April 2011 DC Beacon Edition

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The ins and outs of innkeeping

An easy business to start There are about 30 to 35 bed-and-breakfast inns in the District of Columbia, according to Steven Lucas, manager of Bed and Breakfast D.C., a reservation service.

“There’s less than a handful in the Maryland suburbs such as Bethesda,” he said.

The Alexandria and Arlington Bed and Breakfast Network lists 22 bed and breakfasts in the northern Virginia area, a number of which having as few as one guest room.

There are no exact figures on the number of B&Bs in our area or nationally. “It’s always a number in flux because it’s a very easy

APRIL 2011

I N S I D E …

PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER MYERS

By Barbara Ruben In 1975, Jackie and Charlie Reed bought a large Victorian rowhouse in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington. By the time they finally finished renovating it eight years later, their oldest child was a senior in high school.

Charlie advocated selling the seven bedroom house, which was built in 1877. But Jackie hated to part with the stained glass windows and the original wood paneling they had restored.

“I realized our house would make a great bed and breakfast. I said that to my husband, and he said, ‘Over my dead body,’” she recalled.

But a neighbor had relatives visiting from France and not enough room to accommodate them. The Reeds took them in, and more houseguests followed over time.

Soon, Jackie and Charlie discovered they loved having lively conversations and making friends from around the world.

“Washington is just a great place to meet people from all over,” Jackie noted.

They soon officially dubbed their burgeoning business the Aaron Shipman Inn after the house’s builder, and it has become the longest operating bed and breakfast (also known as a B&B) in Washington, D.C. “Our guests become like our family,” said Jackie, now 63. That’s more than a figure of speech. Two guests who met each other at the inn later married each other.

And another guest who lives in Africa returned to Washington to have her children, using the Aaron Shipman Inn as a home base. The Reeds were recently invited to the wedding of one of the children.

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ARTS & STYLE

Revisit Richie and the Fonz in a musical based on the “Happy Days” television show; plus, Helen Mirren relishes a revitalized career, Cirque du Soleil plays under the big top, and Bob Levey reveals the pros and cons of white hair page 40

LEISURE & TRAVEL Charlie and Jackie Reed decided to turn their 19th century row house near Logan Circle into a bed and breakfast rather than sell it. Today, the Aaron Shipman House has the distinction of being the District’s longest running B&B. A number of the area’s 60 or so guesthouses have had similar starts and are operated by owners over 50.

business to get in and out of,” said Jay Karen, the executive director of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.

Despite the recession, the number of bed and breakfasts has stayed fairly consistent, he said. That’s because people are taking more weekend trips regionally, where they are more likely to book a B&B instead of a hotel.

Many B&B owners today are over 50, Karen said. That’s because “opening bed and breakfasts was a very hot thing to do in the late 80s and 90s, and a lot of those folks have been doing it for 10 to 15 years.”

Paulette Siegrist is one of them. In fact, at 88 (and one-half, as she likes to point out) she

may be the oldest B&B owner in the area.

Siegrist opened Corcoran Street Bed and Breakfast in her 1873 rowhouse near Logan Circle 16 years ago after retiring from a job as a court reporter in Chicago.

She moved to Washington, buying the house next door to her daughter.

But she discovered that being retired meant “the money you have now is not the money you had then,” Siegrist said. Having a business based on her home is “a great addition that you can use to keep your house up and live the way you want.”

Siegrist opened two of her unused bedSee B&Bs, page 36

A natural beauty beyond words in Alaska; plus, volunteers mix altruism with global travel to enjoy “voluntourism” page 47

FITNESS & HEALTH 4 k Do you need that medical test? k Drug slows prostate cancer LAW & MONEY 24 k Investing in the next big thing k “Worthless” stock may not be VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS

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SPOTLIGHT ON AGING k Newsletter for D.C. seniors

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Out on a limb, again Are we under attack? increases for so many years that it simply Are powerful forces in the country and budgets for modest growth “cut” when it Congress out to eliminate, or doesn’t receive its expected at lease decimate, the most efappropriation? fective and efficient federal It feels like it, especially programs that feed, transport when you take into account and preserve the health and the effects of inflation and wellbeing of America’s senthe growing wait lists for iors? nearly every program.

Well, yes and no.

Or ask the millions of SoThe word “cut” can be apcial Security recipients who plied in many ways. I think we didn’t receive a COLA (cost can all agree that a 64 percent FROM THE of living increase) for the reduction in the budget of a PUBLISHER past two years (and may well long-time program that trains By Stuart P. Rosenthal not see any increase in their thousands of low-income seniors and temporarily employs them constitutes a cut.

But what about a program that’s been supplemented by stimulus funds for two years? Is it “cut” when the extra money dries up?

It is if you ask any of the people who were able to get off long waiting lists and obtain services thanks to the stimulus funds. But it’s not a true cut if you look at the program’s base spending levels over time.

Is a program that has received annual

checks for a third year, either — see this month’s Money & Law section inside).

Call me a heretic — I’m sure many will do that and worse — but I can see both sides of the current federal budget battle. I find our exploding federal deficits — $1.65 trillion this year alone — to be alarming.

But I’m also terribly upset by the likely effects of steps to reduce the deficit.

That means I see the situation as a classic dilemma: whatever steps we take, even no steps at all, will be painful. There’s no getting around it, this won’t be easy.

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The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 (301) 949-9766 • E-mail: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com Website: www.theBeaconNewspapers.com Submissions: The Beacon welcomes reader contributions. Deadline for editorial is the 10th of the month preceding the month of publication. Deadline for ads is the 10th of the month preceding the month of publication. See page 53 for classified advertising details. Please mail or e-mail all submissions. © Copyright 2011 The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

Whether Congress ends up cutting $10 billion or $30 billion or $60 billion from the current year’s budget, millions of people will find they lose valuable benefits.

And yet, as painful as the cuts will be to the individuals and groups that lose funding, the effect looks pitifully weak compared to the size of the deficit. Even $60 billion in cuts would reduce this year’s deficit by only around 4 percent; $10 billion by less than 1 percent.

So, can’t we just keep things as they are?

Would our [fill-in-the-blank] program’s tiny contribution to the deficit really be noticed?

That raises the question of why we aren’t acting to modify the programs that really affect the federal budget in a big way: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

I have written about Social Security frequently in this column. I’ve tried to explain how this ostensibly pay-as-you-go program — and yes, one into which most Americans have paid into considerably over most of our lives — has begun to add to our federal deficit. And these additions to the deficits will grow tremendously over the next 20 years as 68 million baby boomers retire while our workforce shrinks.

This problem is real despite (or really because of) the “trust fund” we hear so much

about. But that’s for another column.

I have also written before about Medicare, and how our recent efforts to “reform” healthcare will actually reduce Medicare’s necessary funding for seniors by $500 billion over the coming decade.

We haven’t begun to see the effects of that move on the deficit, but we will soon.

Yes, it’s difficult to feel the pain from our deficit spending, but we mustn’t fool ourselves. When outlays exceed revenue by trillions (even mere hundreds of billions) year after year, the piper will eventually have to get paid. And then we — and our children — will all suffer. It can’t really be any other way.

The time has come — truly, it came years ago — to start reining in our expenses or to compensate by raising taxes or limiting many programs to those in true need.

Those of us who are senior advocates cannot continue to unequivocally support new and existing programs while asking for more tax breaks and fighting modest revisions to Social Security. If we aren’t part of the solution, we’re part of the problem.

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 e-mail to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. You may also submit letters via the “Contact us” link on our website: www.theBeaconNewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor: I thank you for the feature article on the Arlington Ladies (March cover story).

What a wonderful group! They are truly in service to our brave servicemen and women and their families.

However, the Army escorts for the Ladies are from the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), not the 3rd Infantry Division. The Old Guard is the oldest regiment in the Army and conducts all the burials at Arlington.

Michael Bergin Alexandria, Va. Dear Editor: Any proposed gasoline tax increase is uncalled for and will create a unnecessary burden on the citizens of Montgomery County that are already overtaxed, as this county is one of the highest tax paying counties in the United States.

The proposed 23.5 cent a gallon tax increase will spell a disaster for the citizens of this county and state who depend on their automobile to get around.

With gasoline going up almost every day toward the $5 a gallon mark and possibly higher, a tax increase will cause only undue hardships and contribute to upcoming inflation.

Such an unwise move will cause a higher unemployment rate as well and hurt small business trying to survive in this bleak economy Al Eisner Silver Spring, Md. Dear Editor: I hope Bob Levey’s friend (“Father asks, share the wealth now or later?” March) decides to give money to the daughter with the special needs child so she can buy a house soon. He doesn’t say why the other daughter lacks funds to start a business.

