Montana 55 Fall 2017

Fall 2017

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Fall 2017

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the magazine for montanans in their prime

publisher Mike Gulledge editor Ashley Klein sales coordinator Jacque Walawander sales assistant Holly Kuehlwein graphic designer Tyler Wilson Montana 55 is a special publication of Lee Enterprises and the Missoulian. Copyright 2017.

For advertising information contact Jacque Walawander 406-523-5271, or email jacque.walawander@lee.net montana55.com

on the cover: Over the Rainbows

by R. Tom Gilleon

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Creating the freedom:

Art reminds us of entitlement to peace Story by BRIAN D’AMBROSIO for Montana 55 Photos provided by R. Tom Gilleon

Three Dog Soldiers

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n the long, dry draw of the soil west of Cascade, there is the unconstrained stillness of the contiguous buttes, the almost heroic-looking profile of Mount Cecelia.

There is the silence of the free terrain where more than a century ago, the shotgun-toting, cigar-smoking former slave “Stagecoach” Mary Fields delivered mail and the Old North Trail, which was followed and zigzagged for thousands of years by Indians. (Ruts of stagecoach wagons mark nearby hills and teepee rings are ever-present.)

R. Tom Gilleon’s art imparts the awareness of what it means to be entitled to peace.

There is broad, free daylight outside, with the sun shining,

and there is semblance of peace radiating from Gilleon’s studio, modern, clean, enveloped by a tarnished coppered façade. The sunlight is really there inside — he has created it through the expression of palettes, colors and paints, and also drawn from it as a tender intermediary. After all, what else can the artist do but receive the light?

Here, understanding that no artist can grow if they remain closed, Gilleon is open to new perceptions, new ideas and new insights. Daily he ends up fully open to exploratory premises: landscapes; Native American visages of warriors; brilliant contrasts of landmarks and symbols; decorative teepee lodges; the conflicting roles of war and peace in nacontinued on page 8

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continued from page 7 tive society; rock faces reflecting glowing sunsets into deep pools; the teepee as a temple, as well as a home. His library study is buttressed by chunky log remnants surviving from a smokehouse dating back to Charles M. Russell’s (18641926) years spent wintering in the neighboring corral.

And the connective thread of Gilleon’s art attaches to the notion that somehow, someway, we can remain connected to the peace of our own pursuits. Gilleon adheres to the mantra that imagination is more important than knowledge.

“And you can never have enough knowledge,” Gilleon said.

Indeed, Gilleon’s art is tied to highly specific and resonant moral and emotional journeys, linked to a Western narrative teeming with aesthetic or atmospheric profundity. It is the duality — the tension between the poetic ideal of the past and the lure of contemporary materialism — that dictates the allure.

Gilleon has navigated both worlds successfully, phasing out the successful life of the illustrator for the path of the self-governing. He helped design the look of Epcot Center and then Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Tokyo and Disneyland Hong Kong. Sometime in the early 1980s, Gilleon and his wife attended an outdoor painting workshop in Montana along the Dearborn River — and it recalibrated 8

Fall 2017

his idea of happiness. He moved to Montana, supplementing his income working as a mural painter; one of his jobs was completing matte paintings for the movie “Dick Tracy.”

Eventually, the Gilleons purchased a ranch near Great Falls with the rounded profile of buttes expanding in the vastness.

“Back then (when I worked as an illustrator), art was a way to make a good living,” said Gilleon. “These days, I consider myself a craftsman and I’m escaping for that commercialism, gradually. It’s more about communicating something as an artist and working myself into a situation where I can afford to do what I want to do. Creating the freedom.”

As for his resettlement, there were reasons aplenty: “I had the intelligence of knowing its beauty when I saw it. When you are able to find a place, it’s like knowing it in your heart instantly. It was like no feeling I ever remember.

I knew that this was where I needed to be,” he said.

In works such as “Prairie Dare,” Gilleon immortalizes the notoriously fickle and callous weather of the Northern Plains. Constructing anything on the open plains attracts unpredictable fate. Building a tall, narrow grain elevator “is nothing short of a dare,” said Gilleon.

“We are far removed from everything, and out here, you get a good sense of your surroundings and that you are in tune with the feeling that you can die every day out here

from something. You could die from the cold easily. Police?

You may as well write them a postcard. Fire? We don’t have that very close. So, we are not removed from the daily reminder of the life and death experience.”

Teepee paintings are the motif most-commonly associated with Gilleon, a coupling of serendipitous origins.

In the early 1990s, he was working on retainer as an illustrator for Walt Disney’s “Imagineering Studio,” and he had enough free time to stretch out a blank canvas in front of him. Yielding to his artistic vision, he could not resist experimenting with and endlessly tweaking the scope and extent of the teepee. After he finished it, he took it to a gallery in Ennis, where it sold within days.

A couple of hundred teepee paintings later, Gilleon said that “when galleries approach me about my work, they always say, ‘We absolutely love your diversity of subject matter, but do you have any teepees?’ ” Groups of teepee rings can be found within walking distance of Gilleon’s studio, evidence, he said, “of Plains Indian encampments.” He has slept, sketched and even meditated, inside the teepee rings.

“As far as the type of teepee in a particular place, there were at times several different kinds, and there would be five, six, seven different styles in one village. I try to not just study them, but also keep an open mind,” he said.

Born in 1942, he was raised in northern Florida by his grandparents in a small town called Starke; his granddad was an accomplished Scottish cabinetmaker, his grandmother a full-bloodied Cherokee. Oil on canvas work such as “Going to the Sun,” Gilleon immortalizes a Blackfeet legend who tells of the Sun God ascending the mountain known as Going to the Sun. The highest-grossing living artist in the history of the C.M. Russell Museum, Gilleon is grateful that some of his works have fetched “dead man prices,” as Russell referred to them, desirable amounts not ordinarily obtained by even the most talented artists in their own lifetime.

Views of Gilleon’s studio oversee vistas once populated by considerable bison heards, later covered by Lewis and Clark, and, eventually, recorded on canvas by Russell. This humbling, alluring sense of place roots the artist in his sense of mission.

“We’ve considered going to Tuscany for the summer to go paint,” Gilleon said, “But I wonder, ‘why go there when I have this?’ When I have all of this it would be hard to be away from here for even 10 days. It’s gotten harder to make that trade-off. Think about a painter in Southern France, and as beautiful as it is there, imagine if that painter were to leave some village and come to Montana, to visit Little Big Horn, to come paint here. The grass is always greener, right?”

Similar to other artists, Gilleon must go through the kinetic process of self-emptying in order to become and stay hale and hearty. His art is physical, mental and even tech-

nological: he illustrates models on the computer and then hand-paints on canvas.

“Digital art is fast, but the easel takes several weeks, for several weeks the easel stays in your mind,” he said.

“Technology is one thing. But the ancient art of painting is something else. The tactility of the paint on the canvas and the feel of the canvas — that’s the best feeling.”

Art is also the ability to seize the moment and live a life without regrets. It also is a feat of grit and endurance and, in Gilleon’s estimate, the absolute act of reaching far back deeply into the wonder of childhood.

“Kids don’t make mistakes in art,” said Gilleon. “Everything is right. A good piece of advice would be, ‘Work as hard for the next 75 years to be as good as you were when you were 4.’ ” Rooted in the fundamental energy of a creativity that forever has been underlying his existence, Gilleon plots his next idea.

In becoming more conscious of the full range of his thoughts and feelings, he inevitably has become less threatened by the knowledge of his flaws and can now more readily integrate and appreciate the whole of who he is.

When he acknowledges his imperfections, he finds himself in a better position to work on those areas within his power to change and to accept those things he cannot.

“Art, as they say, is the pursuit of imperfection,” said Gilleon.

