chief investment officer at NorthLanding Financial Partners in Rochester.

3.

“The greatest piece of advice I can give any of my clients is to spend less than they make.

When you have a budget, it gives you an outline for how much you have to spend every month. That dictates what you need your retirement portfolio to do for you. Any retirement assets, Social Security and pensions can help come together to cover that budget. If you don’t know what you need, you’re operating without a plan.”

Ethan Wade, senior vice president and financial adviser, Brighton Securities, Rochester.

2.

“At about age 60, think about when you want to collect Social Security benefits. Everyone has a different age to collect full benefits, especially if someone is married.

Some people are delaying until age 70. They want to decide who wants to delay and who wants to take benefits.

They want to start getting their benefit established by age 60 and if they haven’t already, they should log in and set up an account to review their potential benefits at 62, and full benefits.”

Mike King, principle, Century Benefits Group, Rochester.

4.

“A thing people miss is they don’t think proactively about what they’re retiring to. What are you retiring to? If you’re retiring to get away from something, what do you want to accomplish? Explore that before you can’t go back to work.”

Adam Mark, certified financial planner, Wealth Management Group Investing, Rochester.

5.

“People have to reassess their portfolios. What they don’t understand is it’s much more difficult and riskier to manage money for income than it is for growth. When you’re working, you put money in a 401k plan and you’re not taking any money out. It’s relatively easy to manage money for pure growth; however, once you start taking an income from it, it gets much more complicated and difficult. I set up a bucket approach.

Some people never re-balanced their portfolios from the mid-90s because they felt it was doing phenomenal until 2011, when we had three negative years in a row, which quickly wiped out many people’s retirement. People paid early for that to manage portfolios for income.”

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Plan for the

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Anthony Mancuso, private wealth advisor, Council Rock Wealth Advisory Group, Rochester and Batavia.

Michael King, REBC, Employee Benefit Advisor www.aboutcentury.com

6.

“Understand your spending needs. Divide that into what you need for living expenses — the must-haves, like utilities, taxes and medical insurance —and also try to understand what your wants are: vacations, entertainment and things that will cost money when you’re not working 40 hours a week, like hobbies. This is important because you’re looking for your financial resources to be able to support your lifestyle in retirement. You don’t want to retire to discover your resources won’t support your desired lifestyle. That will help you determine if you have sufficient resources to do that. Understand you spending before you retire and then re-evaluate a year or two after you retire to see if any adjustments need to be made.”

Elizabeth Thorley, certified financial planner, president and CEO, Thorley Wealth Management, Pittsford.

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May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

13

Getting a Job at 55 More Challenging Some companies may favor younger applicants, who may have more updated skills, require less pay

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

O

f course age is a status protected from employment discrimination, but many hiring agents still favor younger applicants.

“Naturally, organizations, especially now more than ever, want to keep costs down,” said Brian Harding, president of TES Staffing in Rochester. “As you gain experience, you’re demanding more money. If they fill a role by hiring younger workers and train them, that cuts costs.”

As a result, that makes for a hiring environment where it’s expected that older workers want more money and younger ones won’t. To help distinguish yourself, Harding recommends emphasizing special skills you possess and carefully screening job openings for those that want those skills.

That could mean a longer commute or even moving; however, that’s the best way to receive the type of salary you want and should receive at this point in your working life.

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If you know how to do a few different inter-related skills, that also ramps up your value in the eyes of potential employers, even if they want you for a particular role. If one member of the team is out, you could fill in temporarily because of your additional abilities.

“Back in the day, people did one thing and did it well,” Harding said.

“Now, businesses are competing with businesses overseas and very cheap labor. They’re trying to maximize their workforce. Everyone wears a variety of different hats. If you have a variety of skill sets, that will give you an advantage and put you in a completely different category.”

That may mean brushing up on some skills through a few classes to update your skills.

More than your ability to do the job, hiring agents also look for your “fit” within the company. Harding said that aside from skills, company culture matters most to employers.

For some, an older applicant could appear “set in their ways,” Harding said. “They think that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’ You need to prove that wrong.”

That could include taking a few classes to show you’re interested in ongoing education, particularly in things like technology that is useful in your industry.

“If it’s obvious the organizations you’re applying to are young culture, don’t apply to them,” Harding said.

“Work smarter and do research on who you’re applying to. See if the culture is even an option for you. That’s the reality.”

Companies hiring for very specialized skills and for positions of great responsibility won’t view age as an impediment but as an advantage.

Joe Szlosek, partner at JAS Recruitment in Rochester, said that many people around 50 and older spent their careers so focused on their companies that they haven’t spent a lot of time networking outside their companies. Once they become unemployed, they don’t have many industry connections.

“You should be prepared to get out there and network,” Szlosek said.

“If you are sitting there with your resume posted on Monster, you won’t be hired. You have to be proactively talking with people and sending your resume here and there.”

Apply even to companies not hiring, since that places you first in line once something opens up.

Szlosek also thinks that older workers, especially, should stay more flexible in what they want in a job. He has worked with applicants who refuse to drive 10 extra minutes to a job for which they are well qualified, for example.

Once the interviews start, Larry Ploscowe, owner at EXEK Recruiters in Rochester, said that emphasizing experience helps.

“Show the wisdom you’ve learned but stay up-to-date on the latest technology,” Ploscowe said. “Take classes on a regular basis, even if you’re not pursuing another degree.”

If you’re ready for a big change, consider applying for an apprenticeship program. The state’s program (https://labor.ny.gov/pressreleases/ apprenticeshiparchive.shtm), pays workers while they participate in free hands-on and classroom learning.

“You should be prepared to get out there and network. If you are sitting there with your resume posted on Monster, you won’t be hired. You have to be proactively talking with people and sending your resume here and there.”

-Joe Szlosek, partner at JAS Recruitment in Rochester The program has no age ceiling.

Paradoxically, possessing outmoded skills can also make you valuable such as to companies that still use old machining equipment. Ploscowe said that he has known of companies that struggled to find operators for their “obsolete” equipment that still worked just fine. By effectively networking to discover these opportunities, you may be able to put to use that specialized knowledge.

Ploscowe said that efforts to hide your age — such as listing only the past 10 years on your resume — can only get you to the interview stage.

“People will know when they see you,” he said.

Update your resume by dropping: • unrelated job duties or personal information

A

When you give a ride, you are helping your neighbors

In May 2015, WestSide Express, a volunteer transportation service for senior launched in the Gates andVolunteer Chili communities.

This program transportation servicepairs volunteer d seniors who need rides tofor important seniorsappointments. in the Gates and Chili

• information that is no longer communities. You will be provided included, such as date of It’sbirth, been aSocial highly successful and very busy four years, but we always need m training, and supplemental liability If you havedates a couple of hours a week, or even a couple of hours a month, ple Security number, graduation insurance. To learn more about consider being a volunteer driver. When you give a ride, you are helping your and gender. a volunteer driver, live happier, healthier livesbecoming in their own homes. You will becall provided training, • non-professional supplemental email address Sr. Anne Guerin atabout LifeSpan at a volunteer d liability insurance.

To learn more becoming and outdated domain name ext.

142, ororemail Sr. Anne Guerin at LifeSpan 244-8400, at 244-8400, ext.

142, email aguerin@lifespa • two spaces instead of one beaguerin@lifespan-roch.org. tween sentences Not interested in driving? WestSide Express also has a need for volunteers to interested in driving? phones to help coordinateNot drivers with clients. This can be as many or as few Attempts to look radically youngyou wish to commit. information ontohow to help in this way, please c Volunteers needed answer phones. er will likely backfire and make you For more Robert Jackson at 889-1615 or email rhjack177@gmail.com. appear like you’re trying too hard.

However, it can only help to ditch Contact Robert Jackson at granny sweaters, eyeglasses chains 889-1615 or and the styles in hair, jewelry and clothing from a decade ago. Also, Email rhjack177@gmail.com. don’t pull out a cell phone that’s not a smartphone. While your slider or flip phone may work fine, some people would view you as old-fashioned for not adapting.

Over 50? Watch Out!

recent analysis by ProPublica and the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, shows that more than half of workers over age 50 are either laid off at least once or leave their jobs under circumstances they didn’t choose. The Health and Retirement Study, conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, followed a cross-section of 20,000 American workers from the time they turned 50 in 1992 through the rest of their lives.

ProPublica analyzed the data through 2014, the latest numbers available, and found that 56 percent of workers leave their jobs at least once after age 50, under employer-driven circumstances, such as

layoffs due to company downsizing or restructuring. That means more people over 50 are pushed out of their jobs than choosing to leave on their own.

The HRS study results suggest 50-plus workers are on shaky ground when it comes to job — and financial — security, concluded ProPublica. By this age, most workers are looking forward to retirement, many with at least an outline of a financial plan or target for how and when they will retire. And they need to find work to carry them through to retirement.

The HRS data indicates it is more difficult for older workers to find jobs that are equal to or better than the ones they lost. In some cases, they can’t find work at all.

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

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55+

aging

The Graying of Monroe County County officials working to accommodate influx of older population

By Ken Little

B

y 2030, one out of every five people in the United States will be older than age 65.

In New York state, the over-65 population will make up 16 % of the state’s population by 2025, more than any other age group, according to the AARP. State and local governments are

Rochester’s Fastest Growing Population

making plans to embrace the influx of aging baby boomer generation members as more boomers enter their retirement years.

The aging of New York will not only affect the outward appearance of the state’s population, it will also impact the economy as needs and spending patterns of baby boomers

F

rom the report by Center for an Urban Future, commissioned by AARP and released in February: “New York’s population is rapidly graying. In every corner of the state, older adults are driving most if not all of the growth,” said Jonathan Bowles, the group’s executive director.

Some of the findings:

• Nearly one in six New Yorkers was 65 and over, representing 16 percent of the total population — more 16

55 PLUS - May / June 2019

change.