If he’d given the first daughter $13,000 on December 31, 2010, and more was needed to buy a house (likely), he could have given her up to another $13,000 tax free on January 1, 2011. They won’t get a better deal on buying a house than they could this year.

Maybe I overestimate the cost of nurses and equipment for the child — maybe Levey underestimates the emotional strain on the parents of having such a child. Maybe they’ve had to forego another child.

Surely this couple in their 30s is already behind the lifestyle (besides homeownership) that most of us enjoyed at that age, See LETTERS TO EDITOR, page 52

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Health Fitness &

SLOWING PROSTATE CANCER Drug that slows cancer growth may be alternative to aggressive treatment DIFFERENT STROKES… Stroke rates drop for those over 65, but rise alarmingly for the young KEEPING AN EYE ON DISEASE High-tech contacts may help keep tabs on glaucoma and diabetes COFFEE, THE NEW HEALTH DRINK Coffee is packed with antioxidants and can also inhibit diabetes

Is that test really necessary, doctor?

By Marilynn Marchionne Orthopedic CT scans, MRIs and other pricey imaging tests are often performed more for the doctor’s benefit than the patient’s, new research confirms.

Roughly one-fifth of tests that bone and joint specialists order are because a doctor fears being sued, not because the patient needs them, a first-of-its-kind study in Pennsylvania suggests. The study comes on the heels of a push to overhaul state medical malpractice laws as a way to reduce unnecessary tests that drive up healthcare costs.

“This study is a glimpse behind the curtain of what’s happening in a doctor’s mind,” said Dr. John Flynn of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who led the study.

If doctors sense you might second-guess them or cause trouble, “you could potentially be risking more tests being done.”

Worrisome radiation exposure Patients expect the highest level of care

and think this means the most advanced technology, Flynn said. Many patients feel better when a doctor orders lots of tests — until they get the bill.

Besides hurting your wallet and adding to healthcare costs, unnecessary or “defensive” tests can expose people to radiation that accumulates over a lifetime and can raise the risk of cancer.

Ordinary X-rays are rarely a concern, but an MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging scan, can cost $1,000 or more. And supersharp, three-dimensional images called CT scans are even more expensive and can involve radiation doses equal to 100 X-rays or more, depending on body part.

Yet doctors often order tests they don’t really think a patient needs because they fear being sued if the diagnosis is wrong or they miss detecting a problem.

Previous studies of how often this happens have relied on doctor surveys. This is the first one to enlist doctors in advance to

track their decisions over time.

It involved 72 orthopedic surgeons throughout Pennsylvania who tracked tests they ordered on 2,068 patients, mostly adults, in ordinary office visits, emergency rooms and other settings. Doctors checked a box saying a test was either required for clinical care or done “for defensive reasons.”

Defensive imaging accounted for 20 percent of total tests — 11 percent of X-rays, 38 percent of MRIs, 33 percent of CT scans, 57 percent of bone scans and 53 percent of ultrasounds.

Defensive medicine also accounted for 35 percent of costs, nearly all of it from MRIs. One example: a torn meniscus — a knee cartilage injury that is a leading reason for knee surgery. Studies have shown that a doctor’s judgment based on symptoms and an exam is even better than an MRI to diagnose the condition. Yet patients hardly ever go to surgery without having the imaging test, Flynn said.

Newer docs order fewer tests Surprisingly, the study found that newer doctors were less likely to be defensive.

See UNNECESSARY TESTS, page 5

What to ask before a medical test • Is it truly needed? How will it change my care?

• Have you or another doctor done this test on me before?

• Does the test involve much radiation, and is there an alternative that does not?

• How many images are needed?

• Do you have a financial stake in the machines that will be used?

Brain ‘pacemakers’ to treat mental illness

By Lauran Neergaard Call them brain pacemakers — tiny implants that hold promise for fighting tough psychiatric diseases, if scientists can just figure out where to put them in all that gray matter.

Deep brain stimulation, or DBS, has proved a powerful way to block the tremors of Parkinson’s disease, working immediately to deliver relief.

Blocking mental illness isn’t nearly as easy a task. “It’s not [like flipping] a light switch,” cautioned Dr. Michael Okun of the University of Florida.

But a push is on to expand research into how well these brain stimulators tackle the most severe cases of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome — to know best how to use them before too many doctors and patients clamor to try.

Unlike with Parkinson’s patients, the psychiatric patients who respond to DBS tend to improve gradually, sometimes to their frustration.

And just because the tics of Tourette’s fade or depression lightens doesn’t mean patients can abandon traditional therapy.

They also need help learning to function,

much as recipients of hip replacements undergo physical therapy, said Dr. Helen Mayberg of Emory University.

“Once your brain is returned to you, now you have to learn to use it,” she told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

How brain stimulation works Roughly 70,000 people around the world have undergone deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s or other movement disorders when standard medications fail, said Okun, among leading researchers who gathered at the meeting to assess the field.

How does it work? Surgeons implant a wire deep in the brain. Tiny electrical jolts — running from a pacemaker-like generator near the collarbone up the neck to that electrode — disable overactive nerve cells to curb the shaking.

Scientists figured out which spot to target based on surgery that sometimes helps worst-case Parkinson’s patients by destroying patches of brain tissue.

But with deep brain stimulation, the electrodes don’t destroy that tissue. The electrical signals can be adjusted or even turned off if they don’t help, or if they

cause neurological side effects. (The implanting surgery, however, does sometimes cause dangerous brain bleeding or infections.)

Psychiatric illnesses require a similar operation — but surgeons must implant the electrode into a different spot in the brain.

There’s the rub: It’s not clear which spot is best for which psychiatric disease. In fact, two manufacturers — Medtronic and St. Jude Medical — have begun major studies of DBS’ effects on depression.

Each places the implant in a different region, based on promising pilot studies.

In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration approved Medtronic’s version for a small group of obsessive-compulsive patients who get no relief from today’s treatments. The approval came under a special program that lets devices for rare conditions sell before there’s final proof that they work.

Dr. Joseph Fins, medical ethics chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital, worries that speedy FDA action may hurt efforts to obtain needed proof. The more available the electrodes are, the more people may seek to try the $30,000 surgeries without enrolling in strict studies where they may receive a placebo.

Helps depression, OCD How good is the evidence so far? The researchers are pushing for a registry to track DBS recipients to better tell, but overall they’re cautiously optimistic.

Just over 60 people with intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder have undergone DBS since 2000, said Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a Brown University psychiatrist who is heading a major study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

About three-fourths of the first few dozen patients studied significantly improved, some for as long as eight years. “You still have a burden, but you have a life,” is how he described the improvement.

These are people who try to relieve fears or anxiety with obsessive behavior, such as washing their hands or checking locks repeatedly. Many of them never got out of the house because their daily rituals consumed so much time, Greenberg said.

They’d failed behavior therapy designed to teach that whatever they fear doesn’t happen if they skip the ritual.

But with the brain pacemaker, somehow that behavior therapy starts working, See BRAIN PACEMAKER, page 5

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Fitness & Health

Brain pacemaker From page 4 Greenberg said — maybe by enabling their brains to better remember the lessons.

One big hurdle: The battery, tucked near the collarbone, tends to last less than two years. Changing it entails outpatient surgery, one reason that about a third of studied patients stop getting zapped.

Greenberg just began testing a newer version that patients can recharge every few days.

Results on about 100 DBS patients with severe depression have been published so far, and roughly half improve regardless of which of the two targeted brain regions is zapped, said Emory’s Mayberg, who shares a patent licensed to St. Jude.

Separately, she’s now studying what the successfully treated brains have in common that might help predict the best candidates, hoping to ease “a tremendous burden on the patients” as they decide whether to try these experiments.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Apr. 7

DISCUSSING END-OF-LIFE ISSUES Montgomery County Coalition on End-of-Life Care invites you to

Consider the Conversation, a documentary film and panel discussion on Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. The free event will be held at the Silver Spring Civic Building at One Veteran’s Plaza (at the intersection of Fenton St. and Ellsworth Dr.) in Silver Spring, Md. For more information about the coalition and/or the event, contact Shawn Brennan at (240) 777-1350 or visit www.mccelc.org.

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“That’s counterintuitive,” Flynn said.

“You would expect when you’re new in practice, not as trustful of your clinical judgment, you’d order more.”

Doctors who have been sued in the last five years were more likely to order tests defensively, said Robert Miller, a Temple University medical student who helped lead the study and presented the results at a recent orthopedic conference. The authors said similar studies are needed on defensive imaging in other specialties.

Dr. Lawrence Wells, a Philadelphia surgeon who participated in the study, said doctors learn to develop “a radar” for prob-

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From page 4

lem patients. “It’s disheartening” to be sued, he said.

