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Love, marriage in the time of pandemic By Sheri Venema The bride wore sensible sandals and the white lace dress she had fortunately purchased in pre-pandemic times. Her left hand clutched a small bouquet of white and pink roses. The groom wore a dark sports coat with a boutonniere to match her bouquet. Her hair was white; what remained of his was gray. The chapel pews were empty. With their Baltimore County retirement community under lockdown, Helen Baker, 84, and Dan Kott, 82, walked down the hall to the chapel to be married. Only three others were allowed at the April 24 ceremony: an officiant, a photographer and a Scripture reader. As soon as all five were in the chapel, the doors were locked behind them. “It was kind of like we were sneaking around,” Kott said. It wasn’t the wedding they had planned. But their happiness brightened the pandemic gloom for residents at Oak Crest, a sprawling 87-acre retirement community in Parkville operated by Erickson Living. “That marriage was a moment of joy in this time,” said Rev. Emily Holman, an Episcopal deacon and fellow resident of Oak Crest who performed the ceremony. “Everyone was so happy about it.” Kott, a Baltimore native and retired computer programmer analyst, moved to Oak Crest in 2013 with his first wife, who had dementia. Home to about 1,800 residents in independent-living apartments and another 300 in continuing care units, Oak Crest was a good fit. Unfortunately, his wife passed away four months after the move; they had been married for 50 years. Baker, twice-widowed and a retired Baltimore County schoolteacher, moved to Oak Crest early in 2018. “I liked it right from the beginning,” she said. “When I met Dan, I liked it even more.” About nine months after she moved in — Nov. 10, 2018, to be exact — she was taking an evening walk and noticed a friend playing piano. Here’s the story, as they tell it: Kott: “In one of the lobbies on Saturday nights, a lady would come up and play the piano and entertain. I would walk over and listen to the music. A lot of times folks would sing along. “One evening I was sitting there, and Helen was stopping by. There was only one

PHOTO BY JEFF GETEK

Stephen King has called Pelecanos “perhaps the greatest living American crime writer,” and Esquire magazine called him the “poet laureate of the D.C. crime world.” Readers will find detectives, cops, crooks and law-abiding citizens of the D.C. area interacting in dramatic and exciting books such as The Night Gardener, Drama City, Hard Revolution, Soul Circus, Hell to

PHOTO BY ROSA PELECANOS COURTESY OF LITTLE, BROWN AND CO.

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JULY 2020

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Novelist’s unique take on crime By Robert Friedman George Pelecanos is the award-winning writer of 21 novels, all researched, he said, “in the street rather than the library.” Pelecanos, 63, prides himself for prowling mean inner-city streets to get the most accurate descriptions for his crime novels. Lately, though, the Maryland resident has become a homebody, like the rest of us, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s such a tremendous event in the nation’s history,” Pelecanos told the Beacon in a recent interview. “We don’t even know how it is going to play out. “This will certainly impact the people I write about. The most negative effects will be felt by the working class, the people at the bottom,” he said. In addition to publishing bestselling novels, many of which are set in Washington, D.C., Pelecanos is also a writer and producer, along with David Simon, of several highly lauded TV series. Among the most notable was “The Wire,” which was set and filmed in Baltimore. His other TV work with Simon includes “Treme,” shot in New Orleans, and “The Deuce,” set on the seamy side of New York. Currently, Pelecanos is working with Simon and writer Ed Burns on a new TV series also to be set in Baltimore.

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The coronavirus couldn’t stop octogenarians Helen Baker and Dan Kott from tying the knot in April at their retirement community, Oak Crest. The private event was “a moment of joy,” said Rev. Emily Holman, a fellow resident who performed the ceremony.

place to sit, and that was on the sofa next to me. And she did. And I’ll let her tell the rest of the story.” Baker: “I had been in the habit of taking a walk after dinner. So, when I saw Natalie was playing, I thought I’d stop. There was no place else to sit. “At the end, we started to talk, and then we started walking home…He asked me to dinner the next night. We kept on walking and talking and having dinner a lot.”

Best laid plans A year later, the couple was talking about marriage. They reserved Oak Crest’s chapel for a May 2 ceremony and the Garden Room across the hall for a reception. In January, they bought rings. Baker went to Macy’s and found the lace dress. Their families would meet for the first time: Baker’s daughter and two sons from Connecticut, Philadelphia and Baltimore; Kott’s three daughters from Baltimore.

Baker’s three granddaughters would do the readings, and her grandson would play “Amazing Grace” on his saxophone. Then: coronavirus. On Friday, March 13, state and county courts announced they would close, and the couple didn’t yet have a marriage license. “We were really worrying that we wouldn’t be able to get out and get it,” Kott said. But they did, squeezing in just under the wire that day. By Monday, the courts were shuttered. Then, on March 31, Oak Crest went under lockdown. Independent living residents were asked to stay in their apartments. Its dining rooms, snack bars, fitness center and hair salon closed. The pool and gyms closed. No tai chi classes or knitting groups, no mahjong games, no woodworking. The piano in the lobby fell silent. No visitors were allowed from outside the campus. Meals and snacks were delivered directly to apartments. Employees were screened for illness.

Those restrictions proved a bulwark against the virus; as of June 1, Oak Crest reported not one case among its independent residents, according to Oak Crest spokesman Jeff Getek. But all that social distancing didn’t stand in the way of romance. “We used to sneak out in the evening and spend a couple of hours together,” Kott admitted.

The big day The couple decided to move forward with their wedding on April 24. Oak Crest agreed to open the closed chapel for their nuptials. Baker asked Holman, an ordained deacon who has lived at Oak Crest for three years, to officiate. Getek offered to take photos. An Oak Crest pastoral associate would read Scripture. Masks were required. Empty pews. No family, no other friends, no live music, no See LOVE, page B-3

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Born and raised in Maryland, George Pelecanos is author of more than 20 crime novels, most set in the local area. He has also worked as a writer, editor and producer of television series such as “The Wire,” and is now working on a new HBO series. Although he writes about crime, Pelecanos said, “I’m interested in… the social conditions and inequalities that push people to make choices that others, frankly, never have to consider.”

Pay, Right as Rain, The Sweet Forever and King Suckerman. “I write about the people affected by the political system — those who have been ignored yet survived, and who will continue to be ignored and will continue to sur-

vive,” Pelecanos said. As a result, the label of crime fiction doesn’t quite fit his work, he said, which he classifies as “social realism” rather than

Do you enjoy the Beacon? Would you appreciate a monthly email that links directly to our latest issue? Either email your name and address to info@thebeaconnewspapers.com, or ﬁll out our free e-subscription form at bit.ly/beacondrawing, and we will enter you into a random drawing to win one of five autographed copies of George Pelecanos’ latest book, The Man Who Came Uptown.

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Guest columnist Editor’s Note: The following guest column is cans, many who considered him the savior by Timothy Cox, one of our contributing writ- who would finally help even the playing ers. Mr. Cox has written for Ganfield in a nation steeped in nett and Scripps-Howard as well Jim Crow laws, its foundaas for newspapers in Augusta, tions embedded in the 18th Atlanta, Baltimore, Pittsburgh century slave trade. and Washington, D.C. A memSen. Kennedy, as well as his ber of the National Association of deceased brother, President Black Journalists, he has a jourJohn F. Kennedy, was considnalism degree from Point Park ered a fair man who would also University. lead the charge as the young, I vividly recall the spring of new politician, with values tar1968. I was 10 years old. geted toward alleviating AmeriThen, America was in a WAKE-UP CALL ca’s unfair treatment of African state of turmoil following the By Timothy Cox Americans. April 4 assassinations of Dr. In 1968, those bright hopes Martin Luther King, Jr. and, and dreams ended abruptly soon after, the June 5 fatal shooting of then- with their unexpected and sudden deaths. U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate Fast-forward some 52 years to the spring well-positioned to win the Democratic nomi- of 2020. I’m now 62. Once again, we’re imnation for the 1968 presidential election. mersed in a series of racially polarizing and The violent death of Dr. King was an world-changing events. Amid the somber event that rocked the core of black Ameri- effects of the coronavirus, many Americans

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of the Greater Baltimore area, and is privately owned. Other editions serve Howard County, Md., Greater Washington, DC and Richmond, Va. (Fifty Plus). Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. Maryland residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below. Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. Publisher/Editor – Stuart P. Rosenthal President/Associate Publisher – Judith K. Rosenthal Vice President of Operations – Gordon Hasenei Vice President, Sales & Marketing – Alan Spiegel Managing Editor – Margaret Foster Art Director – Kyle Gregory Director of Operations – Roger King Advertising Representative – Steve Levin Editorial Assistant – Ivey Noojin

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were already psychologically and emotionally wrecked since the virus took hold in early March, ending jobs and lives. As a former longtime resident of Georgia, I was personally impacted by the video released in May of two white men who tracked down and killed a young black man, Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging in “their” neighborhood. It reignited a flame that historically has saddled America’s South. But within weeks, we saw the groundbreaking video of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. To me, that is when the wake-up call blasted out to end the illegal, racist behavior toward African Americans and other minorities. The event has and continues to adversely impact billions, nationally and internationally. As of press time, the protest marches continue worldwide. The video of George Floyd was so unbelievable that it was difficult for me to watch. It is hard to fathom that such an incident could occur in the 21st -century United States. Like most Americans, I immediately felt sorry for Floyd’s family, and also for the millions of young people of all races and cultures whom had never seen an incident so inhumane. Not in 2020. And hopefully, never again. As a descendant of two parents who were raised in segregated Georgia in the early 1900s to mid-1940s, I’m proud to say that my upbringing in Western Pennsylvania had a full impact on my life. From the time of my early education to the time I entered the job market, I’ve adopted mechanisms to thrive even when faced with obvious, racially-based oppression and systemic racism. When I was a young man, my parents ensured that my brothers and sisters were well equipped to appropriately respond when encountered by aggressive law enforcement personnel. “The talk” was and is a protection mechanism passed down the ranks from grandparents, fathers, uncles, cousins and nephews to children and in my case, to my godchildren. As a lifelong journalist, I have often witnessed unfair hiring practices at America’s premier newspapers. On the rare occasions I was offered a job interview there,

managing editors would often tell me that minority reporters such as myself were not qualified because we lacked daily newsroom experience. But if we were never given an initial opportunity, how were we supposed to acquire the necessary daily newsroom experience? Racism was, and continues to be, a reality in our country. However, one powerful televised moment stands out to me. At a march for George Floyd’s homegoing in Houston, a three-year-old girl saw a line of police SWAT team members and asked her father if the police were coming to “shoot them.” Then, an officer stopped to comfort the little girl — stating that she and her family were safe and able to march and demonstrate as they pleased. Those types of hopeful images can impact our youth and the law enforcement community. Who has the answers? Money and support has poured in from corporations, churches, athletes and entertainers, and even Pope Francis has expressed his awareness and support. As a man of God, I pray that the religious community can step up and develop some type of healthy dialogue with other denominations and religious groups — with the sole purpose of ending the ongoing unfairness in society. Hopefully, there’ll be a conglomeration of organizations that’ll collectively lead the charge in fixing the wrongs in America, and internationally, that have for so many years utilized systematic racism — again, to unfairly and primarily target and harm people of color. Black men, along with our mothers, sisters and all in between, know and have lived the real story. Those who march worldwide in the streets to protest current and past inhumane treatment of people of color are clearly reacting to what they believe are racist practices. To our young people: Continue to march and make the world aware of the inequities that continue to plague black Americans. It’s an ongoing struggle, but facing reality is long overdue. Sadly, George Floyd had to pay the ultimate price in order for the world to awaken. Stay woke, America!

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or email info@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification. Dear Editor: When I was in my 50s, I had double vision in both eyes. My muscles were very weak, which made walking very difficult. I lost hearing in both ears, and I was in constant, debilitating pain. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, M.S., an autoimmune disease that affects 1 million Americans.

When I was first diagnosed with M.S. in 2001, my doctor said he did not know the cause of M.S., and that there was no cure, but, “Don’t worry, it’s not fatal.” It took all the courage that I had to refuse the only treatment option that the doctors offered me: drugs. I thought the See LETTERS TO EDITOR, page 19

BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

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Health Fitness &

MEMORY LOSS Feeling forgetful? Exercise, healthy food and sleep help maintain your brain THE OTHER GREEN TEA Popular in Japan, hojicha looks like black tea or coffee and has many health benefits RISKS TO WRISTS What to do if you suffer carpal tunnel syndrome or other painful wrist conditions STROKE RECOVERY If you’ve had a stroke, a new research study you can join from home may help

Blood test can detect some early cancers By Marilynn Marchione For the first time, a blood test has been shown to help detect many types of cancer in a study of thousands of people with no history or symptoms of the disease. The test is still experimental. Even its fans say it needs to be improved and that the recent results are not ideal. Yet they show what benefits and drawbacks might come from using these genebased tests, called liquid biopsies, in routine care — in this case, with PET scans to confirm or rule out suspected tumors. “We think that it’s feasible,” said Nickolas Papadopoulos, a Johns Hopkins University scientist who helped develop the test. Using it along with standard screening methods “doubled the cancers that were detected” in the study, he said. But the test also missed many more cancers than it found, and raised some false

alarms that led to unnecessary follow-up procedures. It was only studied in women 65 to 75 years old and needs to be tried in men, other ages and more diverse groups. “This is not at the place where it could be used today,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. “It will need many more studies to demonstrate value,” including whether it improves survival, he said. Results were published in the journal Science and discussed at an American Association for Cancer Research conference that was held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Goal is early detection Many companies are working on liquid biopsies, which look for DNA and other things that tumors shed into blood, to try to find cancer at an early stage.