Nursing home care, for instance, will see a boom. Total spending on nursing home care for New York residents in 1995 was $8.7 billion. By 2030, total nursing home expenditures are expected to rise to $39.4 billion, according to the AARP. Medicaid nursing home spending in New York is expected to rise from $3.9 billion in 2015 to $17.7 billion by 2030, a 353 % increase.

County governments are taking notice.

“Monroe County recognizes the importance of promoting age-friendly policies to address changing demographics while also enhancing independent living among our residents,” said Julie Allen Aldrich, director of the Monroe County Office for the Aging, in an email response to questions.

“We stand committed to a process of continual improvement to support active and healthy aging, while also sustaining economic and social vitality for our aging adult community.”

Aldrich said her office is in the process of having Monroe County registered as an “Age Friendly Community” through AARP and the World Health Organization.

“As a part of this initiative, we will engage in a two-year planning process. Once planning is complete, we will have up to three years to identify resources and implement strategies and solutions identified in the plan,” Aldrich said.

Aldrich added that the Monroe County Office for the Aging, as the identified Area Agency on Aging in Monroe County, through the New York State Office for the Aging and U.S. Administration on Community Living and Older Americans Act, “is the organization responsible for engaging in a four-year planning effort

than any other age group, according to the report’s review of census data.

• The older adult population outpaced overall population growth in all of the state’s 20 largest cities and counties.

• Rochester had the fastest growth in older adults of any city, increasing 36 percent between 2007 and 2017. During the same period, the city’s under-65 population fell 2 percent.

Source: Center for an Urban Future as reported by The Democrat & Chronicle.

to support the needs of the 60-plus population, caregivers of any age, and persons with disabilities.”

She said that the most recent component of the four-year plan was designed and approved for 2016 through 2020.

“We provide annual updates to New York state to adjust for any changes in the community and available funding. Funding and service delivery is then approved by the New York State Office for the Aging after the passage of New York State’s budget each year,” Aldrich said.

She said that while the plan for 2021 through 2025 is not due for some time, Monroe County is in the process of working with community organizations, consumers, municipalities and funders “throughout the year to monitor and tweak current plans and design future plans to support the changing needs of our community.”

“Through the regulations, policies, and procedures of the New York State Office for the Aging, New York State Elder Law, and the Older Americans Act, Monroe County’s Office for the Aging is charged with the creation and operation of a Council for Elders as an advisory council to the county executive, and Long Term Care Council as an advisory council to the New York State Office for the Aging.

These councils assist in identifying gaps, overlaps, barriers and solutions to manage changing long-term care needs,” Aldrich said.

Aldrich said that another helpful program is NY Connects.

“This program is part of New York state’s ‘No Wrong Door’ for information, assistance and referral.

Through the service, phone advisers can help individuals of any age and ability, including caregivers, identify needs and connect those individuals to appropriate programs and services,” Aldrich said.

“When an identified need includes help with public assistance, they will help guide them through the process. The reason it is called ‘No Wrong Door’ is because anyone can contact NY Connects with a longterm care need, and if other needs are identified, such as when an individual or loved one may qualify as developmentally disabled and need assistance with mental health or substance Continued on page 46

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55+

gardening

Does Your Backyard Seem a Little Blah?

It could be due for an upgrade.

Learn about 17 new trends

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

ugmenting and renovating your landscaping and backyard space adds both pleasure for you and value to your home. Area experts shared what’s trending in area backyards.

1.

“The trends are leaning to outdoor living spaces. It used to be heavy on planting with smaller patios. Nowadays, people want less maintenance, less mowing. The plantings aren’t as expensive as they used to be. We’re not planting nearly as many trees as we used to.

“The patio structures are larger and entertainment areas are more advanced. We’re seeing more sound systems and pergolas, fire pits, fireplaces with chimneys, wood burning and gas, barbecue and grill areas, plus pizza ovens.

“We’re also seeing many more pool properties with shaded structures and

2.

3.

18

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retaining walls.

“Some like water features. We do pond-less systems that have a waterfall and a creek that goes right through the back yard and re-circulates the water with a pump. Unlike ponds, you won’t have to add much water. They are very low maintenance.”

Gary Smith, founder, Nature’s Accents, Inc., Penfield

4.

5.

“It’s all about backyard living, with furniture, lights and kitchens outdoors. People want to live outdoors while the weather is nice.

“Homeowners want water features like bubbling boulders and waterfalls, but not ponds, which are high-maintenance.

“Pergolas with outdoor lighting are big, along with accent path lighting with low voltage LED lights.

You can stay out later and enjoy this

6.

7.

nice space you’ve created.

“Gray and natural stone pavers and hearth-scapes are popular. Wooden decks need paint and stain and still end up rotting. These pavers are here forever.”

Lee Frisbee, owner, Frisbee’s Landscaping, Ponds and Patios in Rochester

8.

9.

“People want their gardens to have more flowers and fewer bushes. They want more small plants. They’re easier to keep up than large plantings.

“People want edging put in. They don’t like the plastic edging around their gardens and want more modern stone edging. That really looks nice and will last a long, long time.

“I’m seeing more gray landscape blocks and black landscaping mulch around plantings. It changes how the whole house looks to update with new mulch.”

Stuart Westcott, owner, Westcott Landscaping, Webster

10.

11.

12.

“Living coral is the color of the year.

You’ll see pops of bright colors in the landscape, like bench cushions, umbrellas and plantings like roses, zinnias and petunias.

“They’re going high tech with portable charging stations and automated shade structures for the pergola. They’re doing a lot more with lighting. Instead of lights, you

13.

can see hung around the backyard and impressive fixtures, they want it streamlined and they’re having them recessed in the bricks and pavers.

“Even the pavers are getting streamlined. They always had a textured look. Now they’re smooth.

Some are doing wood grain and even some that look light hardwood floors.

“I’m seeing more two-in-one retaining walls that are also seating.

“People want to create spaces that bring health, happiness and relaxation. As fast-paced as the world is, that’s what people want to enjoy the moments they are home.

“Low maintenance plantings are what people want because they want to simplify their gardens. They ask for perennials, since those come back. They plant shrubs that aren’t messy and native plants. They want irrigation systems so that at a push of the button, their gardens are watered.

“Food-scaping — growing fruits and vegetables right in the landscaping — is a big trend. It’s a two-in-one: something beautiful in the landscape, like edible berries.

Holly Cirella, vice president, Van Putte Gardens, Rochester

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Some backyard trends emphasize outdoor living spaces, which can include fireplace, pergola and pizza ovens and barbecue grills. “People want to create spaces that bring health, happiness and relaxation,” says Holly Cirella, vice president, Van Putte Gardens, Rochester. Photos by Chipper Hatter, courtesy of Van Putte Gardens.

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19

Gardening with Grandkids Playing in dirt isn’t just loads of fun – it’s healthy, too

By Kimberly Blaker

T

here’s no question, playing in the dirt tops the list of fun for young children despite the protests of many well-in-

tentioned grandparents and parents.

If you’re one of those grandparents, you can put your fears aside.

It turns out dirt is actually bene-

ficial to the long-term health of kids, according to a Northwestern University article, “Germs at Four, Less Inflammation at Forty,” by Clare Milliken. Studies have found that early exposure to certain germs, like those found in dirt, actually help kids’ immune systems learn to better regulate inflammation. In turn, this exposure reduces kids’ risk for a number of diseases throughout their lives.

For that reason, a family garden is a perfect opportunity to build your grandkids’ immune systems. Better still, gardening offers lots of other benefits to kids and grandparents.

Through gardening, kids learn to be responsible by caring for their own plants. It’s also a great way to help kids learn about and develop an appreciation for science. Another health benefit is that gardening encourages healthier eating. Not to mention, it’s a great activity for family bonding.

So gather up your grandkids and gardening supplies, head outdoors, and get ready for some dirt-filled fun.

Getting started

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First, decide where to plant your garden. Then allot a small space for your grandchild to have his or her own garden, too. This will help build your grandchild’s enthusiasm for the garden and encourage him or her to take ownership and responsibility for it. Having their own garden is especially exciting and rewarding for kids because they know that they, alone (or with minimal help), grew those little seeds into a marvelous plant.

Next, decide what to plant. For young children, consider fast-growing plants your grandkids are familiar with. Little kids also love plants that are colorful or have strong scents.

If your grandkids are older, let them choose what they want to grow.

Keep in mind your grandchild’s personality, though. If your grandkid tends to be impatient, suggest plants

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Sonnenberg Gardens is looking for Volunteers. We welcome your help in keeping Sonnenberg’s buildings, landscapes, and story alive for another 100 years. A wide range of volunteer help is needed to keep our historic treasure open to the public.

Call us or submit an application at sonnenberg.org/volunteer to get started.

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that are easy to care for and grow quickly.

As you proceed in planning and preparation, include your grandchild in it as much as possible. Remember, this stage is as much fun for kids as it is for grandparents and helps build kids’ enthusiasm. Also, let your grandkids help you draw up the garden plan. If they’re old enough, they can also create their own shopping list.

When you go shopping for the supplies, take your grandkids along, and let them pick out their own seeds and gardening tools. For the safety of young children, look for kids’ gardening tools made of durable plastic.

Deb Adams

Planting your garden When you begin planting, show your grandchild how to plant the seeds and how to properly space them apart. Then have him or her water the seeds as directed.

To help your grandchild take responsibility for their own garden, put a gardening task list on the refrigerator for when your child visits.

Also, to help your grandchild maintain enthusiasm, suggest he keep a garden log. Your grandchild can record the date of plantings, gardening activities, when each plant sprouts, the amount of growth of the plants, and the harvesting of the plants.

Finally, after harvesting, have your grandchild help you prepare the vegetables. Offer different ways to prepare or cook them to help your grandchild develop a life-long love for fresh, healthy veggies.