“Someone’s accusing you of a bad outcome or a wrong,” and that can affect how a doctor behaves the next time he sees a similar case. Patients need to trust their doctor’s judgment on what is needed, Wells said.

In February, President Obama made a budget proposal that includes money to help states rewrite their malpractice laws so doctors don’t feel the need to act so defensively. Possible measures include caps on damage awards.

The administration also has proposed health courts where specially trained judges rather than juries would decide such cases.

— AP

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Unnecessary tests

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

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Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Health Shorts More are eligible for shingles vaccine Last month, the Food and Drug Administration extended its approval of the shingles vaccine to those age 50 to 59. The vaccine, called Zostavax, is already approved for people 60 and older.

“The likelihood of shingles increases with age. The availability of Zostavax to a younger age group provides an additional opportunity to prevent this often painful and debilitating disease,” said Karen

Midthun, director of the FDA’s center for biologics.

Shingles causes blisters and severe pain that can last from several weeks to years.

The illness is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. The virus lies dormant for years in the nervous system of those who once had chicken pox, but can reappear in the form of shingles for reasons that are not entirely understood.

The FDA said in a statement that it approved the drug based on a 22,000-patient study in which Zostavax decreased the risk of shingles by 70 percent. Side effects with the vaccine were minor, including redness, pain and swelling at the injection site.

Shingles affects roughly 200,000 people in the U.S. each year between the ages of 50 and 59.

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

[For more information about shingles and the vaccine, see “Explaining shingles, and how to avoid it” in the January Beacon.]

— AP

Pep up workouts with scents, music Looking to power up your workout?

Rather than buying new tennis shoes or a heart-rate monitor, you can use your senses to add exercise oomph — without spending a cent.

Next time you hop on your bike, try dabbing a few drops of peppermint essential oil on your wrists. Smelling peppermint can help you ride harder and faster, upping your caloric burn by 15 percent. A study

Keeping Seniors Living Independently

See HEALTH SHORTS, page 7

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The Wellness Community is now providing support for bladder cancer patients with a new monthly support group and educational workshops. Anyone interested in attending the monthly support group must first attend a “Welcome to Wellness” orientation session. These sessions are held every Monday at 11 a.m. and every other Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. An education program on bladder cancer surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. To register for an orientation session or the education program, contact twcdc@wellnesscommunitydc.org or (301) 493-5002. The Wellness Community is located at 5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 100, Bethesda, Md.

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conducted at Wheeler Jesuit University found that athletes who sniffed mint ran faster, gripped stronger, and pumped out more push-ups.

The scent of jasmine can boost performance, too. When bowlers in a study wore a mask emitting the scent of jasmine, their scores improved.

“We think these two scents jolt the reticular activating system, a part of the brain that makes you feel more alert,” said Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.

A pep-o-mint Lifesaver might salvage a lackluster workout session. “Chewing on minty gum or a Lifesaver can have the same effect, since taste and smell are so

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

From page 6 closely connected,” said Hirsch.

Why do so many gym rats wear earphones? The sound of music blocks nerves from signaling body fatigue and perception of effort, said Costas Karageorghis of Brunel University in London.

You can boost your effort by up to 10 percent and your endurance by up to 15 percent by listening to upbeat tunes, particularly songs with 120-140 beats per minute.

Get the sense of touch into the act by taking your routine outside. “Thanks to wind and terrain changes, which you feel against your body and under your feet, your heart rate is on average 5 to 10 beats per minute higher,” said John Porcari of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

“You burn 10 to 15 percent more calories.”

Exercising outside has other potential benefits. Not only are several senses actively engaged in a natural environment, but your mind is also diverted by the constant change of scenery — leading to less boredom, more enjoyment and, consequently, a better workout.

— Psychology Today

executive director of the Gerontological Society of America. “The significance of this demographic shift and the severity of the tsunami’s effects are highlighted by the numerous reports showing that seniors suffer disproportionately during natural disasters.”

For example, the May 12, 2008, earthquake in Wenchuan, China, was associated with a twofold increase in the one-year mortality among a group of nonagenarians that lived nearby, according to a study published in March 2011 issue of The Journal of Gerontology Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences.

Similarly, the spring 2006 edition of Public Policy & Aging Report reported that three quarters of those who perished in Hurricane Katrina were over the age of 60.

There also is a growing field of literature that outlines steps for elder disaster preparedness in the face of an emergency.

The Public Policy & Aging Report demonstrated that geographic information sys-

tems are able to map patterns of vulnerability in advance, allowing policymakers and first-responders to intervene both effectively and efficiently when disaster strikes.

Additionally, multi-tiered evacuation plans, pre-existing social networks, and “go-kits” can be used to assist elders at critical moments.

These kits may include detailed contact information for family members; contact information for relevant healthcare providers; high-nutrient foods; and a week’s supply of all prescription and overthe-counter medications, including a list of medications, the required dosage, and times of administration.

— Gerontological Society of America

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Disasters affect elders the most The oldest segment of Japan’s population will likely be the hardest hit as a result of the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami, based on data from previous catastrophic events. Approximately 23 percent of Japanese citizens currently are age 65 and above.

“Japan’s population — with the highest proportion of older people in any country — gives us an indicator of where the world as a whole is headed,” said James Appleby,

BEACON BITS

Apr. 22

INTIMACY AFTER 60

Understand the benefits of maintaining intimacy, learn how to re-approach building a relationship, and get information on safety measures at a free lecture, sponsored by Virginia Hospital Center on Friday, April 22 from 11 a.m. to noon. The event will be at 601 S. Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington, Va. Call (703) 558-6859 to RSVP.

Apr. 14+

ANTI-AGING SKIN CARE

Public health nurse Aleena Trueheart will discuss ways to care for skin and take a critical look at some exaggerated claims on Thursday, April 14 at 10:30 a.m. at Langston-Brown Senior Center, 2121 N. Culpeper St., Arlington, Va., (703) 228-6300. The free program will be repeated on Thursday, April 21 at 10:15 a.m. at Walter Reed Senior Center, 2909 S. 16th St., Arlington, Va., (703) 228-0955.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Drug slows early prostate cancer growth

By Marilynn Marchionne A new medical study suggests a way to help men with early, low-risk prostate cancer avoid being overtreated for a disease that in most cases will never threaten their lives. It found that a drug can slow the growth of these tumors in men who opt to be monitored instead of having treatment right away.

This is the first time that a drug for treating enlarged prostates also has been shown to help treat prostate cancer in a rigorous study.

It may persuade more men to choose active surveillance, or “watchful waiting,” instead of rushing to have treatments that can leave them with urinary or sexual problems, doctors say.

However, the results also show that

most of these men do very well with no treatment at all. “We’re identifying men who are not likely to need even a pill,” said Dr. Maha Hussain, a University of Michigan cancer specialist.

But Americans fear cancer so much that they want some kind of treatment and underestimate the financial and medical risks of treating low-risk cases, she added.

Half of cases are low-risk Roughly half of the 218,000 men diagnosed each year in the United States with prostate cancer have low-risk disease — PSA blood levels under 10 and low tumor aggressiveness scores.

“The American view of cancer” is that it’s always best to treat, so about 80 percent of

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these men with low risk choose to have treatment right away, said Dr. Otis Brawley, a prostate cancer expert who is chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

In Europe, though, most choose watchful waiting — close monitoring, moving to treatment only if the cancer progresses or causes pain or other problems.

Doctors know that drugs that shrink the prostate — GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Avodart and Merck & Co.’s Proscar — can help prevent prostate cancer. But federal health advisers recently recommended against taking them for this purpose because of other potential risks.

The new study tested Avodart “not to prevent cancer, but to prevent the progression” of it in men who already have the disease, which may be a much better use of such drugs, said the study’s leader, Dr. Neil Fleshner of Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

“We know the vast majority of these men are not destined to die from that cancer,” and wanted to see if Avodart could make “watchful waiting” safer, Fleshner said.

The study enrolled about 300 men in the United States and Canada with low-risk cancer that was confirmed by a biopsy. They were given daily Avodart or dummy pills and new biopsies 11/2 and three years later.

Prostate cancer got worse in 38 percent of men taking Avodart and 49 percent of

those on dummy pills. Final biopsies showed no signs of cancer in 36 percent of men on Avodart versus 23 percent of those on dummy pills.

Doctors say this last result shows how tiny many of these cancers were to start with — that they couldn’t even be found when new biopsies were done.

Not a cure Doctors don’t think Avodart can cure cancers, but it seems to suppress it, said Dr. Howard Sandler, a prostate cancer specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Researchers gave no details on Avodart’s side effects, but said no new ones appeared in the study. Avodart and Proscar are known to cause sexual problems for some men, but many men over 50 have this anyway and only about 5 percent more do when taking these drugs, said Brawley, who helped test Avodart for cancer prevention.