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fall reads:

books for discussion Story by BARBARA THEROUX for Montana 55

It’s time to think about books to discuss with friends or groups: “Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill”

by Candice Millard At the age of 24, Winston Churchill was utterly convinced it was his destiny to become prime minister of England. He believed that to achieve his goal he must do something spectacular on the battlefield. Despite deliberately putting himself in extreme danger as a British Army officer in colonial wars in India and Sudan, and as a journalist covering a Cuban uprising against the Spanish, glory and fame had eluded him. In 1899, Churchill arrived in South Africa with a valet and crates of vintage wine in tow, to cover the colonial war the British were fighting with Boer rebels. But just two weeks after his arrival, the soldiers he was accompanying on an armored train were ambushed, and Churchill was taken prisoner.

“Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies”

by Ross King “Mad Enchantment” tells the full story behind the creation of the Water Lilies, as the horrors of World War I came ever closer to Paris and Giverny and a new generation of younger artists were challenging the achievements of Impressionism. By early 1914, French newspapers were reporting that Monet, by then 73, had retired his brushes. He had lost his beloved wife, Alice, and his eldest son, Jean. His famously acute vision was threatened by cataracts. And yet, despite ill health, self-doubt and advancing age, Monet began painting again on a more ambitious scale than ever before. Ross King links Monet’s great artistic achievement to the personal and historical dramas unfolding around him.

“The Names of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds”

by Pete Fromm At 20 years old, Pete Fromm heard of a job babysitting salmon eggs, seven winter months alone in a tent in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. His memoir, Indian Creek Chronicles, captures that adventure. Twenty five years later, he was asked to return to the wilderness to babysit more fish eggs. But this time he is 45, and the father of two young sons. He left again, alone, and straight into the heart of Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness, walking a daily 10-mile loop to his fish eggs through deer and elk and the highest density of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.

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“Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”

by Atul Gawande Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Atul Gawande, examines its ultimate limitations and failures-in his own practices as well as others’-as life draws to a close. Riveting, honest and humane, “Being Mortal” shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life-all the way to the very end.

“As Good as Gone”

by Larry Watson Calvin Sidey, one of the last of the old cowboys, returns to the small town where he once was a mythic figure, to the very home he once abandoned, to stay with his grandchildren for a week while his estranged son is away. When family problems arise, Calvin solves them the only way he knows how: the Old West way.

“News of the World”

by Paulette Jiles Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, drifts through northern Texas, performing live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. At a stop in Wichita Falls, Captain Kidd is offered an astonishing $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives near San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna Leonberger’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own.

Recently recovered by the U.S. army, the inconsolable 10-year-old with blue eyes has once again been torn away from the only home and family she knows.

“The Alice Network”

by Kate Quinn In 1915, a year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner joins the fight against the Germans when she is recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies,” who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

In 1947, in the aftermath of World War II, American Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried and nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazioccupied France during the war, might still be alive.

This is historic fiction at its best. Good suggestions for further reading and lots of interesting history to discuss.

“The Life She Was Given”

by Ellen Marie Wiseman On a summer evening in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses lights from the window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn’t allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor, in fact she has never left her room. Momma insists it’s for Lilly’s own protection, that people would be afraid if they saw her. But on this night, Lilly is taken outside for the first time — and sold to the circus sideshow. More than two decades later, 19-year-old Julia Blackwood has inherited her parents’ estate and horse farm.

The title is a perfect way to describe the story, no reader will stay unmoved by this story of betrayal, circus life, animal cruelty, heartbreak and healing.

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MOLLI program for seniors grows at the University of Montana Story by KEILA SZPALLER for Montana 55

Gayle Morrison holds up her book “Sky is Falling,” during a MOLLI class in the Todd building on the University of Montana campus in August. The book is about the fall of an air base in Laos, and “Hog’s Exit,” is the story of a Missoula smokejumper and CIA officer named Jerry Daniels. Morrison was the guest speaker for a group of students of MOLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a program offering courses for people who are 50 years or older through the School of Extended & Lifelong Learning.

Photo by Tommy Martino

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yebrows jumped when author Gayle Morrison told the crowd of 70 or so that nearly 100 smokejumpers worked for the CIA when the U.S. was at war in Southeast Asia.

“Mostly, they were the cargo handlers, the kickers, working for Air America,” Morrison said. “Air America, although nobody knew it at the time, was owned by the CIA.” The classroom in the James E. Todd Building at the University of Montana was packed, but few people were taking notes.

The students all were members of MOLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, a program offering courses for people who are 50 years or older through the School of Extended & Lifelong Learning.

Morrison, author of “Sky is Falling,” about the fall of an air base in Laos, and “Hog’s Exit,” the story of a Missoula 12

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smokejumper and CIA officer named Jerry Daniels, was the featured speaker for the special members event in August.

Her talk was called “How the Hmong Came to be in Missoula: Success of Refugees.”

MOLLI member Anita Kurtz-Magee said she was interested in learning more about bringing refugees into the country in the 1970s since the U.S. is doing so again. The member going on six years also praised the program as one that offers affordable courses and quality lecturers and studies.

“I just hope people take advantage of it because it’s a gift to the community,” Kurtz-Magee said.

MOLLI started in 2005, and membership in the program has grown since then.

The program counted 119 members and 12 courses and events in the 2005-2006 school year, said Karen Hendrick-

son, MOLLI program manager. Last school year, the program counted 1,227 members and 70 courses and events.

Classes on history are the biggest draw, and the ones taught by Mehrdad Kia about the Middle East are by far the most popular, enrolling some 300 students, Hendrickson said. Kia is a UM history professor and among the campus faculty and professionals and scholars in the community who teach courses.

In August, MOLLI members were calling to sign up for Rafael Chacon’s class even before registration opened, said Teri Zanto, coordinator with MOLLI. Chacon, a UM professor of art history and criticism, planned to teach a fall course called “Over there! Montanans in the Great War.” “There’s a lot of professors here that people just love. It doesn’t matter what they teach, people just take it,” Zanto said.

This fall, MOLLI is offering 22 classes, and subjects range from the poetry of Wallace Stevens to ethics in media to chemistry in the kitchen — and multiple offerings in history.

The courses are targeted to seniors because the Osher family wants people to stay active and engaged, Hendrickson said: “They’re just very interested in keeping that population healthy for as long as they can.”

At the special event in August, Morrison shared the reason Hmong people live in Missoula, one that goes back to the CIA’s secret war in Laos during the Vietnam War. In 1960, the CIA made contact with a couple of key people, one in Asia and one in Missoula, Montana. The Hmong are mountain people who had moved from China to North Vietnam to Thailand to Laos, and in Laos, the CIA connected with Lt. Col. Vang Pao, a dynamic anticommunist.

“We both have the same objective. You can raise soldiers.

We have arms and ammunition. How about we get together, and we support you in our mutual anticommunist movement?” Morrison said. “He says absolutely. Bring it on. And within a week, he’s raised an army of 9,000.”

Meanwhile, the CIA came to Missoula because it was looking for people with skills that smokejumpers have.

Jerry Daniels, a natural athlete who became a smokejumper at age 17, was among those at the top of the list of people who would be of use to the agency overseas.

“They could live independently and make their own decisions,” Morrison said.

Eventually, the CIA became in charge of the secret war in Laos, and Pao and Daniels worked together on an air base during the Vietnam War. From the base, Hmong soldiers could disrupt North Vietnam’s supply route, later named the Ho Chi Minh Trail. “(Daniels) loved it. He loved the operations. He loved working with the Hmong soldiers,” Morrison said.

The Hmong people respected him as well, she said. He fit in with them, eating the same foods and living the same lifestyle, she said; he was fearless but never foolish; and unlike their own government officials and other Americans, he never lied to them.

“If it was going to be bad, he told them,” Morrison said.

After the fall of Saigon, North Vietnamese troops were circling in Laos, and the CIA knew they had to get Pao and Daniels out if they were to survive. At the time, Daniels was

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Daniels helped figure out how to get many Hmong people out of the country, and he stayed with them in Thailand for seven years, Morrison said. She said his own connection to Missoula is the reason many Hmong people are here.

In the 1960s, Pao had sent his three sons to Missoula, where they attended school with Daniels’ nephews. And Daniels’ mom, Louise Daniels, visited her son overseas and helped resettle Hmong in Missoula as well.

Daniels died a mysterious death; the casket that supposedly holds his body is in Missoula, but different theories exist about his passing, Morrison said. General Pao died of natural causes related to his heart.