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May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

21

55+

decor

Sweet Charity Resale Boutique & Shop in Fairport is filled with everything — from antique, retro furniture and home decor to vintage jewelry and unique artwork.

Sweet Charity Resale shop helps support Advent House, a comfort care home for the terminally ill

By Christine Green

E

very time Meg Sarnoff walks into Sweet Charity Resale Boutique & Shop in Fairport, she thinks, “What am I going to find today that I didn’t know I needed, but now I can’t live without?”

The shop is filled with everything from beautiful antique and retro furniture and home decor to vintage 22

55 PLUS - May / June 2019

jewelry and unique artwork. There is always a little something tempting Sarnoff who, as co-manager along with Nancy Loughran, is there daily.

Sweet Charity opened in December of 2017 to provide a source of funding to support Advent House, a two-bedroom comfort care home for the terminally ill in Fairport.

Advent House is an outreach

ministry of Perinton Ecumenical Ministries and residents pay absolutely no fees.

The home also does not receive any insurance funds.

Thoroughly trained volunteers provide services, while money for the upkeep of the home comes from PEM churches, private donations, fundraisers and from Sweet Charity profits.

“When a family is going through something like this, they don’t need to think about how they are going to pay for it. It’s all taken care of. We just want everyone to feel at home,” said Sarnoff.

Advent House first opened in 1987, and in 1995, it moved to its current location. As anyone who has moved homes knows, packing and unpacking is a great time to get rid of items that one no longer needs.

This was the case for Advent House. It hosted its first garage sale that year. The garage sale grew in size every year as the public donated items to sell. For a time, it held the sale at the local VFW hall until it was moved again to St. John of Rochester until 2017. Then, Sweet Charity opened its doors at 650 Whitney Road in Fairport.

Vicki Deady, Advent House development coordinator, said sales have been solid.

“They exceeded our expectations in the first year, and they’ve certainly exceeded what we anticipated with the annual garage sale. In the beginning, there was a huge outpouring of items and that has not abated. We are so incredibly blessed to live in this community because the folks are so generous and have been so supportive,” she said.

Sweet Charity accepts high-quality, best-of-condition home and personal goods such as furniture, lighting, jewelry, and artwork. The shop posted a full list of items it accepts at theadventhouse.org.

Music Festival & Fireworks by Grucci Running Sweet Charity are Meg Meg Sarnoff, left, and Nancy Loughran, right. In the middle is Vicki Deady, Advent House development coordinator.

If the organization cannot take a donation, it refers people to other local charitable resale shops such as the Tool Thrift Shop, The Corner Bookstore, or Crafts Bits and Pieces.

“We’re trying to be very good stewards of what we get and keep things out of the landfill. But we also try and benefit the community. If somebody is donating to us, they really want their money to stay in their community,” said Loughran.

July 25-28, 2019

Eat the food you enjoy. Spend time with the people you love. Partake in the traditions your remember.

Visit Us At: www.oswegoharborfest.com Thank you to our Sponsors: Ameriprise, Ashley Lynn Winery, A-Verdi, Bame’s Wine & Liquor, Burke’s Home Center, C&S Companies, C’s Farm Market, Canale Ins. & Accounting, Century 21 Galloway, Childrens’ Board of Oswego, City of Oswego, Community Bank, Dinosaur Radio, Eagle Beverage, Eastern Shore, Exelon Generation, Fulton Savings Bank, Glider Oil, Kallet Theater, Kinney Drugs, Lowes, NYS Canal Corporation, National Grid, NBT Bank, Novelis, NRG, Oswego County, Oswego Health, Oswego Speedway, Oswego Wine & Liquor, Pathfinder Bank, Port of Oswego Authority, Price Chopper, Rudy’s, Sprague, Suburban Propane, Sutton Real Estate/ MCK Construction, Usherwood, Wayne Drugs, WOLF Radio.

Brighter Views

Brighter Views is a series of ongoing classes for Brighter Views Brighter Views is a series individuals 55 and older, who of ongoing classes for Volunteer-driven organization individuals 55 and older, who are living with vision loss.

Sweet Charity, as well as Advent

House, depends heavily on the time and skills of volunteers. About 80 volunteers support the shop. They help organize, work the register, clean, sort, and take on any other task typical of a retail store.

“We try to make volunteering here very easy for folks,” noted Loughran, who developed an online calendar system to make volunteering simple for anyone wishing to help out at the store. “We recognize that our volunteers are probably volunteering for many different organizations, and we love that they’re giving some of their time to us. So, we try and make it easy.

We don’t have any trouble filling the slots even with the ‘snow birds’ or those who might go to a cottage for the summer.”

It isn’t just the volunteer staff that

are living with vision loss.

This program is presented at This program is presented atparticipants. no cost to no cost to participants.

Brighter Views is offered by the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI). Participants learn from Vision Rehabilitation specialists who teach various ways the participants can use their eyesight to their fullest advantage.

Brighter Views is offered by the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI). Participants learn Interested? from Vision RehabilitationPlease specialists Contact us today by phone at: who teach various ways the (585) 642-6386 via email participants can use theiroreyesight toat: Brighterviews@ their fullest advantage. goodwillfingerlakes.org continued next page

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

23

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Strengthen your mind and body post diagnosis and treatment. All levels of rowers welcome (men and women 22+). No experience needed for this amazing sport.

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55 PLUS - May / June 2019

is loyal to Sweet Charity and its mission of supporting Advent House.

The customers come back time and time again as well.

Sarnoff said the store is a friendly place that people enjoy coming to not only to shop, but to visit with the staff and with each other. “We have customers that come at least once a week and some that come more often than that,” she said as she waved to some repeat customers browsing the new goods on the floor.

Deady remarked that the success of Sweet Charity is due in large part to the dedication and “super powers” of managers Loughran and Sarnoff.

“One of them is this beautiful store, but they also have relationships with their customers. This is like “Cheers”; it just creates this atmosphere and people are happy to be here. It feels like a home to customers, like a place where they want to come hang out for an hour. We’re very, very grateful to them for that.”

Sweet Charity also offers pick-up and delivery service two days a week for those unsure of how to transport large and bulky pieces of furniture or decor. “We have not had a day since we started offering this where we haven’t picked up or delivered something on those two days a week that we offer it,” said Loughran.

It’s clear that Sarnoff, Loughran, the Sweet Charity staff, and their customers have a special place in their hearts for the work they do and for Advent House.

“At this point in life, I’ve decided I’m only going to do things that bring me joy and make me happy,” said Sarnoff. “I love coming here every day. I love my volunteers, I love my coworkers, and I love the customers.”

Facebook.com/osheratrit

For information about volunteering with Sweet Charity or Advent House, visit theadventhouse. org.

To shop or donate items to Sweet Charity, customers can visit the shop at 650 Whitney Road, Fairport, call 585-364-0317 or email sweetcharityfairport@gmail.com.

To see regular photo updates from the store, visit the Sweet Charity Facebook and Instagram profiles.

Social Security

Q&A Q: How can I check the status of a pending application for retirement benefits?

A: If you applied for retirement or disability benefits online, you can check the status of your application at www.socialsecurity. gov by selecting “Benefits” and “Check Application Status” under “Apply.” You will need to enter your Social Security number and the confirmation code you received when you filed online.

Your application status will show: • The date we received your application; • Any requests for additional documents; • The address of the office processing your application; and • If a decision has been made.

Q: What is the earliest age I can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits?

A: The earliest age you can begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits is age 62. If you decide to receive benefits before your full retirement age, which for most people is age 66 or 67, you will receive a reduced benefit. Keep in mind you will not be able to receive Medicare coverage until age 65, even if you decide to retire at an earlier age. For more information, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/retire.

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25

55+ mystery

Cracking a Cold Case Rochester’s infamous “Double Initial Murders” won’t die due to new book, continuing coverage

By Christine Green

M

ichael Benson, 62, and Donald Tubman, 72, just can’t let things go.

At least not when it comes to unsolved Rochester crimes.

Their new book, “Nightmare in Rochester: The Double Initial Murders,” explores the infamous Double Initial Murders of the 1970s.

Nightmare isn’t the first case they’ve worked on together. They began their investigative research as a team in 2012 when Benson, a prolific writer with over 60 books to his name, was investigating the 1966 deaths of George Ann Formicola and Kathy Bernhard.

The murdered girls were Benson’s neighbors in Chili where he was living with his family. At the time of their deaths, he was just a little boy.

Learning of such a terrible crime made a lasting impression on his psyche.

The horror and mystery haunted him his entire life.

Tubman also grew up in Chili and his gut told him there were more clues out there regarding Formicola and Bernhard. His gut feelings were well honed during his time as a police officer and sergeant with the Wheatland Police for 17 years, a New York state senior criminal investigator for the Office of Professional Discipline for 20, and his current work as a private investigator and criminal defense investigator.

He knew that Benson, a fellow graduate from Wheatland-Chili High School, was a writer and had written true crime. He reached out and offered his expertise. Four years later, in 2016, Rowman and Littlefield published Benson’s “The Devil at Genesee Junction.”

26

55 PLUS - May / June 2019

Michael Benson and Donald Tubman are the authors of , “Nightmare in Rochester: The Double Initial Murders,” which explores the infamous Double Initial Murders of the 1970s.

Collective trauma After the release of “The Devil at Genesee Junction,” the team focused its efforts on the Rochester area’s most memorable and horrific crimes — the so-called Double Initial Murders in the 1970s.

Three young girls, each with the same letter of their first and last names, were kidnapped and murdered beginning with Carmen Colon in 1971.

Then came the death of Wanda Walkowicz in 1973, followed

by Michelle Maenza later that year. These crimes seared themselves into the collective memories of Rochesterians over the course of the last 48 years.