This test was invented by Hopkins doctors who formed a company, Thrive Earlier Detection Corp., to develop it with Third Rock Ventures, a biotechnology finance firm. Until now, these multi-cancer detection tools have been tested on blood samples from people with and without cancer to estimate their accuracy. The new study was the first “real world” test in routine medical care, following patients through surgery or other treatment to see how they fared. Nearly 10,000 women 65 to 75 years old with no history of cancer were recruited through the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. That’s because some deadly cancers, such as ovarian, have no screening test now, and women in this age group have a higher risk for cancer yet are young enough to benefit from finding it early, Papadopoulos said.

They were encouraged to continue regular screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies, and were given the blood test, which was repeated if findings suggested cancer. If the second test also was suspicious, they were given a whole-body PET-CT scan, an imaging test that costs around $1,000 and can reveal the location of any tumors. After one year, 96 cancers had been diagnosed. Usual screenings found 24, and the blood test helped find 26 others. The remaining 46 were found because symptoms appeared or the cancer was discovered in other ways, such as an imaging test for a different reason.

Benefits suggest future value Blood testing “made a genuine difference See BLOOD TEST, page 6

Steady diet of bad news is bad for health By David Bauder Heidi Van Roekel makes instructional art videos for YouTube when coronavirus news overwhelms her. Bill Webb takes his boat out. Stacy Mitchell searches her TV for something — anything — to make her laugh. Paradoxically, Kevin Reed, a software designer from Kenmore, Washington, has binged “The Walking Dead” after turning off the news. He’d rather watch fake, flesheating zombies than a real-life pandemic. It’s no surprise that news outlets are in demand with a story that directly affects so many people, whether they’ve gotten sick, lost jobs or are locked down at home. Almost 90% of Americans said they were following coronavirus news either very or fairly closely, according to a Pew Research Center survey taken in late April. Yet that takes a toll. Pew also found that 71% of Americans said they need to take breaks from the news. To watch something else. To do something else. To breathe a little. “A week and a half ago, I just had to throttle it down,” said Webb, a writer and consultant who lives in Sarasota, Florida. “I think you get overwhelmed by it. You’re sitting in your house, and there’s nothing you can do about things.”

Anxiety attacks, PTSD and more Mitchell, a consultant in human resources from Dayton, Ohio, said she watches the “Today” show in the morning, the

network evening news and tries to catch her state’s governor, Mike DeWine, at least at the beginning of his regular briefings. But she hit a wall.

“It was just COVID-19 overload,” Mitchell said. “I was very anxious. I had a full-blown See HEALTH NEWS, page 6

How long before we know if reopenings cause virus spikes? By Carla K. Johnson States in the U.S. and countries worldwide are cautiously relaxing restrictions while watching for potential spikes in coronavirus infections. Getting the timing right is complicated. Disease trackers note the impossibility of seeing clearly what’s happening without widespread testing. Here’s a look at when we might start to see any health impacts of reopening:

When are we going to know? The virus can circulate undetected, then flare up in a nursing home or after a family gathering. So, it could be several weeks to see surges in infections. What’s more, there are still new infections happening now during lockdowns. Some parts of the U.S. are seeing in-

creasing numbers of daily new cases, and some are seeing declines. Health officials will be looking at the number of new cases per day and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests.

Why does it take that long? After exposure to the virus, it can take three to five days for someone to feel sick, and many infected people won’t have symptoms or only mild ones. Some with mild illness might delay getting tested. It can take another few days to get test results back and report them. All told, it can take two weeks or so — the time for one group of people to spread the virus to another — to have enough testing data. Crystal Watson of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said it will take a few rounds of in-

fection spread — five to six weeks — to know how reopening has affected epidemic curves.

If there’s a spike, how would we stop it? Ideally, investigators would call people who test positive, track down their contacts and get them into quarantine before they can spread the virus to others. There’s evidence the coronavirus can spread before people feel sick, making it important to act quickly. States are just starting to expand their ability to do this contact tracing. Without adequate testing and contact tracing, returning to restrictions or a lockdown might be necessary if there is a surge in infections. —AP

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How to have an effective telehealth visit pend on the problem. A routine visit could be very quick, while others, such as a physicaltherapy appointment, may last as long as a session at a clinic. Waiting rooms are someSee TELEHEALTH, page 7

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Dear Savvy Senior, set up an account or install special softI manage a large doctor’s clinic that ware on your computer, phone or tablet. treats hundreds of seniors Until recently, doctors were each month. We are movrequired to conduct telehealth ing to more telehealth visvisits through platforms such its to help keep our paas Doxy, Thera-Link or Mytients safe at home during Chart that were compliant with the coronavirus pandemic, the Health Insurance Portabilibut this new way of seeing ty and Accountability Act, or a doctor is befuddling to HIPAA. many of our older patients. But some of those requireCan you write a column edments have been relaxed in the ucating patients on how to current crisis, so many SAVVY SENIOR prepare for a telehealth approviders are using popular By Jim Miller pointment? apps such as FaceTime, Skype Regular Reader and Zoom to conduct visits. Dear Reader, I’d be happy to help! To help keep pa- Become familiar with it tients safe and at home during the coronOnce you know what technology you will avirus crisis, more and more doctors and be using, get familiar with it. You don’t want other healthcare providers are turning to to spend the first 10 minutes of your visit trytelehealth (a.k.a. telemedicine) appoint- ing to figure out how to unmute the audio. ments — remote e-visits using a smartFor older patients who aren’t familiar or phone, tablet or computer. comfortable with technology, ask a relative Although telehealth has been around or friend with a smartphone, tablet or lapfor a few years now, recent updates to reg- top to assist you. ulations and a surge in demand have made it the easiest way to get many different Get prepared types of medical care. Take the time to clarify the purpose of the Most telehealth appointments today televisit before it begins. Prioritize a written tend to be primary care or follow-up visits list of three or four issues you want to discuss that can assess symptoms or check on peo- with your doctor, and make a list of the mediple who have had a medical procedure. cines you’re taking, along with the dosages. Telehealth also works well for some speAlso, have relevant medical devices or cialties like dermatology or mental health logs on hand, such as a penlight or smartcare (counseling/therapy) services. phone flashlight for viewing a sore throat, So, what can patients expect from a tele- a blood-pressure cuff and thermometer health visit, and how should they prepare? (or recent readings), blood-sugar logs if you’re diabetic, or a food log if you have What tech do you need? gastrointestinal problems. The first step is to call your doctor’s ofIf you’ve received medical care at differfice to find out whether telemedicine visits ent places, such as an urgent care facility are available, and whether you will need to or another doctor’s office, have your latest

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Health news From page 4 anxiety attack, and I decided that I was not going to watch more of that stuff.” Science supports them. Roxane Cohen Silver, Dana Rose Garfin and E. Alison Holman — researchers at the University of California at Irvine who have been studying the effect of prolonged media exposure to bad news following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — wrote an article for Health Psychology magazine in February, warning of this effect before coronavirus was even on the radar for many Americans. People who watch too much news can have nightmares, feelings of anxiety, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Silver said. In the long run, they’re more likely to report cardiovascular disorders. Some people who consumed a heavy

diet of news about the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 were actually more stressed out than people on the scene, the researchers found. “The news is distressing,” Silver said. “There are not many uplifting stories. It’s the repetitive bad news that is so draining.” The pandemic story is particularly difficult because it’s not a single event that fades with time. There’s no telling how long it will go on. Because of unemployment and so many staying at home, more people have time to follow it. That’s precisely what is happening with Jose Moreno of San Antonio, Texas, a caretaker for his elderly mother. The news makes him overthink, he said. “When I leave the house, I’m wondering, ‘Am I doing something that I shouldn’t be doing?’ It’s a lot of stress,” he said.

JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Positive stories now appearing Some news organizations recognize the impact of a steady diet of sobering news and have sought ways to offer relief. CBS News reporter Steve Hartman, whose regular “On the Road” series has been grounded, is “teaching” an online class in kindness. On the other side of the world, the Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian newspapers hunt for stories to fit their “Good News Initiative.” During a meeting with fellow editors at the Associated Press one morning in March, running down a particularly distressing list of the day’s stories, Sally Stapleton offered some light in the dark clouds. She promoted a story about a homebound woman in Norway who asked people on Facebook to send birthday greetings to her children, and people all over the world did. A college student sent home to New York after classes were suspended organized 1,300 volunteers in three days to shop and make deliveries for shut-ins. The stories got such a positive reaction that “One Good Thing” is now a daily feature. AP journalists all over the world compete to have a story included. “I just think it’s news,” said Stapleton, global religion editor. “These stories are everywhere, all the time. Mostly we ignore them. This is not a time to ignore them.” Fox News has similarly collected more than 700 television and online stories showing resiliency under the “America To-

Blood test From page 4 in discovering cancers in a small number of patients,” took seven months on average, and led to 1% of women getting a PET scan they incidentally did not need, Lichtenfeld said. The blood test helped reveal six ovarian cancers, including one in Rosemary Jemo, 71, a hairdresser and exercise instructor who

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gether” banner. The featured articles have received more than 25 million page views. “If you’re in a position to spread these stories that warm the heart at a time when there is uncertainty, sadness and fear, I think it’s our obligation to do so,” said Fox News anchor Dana Perino.

Find a happy medium Even people who need to step away from the tough news recognize that it’s essential. UCal-Irvine’s Silver stays informed by reading online news sites in the morning and evening, and gets notifications during the day. She said she watches no television. She doesn’t expect many others will avoid TV altogether — her husband and son certainly don’t — but recommends against keeping the TV or news radio on constantly in the background. “People should make a conscious effort to monitor their exposure,” Silver said. Van Roekel, a stay-at-home mom from Los Alamos, New Mexico, said she limits her exposure to national news to four days a week, and makes sure she stays away from social media before bedtime. She said her husband has been catching up with old sitcoms, and she loves actor John Krasinski’s YouTube series, “Some Good News.” Mitchell and her husband have watched Disney’s “Avengers” movies. “You’ve got to take a break for your mental health,” Van Roekel said. —AP lives near Hazleton in eastern Pennsylvania. “I would have never known…I didn’t feel anything” before the football-sized tumor was found, she said. Surgeons were able to remove it, and she is being monitored now. The research was funded by foundations and government grants. Many study leaders have financial ties to Thrive or other companies related to the work, and Johns Hopkins holds some patent rights. —AP

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Q and As on fainting and forgetfulness By Howard LeWine, M.D. Q: What happens inside the body when a person faints? A: Fainting occurs when something interrupts blood flow to the brain. Although usually harmless, fainting can cause injuries and sometimes signals a problem with the heart or circulatory system. If you faint, it’s worth talking with your doctor, especially if there doesn’t seem to be an explanation. Some basic physiology helps explain what happens when a person faints. It’s harder for the heart to pump blood up to the brain than down to the toes. Blood pressure helps overcome the downward tug of gravity and push blood to the head. We tend to think of blood pressure as a

relatively stable entity. It isn’t. It changes every time you stand up, sit down, bend over, eat, sneeze, get stressed or relax. The human body is designed to counter these shifts and quickly bring blood pressure back to its usual point. This requires an intricate feedback system that involves sensors in the aorta and in the carotid arteries leading to the brain. These sensors stimulate a host of nerve and hormone signals that change how fast the heart beats, how much blood it pumps with each beat, and the contraction and relaxation of blood vessels. When blood pressure falls for any reason, heart rate should speed up and blood vessels should contract to maintain blood flow to the brain.

Telehealth

have a primary care physician or you need urgent care, you can get help through a virtual healthcare service like DoctorOnDemand.com or TeleDoc.com. Unfortunately, these services currently do not accept original Medicare, but they may be covered by private insurers including some Medicare Advantage plans — be sure to check. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior.

From page 5 times replaced by virtual waiting rooms.