Morrison, who has visited other Hmong communities in the U.S., said those in Missoula are the ones who have most embraced the local lifestyle. They hunt, fish, camp and “they absolutely love the Montana lifestyle.”

“They’re at least as Montanan as they are Hmong,” Morrison said.

After her talk, the students asked questions, and then, they gathered around a “story cloth” the Hmong people created about their life in Missoula. The piece of art is part of the permanent collection of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, and MOLLI members got an up close look at the intricate embroidery depicting life in Missoula at the special event.

Kurtz-Magee, who signs up for every class by Chacon and also once took quantum math — “over my head, but it was fun” — said some of her younger friends are envious of the classes she gets to take.

“I have some younger friends that say, ‘I can’t wait ‘til I’m old enough to go to MOLLI,” she said.

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From Helena to the Denver Broncos and back: Man reflects on time in NFL Story by BRIAN D’AMBROSIO for Montana 55 Photos provided by Bob McCullough

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ontanan Bob McCullough played in every Denver Broncos’ games between 1962 and 1965 — all 56, to be exact.

McCullough was born Nov. 18, 1940, in Helena. He was a strong, precocious kid with a naturally husky frame. McCullough’s father, Bob Sr., was a native of Boulder and a traveling salesman and later sales manager at Montana Power and Equipment Company. Bob Jr. attended grade school in Great Falls, returning to Helena at the start of sixth grade. He excelled as an all-star fullback for the Helena Crimson Bengals, playing at what is now one of Montana’s most notable high school venues: Vigilante Stadium.

“I went to Helena High School because there was only one high school in those days. If there’d been a Capital High School then, I would have gone to it, because I lived on that side of town — the west side,” McCullough said.

As an infant, he was nicknamed “Spud” in honor of a local man who lived in the same “ramshackle neighborhood” as his father in Boulder, which proved to be a moniker of unshakable longevity.

“My dad grew up back in the 1920s and 30s and everyone was poor as s---, but nobody knew it because they were all in the same boat,” he said. “This little old guy lived down the street, a little Scottish guy of advanced age. My dad would help him chop wood and get water. His name apparently was Spud. Not strange or unusual a name back then.

From the time I was born everyone has known me as Spud.

You get the hell out of Helena, Montana, nobody knows what you are talking about as far as being a ‘Spud.’ When I was out of Helena, they would hear it and get a real chuckle out of it.”

McCullough chose to play college football at the University of Colorado, where he had a successful reign with the powerful Buffaloes under Everett “Sonny” Grandelius. He embarked on a professional path because it was “a lot of fun and all,” and “a lot better than what most people made.”

The Denver Broncos were founded on Aug. 14, 1959, as an American Football League (AFL) charter franchise and won the first-ever AFL game over the Boston Patriots 1310, on Sept. 9, 1960. When McCullough arrived in Denver in 1962, the struggling franchise was helmed by 35-year-old quarterback Frank Tripucka, who entered the league in 1949.

“We had the best season of the five that I was there when Frank was the quarterback, which was 7-7. He had a bad preseason in 1963 and he resigned (to be replaced by Mickey Slaughter and a couple of others). The Broncos had a quarterback problem until John Elway came in 1983.

“But you certainly weren’t going to go the rest of your life with it (the money from football). The greatest players might have made $20,000. My first year with the Broncos, I negotiated a contract for $11,500 and they gave me a signing bonus of $2,500. That was far more than I was worth. I made $14,000 my first year. To put it in perspective, a highly paid electrical or engineering position straight out of college at the time made probably $5,500 to $6,000. Hell, when I was playing Joe Namath signed a $400,000 contract, and papers said nobody was worth that.”

As a rookie, McCullough earned the role of starting right

guard, although he played at left guard throughout his second season. The offensive lineman’s job is one of constant action and reaction, and the learning process was a stiff jolt for McCullough, who can recall the very first time he had his bell clanged by a professional opponent, which happened in a preseason game in 1962.

“We got down to Atlanta and we were playing the Houston Oilers. There was no professional football team in Atlanta at that time and they certainly were trying to promote football there. It was a stadium in the woods, holding 35,000 people. There was a guy named Buzz Guy. I was just a rookie, and hoping to be one of the 35 guys left after preseason. I get to the field that night and James “Jungle Jim” Martin, our offensive line coach, says, ‘you are going to start tonight!’

“Buzz Guy had played some years with the New York Giants, but he had gotten fat and sassy. I was excited about my continued on page 16

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continued from page 15 first pro game against an honest opponent. On my first play, the quarterback snapped the ball, and I’m pretty sure it was a pass play, and I took one step back, and Buzz Guy hit me so freaking hard. I went clear over my back. He went across my body with his cleats and everything. From that point on, I held my own.”

McCullough said that the “best defensive tackle” he ever played against was “the best guy you’ve never heard of: Tom Sestak (1962 to 1968). He was on one those great Buffalo Bills teams, with Jack Kemp and Cookie Gilchrist, who wound up playing in Denver. By far, he was the best.

The only time the press ever asked for a quote from me was when they were asking how good Sestak was.”

Other historical footnotes include McCullough’s Broncos playing against the New York Jets in 1963, the final year that the Jets played at the Polo Grounds, as well as facing the Jets in their inaugural game at Shea Stadium on Sept.

12, 1964. The talents he observed were ubiquitous, from Oakland Raiders cornerback Willie Brown to teammate Lionel Taylor, a nimble-footed wide receiver; though, roommate Wahoo McDaniel’s eccentricity stood out of the pack.

McCullough remembers vividly where he was when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated shortly after noon on Nov. 22, 1963, as well as the pervasive unsettled feeling two days later when the NFL decided not to postpone its schedule (Pete Rozelle said the decision was his biggest regret as NFL commissioner).

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“We were practicing for a game and we pulled into a hamburger joint and we heard it on the radio that it was reported that Kennedy had been shot. By the time we were finishing, we heard it again on the radio, this time announcing that he was dead. It was a grief-stricken time in the wake of his death,” he said.

Following his retirement from football in 1965, McCullough graduated from business school with a degree in marketing and worked as “a high-pressure stockbroker” in Denver for 12 years, and then branch manager in Spokane for two. After living close to the ocean in the Seattle area for approximately two decades, he returned to Helena in 2010. He still participates in Denver Broncos alumni and reunion events.

“It was unique at that time to be from Montana and to play for the Denver Broncos,” said McCullough. “It seems like in any given town now in Montana that 50 percent of the people are Broncos fans. It’s still a big deal to people.

Personally, I don’t have a complaint about how it all went.”

Brian D’Ambrosio is a freelance writer based in Helena who has written several books and more than 250 articles about Montana people, places and things. His latest book, “Montana and the NFL” celebrates Big Sky Country’s rich connections with America’s favorite professional sports league.

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Heart attacks can happen while hunting Story by MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK

I

t’s still dark outside. It’s the perfect day to get together with good friends, reflect on life, walk the countryside and bring home that trophy buck or prize pheasant.

You’re fully prepared this year. Your scope is right on.

You’ve scouted out the perfect spot for your stand, and you’ve been punching paper targets for months. But is your body ready?

Like any sport, hunting requires participants to train, focus and be mentally and physically fit for the activity required. When hunters aren’t in shape, their trips sometimes can end in tragedy. Hunting may be the most demanding physical exertion some hunters experience all year.

“Dragging a heavy deer through the snow or brush can be exceptionally stressful on the heart,” says Dr. Derrick Woodward, a family physician at Mayo Clinic Health System.

Studies show that the excitement of sighting a deer can send a hunter’s heart rate soaring. This excitement, combined with strenuous hunting activity, can put a physically unfit hunter at risk of a heart attack.

“Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack can help alleviate the severity of the attack,” says Woodward. “Many people fail to recognize a heart attack, because the symptoms can be vague and easy to pass off as a less serious problem. Knowing the signs allows you to act fast.”

Woodward advises to take heed of any warning signal, and act immediately. He also recommends: •

Find out which hospitals provide 24-hour service in the area you will be hunting before your trip.