Benson refers to these series of murders as “community traumas” for all of Rochester just as the Formicola and Bernhard murders were traumatic for him and the entire town of Chili.

“Nightmare in Rochester” is a heavily researched nonfiction account of the crimes written with a deep respect for the victims and their families.

The book — laden with previously unknown facts and interviews with eyewitnesses and family members — has touched a chord in the community and has caught the eye of seasoned homicide investigator Mark Mariano of Spencerport. Mariano retired in 2008 from his position as the commanding officer of the Rochester Police Department’s major crimes unit.

“I read ‘Nightmare in Rochester’ as quickly as I have ever read any book,” said Mariano. “As someone who actually was a member of a task force to solve those mur- ders, I actually learned facts that I had never known. I commented to Michael that the research they conducted and some new information gleaned was absolutely incredible. I was mesmerized by the amount of research they did and wondered what magic they performed to obtain it!”

Mariano added their investigation has revealed there is still some “meat on the bone” to the case and that “the framing of the story they told and bringing it to light again cause people to start thinking and talking. There are some active leads that are going to be followed up on pursuant to their work.”

Community healing Investigating and writing a book like “Nightmare” isn’t always easy and Tubman and Benson often came up against dead-end leads, reluctant witnesses, and conflicting stories.

It also put them in the company of some shady characters. But trudging through the lurid details and messy evidence was all worth it in the end.

“The woman who was stalked with Wanda Walkowicz told me that I have mended something inside her,” said Benson when asked about the business end of writing and selling a true crime book. “That’s the kind of success you can’t measure in money.”

Benson gave a talk about the book at the Chili library recently, an event that drew 147 people with some turned away.

There were times that afternoon that a quiet, reverent hush fell over the gathered crowd as he spoke about the loss of the three victims. Around the room, people were connecting and remembering the shared sadness and fear that many still carry with them today.

“It’s something I never anticipated that would happen in my life. It’s a good feeling,” Tubman remarked about the impact the book has had on the Rochester community.

Like Benson, he is happy his work has led him to not only new clues but to new people. “You don’t get to know just the bad guys; you also get to know the good people, too,” he said.

Benson and Tubman recruited Deb Sperling, a writer living in Rochester with a background in journalism and a fluency in Spanish, to help interview the family of the first victim, Carmen Colon.

“It nev- er quite hit me how important the work really was until I met with Guillermina and Maria Colon and saw first-hand how deeply Carmen’s loss affected their lives,” Sperling said. “The idea that the families affected by these tragedies could finally, after all these years, get some answers about what happened to their loved ones is what motivates me to do this work. Sure, people love a good story, and that’s important too. But the most important reason to do this work is the possibility of bringing some closure to these families. Even if we never find the killers, I know first-hand that talking about your story and seeing it in print can be a really effective way of processing trauma, and I feel lucky to be a part of that process.”

Team approach Even though the book is finished, the investigation is still ongoing. Benson, Tubman, and Sperling are actively pursuing new and old clues. When Tubman gets some new information or a lead that is hot, he calls Benson right away.

“When Don calls hyperventilating, I know it’s really good! He’s emotionally driven to solve this case.

That’s something we have in common. We just can’t stand it that these

bastards are getting away with this. I don’t worry about Don giving up because he never, ever will.”

Tubman also likes working with Benson, and said, “Michael and I have a chemistry that we can talk and think and figure things out that just aren’t there for others to see. We respect each other, and there is a certain confidence we have in each other.”

Sperling watched Tubman and Benson work tirelessly on this case and is proud to work with them.

“Mike really, really believes in the work that he’s doing. He really wants to see these killers brought to justice and the families find some closure.

He has a strong personal connection to the work and it shows,” Sperling said. “He could strike up a conversation with anyone in the world and make them feel like his best friend within minutes. Don is extremely thorough in his research and tends to deal more in cold, hard facts — which is quite counter-intuitive to his quirky personality. They are both a joy to work with.”

In addition to continuing the Double Initials investigation, Benson is also writing a new book about famous mobster Albert Anastasia with co-author Frank Dimatteo. He also regularly appears on television shows such as ABC’s “20/20,” “Murder in the Family” with Geraldo Rivera, “Inside Evil” with Chris Cuomo, “People Magazine Investigates,” “Evil Twins”, and “Evil Kin.” Tubman keeps busy with his work as a private investigator and a criminal defense investigator for Livingston, Monroe, and Steuben counties.

Together, they are investigating another cold case involving teenagers Jack King and Shari Smoyer. The young couple was shot on a lover’s lane in 1963 in Pittsford.

Learn more about Tubman and Benson’s work at the Gates Library Annual Fundraiser on May 2. News 10 NBC’s Nikki Rudd will moderate Benson’s presentation about the case and book. Learn more at gateslibrary.org. www.gateslibrary.org/ news/3rd-annual-fundraiser-savethe-date/ “Nightmare in Rochester” is available at area booksellers as well as on Amazon.

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The Green Party Activist Alex White, 55, has twice run for mayor and says his political aspirations, which involve basic changes to the way Rochester treats itself and its citizens, are not yet quenched

By John Addyman

Y

ou don’t take Alex White with a grain of salt.

Not him.

He is what he is, and he can’t help it.

And what he wants to do is to help you. Help you understand. Help you right a wrong. Help you make things better. Help you get off the couch or the front porch and give a hand to a neighbor.

White, 55, of Rochester, is well known in some, but not many circles.

If you attend city council meetings, you know him as the erudite questioner whose thorny propositions can crease eyebrows. He is well versed in city issues — he’s run for

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mayor twice.

As a small businessman, you may know him as someone who seems to have answers to lots of questions.

And you’ve heard that he has gone to bat for others like you with the city — and has been effective.

To people who are disenfranchised in one or many ways, you may know him as the gentle soul who does his best to provide substance, or ideas, or action.

Green Party faithful know him as a mayoral candidate who raised new consciousness about their party, a group that may have come to the realization that the things he believes in are just now being cast in a national

limelight.

And to a smaller group of bright, imaginative people — of just about all ages — he is an expert gamer with a vast knowledge of history and tactics. In fact, he owns Boldo’s Armory, a game shop on Monroe Avenue that hosts regular events.

To friends, he’s repeatedly described as either the “smartest person in the room” or the “best-prepared guy in a discussion.”

“He has a very genuine concern for the city of Rochester,” said longtime friend Heather Knappen. “He’s very involved in political groups, does a lot of work as a business lead-

Alex White in his Boldo’s Armory, a game shop on Monroe Avenue, Rochester. He has been in business for 23 years.

er, volunteers, is very engaged in his community, and is very professional in helping people.”

Product of Webster schools Born in Rochester but a product of the Webster schools, White earned his degree in history-math from St. John Fisher and left school with a teaching certificate. He earned a master’s degree from SUNY Brockport in history, and completed everything but his dissertation in a PhD history program at SUNY Binghamton. He worked long-term substitute teaching positions in Webster, Penfield and Fairport schools.

When he ran out of steam at SUNY Binghamton, he started looking for jobs outside teaching. He ended up at Frontier Communications as

“He’s one of the smartest guys I know. But he’s also one of quirkiest — in a good way. He’s not afraid to take on something or work with others who aren’t going in the same direction. He’ll do things that aren’t mainstream, that don’t go along with what everybody is doing.”

Dave Sutliff-Atias, Alex White’s campaign manager. a security programmer, integrating new employees and acquired companies into Frontier legacy systems.

Job changes and labor-union issues were uncomfortable for him, and he went back into teaching with renewed vigor, at St. Josaphat Catholic School, teaching seventh grade.

And there, his creativity ran into an immovable object.

“I had to teach the kids how to do an experiment,” he said. “I found this great lesson using paper airplanes.

The amount of paper you fold has a direct bearing on how far it will fly.

The kids made planes of different designs, measured the flight on grid marks on the floor, recording their data.”

From his perspective, White saw a successful class.

“My principal, she saw mayhem,” he said. The 70-year-old nun complained about the “chaos” in his class.

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Alex White examines the miniature NATO tanks being deployed by gamer Charles Meyer, a teacher and former armored personnel driver, as Meyers and Tim Bills (not pictured) get ready to do battle as would have happened in Tom Clancy’s novel “Red Storm Rising.”

three months in the school.

He and a friend, Pat Ludwig, were gamers, and they had collected a bunch of gaming stuff. They went to a convention to sell their extra stuff and made money. “It went like crazy,” White said. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be a great excuse to spend weekends at conventions?’”

After two years, the hobby turned into a business when, in 1996, White opened his game store, Boldo’s Armory, tucked a little off the street at 891 Monroe Ave., Rochester.

Along the way, White took over the care of his father, whose stroke had left him requiring lots of support.

When memory issues were added in, White had to make some moves.

He acquired a foreclosed, abandoned house, partially funded by money he’d saved and from proceeds from the store.

Taking care of his dad was one challenge; making this house livable was something else.

“I found out that I really enjoyed working with my hands,” he said. Doors and windows had to be replaced, drywall had to be patched and redone, water tanks had to be replaced, plumbing issues were evident, and the bathroom had to be rebuilt to accommodate his father’s needs. White built a ramp into the house. “The house was huge,” he noted.

White had to keep working, but his dad needed 24-hour care.

“I ‘rented’ rooms out to people on condition they helped with dad,” White explained. “He had lost his memory and I was terrified he’d turn on the stove and forget about it. He had to have someone in the evening, and someone had to feed him.”

White found those people, trading rooms for service.

Since his early activist days of the ‘70s, that’s what White has repeatedly done — find ways to bring people together in mutually beneficial ways.

And sometimes, you have to press.

Miniature armies, battle horsemen and tanks in Alex White’s Boldo’s Armory shop.