Arrange for follow-up Before the visit ends, make sure you know the follow-up plan. Do you need to schedule an in-office visit, fill a prescription or get a referral to a specialist? Right now, Medicare and Medicaid are covering the cost of telehealth visits as are most private insurers. If, however, you don’t

The brain requires a constant supply of sugar and oxygen to function. If the heart and blood vessels don’t respond to low blood pressure as they should, the brain quickly goes into an energy-conserving shutdown. The brain’s signals to nerves and muscles stop, and the person slumps to the ground. Once the body is horizontal, it’s easier for the heart to pump blood to the head. Usually the brain “wakes up” again within seconds. That may not be true if loss of consciousness was due to a heart problem. Role of the vagus nerve Most fainting episodes result from excessive stimulation of the vagus nerve. Known as vasovagal syncope, it happens when blood vessels relax and blood pres-

sure starts to fall. The vagus nerve sends signals to the heart to slow down, lowering blood pressure even more. Blood flow to the brain halts, and the person blacks out and collapses. Many situations can trigger an episode of vasovagal syncope. Standing for a long time in a hot, crowded environment is a common one. Sometimes the trigger is a strong emotion, such as the response to bad news. Some people faint when they see blood, have a coughing spell, laugh hard or strain to urinate or move their bowels. Vasovagal syncope is more common in See Q & A, page 8

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Have you heard of the other green tea? By Lori Zanteson It seems there’s another member in the green tea family. And it’s not even green! That’s because hojicha (pronounced HOE-jee-cha) is made from roasted green tea leaves, stems and stalks, giving it an earthy reddish-brown hue that makes it look more like black tea or coffee than its verdant cousins. Very popular in Japan, mellow, slightly sweet and smooth, hojicha (also houjicha), is patiently steeping its way into North

America, popping up at mainstream tea and coffee houses such as Starbucks and flooding social media sites. But how does this emerging trend compare to its ancient green tea ancestry?

Origins Compared to traditionally prepared green tea, which has been around for thousands of years, hojicha is a relative newcomer to the tea scene. It’s said to have debuted in the 1920s

in Kyoto, Japan, the roasted result of tea merchants attempting to make economic use of the stems and stalks that were mixed among the green tea leaves during harvest. Apparently, the aroma of the roasted concoction was so inviting, it lured people into the shops.

What is it? Hojicha is a general term for any roasted Japanese green tea, so it may be made from sencha, bancha or kukicha leaves, stems and twigs, depending on the preference of the tea maker. Variations produce slightly different flavors and aromas. All Japanese green teas are made from leaves steamed right after harvest. What makes hojicha different is that it is then roasted at high temperature, which affects the nutrient profile and flavor. Roasting breaks down the compounds — caffeine, tannins, flavonoids — that make tea bitter tasting and acidic. The result is a milder brew that has a toasted flavor that’s slightly nutty, sweet and smoky, with less of a caffeine jolt.

Q&A From page 7 people under 35, in part because the nervous system is more sensitive in younger people. Q: I am getting more forgetful. I will sometimes walk into a room and not remember what I wanted to do. When are memory changes like these worrisome? A: Memory lapses like what you describe are very common as we get older. They can be unsettling, but they don’t necessarily herald impending dementia. The key is in how often these slips occur. Keep track of the pattern. Is it happening several times a week, or is it happening once or twice a month? Is it a change compared to a few years ago? Is it getting gradually worse? Forgetfulness can be a normal part of growing older. Memory lapses can also stem from several other conditions, including lack of sleep, stress, medications, alcohol or depression. Any of these conditions can be treated. For example, you can adjust your sleep schedule, try deep breathing or other techniques to reduce stress, change the dose or type of medications you take, cut down on your drinking, or get treated for depression. Don’t be alarmed by occasional forgetfulness. The time to call your doctor is if it’s more persistent or if you develop worsening memory loss that’s interfering with your daily activities and routine.

Health benefits Green tea is well known for its health benefits due to its impressive supply of antioxidants that fight inflammation and protect cells from damage that can lead to illnesses like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It also contains an amino acid, L-thianine, which produces a calming effect to reduce stress. While roasting does lessen the amounts of these health-protecting compounds, research shows that roasted tea has high antioxidant activity and is beneficial to human health. Hojicha, available as a loose tea or a fine powder, might just be a great addition to a tea lover’s collection, or a worthy new taste for someone who likes the idea of tea’s benefits, but without the bitterness or caffeine. Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC, 1-800-8295384, EnvironmentalNutrition.com. © 2020 Belvoir Media Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

What you can do now Clinical studies continue to show that exercising daily, eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, and getting enough sleep are the best ways to maintain brain health. Regular exercise can slow the progression of and may even prevent cognitive decline. Exercise is thought to shield the brain from damage in a number of ways: by improving blood flow, protecting the blood vessels that feed the brain, and reducing stress hormone levels. There have been some large studies showing a benefit of the Mediterraneanstyle diet in slowing and perhaps preventing cognitive decline as we age. The Mediterranean diet includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, legumes, fish and small amounts of red wine. Growing evidence suggests that enough good quality sleep leads to greater clearance of amyloid from the brain, which can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Aim for seven to nine hours per night. Other ways to help maintain cognitive fitness include staying socially connected and learning new things, such as taking a course at a local college or picking up a new instrument. Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. For additional information, visit health.harvard.edu. © 2020 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Repetitive motion injuries are on the rise By Mayo Clinic Dear Mayo Clinic: Earlier this year, I began experiencing some pain in my right hand and wrist. I am a systems engineer and have always done a fair amount of typing at work. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, I am working at home and spending even more time on a keyboard. I’m finding the pain has increased, and I’m also having some new tingling and numbness in my hand and wrist. I heard about carpal tunnel and was wondering if I may have it. If I do have carpal tunnel, what can I do to help or reverse it? A: There are various things that can cause hand and wrist discomfort. Feelings of pins and needles, or a sensation of tingling or prickling, can occur in the hands due to pressure on nerves, which are like electrical cables that in part give feeling to your fingers. The exact area of discomfort and symptoms will guide which condition you likely have. Are your symptoms occurring all day or only at certain times? Are you having pain only while typing? Given the situation you describe, it’s most likely you are experiencing one of two common ailments that have become more common in the age of technology. The first is a type of tendonitis known as

De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. This is considered an overuse injury caused by repetitive hand or wrist motion. The second possibility is carpal tunnel syndrome. Activities such as typing or texting, golfing, and gardening can worsen these conditions. Symptoms to look for De Quervain’s tenosynovitis affects the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist. You may have swelling in this area and pain that is exacerbated when you twist your wrist, grasp or lift something heavy like a milk jug. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that can create numbness and a sensation of tingling in your fingers. It occurs when the median nerve, which is on the palm side of the hand, is compressed or irritated in some way. Symptoms typically are limited to your thumb, index finger, middle finger and outer half of your ring finger. If you feel tingling along the inner aspect of your forearm down to your pinky finger, carpal tunnel is not likely the cause. Rather, it may be that you are suffering from cubital tunnel, which is irritation of a nerve by your inner elbow. Many patients with carpal tunnel report initial symptoms at night, although as the condition progresses, carpal tunnel can cause weakness of the thumb’s pinching muscles and lead to difficulties perform-

ing routine tasks. Some patients have reported numbness in their hand that is exacerbated, for instance, while holding a phone or driving. Treatment options If your symptoms are related to De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, using ice for swelling and taking a mild pain reliever can help with discomfort. The best treatment, though, is to reduce the activity that is most likely causing your symptoms. While that can be challenging now, especially if you notice that your pain is exacerbated while you type, consider using a voice-activated dictation system or switch fingers if you text a lot. For instance, if you most often use your

thumbs to text and it has become more painful, switch to using your index fingers instead. I also would recommend that you perform an ergonomics check of your at-home workspace. Your posture can affect how you function and develop some of these symptoms. Second, look at the position of your wrist. If you are sitting or standing at an awkward height, your wrist could be in a significantly flexed position that puts pressure on the nerves and tendons and increases your risk for issues and symptoms. To help alleviate your carpal tunnel like symptoms at night, try an over-the-counter See MOTION INJURIES, page 11

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Health Studies

INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Study seeks to improve stroke recovery By Margaret Foster Every year, 750,000 Americans suffer a stroke, which damages the brain’s ability to send messages to nerves and muscles. As a result, about 60% of stroke survivors lose control of their arms and hands. One axiom doctors recite after a stroke is, “Use it or lose it.” In other words, if patients practice using their muscles, they will improve their function. However, inactivity can be dangerous, leading to permanently restricted mobility. For that reason, doctors recommend physical therapy after a stroke. But with PT on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, the likelihood of keeping up with those exercises is low. In addition, some insurance companies won’t cover PT after a certain amount of time. Now researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park are testing a webbased program called Strong, which may motivate people to exercise from home. A new study will compare the difference between paper-based suggestions and a web-based program. People with all levels of stroke impairment are welcome. And everyone can participate from home — no in-person visits are required.

How it works In the randomized, controlled trial, participants will be split into two groups. One group will be given written exercises; the other will be given access to the Strong

Motion injuries From page 9 splint with a metal reinforcement on the palm side. This splint will stop you from flexing your wrist and reduce irritation on the nerve. If your symptoms progress, talk with your healthcare provider about next steps to confirm your diagnosis and the potential for other nonsurgical treatments, such

therapy program for six weeks. (Participants must own a tablet, smartphone or computer.) Before the study begins, researchers will check in with participants during a video visit. They’ll send an electronic questionnaire and a consent form. “Then it’s up to them,” said Dr. Jill Whithall, professor emerita at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science. “We’ll see if this is a viable way of improving their functions.” The study asks participants to do arm and hand exercises five days a week for four and a half months. People in the web-based program will be able to choose which exercises to do each day, and some are video games that offer points and other incentives. “We want to see if this [web-based program] is useful.” Those who were assigned to the “paper” group can use the Strong program later if they want, Dr. Whithall said. “After the trial is over, [they] can then be transferred into the web-based program.” Whithall, who spent five years at the University of Southampton, saw a similar study work well in the U.K. “They had done a preliminary trial with good results,” she said. She decided to bring the study to the U.S. Since the program was designed to be done from home, it’s easy to participate despite the current pandemic. And be-

as hand therapy or an injection. — Sanj Kakar, M.D., Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. Email a question to MayoClinicQ&A @mayo.edu or visit mayoclinic.org. © 2020 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

cause stroke sur vivors usually spend more time at home, this web-based program could be valuable to stroke patients in the future. Either way, now is a good time to test the program’s efficacy, according to Kelly Westlake, the study’s principal investigator. “In light of COVID-19, there’s much more use of telehealth now, so this is falling right in line with the development of new at-home therapies,” Westlake said.

Motivation is a key element in stroke recovery, Whithall emphasized. “This [program] is an alternative to doing nothing,” Whithall said, and its benefits “will last a lifetime. Hopefully something like this will be available someday to everyone, for very little money.” The Strong study is open to stroke survivors ages 40 to 80. To find out more or to volunteer, call (410) 706-6779 or email jwhitall@som.umaryland.edu.

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SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION

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Love, marriage in the time of pandemic PHOTO BY JEFF GETEK

By Sheri Venema The bride wore sensible sandals and the white lace dress she had fortunately purchased in pre-pandemic times. Her left hand clutched a small bouquet of white and pink roses. The groom wore a dark sports coat with a boutonniere to match her bouquet. Her hair was white; what remained of his was gray. The chapel pews were empty. With their Baltimore County retirement community under lockdown, Helen Baker, 84, and Dan Kott, 82, walked down the hall to the chapel to be married. Only three others were allowed at the April 24 ceremony: an officiant, a photographer and a Scripture reader. As soon as all five were in the chapel, the doors were locked behind them. “It was kind of like we were sneaking around,” Kott said. It wasn’t the wedding they had planned. But their happiness brightened the pandemic gloom for residents at Oak Crest, a sprawling 87-acre retirement community in Parkville operated by Erickson Living. “That marriage was a moment of joy in this time,” said Rev. Emily Holman, an Episcopal deacon and fellow resident of Oak Crest who performed the ceremony. “Everyone was so happy about it.” Kott, a Baltimore native and retired computer programmer analyst, moved to Oak Crest in 2013 with his first wife, who had dementia. Home to about 1,800 residents in independent-living apartments and another 300 in continuing care units, Oak Crest was a good fit. Unfortunately, his wife passed away four months after the move; they had been married for 50 years. Baker, twice-widowed and a retired Baltimore County schoolteacher, moved to Oak Crest early in 2018. “I liked it right from the beginning,” she said. “When I met Dan, I liked it even more.” About nine months after she moved in — Nov. 10, 2018, to be exact — she was taking an evening walk and noticed a friend playing piano. Here’s the story, as they tell it: Kott: “In one of the lobbies on Saturday nights, a lady would come up and play the piano and entertain. I would walk over and listen to the music. A lot of times folks would sing along. “One evening I was sitting there, and Helen was stopping by. There was only one

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JULY 2020 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

Sell with less hassle (but for less money) By Pat Mertz Esswein The prospect of selling and leaving your longtime home can seem overwhelming under the best of circumstances. But it is all the more so if you have lost your spouse, have health or cognitive issues, or need a quick sale so you can move to a better situation, such as assisted living. The challenge is greater if the home is in poor condition, say, because of long-deferred maintenance. Your home will fetch the highest price if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s updated, in good repair, decluttered, cleaned and staged. But that requires time, money, energy and expertise that you â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or loved ones who want to help you or will inherit your home â&#x20AC;&#x201D; may lack. In that case, you still have options: You can sell the house for a price that reflects its â&#x20AC;&#x153;as-isâ&#x20AC;? condition through a real estate agent, or for a significant discount to a realestate investor who can close quickly and for cash. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll take away less money in exchange for convenience. Before you assume anything, talk with a real estate agent who specializes in helping older home sellers and buyers (search for a Seniors Real Estate Specialist, or SRES, certified by the National Association of Realtors). The agent will visit and assess your homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attractiveness to prospective buyers, review your situation, and connect you

with people who can help with your transition. If you hire the seniors specialist to sell your home, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll pay a commission, typically 4 to 6% of the sale price. You also could spend a few hundred dollars for a professional home inspection, an unbiased assessment of its condition, as well as pay for any needed repairs or replacement.