•

Select the nearest facility in advance, so there will be no delay in finding a hospital.

•

Inform your family and friends, so they know where to go in case of an emergency.

Smoking, family history, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all can cause a heart attack. Now is the best time to get a checkup from your doctor so you know if you’re ready and what you can do to prepare. In addition to giving you a heart risk assessment, physicians also can give advice on exercise programs to get you ready for dragging out a buck.

Being prepared is the best bet for a safe and successful hunting season. A quick and easy checkup can get you ready for the voyage and could save your life.

A heart attack does not always produce a giant, immobilizing pain or a sharp stabbing pain. The body signals that the heart is starving for oxygen by sending these warning signals: •

Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest for more than two minutes

•

Chest pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck or arms

•

Dizziness, fainting, sweating, nausea and shortness of breath

Sometimes, these signals may subside only to return later, possibly with greater discomfort and danger. The American Heart Association recommends that anyone experiencing chest pain and discomfort for two minutes or more should call 911 or go to a hospital immediately.

“Don’t worry about a false alarm,” says Woodward. “Just get to the hospital. Reacting quickly could save your life, as you have only a couple of hours to save that heart muscle.”

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A playbook for managing problems in the last chapter of your life Story by JUDITH GRAHAM Kaiser Health News

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t least once a day, Dr. Lee Ann Lindquist gets an urgent phone call.

“Mom fell and is in the hospital,” a concerned son might report.

“Dad got lost with the car, and we need to stop him from driving,” a distraught daughter may explain.

“We don’t know what to do.”

Lindquist, chief of geriatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, wondered if people could become better prepared for such emergencies, and so she designed a research project to find out.

The result is a unique website, planyourlifespan.org, which helps older adults plan for predictable problems during what Lindquist calls the “last quarter of life” — roughly, from age 75 on.

“Many people plan for retirement,” the energetic physician explained. “They complete a will, assign powers of

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Fall 2017

attorney, pick out a funeral home, and they think they’re done.”

What doesn’t get addressed is how older adults will continue living at home if health-related concerns compromise their independence.

“People don’t want to think about the last 10 or 15 years of their life, and how they’re going to manage,” Lindquist said.

This isn’t end-of-life planning; it’s planning for the period before the end, when health problems become more common.

Lindquist and collaborators began their research by convening focus groups of 68 seniors — mostly women with an average age of 74.

Investigators wanted to know which events might make it difficult for people to remain at home. Seniors named five: being hospitalized, falling, developing dementia, having a

spouse fall ill or die, and not being able to keep up their homes.

Yet most participants hadn’t planned for these kinds of events. Investigators asked why.

Among the reasons seniors offered: I don’t know what to do, I’m uncomfortable asking for help, I’m not at immediate risk of something bad happening, my children will take care of whatever I need, and I’m worried I won’t have enough money, according to a research report published last year.

Developing the website came next. Lindquist and her team decided to focus on three issues the focus groups had raised — hospitalizations, falling and developing dementia — and to include sections on communicating with family members and managing finances.

A group of senior advisers rejected the first version: the typeface was too small; the design, too cluttered; and the content, too complex. They didn’t want to be overwhelmed with information; they wanted the material on the site to be practical and concrete.

The final version “forces people to sit down and think about their future in a very helpful and non-threatening way,” said Phyllis Mitzen, 74, who worked on the project.

An individual going through the material is asked to consider a series of questions after examining explanatory information and watching short videos of seniors illustrating the issues being discussed. For instance, which rehabilitation facility would you like to go to if you need intensive therapy after a hospitalization?

Who will take care of your pets, mow your lawn or shovel the snow from your sidewalk while you’re away? Who can collect your mail, check on bills to be paid and get medications for you when you return home?

If you begin having memory problems, who can help you manage your bills and finances? Are you willing to wear a medical alert bracelet if you start getting lost? Would you be willing to have a friend or relative check on your driving or have a formal driving evaluation?

If you require more assistance, are you open to having someone come in to help at home? Would you prefer to live with somebody — if so, whom? Would you be willing to move into a senior community?

The goal is to jump-start conversations about these issues, Lindquist said, just as seniors are encouraged to have conversations about end-of-life preferences.

Those looking for deep dives into topics highlighted on the site will have to look elsewhere. Resources listed are spare and some of the material presented — for instance, how Medicare might cover various services — is overly simplified, noted Carol Levine, director of the United Hospital Fund’s Families and Health Care Project.

Her project has prepared a much more detailed, comprehensive set of guides for family caregivers about issues such as home care, doctors’ visits, emergency room care, rehabilitation and what to expect during and after a hospitalization.

Those materials are full of useful advice and can flesh out issues raised on the Northwestern website.

Those wanting to know more about falls can consult

materials prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

For dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association and the NIH are good places to start.

As for next steps, Lindquist contemplates disseminating PlanYourLifespan more widely, translating it into Spanish if funding can be secured and possibly expanding it to include more topics.

The point is to “give seniors a voice,” she said. Now, if an older woman breaks a hip and is rushed to surgery, “loved ones run around and usually make decisions without her input — she’s usually too out of it to really weigh in. That doesn’t have to happen, if only people would consider the reality of growing older and plan ahead.”

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Is your home drowning in old photos?

Organizers offer tips Story by LISA A. FLAM Associated Press

Old photos in albums and slides are stacked up in a home in July. Organizing photos can be one of the toughest and most emotionally draining parts of downsizing or decluttering a home. You can restore order to all those prints, slides, tapes and other old photo formats by digitalizing them or putting them in photo-safe boxes.

Photo by Danny Green, AP

T

ake a survey of your home, and consider all the spots where you have old photos.

Perhaps you’ll find baby pictures in albums in the living room, vacation snaps in tattered envelopes tucked into a bookshelf, milestone moments in old frames, and older relatives’ fading photos in dusty boxes in the basement or attic.

“They’re memories and treasures for us, but they take up a lot of space, and over the years they keep growing,” says Stephanie Sisco, home editor for Real Simple magazine.

“When you decide you want to organize these photos, you’re doing yourself a favor, as well as the people who will inherit those from you.”

You can organize your photos and preserve your personal history either digitally, in photo-safe boxes or both ways.

And if you discard the originals after going digital, you’ll free up storage space around the house, which is always a good thing.

Fall 2017 22

Getting organized can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re staring down hundreds or thousands of loose, unorganized photos. And reliving memories through photos can take a heavy toll, especially if you’re working on the project during an already emotional time like moving, helping a parent downsize or dealing with an estate.

“It’s one of the most challenging projects that people undertake in their organizational lives because, unless you’re starting from a really organized place, it’s difficult to even know where to begin,” Sisco said.

Prints are the most common photographic item that people have — and have many of — in their homes.

Sisco recommends spending an hour a day going through them. Organize the prints by decade, and then narrow them further by year, or by person or special event like a wedding.

One of the hardest parts is throwing photos away. Sisco advises tossing photos that are blurry, unflattering or dupli-

cates. “You don’t have to feel this obligation to keep them just because they were printed,” she said.

Over time, remember that sunlight and humidity can cause photos to deteriorate. “If they’re exposed to sunlight, each layer of color eventually fades off,” said Toni Greetis, lab manager at Phototronics, an independent camera shop in Winnetka, Illinois.

In basements, photos can be damaged by flooding, humidity, mold and mildew. In attics, heat and humidity can cause problems.

For these reasons, a digital archive is the best way to safely store photos and slides, Greetis said. Having all images on a disk or thumb drive also makes it convenient to find and share images in person and online.

“You can take it with you to Grandma’s house rather than carrying eight boxes filled with photo albums,” Greetis said.

“And there’s less risk of damage to a small thumb drive than there is to photo albums or boxes of photos in your basement or attic.”

She recommends getting a duplicate of the drive or disk and keeping it somewhere secure, like in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe.

If you digitize photos, you can scan them into the computer yourself, pay for the service at a camera shop or go through an online company like the one Sisco recommends, ScanMyPhotos.com.

At Phototronics, which digitizes photos, slides, VCR tapes and movies recorded in earlier formats, the question of whether to keep the originals after digitizing is a common

one. Greetis says it’s a personal choice.