The new study was sponsored by Avodart’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline. Avodart and Proscar cost about $4 a pill; generic versions of Proscar are available for about $2. Proscar is similar to Avodart but has not been tested for treating early cancer as this study did.

Sandler said Avodart might relieve some See PROSTATE DRUG, page 9

BEACON BITS

Apr. 30

HEALTH FAIR WITH FREE SCREENINGS

Montgomery General Hospital will host its annual health fair on Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. There will be free bone density and blood pressure screenings, body mass measurement, a limited number of spaces available for cholesterol and vascular screenings, and much more. The hospital is located at 18101 Prince Philip Dr., Olney, Md. Call (301) 774-8881 to register.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

A poor prostate cancer predictor A rising PSA level isn’t such a good predictor of prostate cancer after all and can lead to many unnecessary biopsies, says a large new study.

Most men over 50 get PSA blood tests, but they’re hugely problematic.

Too much PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, only sometimes signals prostate cancer is brewing — it may simply point to a benign enlarged prostate or an infection. And screening often detects small tumors that will prove too slow-growing to be deadly.

Yet there’s no sure way to tell in advance who needs aggressive therapy.

On the other hand, some men have cancer despite a “normal” PSA count of 4 or below. So for PSAs that are rising, yet still in the normal range, some guidelines urge doctors to consider a biopsy.

How quickly the PSA number rises is something “that patients and doctors worry a lot about,” said Dr. Andrew Vickers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “Men show up here with a PSA of 2 and we say, `Why are you here?’ And they say, `Well, I used to be a 1 and my doctor’s worried. Am I going to die?”‘ So Sloan-Kettering researchers studied whether considering PSA ve-

Prostate drug From page 8 men’s anxiety about monitoring their disease, and may make them more comfortable not having immediate treatment.

“If it was me, I’d choose active surveil-

locity adds value to the biopsy-or-not decision in those otherwise low-risk men — and concluded that it doesn’t.

“This is a really important study,” said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, who wasn’t part of the research. “A lot of doctors are going to stop looking at a PSA rise of 1 and ordering biopsies.”

Vickers’ team tracked 5,519 men who’d taken part in a huge prostate cancer prevention study and who’d received a biopsy at the study’s end regardless of their PSA level.

Just having a rising PSA — if nothing else was considered — was associated with a slightly higher risk of having cancer, although not the more worrisome aggressive kind. But the PSA level alone, not its rise, was a much better predictor of a tumor, reported Vickers, a statistician who specializes in prostate cancer.

Focusing on PSA’s rise instead triggered many more biopsies, with close to 1 in 7 men who would get one, concluded the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

That compares with 1 in 20 men who are biopsied for a high PSA level alone.

— AP

lance,” he said. Avodart “has the potential to be an important help.”

For more information on prostate cancer see www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/ types/prostate and http://tinyurl.com/ ASCOanswers. A risk calculator: is available at http://tinyurl.com/riskcalculator.

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SMART MOVES FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS

Admit it. We all take for granted the simple things in life— going shopping, cooking, playing with the grandkids, even a walk on a Spring day.

But for the approximately 27 million Americans1 who each day deal with the symptoms of osteoarthritis, these activities are not always so simple.

For some people, joint pain and stiffness may become severe enough to make getting through the day difficult.2

“There is no known cure for osteoarthritis,” said Michael Yaffe, M.D., medical director of the McConnell Executive Health & Wellness Program in Columbus, Ohio. “However, painful osteoarthritis symptoms can be treated in various ways, including exercise, healthy weight loss and medication. Talk to your health care professional to discuss possible symptoms and available treatment options.”

Making Smart Moves to Manage Osteoarthritis A new website (www.ArthritisSmartMoves.com) is now available to provide inspiration from real people, who are managing osteoarthritis symptoms, and advice from experts who offer encouragement along the way.

Cartilage: The crux of the issue Osteoarthritis is a chronic, or ongoing, disease characterized by the breakdown of cartilage in the joints.3 This means that as cartilage wears away, bones begin to rub together.3 The result may cause pain, stiffness, or even loss of movement.3 We don’t know what causes osteoarthritis, but we do know that factors such as being overweight, aging, or having a joint injury can make you more likely to experience OA symptoms.2

To read more about these inspiring real-life stories and learn useful advice from health care professionals and real people who have found success, despite osteoarthritis, visit www.ArthritisSmartMoves.com.

1

Helmick, C., Felson, D., Lawrence, R., Gabriel, S., et al. Estimates of the Prevalence of Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Conditions in the United States.

Arthritis & Rheumatism 58(1), 15-25. 2008.

2

Mayo Clinic. Osteoarthritis: Causes. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/osteoarthritis/DS00019/DSECTION=causes. Accessed February 2009.

3

Arthritis Foundation. Osteoarthritis: What is it? http://www.arthritis.org/diseasecenter.php?disease_id=32 Accessed April 16, 2010.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Strokes drop after 65, rise among young

By Marilynn Marchione Strokes are rising dramatically among young and middle-aged Americans while dropping in older people, a sign that the obesity epidemic may be starting to shift the age burden of the disease.

The numbers, reported at an American Stroke Association conference, come from the first large nationwide study of stroke hospitalizations by age. Government researchers compared hospitalizations in 1994 and 1995 with ones in 2006 and 2007.

The sharpest increase â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 51 percent â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was among men 15 through 34. Strokes rose among women in this age group, too, but not as fast â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 17 percent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definitely alarming,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Ralph

Sacco, American Heart Association president and a neurologist at the University of Miami. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have worried for a while that the increased prevalence of obesity in children and young adults may take its toll in cardiovascular disease and stroke,â&#x20AC;? and that appears to be happening, he said.

Stroke still takes its highest toll by far on older people. For those over 65, there were nearly 300 stroke cases among 10,000 hospitalizations in the more recent period studied.

For males 15 to 34, there were about 15 stroke cases per 10,000, and for girls and women in that age group there were about 4 per 10,000.

Several small studies had recently sug-

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gested an ominous rise among the young and among middle-aged women. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were interested in whether we could pick that up in a much larger, nationwide dataset,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Mary George, a stroke researcher at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Age and gender differences The researchers examined federal records from a sample of hospitals in 41 states, covering about 8 million cases each year. They looked at the percentage of all

hospitalizations for stroke by gender and in six age groups.

For every 10,000 hospitalizations in 1994-95 compared with 2006-07, strokes rose: â&#x20AC;˘ 51 percent, from 9.8 to 14.8, among males 15 to 34 years old â&#x20AC;˘ 17 percent, from 3.6 to 4.2, in females 15 to 34 â&#x20AC;˘ 47 percent, from 36 to 52.9, in males 35 to 44 See STROKES, page 11

Surprises about stroke rehab The largest study ever on stroke rehabilitation found that doing physical therapy at home improved walking just as well as a high-tech treadmill program.

More surprising, patients who started rehab late â&#x20AC;&#x201D; six months after their strokes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; still improved. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long been thought that there was little to gain from rehab after half a year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We now have evidence, for the first time, that a prolonged course of therapy will have benefits,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of the stroke center at the University of California, Los Angeles. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For virtually everyone, we should be doing more intensive therapy than we are.â&#x20AC;?

He had no role in the federally funded study, which was led by Duke University researchers and discussed at an American Stroke Association conference in Los Angeles.

The new study included 408 stroke survivors who had trouble walking.

On average, they took 1,700 steps a day; normal is 10,000 steps a day.

They either traveled to a facility to get high-tech rehab or received physical therapy at home. Some began therapy two months after a stroke; others started six months after the stroke to see if there was a difference.

In high-tech rehab, patients exercised on a treadmill while their weight was supported by an overhead har-

ness. As they gained speed and endurance, they could practice walking on their own.

In the home program, a physical therapist helped patients do exercises to improve strength and balance, and to walk every day.

After a year, both groups made similar improvements in how far and how fast they could walk. However, the treadmill exercisers were more likely to feel dizzy or faint during training and had a higher risk of falling.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more, fewer patients dropped out of the home therapy â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3 percent compared to 13 percent in high-tech rehab. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tendency in our country to go to high-tech machines,â&#x20AC;? but this study shows theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not always better, said Dr. Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main sponsor.

The bigger message, said study leader Pamela Duncan of Duke University, is that longer treatment and more treatment is best. She said many insurance companies allow 20 visits, while this study gave 36.

The care that stroke victims usually get now â&#x20AC;&#x201D; less intense therapy for three to six months â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;does not get them to the point where they could be,â&#x20AC;? Koroshetz said. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; AP

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

Strokes

among women in this age group (from 379 to 274).