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Taking on City Hall

A

lex White first got involved with Rochester City Council politics over an issue of displaying a business certificate. “After all their years of not making things better in Rochester, the council approved a certificate of use for businesses,” said White. “Among many problems with this idea was that the certificate had to be visible within eight feet of the doorway, with a picture of the owner, the owner’s home address, phone number and Social Security number. That was really an identity theft permit or rape permit. In 2004, I organized a group of business owners to stop this. We refused to get the permits and were threatened with $10,000 fines.

“The city could not see the problem. They also wanted a full inspection of a building — even if the business occupied only a part of it. It was a bad piece of legislation. There were 30 small businesses really active in fighting it, all my size. The city was targeting barbershops, strangely.

The whole law was inconceivable; it was an excuse to do an unwarranted search.”

White began faithfully attending city council meetings.

“I started to notice the incredible nonsense going on, how the city was funneling money to developers, creating an unfair environment for investors,” he said. He gave an example of the Erie Harbor Apartments, where rentals were at least $1,700 a month, an initiative that was supported by council.

To White, it was public money making wealthy people wealthier.

“Nobody was talking about it,” he said. “No one understood what was going on. No one wrote a news item about it.”

“Now they’re cutting services in schools where they haven’t raised school taxes in 15 years. Council approves $100 million in tax breaks yearly to big developers, with loans and grants and other business subsidies. It just seems to me to be crimi-

nal,” he said.

Some friends of his in the Green Party urged him to run for mayor in 2009, but he couldn’t qualify when too many of his petition signatures were challenged.

In 2011, he made the ballot and got 9 percent of the vote and some eyes opened. He ran on a platform of reducing crime, working to deal with poverty in the city, and improving the city budget.

By the 2013 election, when two Democrats were running for mayor, Lovely Warren and Tom Richards, White had honed his message, gotten more help, and launched a better campaign.

He told anyone who would listen he wanted to create jobs for local people, get police out of their cars and on foot patrol, stop handouts to wealthy landlords and developers, “and start to take education seriously,” he said.

White tirelessly participated in 37 public forums. “I did very well in these discussions. I had studied for two years,” he said.

Although White came in a distant third in the election, his campaign manager, Dave Sutliff-Atias, said, “The numbers don’t really tell the story. This was a unique election with Tom Richards and Lovely Warren splitting the vote.”

And Alex White was an unusual candidate.

“He’s one of the smartest guys I know,” said Sutliff-Atias, “But he’s also one of quirkiest — in a good way.

He’s not afraid to take on something or work with others who aren’t going in the same direction. He’ll do things that aren’t mainstream, that don’t go along with what everybody is doing.

“The type of business he’s involved in, the places he volunteers his time for like OACES [Office of Adult Career Education Services, which places 400-600 people in jobs every year], whether he gets anything out of it or not, he will help small business owners because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Almost everything

he does is toward making the community a better place.”

Sutliff-Atias said White’s presence in 2013 opened a dialogue that caused change after the votes were tallied. “We had talked about cooperative business prospects and all of a sudden, city hall started to do co-ops.

It was a step,” he said.

White was on the ballot again in 2017, in a wider election that featured Republican Tony Micciche, Working Families candidate Jim Sheppard and the winner, again, Warren. He got about the same number of votes, but with all those candidates, total votes were a bit higher.

Ray Lairmore was active in that 2017 campaign. “I helped him talk to the right people; I helped him write speeches,” he said. “As a speaker, Alex is very technical, not exactly dramatic with hand gestures. Not political. He knew everything about everything. I’d watch him when he spoke to a group and ask questions of him to provide a little more context.”

Checks and balances White liked to tell a story in those speeches about the city council trying to sell a parking garage with a huge tax break involved. White told council in a meeting that selling the garage that way would be illegal, and he was right. “Apparently you didn’t read the law and I did,” White told councilors.

Lairmore said White doesn’t have a politician’s heart; he has an activist’s heart.

“What’s driving him is that he really cares about these issues; they’re wrong because they’re wrong. He doesn’t like the illogicalness of it all. For instance, how can they cut city programs for after-school classes when they are cutting taxes for big companies? He tells the council, ‘You’re not trying.’”

“Every city council member knows Alex well,” said Sutliff-Atias.

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“Alex is very sincere and very genuine,” said Knappen. “He will take time to, when you get to him as a person, get to know you and what your interests are. He tries to engage you. He will try to connect you with the community. He’s is also so very sincere in his political voice: He takes on projects in his community where he can raise public awareness.”

Lairmore and Knappen point to White’s teaching experience as part of his persona as an organizer and would-be politician.

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“He’s an educator,” said Knappen. He said White takes time in those personal connections, time to engage people, time to really work through teaching a game or talking to people to really help them understand why something is important.

“It’s a more professorial kind of approach which is unique. He cares about people understanding.”

Sitting in his shop on a quiet Saturday morning before customers wander in, White talks about the things that get under his skin — the

amount of poverty in Rochester, a lack of positive interactions with police, the lack of jobs paying above minimum wage in the city, no programs for kids after school, library hours and services cutbacks.

“We could make a substantial investment in Rochester if we stopped giving money away to developers,” he said. “If we work with smaller businesses, we’ll have more connections with more people, and older people, and we could start to make some real changes,” White said.

Spending money on training people gets them off the streets, into jobs, and paying taxes. “You don’t need a high school education to hold a job.

We could be doing this on a bigger level,” he said.

“I feel like I’m living in a game sometimes, where the comic book villain, the evil leader of the library, closed the libraries and gave everything to rich people, and is ruining the schools. I’m living in that world right now. There’s been a 40 percent reduction in recreation spending. No libraries are open on Sundays and just a few are open in evenings.

“More than half of Rochester households do not have internet access in the home. How do you do a job application today? We have made a world that will trap people in the lowest economic situation.”

Boldo’s Armory makes a profit.

White and his two partners have enjoyed a steady income and faithful returning customers. “People come in here and want to have a good time and I help them,” he said.

He sells tickets to events — $12 for five hours of activity, at least, and the games themselves, which line the walls. He also deals in expensive miniature armies.

And when he finally decided to step from the sidelines into the political arena, what prompted him was the feeling that he should use his privilege to help others.

The store doesn’t have to look like much because so much of what happens inside is in the minds of some very creative, knowledgeable people.

They don’t care that the carpeting is uneven or dirty or that the back room is filled with empty soda cans. They create the scenes, the scenarios and the players in their minds.

And owning the shop has transformed White, who left the stress and

migraines of prior jobs working for someone else.

“I’m very fortunate, health-wise,” he said. But he does walk a mile in radius from his shop every day, “and I do a lot of biking — everywhere. I attend a lot of meetings and I like to bike because then I don’t have to park. It’s two miles downtown to community meetings. I try to bike more times than I drive. I walk to the store at least 25 times a month for six months.”

Socially, his partner, Noel, adds to his life and helps keep him centered.

“I met her at the store 20 years ago,” he said.

They have friends they visit and invite over to — what else? — play games. “More like ‘Settlers of Catan’ than some of the elaborate battles run at the store,” he noted.

His political career isn’t over, and he comfortably enjoys the game shop business.

So he is recharging for the next election cycle and has a brief message he believes in. ”We need to reinvigorate the spirit of democracy,” he said.

Part of that starts with connecting to others. White wants to work with House of Mercy and St. Joseph’s to get people out of homeless shelters and into housing units. “That’s a project that keeps going back and forth in my mind. Every night in Rochester we have more homeless people than we have beds and it’s a growing problem. There are people at House of Mercy now who would move into transition housing, but there isn’t any,” he said.

Wistful, he believes he and others showed common folks how to organize and change things in 2004 and the lessons from then are still driving efforts for change.

And he knows he has been a messenger.

“I’ve gone from no one talking about tax breaks and corporate welfare, to now everyone talking about those issues,” he said. “I feel very good about what I’ve done. I have made a difference. I’m still young and there’s so much I can do.

“When you run for office, things change. You always carry on a valuable dialogue that’s helpful. I’m still fighting.”

By John Addyman

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What Illness Lands the Most of Us in the Emergency Room?

You don’t have to face hearing loss alone.

The Rochester Chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) unites people with all degrees of hearing loss.

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The Breast Cancer Coalition can help!

“Surviving & Thriving on Aromatase Inhibitors” is a program that empowers you to take charge of your health and well-being.

Call 585-473-8177 or visit www.bccr.org This program is supported with funds from the State of New York.

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F

or seniors who often find themselves in the ER, complications from diabetes is the most common culprit, new research shows.

Not only that, these chronically ill patients remain in the hospital longer and require more treatment and resources, noted the authors of the study. It was published in the Jan. 28 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The researchers examined 2014 data on California seniors defined as frequent users, meaning they visited an ED six times or more that year.

The most common conditions that took them to an emergency room were diabetes (26 percent), chronic pulmonary disease (21.5 percent), kidney disease (19 percent), congestive heart failure (16 percent), and peripheral vascular disease, or PAD (15 percent), which is blockage or damage to veins or arteries.

Compared to less frequent ED users, frequent users were more likely to have been admitted/transferred (86 percent vs.

44.6 percent) and to discontinue care (8 percent vs. 2 percent).

Frequent users were more likely to have more than one health problem, and 20 percent of them visited three or more hospitals during the study year.

“This study shows that there are opportunities for cost savings and more targeted preventive efforts across the care continuum for older patients,” said study co-author Kelly Ko. He is director of clinical research at West Health, a nonprofit medical research organization.

In 2012, seniors accounted for 15 percent of the U.S. population but 21 percent of total health spending and almost half of the top 1 percent of spending, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

More than 15 percent of U.S. emergency department visits are made by patients 65 and older, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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barbershop Barber Henry Besanceney at his barber shop in Honeoye Falls with Gary Albright, a client. The shop is filled with antiques, books on wine, paintings and his original art — all that with jazz playing in the background.