“If you keep them, you actually have the tactile object that you can look at, which has its own nostalgia,” she said.

“You can pass those to other family members or just simply to have as the backup if something happens to the digital copies. The downside is it takes up space.”

If you keep the original photo prints, Sisco recommends storing them in clearly marked, archival storage boxes.

Greetis recommends placing those acid-free boxes inside a Rubbermaid container to keep out moisture. Store them somewhere dry, dark and cool, like a closet.

Despite the hundreds of photos in basements and attics, albums and boxes, Greetis knows one thing for certain.

“Very few people look at actual photographs these days,” she said. “Everything’s digital.”

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Tips for taking better photos of your garden and wildlife Story by MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON Associated Press

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o the garden you planted or enjoy each day is flowering. Birds and animals are busy in your yard or neighborhood. And you’d love to capture all this natural beauty in photos.

It’s so easy these days to pull out a phone and take pictures of anything anytime, but a little time and thought can produce better garden and wildlife photos.

“There’s a big difference between that for-the-record shot that preserves a memory and getting a really nice image,” says Brenda Tharp, author of the new book “Expressive Nature Photography” (The Monacelli Press).

Pause before pressing the shutter, she says, and consider: Is the light right? Can you give your photo a unique point of view by shooting from different angles and levels, moving to the side, crouching or standing on something?

Try to identify what it is about the subject matter that “stopped you in your tracks,” she says. “It’s really about nar24

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rowing down your purpose in making that picture.”

Some tips from Tharp and other nature photographers:

THE RULE OF THIRDS Resist the temptation to center the subject, suggests Rob Simpson, an instructor in nature photography at Lord Fairfax College. Think of your photo as a tic-tac-toe board, and place the subject in one of the off-center thirds of the space.

“It’s going to make the photo more pleasing to the eye,” he said. “It gives it balance.”

TEXTURE IS TERRIFIC One of the most exciting things about photographing flowers and leaves is capturing something that passersby won’t see — their textures up-close, says Patty Hankins, a floral photographer who sells her work and offers photography tips at beautifulflowerpictures.com.

A camera’s “macro” setting lets you take an extreme close-up and keep it in focus. “It shows you all these incredible things that people who aren’t stopping to look won’t see,” she says. “It’s about filling the frame with small details.”

STAYING STILL When using the macro setting, keep the camera as still as possible, Hankins says. “If you’re taking a picture of the Grand Canyon and your hand shakes a little, people aren’t likely to notice,” she said. “But if you’re taking a photo of the center of a sunflower, they’re much more likely to see it.”

A tripod can help. Look for one that is lightweight and can get low to ground, she says. If you don’t own a tripod, find somewhere solid to place the camera or set it on a bean bag or bag of rice on the ground, and use the timer to take the photo. Many cameras also have settings designed to reduce vibrations.

PRACTICE PERIMETER PATROL Before you shoot, scan the edges of your picture for buildings, outdoor furniture or other things that could distract from your subject.

LIGHT MATTERS Often, outdoor photos come out better on cloudy days or when the sun is not directly overhead, Simpson says. The soft light that comes through on an overcast day will not cast harsh shadows, and may result in a more even exposure and better details.

“People love sunlight, but it’s not the right light for every subject,” Tharp says. “For intimate views of nature, opt for soft or diffused light.”

For landscape photos, however, sunlight can add drama.

Consider shooting in the warm light found in early morning or late afternoon when the angle of the sun is low.

THINK 3-D Having items in a picture’s foreground and background helps put the viewer in the photo and creates a sense of depth, Tharp says. When taking a photo of a meadow or landscape, include objects closer to the camera as well.

Another way to create dimension is to angle the camera downward a bit, emphasizing the foreground and creating that near-far relationship.

thinkstock Keep the animal’s eye in focus.

SHUTTER SELECTIONS AND APERTURES Becoming a better photographer will mean understanding shutter speeds and apertures, Tharp said. The right shutter speed can mean the difference between freezing the motion of a moving animal or ending up with a blur. When photographing something in motion — an animal, bird or waterfall — give precedence to shutter speed over aperture, which is the amount of light being allowed into the lens.

If controlling the sharpness of the background is the goal, prioritize aperture, because it defines the depth of what will be in focus, she said.

“Experimenting with different apertures and shutter speeds on your subject will quickly show the various effects,” Tharp said.

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Honorably discharged veterans will soon get to shop tax-free online Story by JOSH FUNK Associated Press

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H

ey veterans, you can soon shop tax-free.

Starting later this fall, all honorably discharged veterans, no matter their branch of service, will be eligible to shop tax-free online at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service with the same discounts they enjoyed on base while in the military. It’s the latest way in which the organization is trying to keep its customers as the armed forces shrink and airmen and soldiers buy more for delivery.

Adding 13 million potential new customers will give extra ammunition to the group that runs the stores on U.S. Army and Air Force bases worldwide as it fights Amazon and other retailers for veterans’ online shopping dollars.

Since hiring its first civilian CEO five years ago, the Exchange has upgraded the brands at base stores to include items like Disney toys, Michael Kors fashions and other top names. Like private stores, it’s also imposed tighter cost controls, reduced the number of employees and improved Fall 2017 26

people’s experience on the website.

“The intent is to really beat Amazon at their game because we have locations literally on the installations,” said CEO Tom Shull. “We’re leaning toward not just ship-fromstore but pick-up-from-store and eventually deliver-fromstore.”

The Exchange is adding shipping centers within its stores to allow it to send products directly from those locations more cheaply and quickly. Twenty-six stores now ship orders, and that will expand to 55 by the end of the year.

Within the next three years, Shull said the goal is to deliver something on base within two hours of when it is ordered. That’s possible partly because the Exchanges are already on base, cleared by security.

The Exchange delivers most orders on the second day now. Shull said shipping from stores will make a big difference in regions around bases, which are often in more rural

areas.

Expanding online shopping to all honorably discharged veterans is expected to add about $200 million annually within three years to the $8.3 billion in sales the Exchanges generated last year.

Adding those shoppers, what Shull called “the foundation of our growth,” is critical to help offset the 13 percent decline in the number of active-duty Army and Air Force soldiers since 2011 when the Exchange generated $10.3 billion revenue.

“It’s a modest benefit, but it can save you thousands of dollars a year,” said Shull, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy who served in the Army for a decade before starting a retail career at chains including Macy’s.

Former Marine Forrest Cornelius was among the first to sign up at the verification website when it launched in June, and got a chance to start shopping early to test it out. The 51-year-old was impressed by the site and a deal he found on Ray-Ban sunglasses.

“The biggest thing is price. They’re always going to be a little bit cheaper,” said Cornelius, who lives in Dallas.

But competing on price in today’s retail environment is increasingly difficult, said Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough. Just look at how much trouble Walmart has competing with Amazon, he said, because Walmart has the fixed costs associated with its stores.

“To think you’re going to compete on price, you’re going to have a hard time there,” he said.

Under Shull’s leadership, the Exchange stores have trad-

to e crib

s

Sub

ed their industrial feel and reliance on off-brand merchandise for a more modern look featuring well-known labels.

Two-thirds of the main Exchange store at Offutt Air Force Base resembles any department store, with prominent displays of name-brand makeup, Nike fitness gear and Carter’s clothes for kids. The rest is filled with the kind of electronics, appliances, housewares and toys found at Walmart or Sears, with major brands in every section.

The Exchanges don’t pay rent for their military base locations, and the government transports some of their supplies and goods to far-flung locations, but otherwise they operate mostly like an independent retailer. Roughly two-thirds of the employees are family members of soldiers or airmen.

The Exchange, which is part of the Defense Department, reported earnings of $384 million last year. That’s a sharp contrast from five years ago when Shull arrived to projections of $180 million in losses.

Of last year’s profit, $225 million was returned to the defense department to help pay for quality-of-life programs on bases like child development and fitness centers. Besides the main stores, the Exchanges also operate more than 70 movie theaters and bring in franchise restaurants and other vendors for the shopping malls it operates on bases.