From page 10 • 36 percent, from 21.9 to 30, in females 35 to 44 “The increases seen in children are very modest, but they are [higher] in the young adult age groups, and we feel that deserves further study,” George said.

Better awareness of stroke symptoms and better imaging methods for detecting strokes in young people could account for some of that change, but there is no way to know, she said.

Trends went the opposite way in older people. Strokes dropped 25 percent among men 65 and older (from 404 to 303 per 10,000 hospitalizations), and 28 percent

Blood pressure a likely reason Doctors think better prevention and treatment of risk factors such as high blood pressure in older people may be contributing to the decline.

On the other hand, doctors at the University of California at Los Angeles are seeing more strokes related to high blood pressure and clogged arteries in younger people, said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, director of the stroke center there.

Early estimates from 2007 death certificates suggest that stroke is now the nation’s fourth leading cause of death instead of the third, partly because of better treat-

ments and prevention among the elderly.

“But at the same time we’re seeing this worrisome rise in mid-life,” Saver said.

Allison Hooker, a nurse who coordinates stroke care at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., said her hospital also is seeing more strokes in younger

people with risk factors such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, alcohol overuse and diabetes.

“I’d say at least half of our population [of stroke patients] is in their 40s or early 50s,” she said, “and devastating strokes, too.”

— AP

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BEACON BITS

May 1

301-421-0200

St. Mary’s Court and Seabury@Friendship Terrace in Washington, D.C., Seabury@Springvale Terrace in Silver Spring, Md., and Collington LifeCare Community in Mitchellville, Md., will hold open houses at their communities on Sunday, May 1 from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, visit the website of Seabury Resources for Aging at www.seaburyresources.org or call (202) 414-6314.

Apr. 13

SAMPLE NEW ARTS PROGRAM

Sample workshops in creative movement, watercolor painting, cabaret and drama, engage in a performance by ClancyWorks Dance Company, listen to a talk by area photographers exhibiting in the BlackRock gallery, and enjoy a catered lunch. All at the Arts for Life and Learning open house on Wednesday, April 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Advance tickets are $10, which includes the lunch and all events. Admission at the door is $15. BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown, Md. For a schedule, go to www.blackrockcenter.org or contact Rene Schecker at (240) 912-1053.

May 2

ACTIVE AGING EXPO

Gaithersburg hosts its third annual Active Aging Expo on Monday May 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. The free expo will include educational talks, interactive demonstrations and preventive screenings. No registration is necessary. For more information and directions, visit the City of Gaithersburg website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/activeaging or call (301) 258-6380.

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Greater Washington Area Age 55+ Free electronic hearing tests will be given from Monday, April 11 through Friday, April 15 at select locations in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Tests have been arranged for anyone who suspects they are losing their hearing. Such persons generally say they can hear but cannot understand words. Testing with the latest computerized equipment will indicate if you can be helped.

Everyone, especially adults over 55, should have an electronic hearing test at least once a year. If there is a hearing problem, hearing tests may reveal that newly developed methods of correction will help, even for those who have been told in the past that a hearing aid would not help them.

If you suspect you have hearing loss, call for a free hearing test appointment. Our licensed specialists are trained in the latest auditory testing methods and will be the first ones to tell you if you don’t need a hearing aid. If you do have a hearing loss, we will explain your results and provide you with a list of options.

Free hearing tests available only at a location listed below.

One week only: Monday, April 11 – Friday, April 15.

Willow Manor offers elegant apartment living for seniors, ideally situated in established neighborhoods throughout Maryland.

Our communities feature:

Beltone Hearing Aid Centers Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Evenings and Saturday by appointment Bethesda, MD

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Connecticut Belair Wildwood Medical Center 10401 Old Georgetown Rd., Medical Park 3915 Ferrara Drive Suite 102

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Less cancer surgery is equally effective

By Lindsey Tanner Many breast cancer patients can skip aggressive lymph node surgery without increasing their chances of a recurrence or death if their disease shows limited spread, according to a study that has prompted changes in practice.

Under current guidelines, the often-debilitating surgery is done if the cancer has spread outside the breast to any lymph nodes.

In the study, rates of survival and of patientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remaining cancer-free were just as good whether the women with limited spread â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in one or two nearby nodes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; had many more underarm nodes removed or skipped that major surgery.

At least 24,000 of the 180,000 U.S.

women diagnosed every year with breast cancer have limited spread to lymph nodes. Under the standard approach, they would have a chunk of underarm tissue removed to check for further cancer spread, said Dr. Thomas Julian, a breast cancer specialist with West Penn Allegheny Healthcare System in Pittsburgh. He was not involved in the study.

That operation often leaves women with lasting arm swelling, stiffness and pain.

The results suggest that tens of thousands of women could be spared aggressive node surgery and those troubling side effects, said study author Dr. Armando Giuliano, cancer surgery chief at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is really a move toward less radical

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surgeryâ&#x20AC;? for breast cancer patients, he said.

That move began several years ago when doctors stopped routinely removing entire breasts and surrounding tissue, except for women with more advanced disease.

Refutes prior research The study refutes previous research suggesting a greater chance for recurrence when cancer is found in one or two nodes.

The difference may be the overall treatment given to the women in the study.

All had relatively early disease, with spread to no more than two nodes. They were treated with lumpectomies to remove their tumors and a common type of radiation that covers the breast and underarm area. Most also had chemotherapy, hormone treatment, or both.

American Society of Surgical Oncology guidelines recommend aggressive node surgery for such women. The group is doing a periodic guideline review, and the study results likely will lead to some changes, said Dr. Gary Lyman of Duke University, co-chair of a panel involved in those guidelines. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This certainly is a pivotal study and an important additional piece of information in an area that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been waiting for,â&#x20AC;?

Lyman said.

The study appeared recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Some details were presented at a medical meeting last year and led many doctors to adopt the new approach. That includes breast surgeons at New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, according to study co-authors from those institutions.

The results confirm the approach is safe, and doctors can feel confident recommending it, said Dr. Nora Jaskowiak, surgical director of the breast center at University of Chicago Medical Center.

Same survival; fewer complications The study involved about 850 women who had initial biopsies showing cancer had spread to one or two nearby lymph nodes.

Lymph nodes are tiny structures linked by a network of vessels throughout the body that are part of the disease-fighting immune system. When cancer spreads, it typically travels first to nearby nodes.

About half of the women were randomly assigned to receive the more invasive node surgery; the remainder skipped that surgery.

See CANCER SURGERY, page 13

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13

Contacts that fight glaucoma, diabetes

By Duncan Graham-Rowe The next time you gaze deep into someone’s eyes, you might be shocked at what you see: tiny circuits ringing their irises, their pupils dancing with pinpricks of light.

Their smart contact lenses aren’t intended to improve vision. Instead, they will monitor blood sugar levels in people with diabetes or look for signs of glaucoma.

The lenses could also map images directly onto their field of view, creating head-up displays for the ultimate augmented reality experience, without wearing glasses or a headset. To produce such lenses, researchers are merging transparent, eyefriendly materials with microelectronics.

In 2008, as a proof of concept, Babak Parviz, at the University of Washington, Seattle, created a prototype contact lens containing a single red LED. Using the same technology, he has now created a lens capable of monitoring glucose levels in people with diabetes.

It works because glucose levels in tear fluid correspond directly to those found in the blood, making continuous measurement possible without the need for thumb pricks, he said. Parviz’s design calls for the contact lens to send this information wirelessly to a portable device worn by diabetics, allowing them to manage their diet and medication more accurately.

Lenses that also contain arrays of tiny LEDs may allow this or other types of digital information to be displayed directly to the wearer through the lens.

This kind of augmented reality has already taken off in cell phones, with countless software apps superimposing digital data onto images of our surroundings, effectively blending the physical and online worlds.

Cancer surgery

ed conventional node surgery may have chosen not to participate, which could have skewed the results.

The study authors acknowledge that limitation but said even high-risk study participants, those with breast cancer that doesn’t respond to hormone treatment, had good long-term survival rates even without the node surgery.

Julian said lack of extended follow-up is also a concern. “You need to have 10 years to really know that it’s going to hold water,” he said.

He said he has cautiously adopted the study approach with older patients, but only on a case-by-case basis with women 50 or younger, who have longer to live and more time for cancer to recur.

—AP

From page 12 Roughly 92 percent in both groups were still alive five years later, and 83 percent in both groups had no cancer recurrence.

Seventy percent of women in the surgery group had complications, including underarm swelling and wound infection, versus 25 percent in the group that skipped it.

Julian, the Pittsburgh breast surgeon, said there were limitations to the research, including how women were recruited.