Selling â&#x20AC;&#x153;as isâ&#x20AC;? If your home could use a facelift but is functional, you could sell it in â&#x20AC;&#x153;as isâ&#x20AC;? condition, meaning you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay for improvements or repairs requested by a buyer. Your real estate agent will list the home on the local multiple listing service and market it to buyers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; fixer-uppers, flippers and landlords â&#x20AC;&#x201D; who can envision it fixed up after they invest their own resources. Such buyers will expect a bargain. To set the price, your agent will look at recent sales in your area of comparable homes (style, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms) and adjust for your homeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s condition. You must still pay an agentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commission, and other seller closing costs. Buyers can add contingencies to their purchase offer for inspection and financing. If their inspection or an appraisal required for FHA or VA financing reveals problems that you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay to fix, buyers can bail out and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re back to square one. Furthermore, even if you sell â&#x20AC;&#x153;as is,â&#x20AC;?

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Find an investor If deferred maintenance has stacked up and you want the quickest-possible sale with the least hassle and expense, you can sell directly to a real estate investor. Investors buy houses that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t â&#x20AC;&#x153;retailready,â&#x20AC;? said David Hicks, co-president of HomeVestors of America, also known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;We Buy Ugly Housesâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a franchisor of investors operating in 47 states. Hicks said his investors mostly buy smaller homes built in 1980 or earlier that will appeal to entry-level buyers or renters. Homes built after 2000 generally are too large, nice and high-priced to interest investors. After youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve taken everything you want from the house, investors will dispose of the rest. You wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even need to empty the trash or sweep the floors. Before making an offer, reputable investors will come by to inspect the home and review your situation with you. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll base their offer on what they expect the house to sell for after itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repaired, minus any remaining mortgage balance or other liens against it, the estimated cost of repairs and their profit. Investors should share and explain their numbers willingly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Investors almost always start with a 25% discount to its ultimate [repaired] retail price, simply to get to a 10% profit after the dust settles,â&#x20AC;? said Dev Horn, vice president of marketing for We Buy Houses, which connects homeowners with its investor-licensees in 30 states and about 100 cities. Investors usually allow 30 to 60 days for you to respond to their offer, after which theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll want to re-inspect your property, said Hicks. If you accept an offer, the investor should make an earnest-money deposit of, say, $500.

It should be held by the title company or real estate lawyer the investor hires to conduct a title search and conduct the closing. At closing, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be paid with a cashierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s check or wire transfer. To find an investor, ask for a referral from a local real estate agent, search by location at HomeVestors.com or WeBuyHouses.com, or respond to one of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;we want to buy your houseâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;sell your house fastâ&#x20AC;? solicitations youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve probably received in the mail. Look for a well-established business identity â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a referral from someone you trust, verifiable references, a rating from the Better Business Bureau, or the backing of a well-established company.

A quick and dirty sale Working with an investor was a boon for Bonajean McAneney, 53, formerly of Lowell, Massachusetts. Prior to her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death in early 2018, McAneney lived with and cared for her mother for four years and subsequently inherited the family home. Built in 1960, the house suffered from neglect and was filled with decades of belongings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the money to keep it up, and it was literally falling apart,â&#x20AC;? McAneney said. Plus, she was a year behind on property taxes. Anxious to get out, McAneney called a local real-estate investor, WinWin Properties, a HomeVestors franchisee. She accepted its offer of $115,000. Based on a neighborâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent sale, McAneney knew that, in good condition, the home would have sold for almost three times as much. But selling to WinWin allowed her to take just the items she wanted, leave the rest, and start over in a home of her own, near family in another state. ÂŠ 2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Community for Life at Keswick enables you to help your loved ones remain living in their homes, doing the things they love for as long as possible.

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Answers for the Aging 667-600-2100 or toll-free 1-888-50ASKUS (Md. only) Offers telephone-based information and referral service for older adults and caregivers. Catholic Charities KE Senior Communities SFMRO EE 667-600-2280 Operates 24 supportive apartment communities throughout the Baltimore area that are home to more than 1,800 older adults. St. Ann Adult Day Services 667-600-2680 Provides seniors with activities, socialization and medical supervision so that older adults can continue to live at home.

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Caritas House Assisted Living 667-600-2660 Provides care and assistance for elders 62 and older who require help in performing daily activities and can no longer live independently. The Neighborhoods at

St. Elizabeth Rehabilitation and Nursing Center 667-600-2600 Offers a comprehensive array of of individualized rehabilitation and nursing services, including shortterm rehabilitation, skilled nursing care and memory care.

Conveniently located on the Jenkins Senior Living Community next to St. Agnes Hospital.

www.cc-md.org/seniors Inspired by the Gospel mandates to love, serve and teach, Catholic Charities provides care and services to improve the lives of Marylanders in need. Catholic Charities welcomes people regardless of faith and is an Equal Housing Opportunity provider.

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Communities pivot during the pandemic By Margaret Foster This summer, change is in the air. Everyone has had to make adjustments to fight the current pandemic — staying at home, wearing face masks — including those who live in local assisted living or independent living facilities. All of these communities have had to make changes to ensure the safety of their residents. At Blair House at Stoneleigh in Baltimore, for instance, visitors must be tested for COVID-19 a day or two before they’re permitted entry to the 15-bed home environment facility. In addition, Blair House limits the number of caregivers going in and out of the building, since some of them may work at other facilities. Who’s filling in for missing workers? The executive director, Tammy Fleming, and her staff. “We did extra shifts so we could keep our residents safe,” Fleming said. “I’d rather have more of a skeleton crew than

Love From page B-1 reception. At least there would be flowers: white lilies and red begonias at the altar, left there for an Easter service that never happened. Getek and his communications team ordered the couple’s bouquet and boutonniere. As a surprise, the Resident Life folks made a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. A bottle of champagne appeared, too. Deacons in the Episcopal Church may, but don’t often, officiate at weddings, and this was Holman’s first ceremony. The empty pews felt odd, so when she came to the part asking those assembled to “Speak now, or else forever hold your peace,” Hol-

infect our residents.” Blair House also does weekly COVID-19 testing of all its residents and staff, through Peregrine Senior Living, its parent company. “We’re administering weekly tests to ensure we’re ahead of the game instead of behind the eight ball,” Fleming said. Social distancing is also key. Blair House’s outdoor courtyard is dotted with colorful flags to designate areas that are six feet apart, as the CDC recommends. Fleming also redesigned Blair House’s dining room so that residents don’t get too close to each other. “It’s one person per table,” she said. In addition, she said, “We space everyone six feet apart for exercise classes.”

Phone calls replace visits Of course, phone calls can keep residents safe, too, said Maria Darby, executive vice president of Baltimore-based Keswick. Keswick offers long-term care, rehabilitation and adult daycare, as well as man gestured to the empty pews. Behind her, Getek chuckled. After the ceremony, Baker and Kott couldn’t share the cake or champagne with anyone. But none of that diminished their union. “We felt married,” said Baker, who plans to change her name when she can get out to file the paperwork. The newlyweds are spending what might have been their honeymoon moving him into her apartment, one or two boxes at a time. Because of the lockdown, they can’t hire a mover or ask their friends to help. But every box that comes down the hall is one more symbol of their bond. “We don’t mind being quarantined together,” Baker said.

a community health component. Staring in March, Keswick began calling its community health members once a week to check in. During those calls, they offer to help older adults order groceries online from websites like Giant Peapod or Amazon. “We’re trying to make them feel comfortable because they’ve maybe never done that before,” Darby said. Technology has also been a helpful way to maintain connection while being physically apart. Keswick normally offers health and wellness classes in its Community Health Space. However, since the stay-at-home order in March, “We’ve made a 180-degree pivot to online [classes],” Darby said. Keswick now offers two classes per day on subjects like nutrition, meditation, yoga, cooking, exercise and even how to make your own hand sanitizer. “Our older adults would prefer to be [meeting] in person, because it’s not exactly the same [online]. But we’ve been excited to see a steady increase in the number of older adults who have been engaged with us,” Darby said. In fact, about 20% of Keswick members are willing to participate in online classes via the video chat program Zoom — with a little help. “We had to teach the Zoom component…It’s been a real learning curve for us,” Darby said. “There have been some

entertaining moments. We joke that we could create a bloopers roll.”

Beyond Zoom Instead of in-person tours for prospective residents, many communities are offering “virtual” tours over a computer or smartphone. However, not everyone has email or smartphones, pointed out Jannette Powell, property manager at Warren Place Apartments in Cockeysville. “We offer a tour on Zoom, but what I’m finding is that a lot of [potential residents] don’t have access to that, and don’t have email,” Powell said. In addition to virtual tours, Warren Place offers tours by appointment only. Its staff disinfects the office before and after each visit. Of course, face masks are mandatory in the hallways, Powell said. “[Potential residents have] found appointment-only tours to be a little more doable, so they’re able to see the apartment,” Powell said. Overall, staff and residents of local communities have adjusted to their “new normal” lives. Although these changes are new to some generations, older adults may remember family tales from the 1918 flu pandemic. “We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetime,” Fleming said, “but our grandparents did.”

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JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Home equity line of credit pros and cons By Elliott Raphaelson As a result of the coronavirus, many families are facing both short-term income uncertainty and uncertainty regarding the future value of their asset holdings. One way to provide more stability regarding access to assets at a reasonable cost is a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Individuals who have substantial equity in their primary residence are generally able to obtain a line of credit, which generally covers 20 years in which, during the

first 10 years or so, they have the flexibility to borrow up to their credit limit. After that, they are required to repay the outstanding balance.

A number of pros There are several advantages associated with HELOCs. 1. Low interest rate: Most rates are based somewhat on the prime rate, which is now 3.25% as the base. Borrowers with the best credit ratings may be able to obtain an interest rate lower than prime.

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There are also some possible disadvantages. 1. Possible foreclosure: If you are unable to meet the required minimum payments, the financial institution can foreclose on your home. Accordingly, you should not borrow more than you can afford to repay. 2. Possible future payment increases: If you borrow using variable interest rates, such as the prime, if interest rates increase in the future, your required monthly payment will also increase. Interest rates are now at historically low levels, so it is likely that over the term of your loan, interest rates will increase. 3. Future closing costs: If you don’t retain the line of credit for a specified time, you will incur closing costs from some financial institutions when you did not pay any initially. This will be specified in your loan agreement. Fortunately, there are excellent sources of information that will provide you with the financial institutions offering the best terms for HELOCs. Go to Bankrate.com for the latest information regarding which financial institutions are offering the best terms for HELOCs. I have used HELOCs three times, even recently, for personal residences I have owned. I have found these loans to be very flexible with low interest rates. I have used the loans very sparingly, but they did provide piece of mind in case I did need the funds. They are an excellent option to have. In my opinion, the advantages of HELOCs vastly outweigh the disadvantages. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com. © 2020 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Most borrowers will borrow at a rate of prime plus a specified additional rate based on their overall credit rating, the stability of their income and the amount of home equity. For most individuals, the interest rate will be much lower than other loan options. 2. Flexible choices: Most financial firms allow borrowers the choice of fixed interest loans or variable interest rates, generally based on the prime rate. 3. Flexible loan amounts: One of the most favorable advantages of the HELOC is that during the first 10 years, you can borrow as much or as little as you need up to the limit of your credit line. However, some lenders will ask you to initially borrow a specified minimum initially. This feature is very useful if there is uncertainty regarding the amount of loans you will need for the first 10 years. 4. Flexible repayment options: In general, assume you can repay the outstanding loan amount at any time of your choice. 5. Low (or no) initial closing costs: Closing costs for HELOCs are much lower than for either traditional home mortgages or fixed home equity loans. Some do not have any closing costs. However, financial institutions that don’t have any initial closing costs will require you to pay their closing costs if you close the account within a specified period, such as three years. However, even in this case, the closing costs would be much lower than other types of home loans. 6. Low (or no) monthly charges: Many financial institutions have no recurring monthly fees. Even those that do, the fee is generally modest. 7. A tax advantage: If you do use the loan to improve the property, you may be able to include the interest cost as part of your itemized deductions.

Make new friends

Weinberg Park is a vibrant Assisted Living community where you can live with confidence and independence. Whether you need help getting dressed, managing medications or friendly conversation, we are there for you with a gentle helping hand. We offer private or semi-private suites, certified nursing assistance, medication management, a 24-hour emergency response system, laundry & housekeeping services, delicious & nourishing kosher meals and individualized service plans. Our doors are open to everyone, regardless of income level, and we strive to keep our fees at a competitive market rate. Call today to schedule a tour! We look forward to showing you the comfort and care we offer to all our treasured residents!

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FREE HOUSING AND OTHER INFORMATION For free information from advertisers in this special section, check off those that interest you and mail this coupon to the Beacon.