Shull feels those are good reasons for the new online shopping privileges to draw veterans to do their shopping there.

“Veterans value the cost savings and what they can do to support the military,” he said.

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Make sure your retirement savings last as long as you do Story by TIM GRANT Tribune News Service

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arget date mutual funds have become the answer to a problem many retirement savers face in a world that has shifted the burden of managing retirement assets from corporations to workers who don’t always have the time or knowledge to be effective money managers.

The financial services industry came to the rescue by providing a simple investment solution in which workers only needed to pick a date they wished to retire and the mutual fund took care of the hard work by automatically adjusting 28

Fall 2017

the asset mix in the account to a higher percentage of safer bonds and a lower percentage of riskier stocks as the account owner’s retirement date neared.

But now, workers often are on the job past the once-common retirement age of 65 — and target date funds haven’t caught up.

When target date funds, also known as life cycle funds, hit the scene in the 1990s, workers who used them were encouraged to choose a target date that corresponded with

a planned retirement age of 65. Nearly three decades later, the status quo for most target date funds is still 65, which many financial advisers believe could be too conservative in light of more people working longer and living longer.

“For most of us, our retirement years will equal that of our working career,” said Jim Meredith, executive vice president of the Hefren-Tillotson wealth management firm.

“It’s not wise for a 65-year-old person to get overly conservative with their portfolio. A lot of people feel they need to get too conservative as they get older. The question is do they want to earn 2 percent or 10 percent?

“Most target date funds target age 65 for retirement because that’s what the public is asking for,” he said. “The public consciousness is stuck at age 65 retirement, but they would be better off retiring at age 70. Their Social Security benefits would be higher, and they would have five extra years of saving and five extra years of not spending their wealth. The impact over their remaining life would be huge.”

For a typical target date fund set for an age 65 retirement date, the fund would have automatically adjusted to the point where an individual’s portfolio would have an allocation of about 90 percent bonds and 10 percent stocks — at a time when bonds are paying near historic low interest rates.

And the popularity of target date funds in company retirement plans shows no signs of slowing down.

Based on the latest data from U.S. investment companies, more workers are using the “set-it-and-forget-it” approach to retirement investing than ever before.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Investment Company Institute, 76 percent of 401(k) plans included target date funds in their investment lineup at the end of 2014 compared with 32 percent in 2006.

But critics of this sweet and simple concept wonder how one fund can really suit the needs of everyone who is planning to retire in a given year.

“If I need $40,000 a year from my portfolio in retirement, I can achieve that by taking out 4 percent a year in a $1 million portfolio. But what if I have only a $500,000 portfolio?

I need to have an 8 percent return on $500,000 to have the same income as someone with $1 million,” said Paul Brahim, CEO of BPU Investment Management.

“The amount of money I have and the amount of money I need are important components of my asset allocation decision,” he said. “If the target date fund predetermines my asset allocation without knowing how much money I have or how much I need, chances are they could be wrong.

I could wake up at age 65 and have the wrong asset allocation based on my needs.”

Scott Puritz, managing director of Rebalance IRA, a national low-cost wealth management firm, said for many years the standard practice for investing was to access accounts on the day of retirement. For most people, this meant age 59 1/2 or several years later at age 65.

“Now that the general population is living much longer,

this model may be too conservative for most investors,” said Puritz, whose company manages more than $470 million in client assets. “Investors should target later in life and adjust to a growing life expectancy. We advise that investors aim to take out funds at a midpoint, such as mid-70s.

“The purpose of a retirement fund is to cover your whole lifespan, not just the first few years after you retire,” he said.

“Now the biggest risk retirement savers face is not that the stock market will drop, but that typical Americans will outlive their retirement savings.”

Puritz noted, “It’s important to keep in mind that over any 10-year period from 1928 to 2016, stocks have outperformed bonds on average by over 6 percent per year.”

Wealth managers say more attention needs to be paid to what target date funds do 30 to 40 years after retirement.

“When you retire, you don’t die. You could pick a target retirement age of 65 and then live another 15 to 30 years,” said Ahmie Baum, managing director of the Baum Consulting Group at UBS Financial Services. “By picking a target date of age 65, the investor is getting less risky with his investment strategy.”

But Baum said the trade-off would be that the investor could end up living a few decades beyond retirement with less inflation protection than he would get from owning more stocks due to the heavy weighting of bonds, which pay less yield, in the portfolio.

Target date funds make sense for individuals who want to delegate the risk management and allocation of their retirement account to a professional. But they should keep in mind that their retirement savings need to last a lifetime.

“Each person has a right number for themselves. There is no perfect number for everyone,” said Sean Pearson, a financial adviser at Ameriprise. “We don’t advocate targeting age 65 for retirement. For a younger client, it might be a great place to start.

“It gives them the impetus to save a lot for retirement, the opportunity to retire early and the flexibility to make changes if their family situation changes,” he said. “Setting an earlier retirement date forces clients to save more earlier and that increases the personal savings rate, which is the bigger factor.”

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A merry little Christmas:

Make the holidays the best for loved ones with dementia Story by THOMAS PLANK for Montana 55

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right lights, laughter and chaos in the kitchen and dining room, screams of joyous excitement and the constant low rumble of happy conversation. New people coming in the door, cold air trailing behind, children running inside and outside, teenagers doing their best impressions of being an adult. Ham sizzling in the oven and biscuit dough being formed on baking sheets while Christmas cookies come out of the freezer. Christmas music floating over it all, with Frank Sinatra singing “Have yourself … a merry little Christmas … ” as the fire crackles and glows with heat.

These are some of the best parts of the holidays. But they also can be a deeply discomfiting and sometimes frightening experience for those with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Lynn Mullowney Cabrera is the executive director for the Montana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Her 30

Fall 2017

father-in-law dealt with dementia, which has made her firsthand experience with the disease invaluable.

Cabrera said the most important thing to do is to “adjust expectations” for spending the holiday season with those who have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

“If you have a big family thing with lots of noise or lights, that can not be enjoyable for a person with Alzheimer’s,” Cabrera said. “How they take in an environment — lights, sounds, energy levels — can be hard for us to understand.”

Big shindigs can be a problem, but that doesn’t mean that holiday traditions should be thrown away, Cabrera cautioned.

“Traditions that are meaningful to (a person with dementia or Alzheimer’s) should be done,” but instead of the big dinner, a quiet lunch might be the best, Cabrera said.

Compassion is the most important part of spending the

holidays with a person with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Involving that loved one with the rest of the family is a deeply important part of the process, but doing it in a manner that suits their state is even more important for their comfort.

Dr. Richard Blank is a Missoula resident. His wife passed several years ago after a battle with Alzheimer’s, but he still is deeply involved with the community. Blank remembers that his wife “was a big Christmas fan,” and taking precautions to make it easier for her.

“You might have to slow down, be patient,” Blank said.

“Early on, it’s very important to not have everyone freak out about dementia.” Making the loved one comfortable and not feel hopeless is important, especially around a holiday. “A person with dementia is already slowing down,” Blank said, “but they know they are.”

But, that doesn’t stop happy moments from happening.

“We were happy when she was happy,” Blank remembered.

“Slow down, adapt, extreme patience, don’t overwhelm the poor people.

“Find small quiet spots, you need to adapt to the holiday, not force them into busy circumstances.”

There were times when Blank’s wife would jump right into the thick of it as well. “She would be herself for a minute, it was a happy moment,” Blank said. Even so, he and the entire family took it upon themselves to make sure that his wife, their mother, mother-in-law, aunt and grandmother was the “focus of our concern.” Throughout it all, Blank said “we all adapted and continued to love her.”

It’s hard to have to answer the same question multiple times an hour, Cabrera said.

“Every circumstance is unique to the experience of the person,” Cabrera said. She reinforced that individuality while advising the changing nature of the disease. “What worked six months or a year ago can change,” and is something that the primary caregiver might want to tell other members of the family.

The most important thing while caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s is to have “compassionate communication” with them, others and yourself.

“Put yourself in their shoes,” Cabrera said, and that can make all the difference.