The Renaissance Man Pride of Honeoye Falls is cut above the rest

By Lynette Loomis

W

alking into Henry Besanceney’s “barber shop” is like walking into no other place where men gather for a haircut.

At 83, Henry’s personality shines through the décor and mirrors his personality. Oriental carpets, books on wine, his original art, and jazz playing in the background set a welcoming atmosphere.

Antiques take the place of traditional glossy floors and sinks. An overstuffed sofa and rocking chairs suggest that more than a snip and cut have kept customers coming to his shop in Honeoye Falls for decades.

His customers love the atmosphere and hold deep affection and respect for their barber.

How has life played out for this multi-talented man?

Besanceney says much of his life occurred by chance. After serving stateside in the U.S. Marine Corps at the end of the Korean War, Besanceney returned home to southern Ohio where jobs were in short supply. An off-hand mention of employment opportunities in the Rochester area by relatives in Hemlock ultimately brought the young veteran to Honeoye Falls.

He soon had his eye on a girl named Shirley who worked at a local restaurant he frequented.

When Shirley seemed uninterested, a friend said to her, “Give the guy a break, go out with him.” Reluctantly, she agreed. They have been married for more than 60 years.

Not one to let an opportunity for a joke slide by, he says they had three kids, “one of each.” They have five grandkids and keeping in touch with them through their preferred medium is why Besanceney learned to text.

Shirley’s father, Joe Mamoone, was a barber and suggested Besanceney receive training to work with him at the barbershop. “I tried it and liked it. My father-in-law and I were in business together for 25 years. We spent a great deal of free time together hunting and fishing or going to his camp in the Adirondacks. He was really a father to me, not just a fatherin-law,” Besanceney reminisces.

Many of Besanceney’s clients have been with him for decades and three generations. Some who started out in a booster chair are grandfathers today.

When Rochester was a hub of industry, frequent customers were CEOs and executives. Colby Chandler (CEO of Eastman Kodak in the ‘80s) was a customer. He and Besanceney shared gardening strategies along with opinions on art and music. Richard “Skip” LeFauve, who held high-level executive positions at General Motors, also was a customer.

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“Both being military veterans, we covered the world in our conversation,” says Besanceney.

One customer who changed Besanceney’s view of the world had been a navigator on a bomber in World War II and later became a priest and educator. Besanceney always booked the priest for an hour because he knew they would continue to discuss philosophy, history, art and religion long after the haircut was finished.

Gary Albright has been a customer of Besanceney’s for decades.

“It’s always a good experience to have a haircut by Henry,” Albright said. “How many other barbers can talk intelligently to you about wine, jazz, and art? Personally, I know nothing about wine, but I do enjoy the music and art. Frequently, I find myself discussing Henry’s pastels, viewing his art books, and sharing museum experiences.”

Multi-lingual Besanceney felt that with French ancestry, he should learn the language, and he set about to do just that. He says he is a better reader of the language than a fluent speaker but could speak “traveler’s French” when he and his wife traveled to

France.

“When we went to Europe, we always stayed in small towns and away from the large cities. I felt I learned so much more about the true culture by staying in bed and breakfast homes and small hotels,” he said.

He also took this opportunity to investigate his own genealogy by reading old records and original documents, all written in French. He traced his lineage back to 1609.

One of his favorite places to travel is Quebec Province. Quebec City offers a taste of France, and Montreal is the site of the highly regarded International Exposition of the Societe’ de Pastel de l’Est du Canada (Pastel Society of Eastern Canada).

Although he has won many awards in local art and pastel shows, Besanceney is most proud of having his works chosen for exhibit in the Société’s juried International Exposition each of the three years he submitted his work.

A history buff, Besanceney has studied local history. He loves the small-town atmosphere of Honeoye Falls and has served on the planning and zoning boards in the village for two decades. His earnest desire is to help the town grow but also to preserve the sense of neighborhood that draws people to the village.

Honeoye Falls Mayor Rick Milne

says of Besanceney, “Henry Besanceney is a dedicated village resident and business owner who just happens to do some painting on the side.

Henry has been a key contributor to our community from a service standpoint and brought a sensible demeanor to our Zoning Board of Appeals as chairperson. I believe those that came before the ZBA always knew that Henry wanted to do what was right for the village and also wanted to support the needs of the person or client before the board.

People like Henry Besanceney are what make small villages great places to live and work.”

In this third stage of life, Besanceney feels like a man of riches between his family, friends and customers and good health to practice all of his crafts. He rides a tricycle through town in the summer, despite knee and ankle issues. In between customers, he recreates nature through his art and listens to music with a special love for works from the ‘40s and ‘50s.

His one rule? “Never nap in the shop.”

No matter when he’s asked about retirement, the answer is always the same: “Um, I’ll give it another year.” Anyone who knows him would agree that this man never slows down.

Besanceney’s favorite hobby is pastel painting. He has won several awards in local art and pastel shows.

He taught basic drawing at adult classes at Honeoye Falls-Lima High School and was certified to teach adult education classes in New York state.

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55 PLUS - May / June 2019

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37

55+

coaching

Life in Overdrive Toastmasters leader has worn many hats — nurse, law enforcement officer, clown

By Christine Green

I

f there is a word to describe Lillian Knight Faison, it would be “energy.”

As a nurse, a clown, a runner and a leader with Toastmasters, Faison has to be energetic to get through her busy days.

But she doesn’t see all she does as an energetic feat; she just sees it all as part of the rhythm of her days. “I go with the flow of life,” she said with a bright smile broad across her face.

Faison, 59, has lived in Rochester since she was 6 years old when she and her mother moved here from Sanford, Fla. She graduated from the Rochester School of Practical Nursing in 1978 and as a new graduate, worked at the Jewish Home of Rochester on St. Paul Street.

Dyann Steven-Scott of Webster first met Faison when she was helping orient her to her new job.

“She was so full of energy. You know when you meet a person and you can just see that light? She was so compassionate.

She treated every new patient like it was her first experience. She was a really big role model for the staff and here she was the new grad. She was a delight to work with,” Steven-Scott said.

Faison enjoyed her work as a nurse, but one day she saw a poster seeking recruits for the Rochester Police Academy.

There was decent money to be made and free training. Always up for a new adventure, Faison decided to apply. “It sounded exciting and I had nothing to lose,” she said.

The academy training was a challenge, but she was up for it. Being a cop in Rochester was difficult at times, especially since she was one of only a few women on the force. But despite the challenges, Faison valued her time with the RPD and

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From working as a nurse, police officer or a clown, Lillian Knight Faison has always infused a great deal of energy into everything she does. liked sharing her day with her mother after work. “It was different and it was exciting every day,” she said.

During her tenure as an RPD officer, she volunteered at 103.9 WDKX Radio, the first black-owned radio station in Upstate New York. It wasn’t long after she left her job with the police department that she became sales manager for the station.

“I was really energized at a place with African Americans doing something. I loved him [founder Andrew Langston], I loved the radio station, and I loved his wife,” Faison said.

She stayed with the station for eight years and during that time, she also earned her real estate license and worked as a real estate agent for a time. Today, Faison is back to her first love, nursing, in geriatrics and rehab at St. Ann’s in Rochester.

But Faison doesn’t just have a diverse career background; her hobbies span the gamut, too. Her role in Toastmasters International is perhaps one of her biggest loves. When Faison worked at WDKX, she would often accompany co-owner Gloria

Langston to her local Toastmasters meetings. After a while of going just as a guest, she became hooked and became a member in her own right.

That was 28 years ago. Since then, she has served as the central division director of club growth and program quality director for district 65.

Step up to podium Today, Faison is the Toastmasters District 65 director and her region includes Western and Central New York and includes over 2,000 members.

Toastmasters has 16,600 clubs in 143 countries. The 90-year-old nonprofit organization educates members in public speaking and leadership skills.

Faison said writing and evaluating speeches, participating in contests, and learning about the community is full of excitement for her. “I just find that there is an adrenaline rush to see if your mind and your body can perform when you’re in front of people,” she said.

Fellow Toastmaster Ellen Pieklo

of Hornell said, “The idea of Toastmasters is really empowering people to become their best selves, tell their best story, and be the best leader they can be.”

Faison and Pieklo said Toastmasters is for anyone and can hone one’s workshop skills, speech writing, and public speaking.

Speeches span a variety of topics, but Faison enjoys making people smile when she is presenting. “I like to have humor in my speeches.” she noted. “But I also love to give a message about love, getting along, or the miracle of life. People learn a lot through laughter.”

As a leader in the club, her warm disposition and organizational skills keep her on top of her game. “She’s able to delegate,” Pieklo said. “She’s able to empathize with people and those who are having challenges. She works very closely person-to-person to get to know what motivates them.

She’s enabling them to be their best selves. She’s very much a spiritual person who gives her heart and soul to the organization.”

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

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Lillian Knight Faison of Rochester. She is Toastmasters District 65 director, a region that includes more than 2,000 members in Western and Central New York.

Her community commitment extends beyond Toastmasters, and she takes that need to make people laugh one step further when she makes herself up as the clown, “Sunny Hope.”

Faison graduated from clown school on April 1, 2014 and now volunteers with other clowns in the group, Grease Paint Alley, Inc. “I just love dressing up, and I love bringing happiness. It keeps me healthy, mentally,” she said.

Faison’s “Sunny” persona is a “girly” clown and she has several skirts and wigs stored at her house in addition to clown makeup and other props.

“I have to shake it up, and I have to keep things fresh. That’s my life,” said Faison about her varied and busy day. But through it all the underlying theme of throughout her life — whether it be in a nurse or cop uniform, clown makeup, jogging clothes, or fancy dress for a Toastmasters event — is service to her friends and community.