HOUSING COMMUNITIES

❑ Park View at Rosedale . . . . .B7 ❑ Weinberg Park Assisted Living . . . . . . . . . . . . .B4 & B8 ❑ Pickersgill . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3

❑ Blair House at Stoneleigh . . .B6 ❑ St. Mary’s Roland View . . . .B4 ❑ Weinberg Place . . . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Catholic Charities . . . . . . . .B2 ❑ Weinberg Gardens . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Weinberg Terrace . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Charlestown . . . . . . . . . . . .B3 ❑ Weinberg House . . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Weinberg Village Community . . . . . . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Christ Church ❑ Weinberg Manhattan Park . .B8 ❑ Weinberg Woods . . . . . . . . .B8 Harbor Apts . . . . . . . . . . . .B4 ❑ Weinberg Manor ❑ Oak Crest . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B3 East/West . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B8 ❑ Park View at Laurel . . . . . . . .B7 ❑ Weinberg Manor AGING IN PLACE ❑ Park View at Towson . . . . . . .B7

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❑ Park View at Fullerton . . . . .B7 Check the boxes you’re interested in and return this entire coupon to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227. You may return the free info form on page 5 together with this coupon. Name __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________E-mail_______________________________________________ City _______________________________________________________ State ______________________ Zip ____________________ Phone (day) _______________________________________________ (eve) ___________________________________________

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JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

The liberating feeling of a smaller home By Katherine Roth With the current trend toward de-cluttering and downsizing, there are plenty of books about how to winnow down possessions to the few that are truly necessary and beloved. One book shows how you can live well once that’s done. In Downsize: Living Large in a Small House (2019, The Taunton Press), author Sheri Koones focuses on practical ways to live well at home once you’ve streamlined your belongings and are living more compactly. “It scares people to think of moving into a smaller space, but every single person I

interviewed who has made the transition said they are so happy they did,” Koones said. “Time and again, people used the word ‘liberated’ to describe their move to a smaller space, with homes requiring far less time and money to maintain.”

All ages can see benefits Koones, who relocated from a sprawling 6,800-square-foot house in Greenwich, Connecticut, to a 1,400-square-foot home closer to town, has experienced the transition herself. “It’s not just empty nesters anymore,”

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Check out your local art museum online. The Baltimore Museum of Art has several digital exhibitions, collections, interviews and at-home art projects on its website. Visit artbma.org for more information.

she added. “Younger people too are in couples where they’re both working, they’re having children later, they want to be active, and they don’t want to be doing maintenance on the weekends. “They don’t want to be tied down to mowing lawns and doing all the other chores that come with living in a big house.” Living more sustainably and saving on energy costs are also part of the attraction of downsizing, Koones said. So is aging in place. There are people of all ages looking for features like a master bedroom on the main floor, or barrier-free showers. “Yes, older people with disabilities need them, but even younger people break a leg skiing, or have situations where they want a barrier-free shower,” she said.

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AQUARIUM VIEWS Explore the water with live streams of the sea creatures at the National Aquarium in the blacktip reef, pacific coral reef and jelly fish exhibits. Check it out at aqua.org/experience/live.

JEWISH HISTORY IN MD

Although the Jewish Museum of Maryland is currently closed, you can visit online exhibitions about weddings, Holocaust memories, space exploration and medicine. See jhsm.org.

The book features photos and illustrations of 33 well-designed small homes in urban and rural settings in the U.S. and Canada. It examines the features that make each home a success, with advice aimed at those building, renovating or even just organizing their homes. Some of the features that Koones said can make a small home feel more spacious: — raised ceilings, well-positioned win-

dows and light wall colors, — multifunctional furniture, like tiny kitchen tables that can expand to accommodate dinner guests, — flexible rooms that can serve as office, bedroom and hobby room, for example. One house featured in the book has a garage with light fixtures and doors that open in front and back so that it doubles as an entertaining space, — creative storage ideas, like chairs that can hang on wall pegs, hooks for bicycles, and making the best use of alcoves or space under stairs, and — fewer hallways, which allows for more livable space. Koones details specific types of roofs (like standing-seam metal roofs), flooring (concrete) and heating systems that are more energy-efficient and low-maintenance. “The key is to have a home that is efficiently designed, both in terms of energy use and in terms of space,” she said. “I refer to it as ‘downsizing,’ but a better word for it might be ‘right-sizing.’ For most of history, houses were more modestly proportioned, and we lived quite comfortably in those smaller homes. Over time houses got too big. Now the trend is heading toward smaller again.” —AP

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Some surprising benefits of gardening By Emma Patch Each summer, the fruits of the harvest fill the shelves of local groceries and farmers markets, a colorful reminder of the many nutritional benefits of fresh produce. But growing your own produce offers equally sustaining, though perhaps less visible, benefits. Beyond reduced grocery expenses, gardening offers many positive effects financially. A garden may be a good way to improve property value, for example, said David Ellis, director of communications for the American Horticultural Society and editor of its magazine, The American Gardener. But most people garden because they enjoy it, he said. “They grow vegetables and improve their own nutrition,” Ellis said, “and they grow flowers, which they give away and spread joy.” A form of light exercise, gardening can be a great way to stay active. The physical activity involved varies, depending on the task, and older adults should be careful not to overexert themselves, Ellis said. Spending time outdoors has been linked with improved mental health. Recent studies have shown that the quantity of nearby green space buffers life stresses across ages. Gardening may lower cortisol levels in your brain, and in turn reduce stress levels, according to a study in the Journal of Health Psychology.

May reduce dementia risk Gardening may also lower the risk of dementia by as much as 36%, according to a study conducted in 2010 in Australia. For this reason, horticultural therapy is a growing area proving helpful for those with dementia, Ellis said. With this form of active therapy, people are led through gardening tasks and see the results, often making use of fragrant herbs that stimulate memory, he said. “It has become a great tool,” Ellis said. Longtime gardeners agree that gardening makes great mental exercise. “So much of it is observation and decision making,” said Jay Leshinsky, 73, a retired gardening educator in Middlebury, Vermont. Whether researching a new insect or a new disease, there’s often a lot of problem solving involved, he said. “It keeps me thinking and using many different skills.” There’s also an avenue for creativity in designing a garden. “Some people focus on efficiency; some people focus on form. Even in a small area with short lines of sight, different colors and textures at different times of the season create a kind of ever-changing palette,” Leshinsky said. At the start of each growing season, he and his wife, Susanne, sit down and talk about how to plan their space. “You give each other feedback, and in that sense, it can be a solitary or collaborative practice whether in design, planning or harvest,” he said.

Join a community garden Even if you don’t have a garden in your yard, a community garden lets you experience all the benefits of gardening with the added dimension of having others around. At community gardens across the U.S., older adults serve as teachers and mentors, but they are also there to learn. The Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, for example, assists in planting and maintaining gardens of herbs, plants and flowers at a community garden. Gardening in your community often connects you with like-minded people, said Kirsten Conrad, the organization’s agricultural natural resources extension agent. And you can learn new skills. “It’s both a social and technical support system,” she said. Gardening is generally a very communal activity, Ellis said, allowing you to bond with your community and with neighbors.

“And if you are an experienced gardener, sharing your expertise can also be a great way to support your community,” he said. At the end of the day, gardening simply grounds you (pardon the pun), Leshinsky said. Besides gardening’s physical and mental

health benefits, Leshinsky said, “For me, it always opens up this world of mystery that just can’t be explained scientifically — the miracles of seeds and what they do.” © Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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If coronavirus is affecting your mental health, there are resources to support you. Read articles and access helplines, local and national, 24/7 at covidmentalhealthsupport.org.

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HELP FOR HOMELESS

Health Care for the Homeless is open to care for people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness in the Baltimore area. They provide medical care, therapy, income and food assistance, housing and more. Call (410) 837-5533 or visit hchmd.org to schedule a phone or in-person appointment. No insurance or co-pay required.

ENTERPRISE RESIDENTIAL MOST COMMUNITIES ARE 62 AND BETTER ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

BALTIMORE COUNTY (CONT.)

The Greens at Hammonds Lane: 410-636-1141 Park View at Furnace Branch: 410-761-4150 Park View at Severna Park: 410-544-3411

Park View at Rosedale: 410-866-1886 Park View at Taylor: 410-663-0363 Park View at Towson: 410-828-7185 Park View at Woodlawn: 410-281-1120

BALTIMORE CITY Ednor Apartments I: 410-243-0180 Ednor Apartments II: 410-243-4301 The Greens at Irvington Mews: 410-644-4487 Park Heights Place: 410-578-3445 Park View at Ashland Terrace: 410-276-6440 Park View at Coldspring: 410-542-4400

EASTERN SHORE Park View at Easton: 410-770-3070

HARFORD COUNTY Park View at Bel Air: 410-893-0064 Park View at Box Hill: 410-515-6115

HOWARD COUNTY

BALTIMORE COUNTY Cove Point Apartments I: 410-288-2344 Cove Point Apartments II: 410-288-1660 Evergreen Senior Apartments: 410-780-4888 The Greens at English Consul: 410-789-3000 The Greens at Liberty Road: 410-655-1100 The Greens at Logan Field: 410-288-2000 The Greens at Rolling Road: 410-744-9988 Park View at Catonsville: 410-719-9464 Park View at Dundalk: 410-288-5483 • 55 & Better Park View at Fullerton: 410-663-0665 Park View at Miramar Landing: 410-391-8375 Park View at Randallstown: 410-655-5673

Park View at Colonial Landing: 410-796-4399 Park View at Columbia: 410-381-1118 Park View at Ellicott City: 410-203-9501 Park View at Ellicott City II: 410-203-2096 Park View at Emerson: 301-483-3322 Park View at Snowden River: 410-290-0384

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY Park View at Bladensburg: 301-699-9785 • 55 & Better Park View at Laurel: 301-490-1526 Park View at Laurel II: 301-490-9730

Call the community of interest to you to inquire about eligibility requirements and to arrange a personal tour.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

Money Law &

Cars need exercise, too. See what yours needs on page 14.

How to ask your bank or lender for help By Liz Weston Many banks, credit card issuers and other lenders have promised to help those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. They’re offering to defer or reduce payments and waive interest charges and rebate fees for those who have lost jobs, had their hours reduced or otherwise lost income due to the COVID-19 crisis. The help usually isn’t automatic, however. You have to ask for it — and ask the right way. “In many cases, you only get the help if you contact your creditor and mention that you need relief due to the coronavirus situation,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. “And that’s very frustrating because it’s very difficult to get through to your bank or lender.” Many financial institutions are encouraging people to reach out digitally — through live chats or messaging on the companies’ sites or in their mobile apps. However you connect, there are important questions that need to be answered, including:

What steps do I need to take to qualify? You can start your research on the financial institution’s site to see what kinds of help may be available and how to apply. Generally, you’ll want to confirm the details with a human being, including the steps you must take to apply, said Saunders, who advises keeping a record of the conversation and what you were told. You can take written notes of phone calls, including the time, date and name of the company representative, or take screenshots of electronic communications. “Some people assume that (a hardship program) will automatically kick in if they just miss a payment, which is very dangerous to assume,” said Bruce McClary, a spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Skipped payments can lead to credit score damage and collection calls, and could limit the hardship options available. There’s one forbearance program that is automatic, but it pertains only to student loans held by the federal government. Pay-

ments on those loans are suspended until Sept. 30, and interest has been waived.

Exactly how does it work? Companies take different approaches to their hardship programs. One lender may allow you to skip payments but charge you late fees; another may waive the fees but report skipped payments to the credit bureaus. Most will continue to charge interest, and some will expect you to make a lump sum payment of the amount you skipped. “This is not free money,” Saunders said. “It’s just putting off a debt that you’ll have to repay along with your other debts later.” Even if your financial hardship is over, you may not be able to cough up several months’ worth of payments at once, McClary noted. “The last thing you want is to have to drop some big lump sum of money on somebody when you’re in a financially fragile state,” McClary said. “It’s important to try to negotiate different terms,” he said. Ask if the payments can be tacked on to the end of the loan or

paid off over time, McClary suggested. Also request that the account be reported “paid as agreed” to the credit bureaus to avoid a potentially large hit to your credit scores.

How long will the help last? A hardship program may last three to six months, but you could have the option to extend the relief if you ask. If you can’t make the payments on your federally backed mortgage because of the coronavirus pandemic, for example, you have the right to skip payments for nearly a year. The CARES Act requires lenders to give affected borrowers forbearance of up to 180 days, with the option to request an additional 180 days after that. Lenders may not make that clear, however. Some borrowers who asked for mortgage forbearance in recent days were told they would owe a lump sum after three months, with no mention of the potential extensions. These rules apply only to mortgages See ASK FOR HELP, page 15

Coronavirus relief act waives 2020 RMDs The recent coronavirus relief legisla- cordingly reduces your tax liability. tion, or CARES Act, made several imporThe law also changed the rules associattant changes affecting charitable deduced with RMDs for 2020. You no tions as well as Required Minlonger need to make any RMD imum Distributions (RMDs). withdrawals in 2020. It increased the charitable This is very helpful because contribution deduction that a of the significant drop in equity taxpayer is entitled to claim prices this year. (Now, that for cash contributions made money can remain in your acto most public charities durcount, potentially allowing you ing the 2020 calendar year. to recoup some of the investPrior to the CARES Act, ment losses from March and contributing to public charities April.) was limited to 60% of individu- THE SAVINGS These rules are applicable als adjusted gross income GAME not only to individual retire(AGI). Now, if you itemize, the By Elliot Raphaelson ment accounts but also to delimit has been increased to fined-benefit plans and 457 100% of AGI. If you contribute plans. more than your AGI, you can carry forward Because there is no need to take unnecesyour deduction for five years. sary RMDs this year, which would raise The CARES Act also added a new de- your taxable income, taxpayers who normalduction for taxpayers who do not itemize. ly make qualified charitable distributions For 2020, individuals who make a charita- (QCDs) directly from their IRA custodians ble contribution can take a $300 ($600 for may find it to their advantage to postpone joint returns) “above the line” adjustment. charitable contributions to 2021 and make This adjustment reduces the AGI, and ac- larger charitable contributions then. For the

charity to be qualified, it must be eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.