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Hints that lifestyle changes might guard against dementia Story by LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press

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S

eek a good education. Control blood pressure and diabetes. Get off the couch. There are some hints, but no proof yet, that these and other lifestyle changes just might help stave off dementia.

A provocative report in the British journal Lancet earlier this year raised the prospect that a third of dementia cases around the world could be delayed or even prevented by avoiding key risks starting in childhood that can make the brain more vulnerable to memory loss in old age.

A recent U.S. report was much more cautious, saying there are encouraging clues that a few lifestyle changes can bolster brain health and that more research is critical.

Still, it’s never too early to try, said Lancet lead author Gill Livingston, a psychiatry professor at University College London.

“Although dementia is diagnosed in later life, the brain changes usually begin to develop years before,” she noted.

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Early next year, a $20 million U.S. study will begin rigorously testing if some simple day-to-day activities truly help older adults stay sharp.

“We are in a frustrating position science-wise in terms of what are our options?” said cognitive neuroscientist Laura Baker of Wake Forest School of Medicine, who will lead the new study to find out.

In the meantime, Alzheimer’s specialists say there’s little down side to following some common-sense recommendations.

Consider physical activity, crucial for heart health. “If in fact it should also improve the prospects for cognitive function and dementia, all the better,” said Dr. Richard Hodes, director of the U.S. National Institute on Aging and an avid exerciser.

“Increased health of the body supports increased health of the brain,” Baker added.

Here’s the latest from this week’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on possible ways to guard your brain:

KEY RISKS A Lancet-appointed panel created a model of dementia risks throughout life that estimates about 35 percent of all dementia cases are attributable to nine risk factors — risks that people potentially could change.

Their resulting recommendations: Ensure good childhood education; avoid high blood pressure, obesity and smoking; manage diabetes, depression and age-related hearing loss; be physically active; stay socially engaged in old age.

The theory: These factors together play a role in whether your brain is resilient enough to withstand years of silent damage that eventually leads to Alzheimer’s.

DOES CHANGING THESE OR OTHER LIFESTYLE FACTORS REALLY HELP? Recently, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reported there’s little rigorous proof.

That report found some evidence that controlling blood pressure, exercise and some forms of brain training — keeping intellectually stimulated — might work and couldn’t hurt.

Why? What’s good for the heart is generally good for the brain. In fact, high blood pressure that can trigger heart attacks and strokes also increases risk for what’s called “vascular dementia.”

And exercising your gray matter may bulk up the brain, whether it’s from childhood education or learning a new language as an adult. The more you learn, the more connections your brain forms, what scientists call cognitive reserve.

Some U.S. studies have suggested that generations better educated than their grandparents have somewhat less risk of dementia.

Other factors have less scientific support. Studies show people with hearing loss are more likely to experience memory problems, and have speculated that it’s because hearing loss leads to depression and social isolation — or that the brain works harder to deal with garbled sound, at the expense of other thinking skills. But so far there aren’t studies proving hearing aids reverse that risk.

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In fact, the strongest evidence that lifestyle changes help comes from Finland, where a large, randomized study found older adults at high risk of dementia scored better on brain tests after two years of exercise, diet, cognitive stimulation and social activities.

HUNTING PROOF

Would those strategies help Americans, who tend to be sicker, fatter and more sedentary than Scandinavians? The Alzheimer’s Association is funding a study to find out, with enrollment of 2,500 cognitively healthy but high-risk older adults to begin next year.

WANT TO TRY ON YOUR OWN? THEY’LL TEST:

Walking — supervised, so no cheating. Wake Forest’s Baker puts seniors on treadmills at the local YMCA to avoid bumpy sidewalks. She advises exercise newbies to start slow — about 10 minutes a day for a few days — and work up to longer walks, and go with a buddy so it’s harder to back out.

A diet that includes more leafy greens, vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry than the typical American menu.

Certain brain games and what Baker called an “intellectual stimulation barrage,” outings and other steps that keep people social, not sitting home on a computer, while they exercise their brains.

Improving control of medical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes that are toxic to the brain.

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information.

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1-800-551-3191

Montana SMP is a program coordinated by Missoula Aging Services and partnered with local Area Agencies on Aging. This project was supported, in part by grant number 90MP0233, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.

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Older people dying on job at higher rate than all workers Story by MARIA INES ZAMUDIO and MICHELLE MINKOFF Associated Press

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lder people are dying on the job at a higher rate than workers overall, even as the rate of workplace fatalities decreases, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal statistics.

It’s a trend that’s particularly alarming as baby boomers reject the traditional retirement age of 65 and keep working.

The U.S. government estimates that by 2024, older workers will account for 25 percent of the labor market.

Getting old — and the physical changes associated with it — “could potentially make a workplace injury into a much more serious injury or a potentially fatal injury,” said Ken Scott, an epidemiologist with the Denver Public Health Department.

Gerontologists say those changes include gradually worsening vision and hearing impairment, reduced response time, balance issues and chronic medical or muscle or bone problems such as arthritis.

In 2015, about 35 percent of the fatal workplace accidents involved a worker 55 and older — or 1,681 of the 4,836 fatalities reported nationally.

The AP analysis showed that the workplace fatality rate for all workers — and for those 55 and older — decreased by 22 percent between 2006 and 2015. But the rate of fatal accidents among older workers during that time period was 50 percent to 65 percent higher than for all workers, depending on the year.

The number of deaths among all workers dropped from Fall 2017 34

thinkstock 5,480 in 2005 to 4,836 in 2015. By contrast, on-the-job fatalities among older workers increased slightly, from 1,562 to 1,681, the analysis shows.

During that time period, the number of older people in the workplace increased by 37 percent. That compares with a 6 percent rise in the population of workers overall.

Ruth Finkelstein, co-director of Columbia University’s Aging Center, cautions against stereotyping. She said older people have a range of physical and mental abilities and that it’s dangerous to lump all people in an age group together because it could lead to discrimination.

She said she’s not sure that older workers need much more protection than younger workers, but agreed there is a need for all workers to have more protection. “We are not paying enough attention to occupational safety in this country,” she said.

The AP analysis is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census for Fatal Occupational Injuries and from one-year estimates from the American Community Survey, which looks at the working population. It excludes cases where the cause of death was from a “natural cause,” including a heart attack or stroke.

AP also examined the number and types of accidents in which older workers died between 2011, when the bureau changed the way it categorized accidents, to 2015: Fall-related fatalities rose 20 percent.

Contact with objects and equipment increased 17 percent.

Transportation accidents increased 15 percent.

Fires and explosions decreased by 8 percent.

“We expect that there will be more older workers increasing each year and they will represent a greater share (of the fatalities) over the last couple of decades,” said Scott, the Denver epidemiologist. “This issue of elevated risk is something we should be paying close attention to.”

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found in 2013 that 44 percent of older Americans said their job required physical effort most or almost all of the time, and 36 percent said it was more difficult to complete the physical requirements of their jobs than it was when they were younger.

In most states, the fatal accident rates for older workers were consistently higher than comparable rates for all workers.

Eight states saw their overall workplace fatality rate drop, even as the rate for older workers increased: Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New York, Texas, Utah and Washington.

The AP analysis showed that older workers were involved in about 1 in 4 fatal workplace accidents related to fires and explosions from 2011 to 2015.

The National Center for Productive Aging and Work is pushing for changes in the workplace to make it safer for older workers. The year-old center is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

“We advocate to make workplaces as age-friendly as possible,” said co-director James Grosch. For example, increased lighting helps older workers whose eyesight has weakened with age.

He said the center is emphasizing productive aging, looking at “how people can be more productive, how their wisdom can be leveraged in a workplace.”

Staying safe on the job MARIA INES ZAMUDIO for the Associated Press When managers at Bon Secours Virginia Health System started analyzing workers’ compensation cases, they noticed a bad combination: Older nurses were having problems from lifting heavy and sicker patients.

“We saw an increase in back injuries and older workers were more likely to suffer from those injuries,” said Jim Godwin, vice president of human resources. “Not only that, but we thought if we can keep workers from sustaining (back) injuries when they are younger, they can continue working longer.”