The researchers approached women who already knew their initial lymph node biopsy results, and only about half as many women as anticipated agreed to be in the study. Higher-risk women who want-

Help for glaucoma Making it work on a contact lens won’t be easy, but the technology has begun to take

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shape. In September, 2010, Sensimed, a Swiss spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, launched the very first commercial smart contact lens, designed to improve treatment for people with glaucoma.

The disease puts pressure on the optic nerve through fluid build-up, and can irreversibly damage vision if not properly treated. Highly sensitive platinum strain gauges embedded in Sensimed’s Triggerfish lens record changes in the curvature of the cornea, which correspond directly to the pressure inside the eye, according to CEO Jean-Marc Wismer.

The lens transmits this information wirelessly at regular intervals to a portable recording device worn by the patient, he said.

Like an RFID tag or London’s Oyster travel cards, the lens gets its power from a nearby loop antenna — in this case taped to the patient’s face. The powered antenna

transmits electricity to the contact lens, which is used to activate the sensors, process the signals and transmit the readings back.

Each disposable contact lens is designed to be worn just once for 24 hours, and the patient repeats the process once or twice a year. This allows researchers to look for peaks in eye pressure, which vary from patient to patient during the course of a day. This information is then used to schedule the timings of medication.

“The timing of these drugs is important,” Wisner noted.

A version for diabetics Parviz, however, has taken a different approach. His glucose sensor uses sets of electrodes to run tiny currents through the tear fluid and measures them to detect very small quantities of dissolved sugar.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Contacts

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

COMPUTER CLASSES

From page 13

PC Seniors offers a number of computer classes, including how to

These electrodes, along with a computer chip that contains a radio frequency antenna, are fabricated on a flat substrate made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a transparent polymer commonly found in plastic bottles. This is then molded into the shape of a contact lens to fit the eye.

Parviz plans to use a higher-powered antenna to get a better range, allowing patients to carry a single external power device in their breast pocket or on their belt.

Preliminary tests show that his sensors can accurately detect even very low glucose levels.

“There’s still a lot more testing we have to do,” Parviz said. In the meantime, his lab has made progress with contact lens displays. They have developed both red and blue miniature LEDs — once they develop green ones, they’ll have full color capability — and have separately built lenses with 3D optics that resemble the head-up

repair old family photos, saving and finding files, e-mail and Internet, and using a digital camera. Classes are repeated monthly. The cost is $25 per course. PC Seniors is located at 10450 Lottsford Rd., #4102, Mitchellville, Md. Call (301) 925-7571 to find out more and register for classes. Details are also available at http://www.pcseniorcitizens.org/

Ongoing

INVESTIGATE HISTORY The Ford’s Theatre Society presents its History on Foot walking tours “Investigation: Detective McDevitt,” and “A Free Black

Woman: Elizabeth Keckly” through August. Led by costumed actors playing historical characters from Civil War Washington, the tours guide patrons from historic Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St., N.W.) to different sites throughout downtown, Washington, D.C. Both tours transport visitors on a 1.5 mile interactive historical journey through the city during the era of President Lincoln. Tours are $15 and are offered on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6:45 p.m. and on Saturdays at 10:15 a.m. in April and May and more frequently in the summer. For more information, call (202) 347-4833.

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Apr. 11

Senior Nutrition Hotline Wednesdays 9 am - 11 am 240-777-1100 Speak with a Registered Dietitian about your food, nutrition and diet concerns.

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PAIN MANAGEMENT AND NUTRITION

Learn how to improve your health with good nutrition and herbs that help support other pain treatments. This free seminar by the Pain Connection will be held on Monday, April 11 at 1:15 p.m. at Holiday Park Senior Center, 3950 Ferrara Dr., Wheaton, Md. For more information, call (240) 777-4999.

Apr. 9

MACULAR DEGENERATION MEETING

The Macular Degeneration Network will host low vision specialist Lexi Malkin in a program called “Learning a New Way of Seeing” on Saturday, April 9 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The program will be held in Renaissance Building 2 of Sibley Memorial Hospital, 5275 Loughboro Rd., Washington, D.C. For more information, call (202) 234-1010.

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visors used to view movies in 3D. Parviz has yet to combine both the optics and the LEDs in the same contact lens, but he is confident that even images so close to the eye can be brought into focus.

“You won’t necessarily have to shift your focus to see the image generated by the contact lens,” he said. It will just appear in front of you. The LEDs will be arranged in a grid pattern, and should not interfere with normal vision when the display is off.

For Sensimed, the circuitry is located entirely around the edge of the lens. However, both companies have yet to address the fact that wearing these lenses might make you look like the robots in a Terminator movie. False irises could eventually solve this problem, Parviz said. “But that’s not something at the top of our priority list.” © 2011 New Scientist Magazine. Reed Business Information Ltd. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

DO YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL MIND?

May 13

Entries are being sought for the Center for Creative Aging’s Beautiful Mind contest. The organization is looking for people 55 and older who exhibit these four dimensions of brain health: diet, physical activity, social well-being and mental engagement. Ten finalists will be selected, and the winner will receive a prize package worth $500 as well as $500 to donate to a charity of their choice. For an entry form, go to www.beautiful-minds.com. Entries are due by Friday, May 13.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

I want more than I am getting from Original Medicare and Medicaid.

+ If your Medicare Advantage plan has reduced your benefits or become more expensive, Bravo Health may be able to help. Offering Medicare Advantage plans is our

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Bravo Health plans are offered by subsidiaries of Bravo Health, Inc. A Medicare Advantage organization with a Medicare contract. This plan is available to anyone who has both Medical Assistance from the State and Medicare. Enrollment is open year round. All cost-sharing is based on your level of state medical assistance - premiums, copays, coinsurance, and deductibles may vary based on your income. The benefit information provided herein is a brief summary, not a comprehensive description of benefits. For more information contact the plan. Benefits, formulary, premiums, and copayments may change on January 1, 2012.

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You’re on top of your medications.

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You know it’s important to stay on your medications exactly as prescribed.

However, if you miss a dose, want a lower-cost alternative, or experience any side effects, we can answer any questions. Speak to your local CVS Pharmacist to learn more.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

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17

Brewing up a healthier image for coffee

By Laura Janecka Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something inexplicable about our relationship with coffee. It percolates through our day from the moment we wake, enlivening our senses and galvanizing us into action. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an affair thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been going on for over 500 years, since the first cafes set up tables in the Middle East.

And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now gathering steam as qualityobsessed kiosks add conviviality and connoisseurship to the psychoactive substance for Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chronically sleep-deprived hordes, more used to medicinally gulping down a cup on the go than stopping to savor the experience.

This new, more appreciative approach to the coffee bean and its handling â&#x20AC;&#x201D; fresh-roasting, on-site grinding, custombrewing, and sipping at communal tables â&#x20AC;&#x201D; comes just as a whole new array of scientific findings are turning coffee, especially in its darkest, most aromatic roasts, into something of a health food.

Once demonized for its stimulant powers, coffee has also long been appreciated for its ability to improve alertness, enhance concentration, and ameliorate the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance.

But stopping to savor the brew and transform it into a social tool was left to the kaveh kanes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; coffee houses of 15th century Arabia and, starting in the 17th century, Europe.

Fanning out from the West Coast, the new reverence for coffee bears a striking resemblance to appreciation of wine and cheese. And, as with wine connoisseurship, it starts with terroir, the particular patch of land the coffee is grown on.

An artisanal approach â&#x20AC;&#x153;Specialtyâ&#x20AC;? coffee purveyors â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as distinguished from mass-marketed brands using beans of unspecified provenance and age â&#x20AC;&#x201D; pride themselves on an artisanal approach and seek out small, sometimes family-run, farms where each hand that plucks a raw coffee berry could belong to a relative or community member.

With their small crops, such farms can maintain a high standard of quality control â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and provide a back story about the cultivation and craftsmanship that goes into the beans.

But unlike wine or cheese, java does not improve with age. Once the ripe, red, grape-size â&#x20AC;&#x153;coffee cherryâ&#x20AC;? is plucked from the bush-like tree, the skin and pulp removed, and the inner bean soaked, dried, rested â&#x20AC;&#x201D; yes, rested! â&#x20AC;&#x201D; shipped, and roasted, decomposition begins.

James Freeman, owner of San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s noted Blue Bottle (named for Central Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first coffeehouse), prints the roast date on each bag so consumers can avoid beans gone stale by oxidation.

Stomach-friendly coffee Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what may be the most counterintuitive news about coffee.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-known that, for some people, java can be hard on the gut, causing indigestion or heartburn. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich, who sought to pinpoint the irritant in coffee, made a surprising discovery: Indeed, caffeine, along with a couple of other compounds, can stimulate production of hydrochloric acid in the gut. But the effect is most

pronounced with weak coffee.