Main advantage The advantage of the QCD is that these contributions reduce your adjusted gross income (AGI), and accordingly reduce your tax liability. By doing this, you may also minimize income-based Medicare Part B and D premiums, and even avoid a 3.8% surtax applicable to net investment income for taxpayers filing joint returns with AGIs above $250,000. The QCD rules apply only to traditional IRAs and not to distributions from SIMPLE IRAs, qualified employer plans, 403(b) plans or SEPS. What if you’ve already taken your RMD? Many individuals have already taken their required minimum distributions (RMDs) prior to the CARES Act being passed. Fortunately, the IRS allows (see Notice 2020-23) any distribution taken between Feb. 1, 2020 and May 15, 2020 to be rolled over back into your retirement account if it is done by July 15, 2020.

If you have had income tax withheld, you will not receive that back immediately. However, when you file your tax return for 2020, if you are entitled to a refund, you will receive back the income tax that was withheld. If you took an RMD in January 2020, you have another option: The CARES Act allows those impacted by the coronavirus to take a loan from their retirement account up to $100,000, or the vested amount in their retirement account, whichever is lower, without penalty, and to repay it over a three-year period. The withdrawal is not taxable if you repay the loan within that period. Regardless of distribution requirements, many taxpayers make QCDs to reduce tax liability. Even though minimum distributions are not required for 2020, the QCD remains a valuable tool to minimize your tax liability if you don’t itemize, and plan on making charitable contributions in 2020. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com. © 2020 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Steps you should take to protect your car By David Muhlbaum If you’re sheltering at home during the coronavirus pandemic, your car is likely spending a lot of time sitting in your driveway. But, much like people, cars need exercise and don’t do well if they sit for too long. How long is too long? Well, that varies, but with lockdowns in many places running into three months now, that’s too long for a car to go with little or no use. The first sign is often a dead battery, though other problems can crop up as well. Here are a number of ways you can head them off: Give it a spin. The first one is so straightforward that if you do it, you might not need most of the others: Drive the darn thing. Don’t just start it and let it idle or take a lap of the driveway or the block. You want to drive long enough (and fast enough) that the battery gets fully recharged, and the car’s various fluids get up to temperature. Twenty minutes should do the trick, and highway driving helps. Turn on the air

conditioning while you’re at it so that system gets some exercise too. Its lubricant is suspended in the freon. My VW Golf lets me monitor the oil temperature, and I drive until it’s above 212 degrees Fahrenheit so that contaminants like water and gasoline get cooked out of the oil. If there’s some reason you can’t drive the car on the street (the insurance lapsed?), then turn it on and let it run long enough that you hear the engine’s electric cooling fan kick on. Check the fuel. The next issue for keeping your car in good health during COVID19 is the condition of the fuel. People who use gas-powered tools, have a boat or some other recreational vehicle probably already know that gasoline, particularly gasoline that’s mixed with ethanol, has a shelf life. That’s why a lawn mower needs to be “run dry” at the end of the season, or have a stabilizer chemical mixed into the fuel. How long will the gas in your car’s tank last before chemical degradation causes it

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to gum something up? It’s very hard to get a clear answer on this. For one thing, there are oodles of variables. (Is your weather humid? How old was the gas when you bought it? What’s the ethanol percentage?) Another is that the people who actually make fuel, i.e., refiners, have little interest in discussing how long it will last. Here’s my best guess: months, not years. When did you fill your tank last? And when do you think you will again, based on how much you’re driving now? Most people will be fine, but if you think it could be, well, months, then an easy and cheap bit of insurance is to add fuel stabilizer to your tank. A popular brand with a memorable name is Sta-Bil, but there are others. Because fuel stabilizers won’t “fix” fuel that’s already gone bad, sooner is better than later for using one of these, and if you have room in the tank to add some fresh fuel when you pour in the stabilizer, do so. A few other considerations for a car less used: The battery. Conventional car batteries (we’re not talking about the drive batteries in EVs or hybrids) like to be regularly charged up. Regular driving does that, obviously. Car batteries also don’t like to be stored without charge. So, if you have let one go dead, get on that quickly with a jump start. If you can’t give the car its proper exercise, consider buying a trickle charger. Tires. Keep your pressure up, but also be aware that a car that isn’t moved regularly can get flat spots on its tires. When you finally drive off, you’ll hear a speed-dependent “whomp-whomp-whomp.” If you’re lucky, it will go away when the tire warms up, but it might not. Following our “just drive it” advice will head this off, but if you can’t drive a car, at

least try to move it forward and back a bit while it’s idling. The only certain way to avoid flat spotting is to put the car on stands, but that’s more trouble than most will want to take. Brakes. Depending on the conditions where the car is stored, brakes may corrode when the car sits. This is normal; brake rotors on all but the most expensive cars are made of cast iron, and corrode quickly. Simply braking while you drive cleans them right up as the pads scrape away the corrosion. If you’re using your car less, you might notice a “graunch” sound the first few times you apply the brakes. It should go away. If you park somewhere that’s damp and can’t use the car for a while, consider NOT applying the parking brake so that it doesn’t corrode in place. Make sure the car is in gear and safely situated, though. Critters. Animals can make short work of an automobile. Their usual target is wiring, which in many cars has a soybased insulation that’s attractive to rodents. (The little buggers took out my Toyota Highlander!) A car that’s less frequently driven can be prime wildlife habitat. Potential solutions: Parking it farther away from landscape features (rock walls, say) that are already animal friendly. Putting the cat on patrol, possibly even with a visit INSIDE the car. A variety of repellents are available. And, of course, traps. Cosmetics. Garaging is best, of course. If that’s not an option, consider using sunshades to keep damaging UV rays from the interior. If you’re considering covering your car, remember to buy something car-specific. Plastic tarps from the hardware store don’t cut it and will damage your paint. © 2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

Maryland tax credits for owners, renters By Francine Hyman As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, thinking about the impacts on your household can be overwhelming. But now is an ideal time to learn about the resources available to you and your family. The Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition (MCRC) is ramping up its “Take the Credit” campaign, which reminds Maryland homeowners and renters about two sometimes forgotten tax credits. The Maryland Property Tax Credit programs provide financial assistance to help older adults and low-income families with their property costs. Combined, these tax credits help save homeowners and renters more than $260 million in property taxes each year. Although the programs have been around for decades, few people eligible for the renters and homeowners tax credits even know they exist. It’s time to Take the Credit! You have until Oct. 1 to apply for the 2020 Maryland Property Homeowners’ Tax Credit and Maryland Renters’ Tax Credit. (And you must apply every year for the credits.)

Income-based homeowner relief The Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit Program provides tax relief for eligible Maryland homeowners by setting a limit on the

Ask for help From page 13 backed by federal entities, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the Veterans Administration (VA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Frank, Frank

amount of property taxes owed based on their income. Applications received and approved will be credited on your property tax bill. If a resident has already paid their property taxes and applies before Oct. 1, any tax credit that the homeowner may be eligible for will be refunded by their county finance office. Last year, for instance, SOAR applicants received an average of $1,383 in property tax relief. The tax credit is available to Maryland homeowners whose gross household income doesn’t exceed $60,000. In addition, your net worth must be less than $200,000 not including the value of your home; your name must be on the home’s deed; and you must reside in the home. To confirm eligibility for the homeowners’ property tax credit, homeowners can visit marylandtaxcredit.com. MCRC’s Securing Older Adult Resources (SOAR) program provides the following services: —Free comprehensive benefit checkups and case management —Financial counseling and coaching to build and protect individual assets, as well as to connect with, and maximize the efficacy of, existing services —Screening and application assistance for the Renters’ Tax Credit (RTC) and Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit (HOTC).

But most mortgage lenders have some type of hardship program or loan modification options. Don’t put off asking for help if you’re struggling, since it’s not clear when coronavirus-related economic disruptions will end. It’s better to have more help than you need than to need more help than you have. —AP/NerdWallet

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410.337.8900 | www.frankelderlaw.com | 1.888.338.0400 Towson | Columbia | Easton

To speak with a SOAR Financial Counselor to determine your eligibility, or if a paper application is preferred, call (443) 961-6220 for assistance. Be prepared to provide information about your 2019 household’s gross income and rental payments.

Income-based renter relief The Maryland Renters’ Tax Credit Program similarly provides tax relief for eligible renters who pay high monthly rent relative to their total income. While the majority of recipients of this credit are Marylanders 60 or older, the program is also available to renters who are disabled, as well as renters under age 60 with at least one dependent child under 18 years old, others who meet low-income re-

quirements, and the surviving spouse of a renter who met the eligibility requirements. The renters’ tax credit is issued in the form of a direct check payment of up to $1,000 a year from the state of Maryland. SOAR applicants who rent in Maryland received an average of $630 in property tax relief in 2019. To confirm eligibility for the renters’ tax credit or download an application, Maryland renters can visit marylandtaxcredit.com. For more information about MCRC and its programs, email info@marylandconsumers.org, call (410) 220-0494, or visit marylandconsumers.org. Francine Hyman is program manager of Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition’s SOAR Program.

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Celebration of the

JULY 2020 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

Mixed Media/ Textile

Photography/ Digital Art

First Place

Young Ae Yi Bevadine Zoma Terrell

Third Place

First Place Leigh Partington

Second Place Barbara Frey

Third Place Janet Mazor

Honorable Mention

First Place Ruth Sentelle

Second Place

Marylou Bono Nancy Carlin Thomas S. Corbit Jerry Harvey Catherine Hart Kervan Frances P. Laughlin Martha Mihaly Black Sarah Lee Province Clare Wilson Young Ae Yi

Second Place

Third Place

Raymond Finkleman

Addison Newton Likins

Honorable Mentions Nico Ambush Pearl B. Chang Manny Eisner Sandra Valeria Franklin Don Herman Addison Newton Likins Nathalie Pouliquen Patrick JamesRowland Christopher Ruch Elizabeth Steel Jo-Ann Marshburn Wilson

Honorable Mentions Keith Denise Brace Howard Evans Clark Richard Isaacman Vella Kendall Harvey Jerome Kupferberg Stephen Eugene Robinson Lynn V Schmitt Alan Harvey Simmons Warren Eugene Wilson

First Place

Honorable Mentions

Ellen Yahuda

Kenneth Bachman Phyllis Brent Christine Fendley Greenland Jacquelyn Diane Harris Gayle Magruder Michael Thomas Mohr

Second Place Ray Goodrow

Third Place

Gillian Collins

Patricia Grimes SusanAnchors Sandra Cohen Denise Dallatore Chester Hall Barbara Katz Julianne Mueller Ruth Sentelle Angela White Gretchen Whitney HelenWood

A. Barry Belman

Painting

Angela White

Honorable Mentions

Second Place

Beth Altman

Leigh Partington

Drawing

Pearl B. Chang

Third Place

Lisa Trevino

Honorable Mentions

Ceramic/Pottery

First Place

David Allen Corbell

Second Place

2020

Sculpture/Carving

Carol Morgan Ronie Nieva Juan Antonio Serrano Betsy Shelburne Alexandra Margaret Treadaway-Hoare

Stained Glass/Jewelry First Place

Honorable Mentions

Lori Ann Grant

Marylou Bono Clarice Burrell Regine Camacho Gregory J. Cannizzaro Thomas S. Corbit

Second Place Meredith Anne Weiser

Third Place JeďŹ&#x20AC; Bulman

Lori Ann Grant Nathalie Pouliquen Lisa M. Scarbath Meredith Anne Weiser

To see all the winning artworks, visit thebeaconnewspapers.com

Say you saw it in the Beacon

BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

Travel

Leisure &

Souvenirs like this Tunisian camel keep trip memories alive. See story on page 19.

Nebraska, from corn fields to fine art

The crane spectacular The Platte River in Central Nebraska is nature’s stage for one of the planet’s greatest spectacles. From mid-February to midApril, half a million sandhill cranes migrating north rest on the Platte’s sandbars and feed in the cornfields. “I’ve traveled far and wide,” Jane Goodall once said, “and coming to Nebraska and seeing and hearing the cranes always restores my soul.” Even non-birders are captivated by these gangly birds. From viewing blinds at sunrise, eco-tourists can watch the cranes awaken from sandbar roosts and jump like marionettes in a mating dance. Then, in a

big whoosh, thousands ascend to the skies in one of the greatest migrations on Earth.