The company put into place a new protocol for moving patients.

Nurses can now call in a “patient mobility team” to help.

Jacquelyn James, co-director of the Center on Aging & Work at Boston College, said there’s a recognition among employers such as Richmond-based Bon Secours Virginia Health System that the workforce is aging.

“That’s what’s driving the change right now,” she said. “Changes are needed. These workers are staying in their jobs.”

The U.S. government estimates that by 2024, older workers will account for a quarter of the labor market.

The natural process of aging could lead to physical problems including gradually worsening vision and hearing impairment, reduced response time and balance and other issues, according to gerontologists. That “could potentially make a workplace injury into a much more serious injury or a potentially fatal injury,” said Ken Scott, an epidemiologist with the Denver Public Health Department.

In 2015, about 35 percent of the fatal workplace accidents involved a worker 55 and older.

So companies are taking steps to make their workplace safer for older workers.

“There is a chronic shortage of health care professionals and that’s been true for the last 30 years since I’ve been working,” Godwin said. “We had to get innovative with ways to keep our positions filled.”

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said there are a variety of accommodations that employers can make to create a safer and more conducive work environment for older employees. Among its recommendations: Providing flexibility on the job. NIOSH says this includes schedules, location and tasks, among other things.

Creating a work environment that lets people move rather than stay sedentary all day. That can include providing sit/stand work stations or onsite physical activity.

Managing noise and other physical hazards, such as causes of slipping and tripping.

Ensuring that the work environment is ergonomically friendly.

That could include workstations, seating, flooring and lighting.

Using teams and promoting teamwork to solve problems.

Promoting healthy lifestyles and striving to “accommodate medical self-care in the workplace and time away for health visits.”

“Our emphasis is productive aging,” said James Grosch, codirector of NIOSH’s National Center for Productive Aging and Work.

by K.Vineys

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Beginner bird walk offers new species each month Story and photos by RICK ROWAN for Montana 55

Bob Danley, the outdoor recreation planner at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville, assists birders with a powerful spotting scope.

E

very third Saturday at Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge in the Bitterroot Valley, members of the Five Valleys Audubon Society assist aspiring birders to spot coots, widgeons gadwalls and scores of other waterfowl.

The beginner bird walk highlights the avian activity in the large ponds surrounding the visitor center at the wildlife refuge. Identified as an “Important Bird Area,” birders have recorded more than 240 bird species in the ponds and riparian areas. Using high-powered spotting scopes provided by the refuge, people can see the birds in detail.

The “birders” at Lee Metcalf are diverse in ability; some are happy to see any bird to which they can give a positive identification, while others are able to distinguish birds by gender and relative age. Learning to identify ducks and other swimming birds can be easier for beginners because they are larger birds that don’t move very quickly.

Larry Weeks volunteers to lead the bird walk for Five Valleys Audubon every month and provides tips and tricks throughout the event. Among the most useful tricks for identifying ducks are to look at their speculum feathers, near the rear of the wing close to the body where many species present bright colors, or to look for behavior; some ducks Fall 2017 36

dive, others don’t.

Weeks keeps a running list of every bird species he identifies throughout the year.

“Usually I’ve over 200,” Weeks said. “I’m having a good year. I’m at 230 right now, maybe I’ll get to 240.”

Birding is not just a visual activity. Cupping his ear and pointing into a thicket, Weeks identifies birds by ear as well.

“Listen,” Weeks said. “That’s a common yellowthroat, making their ‘chup’ sound, not their ‘wichiti, wichiti.’ ” Time of year and time of day determine which species a birder sees, and because of migration patterns, each trip to the Lee Metcalf provides views of different species.

“I like the challenge of these ducks this time of year,” said Rose Stoudt, a board member of the Five Valleys Audubon.

In the two-hour bird walk on a late summer Saturday morning, the Audubon society guides spotted more than 30 species in their scopes and quickly shuffled each birder through to make sure everyone got a look.

Bob Danley works as the outdoor recreation planner at Lee Metcalf. Equally adept at birdwatching as the Audubon guides, Danley helps educate as well. Pointing out a ringnecked duck in his scope, he laughs and explains to look for

Looking west over the ponds in Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville.

a ring on its bill rather than one around its neck.

“Most of the time the ornithologists get it right and name a bird for its most distinctive feature, but with a ring-necked duck they really messed it up,” Danley said. “You won’t see the ring unless you’re holding it out at arm’s length it’s so faint.”

The beginner bird walks are not canceled for poor weather, and according to Danley, some of the most interesting birding experiences can happen on rainy days.

“When it rains it’s really good because the birds concentrate themselves in an area,” Danley said. “Yesterday we had 300 swallows out here feeding over the ponds.”

For Danley, the best part of the bird walks at Lee Metcalf is their accessibility, the trails are mellow and accessible to just about anyone.

“Most people don’t appreciate or think about what is outside their backdoor as nature,” Danley said. “You don’t have to go anywhere special to go birding. Hopefully by attending these things, we’re inspiring people to go out on their own.”

The beginning birder walks set for the rest of 2017 include Saturday, Oct. 21, Saturday, Nov. 18, and Saturday, Dec. 16, and all are from 10 a.m. to noon. Dress for the weather and bring a snack.

A cedar waxwing perched high in a dead tree at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.

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Hamilton woman is ‘Montana’s Super Classic Mrs.’ Story by MICHELLE MCCONNAHA for Montana 55

J

ustine Wagner is “Montana’s Super Classic Mrs.” The Hamilton resident has been investing in the community for years. She has been president of the Hamilton Kiwanis, actively involved in their youth-supportive program, and about to begin her term as Lt. Governor for Kiwanis District One for the Montana District of Kiwanis.

Wagner was looking for additional opportunities to be more of a positive presence when she decided pageantry could be the answer — it had been on her bucket list.

“When I was a little girl my mom and dad used to sing to me ‘Here she comes — Miss America’ and when you’re little you think it will never happen,” Wagner said. “When I was growing up I was on the high school drill team and I always wanted to try out for the Radio City Rockettes, but I never did.”

Wagner said that’s been her one regret in life. Every year, she would watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade just to see the Rockettes. She had thought about being in a pageant and it had just kept coming up in her life.

“Pageantry has been presenting itself to me for many years and I decided ‘yeah, I really want to do this,’ ” Wagner said. “I’d been talking to the pageant director Janet Bierer for about three years and she asked me to judge her pageant in Missoula. After that I decided this was the pageant I wanted to compete for.”

Americas Super Pageant is a personal development opportunity developed by Bierer in memory of her daughter Allanya DaRay Thorning, who died in July 2010. The delegates promote the national platform of “Seat Belt Use and Awareness” with a “Buckle Up” message.

The pageant has age categories and Wagner opted to be in the “Montana’s Super Classic Mrs.” category for 55 and older.

“I wanted a level playing field,” Wagner said. “I’m not a 30-year-old anymore and the young don’t have life experience.”

Wagner will keep her title for a year and compete for the national title next October. She will talk seat belt safety plus her own platform — companion animal abuse and neglect.

“It’s an opportunity for me to make an impact on our four-legged friends,” she said. “My animals are my children, I don’t have human children, so it’s an important piece of me.”

She also will visit schools to talk about seat belt safety, and will work with humane associations throughout Montana.

“Every hour someone dies in America simply because they didn’t take two seconds to buckle up,” she said. “I’ll

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be talking to people about when you chain your dog to your house 24-hours-a-day and it doesn’t have a house in the winter or in the summer for the heat. It is abuse and neglect. Plus, there is active cruelty and passive cruelty.”

Wagner said the causes have been important to her all her life and believes that one person can make a difference.

“I’m excited about this,” she said. “All those little pieces kept floating down through the air like ash. Pageantry just kept presenting itself. Everyone has their own things and their own dreams.”

“Montana’s Super Classic Mrs.” Justine Wagner will present “seatbelt safety,” “companion animal abuse and neglect” and be a positive presence throughout Montana.

Photo by Michelle McConnaha

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Each day to the fullest.

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Highgate at Billings 3980 Parkhill Drive Call: 406-651-4833

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