Steven-Scott sums up Knight Faison’s personality and devotion to those around her: “She’s a true spirit and she speaks from her heart. And people know they’re getting Lillian when they hear her speak and when they see her. She’s a true and honest person. What you get is exactly who she is. You can always count on that girl!”

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41

55+ renovation

B’nai Israel synagogue building at 692 Joseph Ave. in Rochester.

Renovation project calls for a 300-seat performing arts center.

A Doctor on a Mission Retired physician Neil Scheier is now devoted to bringing an old synagogue in Rochester back to life and turn it into a 300-seat performing arts center

By Todd Etshman

P

hysician Neil Scheier likes old buildings enough to purchase and repurpose them.

He found a formidable challenge, however, when he discovered the empty derelict B’nai Israel synagogue building at 692 Joseph Ave. in Rochester while on a walk as part of a community charrette with area business leaders and residents in the spring of 2013.

Scheier wondered if there was any way the elegant historic two-story Georgian Revival building could be reborn in the 21st century.

When the area was a vibrant community corridor inhabited by Eastern European Jews in the early part of the 42

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20th century, there were 16 such synagogues.

Today, only B’Nai remains as a vestige of the unique architecture of the era but its future is bright once again thanks to Scheier and the help of many partners, including grant writers, community organizations, architects, attorneys and government representatives.

With a myriad of tax credits, grants and a spot on the National Registrar of Historic Places, the old synagogue’s renovation is set to begin by the end of the year.

Its new use is to serve as a 300seat performing arts center, which is what area residents and the Joseph

Avenue Business Association wanted, according to Scheier.

Architects at The Community Development Center helped develop that vision with B’nai Israel as the centerpiece. Artwork and banners throughout the quadrant let people know it’s about a new cultural climate not just one building.

“The people have to say that this is what they want,” Scheier says. “As an individual I can’t clean up this whole quadrant but government can sure help.”

Although B’Nai Israel has been out of use for decades, city administrators were reluctant to “do something negative with a house of wor-

ship,” says Scheier.

Scheier helped form the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance in 2014 and worked with the city on putting together a deal to gain ownership of the building and dispose of some of the taxes that went unpaid for some 30 years.

Receiving a National Register of Historic Places designation helped immensely with financing sources.

“We’ve done it the right way. We got the right people on board to guide us,” Scheier says.

The 66 year-old Fairport resident retired from his longtime practice in Clifton Springs early in 2017 only to continue practicing internal medicine in the University of Rochester Medical Center network.

Scheier teaches internal medicine to first year medical students at the URMC, too. Still, he’s glad to have a more manageable schedule that doesn’t include the 90-hour work weeks he had as a sole practitioner.

Scheier grew up in a small home without air conditioning in Queens and moved to Rochester after doing his residency here. He likes that the area gives kids including the six he had, a little bit more room to run around and explore.

Putting together the pieces of a building or neighborhood revi-

Physician Neil Scheier

talization project may seem like an immense challenge but it’s one that makes him happier than the myriad challenges a practicing physician faces in the American medical system today.

The amount of money that goes in into the American medical system today boggles the mind of a man who got a Ph.D. in economics before going to medical school at the New York Medical School at a time when starting medical school after 30 was practically unheard of.

“I remember when hospitals couldn’t make money. Now the amount of money that goes into it is phenomenal,” he says.

Scheier believes developing a relationship with a patient and getting to know their mental or psychological status is important to provide adequate treatment. But that’s not easy to do in medicine today, he says.

There’s no place to note a patient’s grief, happiness or emotional state. “It should be part of the details.

To you and your doctor, that’s very important but it’s gone today,” he says while lamenting the “lack of art in medicine.”

His concern over the lack of uniform access to medical records is one shared by many doctors and AARP today.

“Patients’ records are a mess.

They’re not uniform or compatible or available to other organizations,” he says. “If you go to urgent care in Syracuse, they don’t have it. They don’t know your history.”

B’nai Israel isn’t the first building repurposing project he’s been

involved in, but it is the biggest and fulfills a desire in his heart to bring the arts he loves so much to a downtrodden community that can benefit greatly from it.

It’s what an extremely poor quadrant in a poor city like Rochester needs. “This has been done elsewhere before. It’s not something new,” he says.

His projects keep getting bigger.

Scheier already owns the building housing the Black Box Theater down the street from B’nai Israel.

In 2012, he bought a former high school in Phelps and turned it into a senior living complex called Vienna Gardens.

The Joseph Avenue Arts and Cultural Alliance mission with Scheier as president isn’t just to restore B’Nai Israel but to offer a myriad of music, art and culture to the entire Rochester area.

“Our imprint is well beyond Joseph Avenue, it’s all over the city and beyond,” Scheier says.

They offer shows utilizing top area talent such as the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Garth Fagan Dance, RIT arts, the Eastman School of Music talent, jazz groups and many more.

A big benefit to the immediate area, Scheier says is that exposure to the arts improves school attendance, performance and graduation. The renovation may have a price tag but the cost of making people be and feel better through the arts is priceless.

“This is fun, this is enjoyable, he says. “I get to see a lot of happy faces in a poverty-laden area.”

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

43

addyman’s corner

By John Addyman

Old School Accessorizing What do you have in your pocket?

W

e were standing in line at the Fairville Fire Co. fish fry.

It’s a Wayne County tradition, this fish fry.

Fairville is halfway between Newark and Sodus on state Route 88, and the fire company pretty much dominates the landscape at the one large intersection.

Take a deep sigh and despite the speed limit being 35 mph, you’re through Fairville rather quickly.

The volunteers had to create a special large meeting room a few years back to accommodate all the people who wanted to enjoy the meal of beer-battered haddock, locally raised baked potato and coleslaw, applesauce, dinner rolls, and ice cream for dessert.

Also served up is something an awful lot of over-55 folks enjoy with the meal — chocolate milk. Coffee and tea and regular milk are also available.

It takes crews a week to put each meal together, with 50-some people on that crew serving more than 2,000 people a weekend. It’s a major fundraiser for the fire company and deservedly so — it’s a great meal, a great thing to do.

The lines start forming at 4 p.m. every Friday during Lent, and this year, the take-out line easily got to be 30 yards long. But it’s an easy, friendly wait. You see people you know and meet a lot of people you didn’t. The sit-down seating is family style at three very long tables.

My wife, son and I were waiting in line, and we had some newbies — four over-55 ladies — right behind us. I played host, and explained how things worked, how quickly you were seated, and how fast dinner arrived once you got a seat.

One woman noted that tables

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55 PLUS - May / June 2019

were spread with dishes of carrots, celery sticks and pickles.

“That so nice,” she said. “But I brought my own carrots.”

“You brought your own carrots?”

I asked.

“I always have my own carrots with me,” she said, taking them out of her pocket to show me. They were nicely packaged in a plastic bag.

Although I’ve been around a long time, I never had a woman show me her carrots before.

“Our Wayne County carrots aren’t good enough?” I asked teasingly.

“I’m a vegan,” she explained. “I always have my carrots with me.”

Old times, old ways Then I got to thinking about what I always have with me in my pockets.

As soon as I thought that, I patted my pockets: My car keys and a handkerchief were safely resting in my jeans.

Always. That handkerchief thing is going away, I understand. My son and grandsons never carry one.

We live in Newark, where a man walks around day and night with a thick pad of paper, taking notes. He seems like a nice guy, and I asked him once, “What are you writing down?”

He was standing on a street corner. I thought maybe he was counting traffic.

“Just notes about things,” he said.

“You go everywhere with those notes, don’t you?” I asked.

“Yes.” “Are you going to write a note about me as soon as I leave?”

“Maybe.”

I walked away and snuck a quick look back over my shoulder. He was busy writing.

My father-in-law, Ed, carried a little pocketknife with him everywhere.

I think he had it in his tux the day I married his daughter.

It wasn’t a World War II issue knife, but could have been. “Poppop” could almost always fix something, wherever he was. He’d meet up with the thing that didn’t work, play with it a little, then out came the knife and its screwdrivers, little blade or corkscrew thing, and things would be fixed.

Tissue was my mother’s favorite thing. She had a knack of hiding tissue somewhere on her person — usually inside a sleeve — for every occasion. If we were somewhere and one of my sisters needed her nose blown, my mother would produce a tissue.

When she and my dad went to bridge club on Saturday night, she’d always bring me back a cookie wrapped in, of course, a tissue.

My wife’s grandmother always had a pack of peppermint Life Savers with her; my wife always has peppermint mints in her pockets, which she takes out of a glass jar on the kitchen counter whenever she goes out the door.

“I tried to keep tissue in my sleeves like Nana did,” my wife told me recently. “They always fell out. I’d leave a trail behind me.”

Those tissues. It wasn’t until much later in life that I wondered if my mom had ever used that cookie tissue for any other purpose before wrapping the cookies. And then I remembered lipstick. One early morning I found the little packet of tissue-wrapped cookies my mom had left for me, and it had lipstick on it.

Had she blotted her lipstick with the tissue and then wrapped my cookies in it?

No, I thought, she’d wrapped my cookies and closed them with a kiss.

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45

Aging of Monroe County: Most New Yorkers Want to Age in Place Continued from page 17 abuse, NY Connects will guide them through long-term care needs, and then connect them to one of the other hubs to ensure an overall comprehensive system of care.”

Assistance hubs include the Rochester Center for Independent Living, Office of Mental Health’s Single Point of Entry, Office for Persons with Development Disabilities, and the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services.

The NY Connects office can be reached at 585-3252800 or by email at nyconnectsadvisors@lifespan-roch.org.

Fastest-growing age group New York is among the states considering ways to relieve some of the strain that the anticipated growth of long-term care services will place on state budgets.