Paths of progress The Great Platte River that snakes across the state was a formative influence for human civilization, too. Indigenous people lived along the river long before Europeans arrived. It was a major route for pioneers going West and later for the Pony Express, Union Pacific Railroad and today’s Interstate 80. The Lincoln Highway, America’s first coastto-coast paved roadway, tracked the river. Archway Monument over Interstate 80 in Kearney (locally pronounced “Carknee”) honors the past with life-sized figures and exhibits. Listen to an audio guide about the personal stories of pioneers, watch a rider switch horses at a Pony Express station, and experience a thundering buffalo stampede.

PHOTO BY NEBRASKA TOURISM

By Glenda C. Booth Editor’s Note: Given the worldwide reach of the coronavirus and the fact that COVID19 cases are still rising in Nebraska, this is not the time to travel there, or anywhere, for enjoyment. Please enjoy this article as armchair entertainment and for planning your future travel in healthier times. In the Cornhusker State, corn may be at almost every turn, but there’s much more to explore. Want to drift down a placid river in a steel tank? Watch birds strutting in a colorful courtship dance? Visit a sod house or study fine art? Nebraska’s got it.

During a vast annual migration, 80% of the world’s cranes gather on the banks of Nebraska’s Platte River on their way to Arctic nesting grounds. Tourists and wildlife photographers also flock to Nebraska every February to April to admire the sights and sounds of hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes.

Classic art and classic cars The Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney is housed in a 100-year-old former post office. Inside are 5,000 works by artists who were born, lived, trained or worked in Nebraska or who created art reflecting the state. The museum displays paintings and photographs of cornfields, of course, along with sandhill cranes, prairies, buffalo hunts and settlers by artists like Albert Bierstadt, PHOTO BY RICK NEIBEL/NEBRASKA TOURISM

Nebraskans enjoy a tranquil day of “tanking” downstream. Floating in repurposed livestock watering tanks can be a leisurely way to get a closer look at the state’s wildlife and scenery.

Thomas Moran and George Catlin. Fiber arts feature quilts, weavings and rugs spanning over 100 years. John James Audubon’s wildlife art works are standouts. Study the art of automotive design (while remembering your high school dating scene) in Kearney’s Classic Car Collection, home to over 200 automobiles from different eras. There’s a 1959 Cadillac with its distinctive tailfins, a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser, a supercharged Shelby Mustang GT 350 and a recreated 1950s gas station and drive-in theater ticket booth. Even older are the 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith Limo, two Pierce Arrows and a 1917 VIM Huckster Canopy truck. Its manufacturer, Touraine Company, claimed it could make 250 stops in a 20-mile radius in four hours, compared to a horse and wagon which took six hours to make 200 stops. In Kearney’s Look What’s Cookin’ kitchen store, chefs can expand their “cornware” with utensils like de-silking brushes, butter boys, buttering brushes, corn picks and corn dishes that “prevent ears from rolling away.” In nearby Minden, Nebraska, the centerpiece is the Pioneer Village (self-dubbed “Authentic Americana”) in the shadow of iconic grain storage silos. Opened in 1953, the 20acre campus tells Nebraska’s story through a sod house, general store with bygone

items, antique farm machinery, a working blacksmith’s shop, a telephone switchboard and the country’s oldest steam-powered carousel.

Pony Express Two Pony Express Relay Stations are worth a stop at Gothenburg. In 1860 and 1861, after charging across the land for 60 to 70 miles, riders could switch mounts in two minutes flat and transfer the mail in a mochila, a knapsack that carried 20 pounds of mail. Pony Express riders had to be willing to die, and orphans were preferred. One of the fastest riders transported President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address 2,000 miles in eight days. Every June, the National Pony Express Association stages a 1,996-mile, 10-day “reride” from Sacramento, California, through Nebraska to St. Joseph, Missouri.

The Sandhills The late television journalist Charles Kuralt called Nebraska’s Sandhills “one of the most beautiful areas of nothingness.” Don’t take his term “nothingness” literally, though. The region’s 13 million acres of soothing, rolling grasslands are home to Buffalo Bill’s ranch and the largest railSee NEBRASKA, page 18

Leisure & Travel | Subscribe for half-price. See p. 22

Nebraska From page 17 road servicing yard in the world. You can experience the placid beauty by “tanking,” a local term for floating down a river in a steel water tank for farm animals. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World was anything but boring. At William Cody’s former ranch, now a historic park in North Platte, visitors can return to the Old West

through videos of a rollicking spectacle of bronco riding, bronco busting, cow roping, gun battles and stagecoach attacks, a show that had 200 performers and 250 horses in the 1890s. Still standing is Bill’s restored Victorian house that cost $4,000 in 1886. The wallpaper features one of his performers, Annie Oakley, a legendary woman who could shoot backwards on a horse. A must-do in North Platte is taking in the eighth-floor, 360-degree views atop the

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

UNDERSTANDING TELEHEALTH

Are you curious about using telehealth for doctor appointments? Learn more about the practice of video conferencing with doctors during the pandemic at telehealth.hhs.gov/patients.

Ongoing

LIBRARY HELP

Even though the Baltimore Public Library is technically closed, you can still access help. Chat with a librarian online with any questions you may have from Monday to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Check it out at bcpl.info.

Ongoing

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMS

There are several African American museums in Maryland that could use your support. Consider donating to or becoming a member of the African American Art Museum of Maryland (africanartmuseum.org), Banneker-Douglass Museum (bdmuseum.maryland.gov), Reginald F. Lewis Museum (lewismuseum.org), Sandy Spring Slave Museum (sandyspringslavemuseum.org), and Prince George’s African American Museum (pgaamcc.org).

JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Golden Spike Tower. Down below, thousands of trains crawl through Union Pacific’s 2,850-acre Bailey Yard, the world’s largest railroad classification yard. The yard dates from 1869, one year after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Watching trains connect, disconnect and connect again is mesmerizing; it’s as if an invisible giant is playing with toy trains in the vast flatlands. And for a bit of wacky Nebraska, there’s Carhenge in Alliance, a full-scale replica of England’s Stonehenge, but the Nebraska version is a series of 38 old cars painted gray. Or try Grain Bin Antique Town near North Platte, with its 20 historic octagonal granaries full of antiques and yard-sale treasures.

Omaha and Lincoln In the state capital of Lincoln, the Indiana-limestone state Capitol building, 400 feet tall and topped by a 20-foot man sowing wheat and corn, dominates the skyline. The Museum of Nebraska History covers 12,000 years of history, and the University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History features Elephant Hall, with towering mammoth, mastodon and other skeletons. Omaha, once dominated by cattle stockyards, is Nebraska’s largest city. It’s the center of the state’s transportation, insurance and agribusiness, and also home of

Omaha steaks, Mutual of Omaha and billionaire Warren Buffett. The Joslyn Art Museum, an art deco building of pink Georgia marble, has an outdoor sculpture garden and artworks by El Greco, Titian, Degas and Monet. At the Durham Museum in a former train station, visitors can explore the Cornhusker Club car, which President Harry Truman used for his 30,000-mile whistlestop tour in 1948. Exhibits highlight Native American, Omaha and ranching history. After your tour, enjoy a chocolate malt at its authentic soda fountain.

If you go Check cdc.gov for current travel notices. Most travelers fly to Omaha and then drive west along I-80 and deviate off the interstate to various sites. Omaha is a 17-hour drive from Baltimore From Omaha, on the state’s eastern border, to the western border is about 455 miles. Amtrak’s California Zephyr (a daily train connecting Chicago and San Francisco) stops at five stations. The Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, showcasing agriculture, industry, commerce, arts, sciences and more is the state’s largest event. It’s scheduled for Aug. 28 through Sept. 7. Visit statefair.org. For planning information, visit visitnebraska.com; westnebraska.com; visitomaha.com; LincolnHighwayNebraskaByway.com or cranetrust.org.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

Souvenirs evoke fine vacation memories

China It’s challenging to choose from among

Letters to editor From page 2 side effects of the drugs doctors wanted to prescribe would make me worse. Instead, I instinctively knew that I had to find the source of my pain. I decided to rely on my own research and faith to solve my problem and to find a solution to my medical mystery. I discovered that I have celiac disease that had been undiagnosed since childhood. I have since learned that gluten is what damaged my immune system, leading to M.S. The dietary changes were difficult at first — avoiding wheat, soy sauce and other

common ingredients in most foods. But the diet got easier as my pain started to go away, and my health improved remarkably. Now, I am symptom free and getting stronger every day. I follow the gluten-free diet and get plenty of rest and sunshine. And I am still drug-free. I would encourage anyone who has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, or who has unexplained symptoms, to start a gluten-free diet immediately. If all we do is take medicine and ignore our diet and lifestyle, we are wasting our doctors’ time, wasting money and jeopardizing our recovery. Debbie McGrann Ellicott City

Going into (what then was) the Soviet Union on a bus tour from Finland, Russian guards found a small decorative knife I had purchased in Helsinki and said I couldn’t bring it into their country. I guess they thought I might use it to overthrow the government. They told me to leave it at the customs hut on the Finnish side of the border. To do so, I had to walk back through a high, barbedwire-topped double fence and gates, past snarling guard dogs, and under the watchful eyes of Soviet guards who kept their rifles trained on me as I made the round trip. When my tour group returned through the same checkpoint days later, I was able to retrieve the memento from the Finnish sentries. As they handed it over, one explained, with a twinkle in his eyes, “The Soviets always do things like that just to hassle Americans.”

Russia

PHO TO BY VICT OR BLO CK

As intriguing to me as the jungles and wildlife of the Amazon region are the people who live in tiny villages strung out along the mighty river. Most consist of a few to several dozen to several dozen houses made of crudely cut wood planks covered by a metal roof. Small gardens provide vegetables, and the surrounding forest provides fruits, nuts and medicinal plants. Most houses rest on rickety stilts that keep them high enough to avoid being inundated during the rainy season, when the rivers can rise 40 feet or more. A few are floating houses that rise and fall with the water. As the small motorboat in which I rode pulled up to each village, a few people, mostly children, came to the river’s edge to greet us. They were followed by women who shyly offered to sell seed and shell necklaces, woven items and other handicrafts. Among my purchases was a woven decorative plate, simple in design but exquisite in workmanship.

During my visit to Tunisia, I was able to experience its surprising variety of landscapes. The north is characterized by mountains that give way to its dry central plain, then to a semi-arid region. Much of the extreme south is blanketed by the dry sands of the Sahara Desert — the largest stretch of sand in the world, covering one-quarter of Africa. This enthralling setting is characterized by small settlements clustered round oases and people astride camels that provide a sense of times past. My memorable camel ride began with a brief lesson that included details about how to maintain my mount as the dromedary went through its ungainly exercise of standing, and advice about how to overcome any efforts it might make to head off in a direction other than where I, and my fellow riders, wished to go. A fairly realistic carved wooden camel, wearing the traditional saddle and exhibiting the usual rather haughty expression, serves as a reminder of that experience. BL

Amazonia

Tunisia

LO OR B

the many items I have brought back from “the Middle Kingdom,” as that country was known historically, but one stands out. While following the ancient Silk Road years ago, I spotted a man in the distance on horseback. He brandished an interesting, hand-made whip with which he occasionally tapped the animal if it slowed its pace. That scene — a horseman riding bareback along the fabled route using what elsewhere would be manufactured — spoke to me of much that makes China such a fascinating place. I asked my guide to call the rider over and ask if he would sell the whip. He agreed, and after discussing the price, which was so low that offered I bit more, the worn but treasured object now rests on a shelf in my home.

CT Y VI TO B O H P

By Victor Block My body is home these days, but my mind is roaming the globe. I’m stalking endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda, interacting with animals and people in the Amazon, and clinging to a tiny saddle on a camel strolling through the Sahara Desert. These are among countless memories that remain alive in souvenirs brought back from the more than 70 countries, including ours, that I have visited. This is a good time to relive travel experiences through mementos you’ve purchased.

Uganda One of my most challenging travel experiences was following the footsteps of endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. Those majestic beasts live in the aptly named Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. My group was accompanied by guides who had scoped out the location of our prey early that morning. However, after traipsing

and climbing for hours through the thick forest, we discovered the uncooperative creatures had moved. We eventually found them and settled down to watch the youngsters swinging from limbs and wrestling on the ground under the watchful eyes of their mothers. Suddenly the mammoth silverback who ruled the band began advancing menacingly toward us. One guide waved the AK47 assault rifle that he carried specifically for that purpose, the alpha male gorilla retreated — and we hiked back to our tent camp with great memories and photos.

United States For more than 2,000 years, the Pueblo people, who live in what is now the Southwest United States, have prayed to spirits to bring them good weather, abundant game and a bountiful harvest. They have believed that beings known as Kachinas act as messengers between humans and the spirit world. The Hopi people were first to create Kachina dolls, as a way to teach their children about them. Later, other tribes began making their own Kachina dolls to sell, adding beads, turquoise and other decorations. The Kachina that I bought at an Indian market in Arizona reminds me of the rich and complex role of Native Americans in our country’s history and culture. What memories do your souvenirs bring back?

JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Subscribe for half-price. See p. 22

Style Arts &

With luck, the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s outdoor performances will resume next summer. See story on facing page.