Dark-roast coffee has components that actually block stomach cells from producing hydrochloric acid.

The longer coffee is roasted, the more gut-friendly N-methylpyridinium (NMP) it contains. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s twice as much NMP in a darker roast as in a light one.

So if you want to protect your gut, your best bet is...yup, espresso. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Laura Janecka

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Grown in 50 countries, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, after oil. And although specialty coffee makes up only 10 percent of java consumed, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still an $8 billion business.

Depending on the country, coffee is harvested once or twice a year, although in countries like Kenya, straddling the equator, growers harvest coffee year-round.

Farms cultivate either the Arabica or Robusta species of bean.

Most specialty coffee utilizes the finer Arabica, while mass-produced brands favor the slightly bitter Robusta, which is less selective about its habitat and can be harvested large-scale. It also has more caffeine.

Part science, part art, coffee roasting takes the green coffee beans and

caramelizes them to varying degrees, releasing their natural oils and aroma. And then they are ground and ready for brewing.

A pressurized brewing process like espresso (the basis for cappuccino and latte, as well) concentrates the flavors and extracts all the beneficial compounds in coffee. It has more caffeine per ounce than any other beverage, but it takes a doppio â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a double shot, to you, grazie â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to supply you with as much caffeine as a cup of drip-brewed coffee.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no secret that caffeine boosts mental performance. It keeps attention focused and elevates mood. Studies conducted by the military show that it improves reaction See COFFEE, page 19

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Health Studies Page

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

A health study to keep you on your toes

By Barbara Ruben One out of three people 65 and older falls each year, and in that age group, falls are the most common cause of fatal injuries, as well as hospital admissions for trauma.

While doctors know how devastating falls can be, they don’t understand the best ways to prevent them in the first place.

“When you talk to the person on the street, they say, ‘What’s the problem? You [just] stand up,’ said John J. Jeka, PhD, a professor in the Dept. of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland.

“But when you get older or have some sort of trauma, you realize standing is a very complex behavior that takes a lot of

Check off the health studies you’d like to receive FREE information about. ❏ ❏ ❏

Alzheimer’s Drug Study (See ad, p. 18) Balance & Walking Study (See article and ad, p. 18) Memory & Exercise Study (See ad, p. 19)

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resources of the brain and nervous system to control. And we don’t have very good ways to rehab that,” Jeka said.

Monitor gives feedback Researchers at the university are testing a treadmill connected to a camera and TV monitor that they hope will help train older adults to have better balance and walking skills. The camera monitors a person’s gait and stance on the treadmill, and the TV monitor provides feedback.

In one exercise, the TV displays a cursor in the middle of the screen representing perfect balance. A dot shows the person’s position on the treadmill, and the person adjusts his or her balance to align with the cursor.

Ultimately, the University of Maryland researchers want to develop a balance training device that can easily be used at home or a health club, Jeka said.

“As people get older they don’t want to walk on treadmills because they’re afraid of falling off. Why is this so hard? Because their sensory systems have degraded.

“Vision, your inner ear, even your muscles have sensors in them. Those all work together to give you a sense of where you are as you’re moving. When those de-

grade, your balance suffers,” Jeka said.

Volunteers needed The researchers have done a small study of the program, and are now recruiting volunteers for a larger one.

During the study, participants will train on a treadmill three times a week for four to eight weeks. They will be randomly divided, with half being assigned to a treadmill connected to the special TV monitor, while the others will not have any balance training.

At the beginning and during the study, participants will be given balance tests off the treadmill to monitor their progress.

To take part in the study, participants must be over the age of 65 and have a history of falling or loss of balance in the last six months. They cannot have cardiovascular or respiratory problems. They also cannot have had any orthopedic injuries in the last year.

Participants will be paid a total of $150, in three $50 increments, one at the start, one midway through, and one at the end of the study.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Eric Anson at (301) 405-2572 or eanson1@umd.edu.

BEACON BITS

Apr. 12

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SHINGLES Join in a round table discussion of shingles with a specialist from

Adventist Healthcare at Long Branch Senior Center, 8700 Piney Branch Rd., Silver Spring, Md. The free event will be held on Tuesday, April 12 from 11 a.m. to noon. For more information, call (240) 777-6975.

e Department of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland announces a new research study investigating balance and walking.

We are currently recruiting subjects over the age of 65 to participate in this study. All subjects must have a history of falling or loss of balance in the last 6 months. Subjects must not participate in any other balance training or rehabilitation during this study.

Subjects selected for participation will be randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group. Participation in this study will require you to walk on a treadmill at typical walking speeds. You will view a special image on a TV screen while walking on the treadmill. e study will last between 4-8 weeks, with training sessions 3 times weekly.

All subjects can not have any of the following medical problems: a. Cardiovascular (Heart) problems b. Respiratory (Breathing) problems c. Recent orthopedic injuries (in the previous 12 months) If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact Eric Anson at 301-405-2572, or by email at eanson1@umd.edu.

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Coffee From page 17 time, vigilance, and logical reasoning, especially when you’re tired. Neuroscientists attribute caffeine’s effect on alertness to its ability to bind to adenosine receptors and to stimulate dopamine release.

Antioxidant benefits But there’s much more to coffee than caffeine. Researchers have found that coffee boosts a sense of well-being independent of its caffeine content, and that there are many other pharmacologically active substances in the brew.

Coffee is the number one source of cellprotecting antioxidants in the U.S. diet.

Green coffee beans contain about a thousand antioxidants; roasting adds some 300 more, most of them unique to coffee.

Many of the compounds have biological effects, from minimizing inflammation to favorably affecting glucose metabolism.

The health effects of antioxidants cover a broad range, as oxidation is a major factor in brain aging, cardiovascular disease, cancer and many other diseases. Coffee compounds also deter Parkinson’s disease and offset Alzheimer’s disease.

In a recent study of nearly 70,000 French women, conducted by scientists at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, researchers probed the ability of coffee to deter diabetes. They looked at the impact of coffee on insulin metabolism in relation to the amount of coffee and the time of day it was consumed.

Consumption of both regular and decaffeinated coffee with meals, and especially with lunch, was inversely related to diabetes incidence. Only black coffee had an effect; not coffee with milk.

Coffee inhibits iron absorption, and body iron stores are known to increase the risk of diabetes. However, the researchers found, the inhibition of iron absorption occurs only when coffee and the iron source

are consumed at the same time, as at lunch or dinner. (Having coffee at dinner does not have an additional benefit beyond that provided by sipping at lunch.)

But coffee delivers at least a one-two punch against diabetes. While the polyphenol antioxidants in coffee block iron absorption, researchers found that other antioxidants in coffee — like chloro-

genic acid — slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal.

So sit back, relax, chat with the other folks nearby, and down that espresso with impunity. Just skip the latte.

— Psychology Today © 2011 Sussex Publishers. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Our Mission: To secure the well-being of Montgomery County Seniors through the shared strength of diverse organizations and individuals.

Professionals working with seniors are invited to our Senior Service Network Meetings on the first Thursday of the month at 8:15 a.m.

Holiday Park Senior Center, 3950 Ferrara Dr., Wheaton, Md.

Attend the GROWS Silent Auction & Breakfast, Thurs., June 2, 8:30 – 11 a.m. at Brooke Grove. To donate to the auction, call Robin at (301) 318-1923.

BEACON BITS

May 7+

BEAD BAZAAR

The Bead Society of Greater Washington presents its Bead Bazaar on Saturday, May 7 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at Bohrer Park Activity Center, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg, Md. Explore and enjoy an eclectic collection of antique and contemporary beads, designer jewelry and related books. There will also be bead-making demonstrations. Tickets are $7. For more information, go to www.bsgw.org and click on bazaar or call (202) 624-4500.

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Ignore most health claims on food labels Q: When the label of a food or suppleDon’t let front-of-package claims that ment says that it supports the immune may have questionable support convince system, does that mean it you to pay more for somewill help prevent cancer, or thing that’s not really better or does it refer only to fighting to buy something unhealthy off colds and flu? hoping it could actually be A: Here’s the confusing part good for you. for shoppers: It doesn’t necesQ: Easter candy is everysarily mean the food or supplewhere now. Can I avoid gainment will do either one. ing weight by choosing jelly A food or supplement combeans, marshmallow candies pany might be able to make a or other low or no-fat sweets? “structure/function claim” A: The most important step like this one because a prod- NUTRITION for keeping candy, whether uct contains vitamin A, C, B-6, WISE high in fat or not, from causing D or E, for example. But the By Karen Collins, unwanted weight gain is porfood might contain as little as MS, RD, CDM tion control.