“Some states have created incentives to encourage more people to purchase long-term care policies in hopes of reducing future demands on Medicaid. Still others have adopted more stringent Medicaid eligibility rules” in order to reduce the number of people applying for Medicaid, according to the AARP. An AARP survey of New York residents aged 50 and over show that 88 percent of those polled support the state Legislature increasing funding for home and community-based services such as in-home health care that allows people to remain in their own home as they age.

The survey found that New York state residents want to be able to age in place.

“Most say they would prefer to receive long-term care for themselves or a family member at home with assistance from family, friends and home care professionals such as a 46

55 PLUS - May / June 2019

nurse or personal care aide.

More than 75 percent of New York residents aged 50 and over believe “it would be extremely important to have a central place to get information about all types of long-term care services if they or a family member needed long-term care,” the survey found.

Six in 10 New York residents in the 50-and-over age group “are very or somewhat worried about their ability to afford long-term care services for themselves or family members,” according to the survey, which said that at a cost of about $35,000 a year, more than half off residents in the age group “are not very or not at all confident they could afford to pay for assisted living for three years.”

More than two-thirds of residents, or 67 percent, are not confident they could afford to pay for nursing home care for a three-year period given that the average private pay nursing home rate in New York is about $103,000 a year.

The survey found that the top reason given by New Yorkers aged 50 and over who say they have not purchased long-term care insurance say that it is too expensive. But 50 percent of the residents who do not have long-term care insurance say they would be more likely to purchase a long-term care policy if the state offered larger tax incentives.

The majority of residents surveyed by the AARP “strongly or somewhat support offering payroll deductions as a way to save for longterm care,” according to survey results.

The fastest-growing age group in the U.S. is the cohort over age 85.

There were 4 million such people in 2000, and the number is expected to grow to 12 million by 2020 and 19 million by 2050.

Americans in general “are facing major long-term care challenges as the U.S. population ages and people live longer, according to the AARP. The state Office of Aging recognizes “fundamental changes” have taken place in the demographics of New York state’s population over the last decade. The number of seniors most affected by long-term care needs and compounding health, social and economic problems, including those aged 75 or older with mobility limitations, “has continued to grow at a much faster rate than that of the general population.”

“New York’s large baby boomer population is aging,” the Office of Aging says.

“Like the rest of the country, and the world, New York’s baby boomer cohort will continue to swell the ranks of the state’s older population,” the Office of Aging states.

In 2015, older people constituted 20-24 percent of the county population in 35 of New York’s counties and 25-29 percent in 17 counties.

While the number of those over age 65 is expected to increase dramatically in coming decades, the overall population of most Upstate counties is remaining constant or declining.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population of Monroe County in 2017 was 747,642, an 0.4 percent population decline from the 2010 census figure of 744,344.

Those aged 65 and older comprised 16.7 percent of the county’s population in 2010.

New York state led the nation in loss of population between 2017 and 2018, according to Census Bureau estimates.

Forty-two Upstate counties lost population in New York between 2010 and 2017. New York is estimated to have an overall population of 19.54 million as of July 1, 2018, according to the Census Bureau.

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47

long-term care

By Susan Suben

Placement: The Time Could Come

M

any of you assume the role of caregiver. This comes with a broad range of responsibilities: managing medications, talking to health care providers, helping with activities of daily living (ADLs) and handling chores, meals or bills.

Performing these tasks can help keep the person you are caring for in their home.

But what happens when these responsibilities become overwhelming and the safety and quality of life of the person you are caring for are questionable? It may be time to consider placement in a LTC facility or community-based program.

Placement is primarily contingent upon the disabled person’s health and the services they require.

Housing and community-based program options can include continuing care residential community (CCRC), adult home, assisted living, nursing home and Alzheimer’s facility. Community-based care can be provided at an adult day care center or Programs for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

When gathering information about these options, tour the facility or program with these thoughts in mind: • Location: Is it convenient?

•Affordability: Are there hidden fees?

• Appearance: Is the building clean?

Smell fresh?

• Staff: Are they visible, knowledgeable and helpful?

• Dining room: Does the menu vary?

Presentation?

• Activity program: Are the residents engaged?

• References: What are others saying?

Facilities and community-based programs are licensed and regulated differently and their licensure determines the types of services they can provide. Payment methods vary as well.

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55 PLUS - May / June 2019

A CCRC provides a continuum of care allowing movement from one level of service to another. Individuals can initially move into their own apartment where they can receive home care for ADL, medication management and rehabilitation. Ancillary services, such as cleaning, laundry, communal meals and activities, can be added. As the individual’s health changes, they can move into the assisted living or nursing home section of the community, which allows them to receive more comprehensive health care. The cost for this type of setting can be expensive due to initiation and maintenance fees and should, therefore, be carefully reviewed. Payment method: Private pay and LTC insurance.

Assisted living facilities also allow an individual to move into their own apartment. Services are geared toward assistance with ADL and medication management. A person’s overall health should be stable. They must be able to feed themselves and be mobile. Wheelchairs and walkers are permitted. Laundry and housekeeping are provided as well as three meals per day. Activities and some nursing care are also included. The monthly fee can range from $4,500 to $8,000 in the region and, as more services are needed, additional charges can be expected. Payment method: Private pay, LTC insurance; Medicare does not pay and few facilities accept Medicaid.

In an adult home, an individual can have a private or shared room with or without a bath. The services are very similar to assisted living and the person’s health should be stable.

Payment method: Same as assisted living but Medicaid is more readily accepted as well as VA benefits.

Assisted living facilities and adult homes can accept individuals with dementia depending upon the progression of the disease. Many assisted living facilities have secure dementia wings.

Facilities that are dedicated to

Alzheimer’s/Dementia offer environments that diminish confusion, are secure, and have specially trained staff.

Payment method: Private pay and LTC insurance. Medicare does not pay and few accept Medicaid.

Nursing homes provide skilled medical care. Individuals with/without dementia receive full nursing care under the supervision of a physician as well as rehabilitative and hospice care. Payment method: Private pay, LTC insurance, Medicaid and Medicare, up to 100 days.

If you are still able to take care of your loved at home, you can consider having them spend part of the day at an adult day care center. It is one of the most underutilized yet least expensive LTC service. These programs offer respite for the caregiver and a secure setting for attendees with meals and activities. Payment method: Private pay, LTC insurance and maybe Medicaid.

PACE helps people who would normally go into a nursing home stay in their home. PACE provides all of the social and medical needs of the participant. Transportation to the program, meals, activities and health care are included. Payment method: Medicare and Medicaid.

As caregivers, you need to be aware of and accept the fact that there could come a time when you are overwhelmed and cannot adequately handle the needs of the person you are caring for. If you are in that situation now, know that there are many resources in the community you can turn to. If you are at the beginning of your caregiver journey, plan for the future so everyone is prepared should the time come.

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

55+

q&a

By Ernst Lamothe Jr.

Katrina Smith, 59 Financial planner talks about trends, mistakes people make and what she advises people to do when it comes to investments Q: What got you into the financial industry?

A: I went to college for business and I just loved numbers. When I graduated, I interviewed with E.F. Hutton and fell in love with the industry. I felt engaged and enjoyed meeting new people all the time. You just never knew what tomorrow was going to bring. I worked in the industry for 18 years before moving to Sage Rutty. What I love about this company is that it is family-owned and it’s part of their core principals to make you feel like part of a family when you work here. You are not told how to sell anything because they realize that every person is an individual and that no two clients are alike. They just want you to do the best for that particular client so it just makes me love coming to work.

Q: What are some sensible financial tips that you can give people?

A: The number one thing I tell people is that they have to establish a budget. They have to sit down and determine what they want for themselves and what they need. It could be needing more money in the future or establishing a short-term goal for yourself. Either way you need to start writing down a plan.

The second piece of advice is that once you come up with a plan you have to be consistent. Setting your investments or savings on auto pilot will let it become a pattern in your life and will be easy in helping your investments grow. The third piece of advice is that if you have money that you can put away in a 401(k), and investments then you should. If you have a job that is willing to match those payments, you should take advantage of that.

You should also check every year to see how things are going and if you are still headed in the right direction. There may be some things that have shifted in your life and that means you may have to adjust some of your plans.

Q: What are some myths that you hear people say that you would like to dispel?

A: Everyone uses a specific dollar amount that they are trying to get to in order to retire. Whether it is $1 million or $2 million people can get obsessed with that number. But it all goes back to creating a budget. If you go out to dinner and you go on vacations every month, then you will have a different dollar amount than someone who eats out once a week and goes on vacations once a year. Someone who is very frugal is likely going to need less money even though anything can happen in the future. The point is that there is no cookie-cutter plan.

Secondly people will tell me that their neighbor purchased stock or made this investment and they wonder if they should do it as well. But your neighbors may have a different risk tolerance than you have. You should focus on doing something that is comfortable for you and not chasing after someone else’s plan.

Q: Are there some mistakes that people make when thinking about their finances A: The problem is that there is so much information out there that it can become overwhelming and just because the information is on the internet doesn’t make it true. Plus the information is broader and not individualized.

Katrina Smith, 59, of Livonia, is a senior vice president and wealth adviser at Sage Rutty.

She runs an all-women financial advising group and is one of the firm’s top producers.

Q: What is it like running an all women financial team?

A: I love it because each woman has her own way of nurturing and helping clients. Our staff is intelligent and each individual has her own strengths, which helps make each us better as a team. I also love working at a firm where the majority of the staff is women. When I first started in the financial business, there were very few women.

Q: What do you like doing in your spare time?

A: I enjoy golfing, bowling and spending time with friends and family. I have four dogs that I love and I enjoy traveling. I have traveled to the Caribbean and Europe. I still want to visit China.

Q: What advice in general do you have that keeps you active and young?

A: You have to stay engaged in life and not let the world pass you by. Instead of being comfortable we sometimes have to be taken out of our comfort zone. My clients tell me so many stories about their adventures and it makes me want to do it as well.

May / June 2019 - 55 PLUS

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