Life-long learners with love for the arts “Of course, we are doing this because we cannot get together, but it turns out there are positives,” Dorman, 72, said. “We may end up doing more webinars.”

Field trips are special While lectures are the main focus of ASG, the art collective hosts around 10 field trips per year, ranging from day trips to short overnighters to week-long international trips. Among many other places, ASG has taken its members to Wisconsin for Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, France for an annual photography show, Texas to study artist Donald Judd, and Mexico to learn about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. “We have not found any other group in the country like this, and we hear it [from those we meet] when we travel,” Dorman said. “People so often say they wish they had an Art Seminar Group there.” One of the best perks to traveling with ASG is special access, according to Terry Ulmer, a member for 10 years. “We get to do things that one would normally not [be able to] do if they just bought a [museum] ticket,” she said. Ulmer, 76, has been on two short domestic trips and, because of ASG, has glimpsed private art collections and participated in behind-the-scenes tours at places like the Frank Gehry theater at Bard College in New York. She’s also enjoyed the camaraderie of these one- to two-night trips. Traveling

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By Ivey Noojin Art means something different to everybody: paintings, music, theater, cinema, photography, architecture, even quilts. The 400 members of the Art Seminar Group (ASG), based in Baltimore County, try to provide access to a deeper understanding of each of those aspects of art. The group started in 1956, when several Baltimore women, hoping to learn more about abstract expressionism, hired a graduate student from Johns Hopkins University to give them a private lecture. Since then, the Art Seminar Group’s repertoire has expanded, offering lectures on the subjects its members request. “We all brought our interests to the table,” said Sherry Christhilf, chair of the group and member for more than 20 years. Now, ASG hosts weekly lectures on art and art history, usually on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. Experts — including professors, curators, museum directors and the artists themselves — deliver presentations to paying members, who have an opportunity to ask questions afterward. Since the lockdowns required by the pandemic, these lectures have been given as digital webinars. Far from discouraging attendance, they have had the opposite effect — expanding the group’s outreach. Usually, in-person lectures would attract 40 to 70 people, according to co-chair Nancy Dorman, a retired partner at a venture capital firm. Now, 80 to 100 people tune into the online lectures.

Members of the long-established Art Seminar Group traveled to Paris in 2013 to tour its many museums. In addition to international and domestic “field trips,” the group offers weekly seminars and tours of public and private collections throughout the Baltimore area.

with ASG is a way of “continuing my social interaction with people, and also my desire to always be learning and talking about very interesting topics,” Ulmer said. Another member, Sandy Mason, 76, joined six years ago and has also enjoyed the field trips. On the bus rides, “you get to know some of the members a little bit,” Mason said. “Some people are like me: We took, decades ago, Art History 101 in college and loved going to museums and know a little bit about art. There are other people who have been very active [in the arts] all of their work life. It’s a nice range of people.”

A post-retirement community All ASG members are over age 50, and most of them are retired, according to the group’s members. That’s why lectures are typically held on weekday afternoons. “People are busy at night; they have things to do,” Dorman said. “But if you’re not working full-time, having a program like this during the day is very appealing.” ASG also provides a learning opportunity. “It’s all the good things you find that you can appreciate when you’re older,” Christhilf said. “It helps your mind to be engaged.” Above all, the members have established a strong community, according to Ulmer. “This is a group of men and women who love to learn and love art,” she said.

“We provide each other with a stimulus.” Before the pandemic, ASG hosted weekly meetings at locations throughout the area, including Pikesville, Towson and Baltimore City. As a result, Mason, along with her new cohort of friends, has been able to explore Baltimore in a way she never knew was possible. “It made me realize how much there is in Baltimore,” she said. “You don’t have to go to the Met or the Whitney or Paris or Rome; there’s a whole lot here.” ASG membership costs $385 per year with access to weekly lectures, special lectures and day trips. The group also requires full members to be members of the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Domestic field trips cost an additional $500 to $1,000, and international trips cost $2,500 to $6,000. However, the group also offers a second category of participation: Subscribers pay $100 per year, with an additional payment of $15 per lecture, but are not eligible for field trips. To try out ASG, you may attend three lectures for $15 each (or at the reduced amount of $10 per webinar during the summer due to coronavirus). To check out online lectures or to learn more about the group, go to artseminargroup.org or call (410) 879-1947.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — JULY 2020

Shakespeare group adapts to the times By Barbara Trainin Blank All went well during the regular 20192020 season of the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, which included stage productions in its downtown Baltimore theater of Measure for Measure and Hamlet as well as A Christmas Carol. But this summer, the theater hit a glitch, otherwise known as the pandemic. Normally, the company’s educator program includes both an extensive matinee series, camps, classes and in-school and out-ofschool residencies. This summer, however, all of the theater’s programming will be hosted virtually, including its online summer camps and classes for adults.

Alone?,” a Shakespeare scene study group (presented in partnership with the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Easterseals) began in May and continues through July 29. Under the instruction of Ron Heneghan, CSC’s director of education, the students at a recent Zoom session of the course tackled the linguistic and meaning aspects of four passages from Shakespeare. The selections, taken from Othello, Macbeth and Hamlet, were related to military life. Other online courses this summer are “Play On!,” a critical analysis of several plays (July 13-Aug. 17); “Speak the Speech,” for practice of classical monologues (July 14-Aug. 18); and an “Introduction to Shakespeare and His Contemporaries” (July 16-Aug. 20).

Zounds on Zoom One special course is geared to military personnel and veterans. “Why Do You Keep

Yorick and more on YouTube

Pelecanos

His interest in the lives of everyday people began when he worked as a delivery boy at his Greek-born father’s diner— the Jefferson Coffee Shop at 19th Street and Jefferson Place NW in downtown D.C. “I was 11 years old in 1968, two months after the riots. I took a bus every day down Georgia Avenue to my father’s lunch counter,” Pelecanos recalled. “[It] passed through parts of town that had been completely destroyed. Some of the people on the bus had lost entire neighborhoods. “But clearly they had won something, too. I could see it in their posture, style of dress and attitude. It registered with me on a gut [level] rather than an intellectual level. “Since then, I have always wanted to find out what happened. Writing a novel set during the riots (Hard Revolution) offered me the opportunity. Know the past, and soon the present starts to make sense, right?” When he started writing novels, Pelecanos felt a duty to create characters who represented the people he observed when he was a child. “I didn’t feel that Washington, D.C., had been fully represented in literature — the real, living, working-class side of the city,” he said. At the moment, Pelecanos is once again focused on Baltimore. He is involved in writing and producing a mini-series for

From page 1 hardboiled fiction. “I am a crime writer, but crime is the way I get into what I’m most interested in, which are social issues,” Pelecanos said. Literary critics, as well as higher learning institutes, are now looking more seriously at novelists like Pelecanos, who write about the crime scene. Students at U.S. universities study and write thesis papers on such 20th-century crime writers as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. A master’s degree in “crime and thriller writing” is currently offered at the prestigious University of Cambridge. “I think of myself as a novelist first and foremost,” Pelecanos said. “I see myself as more of a spiritual descendant of [John] Steinbeck than of Agatha Christie.”

Shaped by Maryland childhood Pelecanos, who was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., said he took a crime fiction class in his senior year at the University of Maryland. The class included the works of Hammett, Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Mickey Spillane, John le Carré and Elmore Leonard, Pelecanos’ all-time favorite crime novelist.

FROM PAGE 22 ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

Additional online programming will also

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD A L F I C A R N T H E S R S T H E J U M P O N E T O N G O H O P A A N I S E R B S W A Y L A T E E Y E S

E E K I R M O I N R Y A C T L O E W S W I S

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M U S R E E F L I L N A I S S H U L F F C U C R

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be available for free on the CSC’s YouTube channel (search Chesapeake Shakespeare Company at youtube.com). In “Sequestered Shakespeare,” which launched in April, CSC resident actors and company members have been self-producing videos featuring soliloquies, sonnets and songs. Its YouTube “Past is Prologue” video series, introduced May 15, features a new conversation each week between Ian Gallaner, the CSC’s artistic director, and a member of the global Shakespeare community. They discuss the role of theater in education, gender and Shakespeare, race in Shakespeare plays, and the “right” way to update Shakespeare. The company normally performs out of a renovated building in Baltimore modeled after London’s Globe Theatre, as well as in the ruins of the 19th-century Patapsco Fe-

male Institute in Ellicott City. Its goal is to produce “Shakespeare that is not stuffy,” Gallaner said. “Our mission is to engage our communities in the exploration of what makes Shakespeare so timeless and relevant while strengthening the connection between audience and artist.” Although the theater remains connected to its audience, the hope is that these online courses will only be temporary. “As things change, we can revert to traditional classes,” Malin said. “We will also get back to share outdoor theater under the stars with our friends and neighbors as soon as it’s possible.” There is a fee for each course except for “Why do You Keep Alone?,” which is subsidized. To learn more, contact the theater at (410) 244-8571 or call info@chesapeakeshakespeare.com.

HBO about a squad of corrupt police. His most recent novel, The Man Who Came Uptown, was published in 2018. Whether he’s writing a book or screenplay, though, Pelecanos said his work has the same goal. “I’m attempting to give humanity and dignity to the kinds of people who are often ignored or misrepresented in American literature.

“I’m interested in the societal aspect of crime, the social conditions and inequalities that push people to make choices that others, frankly, never have to consider,” Pelecanos said. “Crime is the narrative engine in my books, but really I’m interested in the people and their lives. “And,” he said, “I want to tell a good story.”

JULY 2020 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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Crossword Puzzle

Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus Star Tracks 1

By Stephen Sherr 5

38 45

39 46

48 53

Across 1. Michael Caine starred in the 1966 original; Jude Law in the 2004 remake 6. Bugle tune 10. Lead singer of 28 Across 14. Chili con ___ 15. Soothing band-aid add-in 16. Another name for a Jamaican tangelo 17. One of seven castaways in 1964 19. Matching jacket and pants 20. Last of FIRST 21. Take five 22. At least 1000 sheets of paper 23. Prefix indicating blood 25. Hot temper 27. SNL network 28. Narrator of the Stones’ most performed song 33. “___ of these days, Alice...” 34. Actor Gosling or O’Neal 35. Ingredient in Caesar salad dressing 36. Polynesian nation of 169 islands 38. Primary color in Netflix’s logo 40. Target of a mani pedi 44. Cal. page a with picture of ghosts 46. Asian desert 48. Toddler’s down-time 49. Cowboy, first filmed in 1935 54. “Wheel of Fortune” purchase 55. Lamb, later 56. Open and ___ case 57. Residents of Belgrade 59. Competes 62. “The check is in the mail,” often 64. Move to the groove 65. Suitable place to honor this puzzle’s characters 68. Arriving after the first pitch 69. Homophone to idol and idyll 70. Take over dancing duties 71. Ski mask holes 72. Disrespectful talk 73. Minotaur’s home

Down

1. Feign innocence

37 44

22 25

BB720

10 16

21 23

Scrabble answers on p. 21.

18 20

63 67

2. Bert, who played the Cowardly Lion 3. Ones who may get lost on campus 4. Coordinated with the rest of the marching band 5. “Oh no, a mouse!” 6. Reconstruct a torn-up love letter 7. Their highest peak borders Italy and France 8. Type of justice or license 9. Spanish verb, often confused with Estar 10. Ponder over 11. New world lizard 12. Tries to reach the summit 13. A crass menagerie 18. “I’m not into cartoons; that’s the ___ of it” (Gary Larson) 22. Fix up old flooring 24. Criteria for beatification 26. One of the Big Five studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age 28. Make a quick note of 29. Tres menos dos 30. Cookie holder 31. Humpty Dumpty, basically 32. Latitude, longitude, and altitude (abbrev.) 37. ___ long way 39. Disney’s dwarf with glasses 41. Kick off 42. Young fellow 43. Secret agent 45. Pull a boat on land 47. One with a low deep voice 49. Annoyance 50. Like most of Madison Avenue 51. Download illegally 52. Home to Area 51 53. Element with the same letter symbol as Superman 58. Tournament passes 60. Misfortunes 61. Barely gets by 63. Put carbon dioxide into the air 65. St. with shores on two Great Lakes 66. Fed. agency that monitors dirty words 67. Dir. from Vancouver to Calgary

Answers on page 21.

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IMAGINE WHAT INDEPENDENT SENIOR LIVING

FIRST FEELS LIKE. ·

pri Now ori tak ty i dep ng osi t

ANNAPOLIS, MD

When it comes to retirement, the difference between being second or first could be the difference between taking what you can get or living where you really want, like The Village at Providence Point—A National Lutheran Community. This is a brand-new, maintenance free, 60+, full continuum of care, senior living community coming to beautiful Annapolis, Md. Be one of the first to join our Priority Club, which allows you to get in on the ground floor, or top floor if you prefer, and have a hand in shaping things just the way you’ll want them. Call today to find out how you can stand in the winner’s circle of senior living.

[

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The Village at Providence Point is sponsored by National Lutheran Communities & Services, a faith-based, not-for-profit ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, serving people of all beliefs. The Village at Providence Point is subject to the final approval of the Maryland Department of Aging.