10 percent of the recommendA quarter-cup of jelly beans ed daily amount of one of these nutrients. (a portion the size of a golf ball or egg) or a Actually, our immune systems require a serving of five marshmallow chicks has host of nutrients, including enough protein about 160 calories. Even though there’s no and calories to produce antibodies, in fat added, these candies have as much order to function well. sugar as a 12-ounce can of regular soda.

Try not to get distracted by claims like A small one-ounce piece of chocolate this on the front of food packages. Focus on contains slightly fewer calories, but some choosing plenty of unprocessed whole people fool themselves by just eating a bite grains, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and here and there without paying attention to seeds, and check the Nutrient Facts panel how much it adds up. for sodium, fiber or fat content information.

In the end, whether you eat it all at once

or mindlessly nibble a bit at a time, when you polish off a seven-ounce solid chocolate bunny, you’ve consumed more than 1,000 extra calories.

As with all treats, limit portions, substitute it for some other higher calorie treat, and eat it when you can sit down and really taste and fully enjoy it.

Behavior researchers also advise us to limit how much candy we bring home, because the odds are that once it comes home with you, it may disappear faster than you planned.

Q: Can the plant-based diet you so often recommend really provide enough protein?

A: Yes, people sometimes think of protein as only coming from meat and dairy products, but we also get protein from plant foods.

Beans, nuts and seeds are the most concentrated sources of plant protein, and they provide fiber, magnesium, potassium and natural protective phytochemicals.

Grains and vegetables also supply small amounts of protein that add up when you make them a major part of your meals.

As you eat less of the animal sources of protein, keep in mind the need for balance.

If you eat very little meat, you can’t just eat a rice cake and plain salad and assume

you’ve met nutrient needs.

As you shift the balance of plant and animal foods on your plate, look for places you can include beans (in salads, soups, casseroles and more), as well as nuts and seeds.

A mostly plant-based diet that includes five to six ounces a day of lean poultry, fish or meat and three servings of dairy products or alternatives will meet the protein requirements of most adults.

If you prefer to omit or minimize meat or dairy products, you will also get protein well above the Dietary Reference Intake (RDI) if each day you include about three servings of vegetarian sources of protein — such as beans, nuts and seeds. One serving of beans is ½ cup; seeds and nuts are 1 ounce each.

The American Institute for Cancer Research offers a Nutrition Hotline, 1-800843-8114, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This free service allows you to ask questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. A registered dietitian will return your call, usually within three business days.

Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Questions for this column may be sent to “Nutrition Wise,” 1759 R St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

BEACON BITS

May 5

WOMEN AT WAR

The exhibition “American Women Rebuilding France, 1917-1924” will open at Woodrow Wilson House, 2340 S St., N.W., Washington, DC on May 5 and be on view until July 31. This exhibition consists of vintage photographs and rare silent film footage that bring to life the extraordinary work undertaken by 350 American women – all volunteers – who left comfortable lives in the United States to help the war-ravaged civilian population of northeastern France. Admission is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, call (202) 387-4062 or visit www.WoodrowWilsonhouse.org.

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Bread pudding with cherries, blueberries Ruby-red cherries, rich blueberries and whole-wheat bread combine to make this bread pudding recipe a palate-pleasing healthy treat based on an ancient form.

Indeed, bread pudding has probably been prepared since about the 13th century. Earlier versions were generally made with water instead of milk. Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bread puddings tend to be more rich and creamy.

The tangy sweet taste of cherries has been enjoyed for centuries, and in the early 1600s they were brought to America.

Cherriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nutritional benefits are huge compared to their small size.

Some of these benefits stem from the natural plant chemical called anthocyanin that gives them their pleasing red color.

Cherries also pack a nutritional punch with vitamin C, beta-carotene and fiber.

Luscious blueberries feature nutritional benefits similar to cherries, and these remarkable and versatile berries are native to North America. Native Americans used them for everything from medicinal purposes to fabric dye.

The whole-wheat bread in this recipe provides health promoting fiber and the perfect texture. The vanilla enhances the taste of the fruit by boosting your perception of sweetness, while the almonds add nutty taste and texture.

You can top it all off, if you wish, with a fruit sauce that complements the pudding.

Usher in spring by waking up your taste buds with this bright and warm treat.

Very Berry Whole-Wheat Bread Pudding Serves 6 1 cup frozen or fresh cherries (tart or sweet), pitted

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 5 oz. fresh whole-wheat bread, cubed (about 3 cups) 2 eggs 3/4 cup low-fat milk 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. salt Canola oil cooking spray Topping: 1 oz. sliced almonds 1 tsp. powdered sugar, garnish Combine cherries, berries, sugar and cinnamon in mixing bowl. Stir well to coat berries; add bread cubes.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Pour egg/milk mixture over berry/bread mixture and stir to coat bread thoroughly. Let mixture stand for 15 to 30 minutes to enable ingredients to combine and the bread to soak up the egg mixture.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch baking dish.

Pour pudding mixture into baking dish.

Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and evenly distribute almonds over pudding. Return to oven and continue baking until pudding starts to set, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Garnish with powdered sugar.

Serve warm.

Optional fruit sauce topping 1 lb. bag frozen unsweetened mixed berries 1/2 tsp. cornstarch Thaw berries; save drained juice and mix with cornstarch. Cook berries over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Add

juice mixture to berries and heat until thickened. Serve over or alongside pudding.

Per serving: 183 calories, 5 g. total fat (1g.

saturated fat), 27 g. carbohydrate, 8 g. protein, 3.5 g. dietary fiber, 248 mg. sodium. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research

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May 5

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Brush your teeth to protect your heart Heart disease runs in my family, so naturally I’m worried. A friend told me that brushing your teeth can prevent heart disease. I was polite, but I don’t believe him. Can this be true?

— K.M. Dear K.M.: You’re friend is right. Oral hygiene is very important to heart health. In 2005, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center found that the bacteria that grow in your mouth — promoting the formation of plaque on your pearly whites and causing gum disease — are the same germs that contribute to plaque forming in your arteries to cause heart disease.

Sounds to me like a darned good reason to brush and floss each day. (By the way, if

you avoid bacon because of cholesterol concerns, I actually found bacon-flavored dental floss on the Internet!)

Earlier this year, researchers in London published a study that lends major support to the recommendation to keep the mouth clear of plaque. The researchers looked at results from the Scottish Health Survey, which collected health data from more than 11,000 men and women, a representative sampling of the general population of Scotland.

Over a period of eight years, the researchers recorded 555 cardiovascular “events” (including heart attacks, strokes and similar problems), 170 of which were fatal.

Now here’s where the study gets really

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interesting from a tooth-brushing point of try who take a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) view. Even allowing for things like smok- used for blocking acid in the stomach, ing, obesity and poor diet, then read on. the London researchers These medications are prefound that those who reportscribed for treating ulcers, seed that they seldom or never rious heart burn, and other dibrushed their teeth were 70 gestive problems. The most percent more likely to expepopular medications in this rience a cardiovascular event class are Nexium, Aciphex, than those who paid greater Prevacid, Protonix, Zergerid attention to dental care. and Prilosec.

It’s so easy to brush and These drugs shut down acid floss your teeth, and now you production 24/7 and they get know it impacts the health of DEAR the job done — but at a price. your most important muscle. PHARMACIST The FDA is now going to reBy Suzy Cohen Even people with dentures quire warning labels on all of have to be vigilant about these drugs stating that they plaque formation. rob your body of magnesium (hypomagneEveryone should visit a dental hygienist semia) and that it could lead to severe adtwice a year for a thorough exam and verse effects. Finally! cleaning. I’m shy about X-rays, so I just opt I’ve been sounding the warning for for the cleaning when I go. A good dentist years about magnesium depletion from office will respect your wishes and not taking acid blockers and dozens of other pressure you for X-rays each time. drugs. I actually wrote a book on what I Here’s another idea to make your call “drug muggers.” Thousands of drugs mouth healthier and less of a host to are mugging you of essential micronutriplaque forming bacteria. Scrape your ents, minerals and vitamins, and this is tongue. You can buy a tongue scraper at what causes many side effects. any pharmacy and all you have to do is use To learn more about this and what to do it after you brush your teeth. about it, please check out my book Drug Draw the scraper gently down your Muggers: Which Medications Are Robbing tongue a few times, and rinse it after each Your Body of Essential Nutrients — And scrape. That brownish white gunk that Natural Ways to Restore Them. You can comes off your tongue? That’s mostly bac- read more about it on my website, teria. Flushing that down the sink is much www.dearpharmacist.com. better than swallowing them. This is great This information is opinion only. It is not for people with bad breath, too. intended to treat, cure or diagnose your conDear Readers: dition. Consult with your doctor before using I could probably write a regular “I Told any new drug or supplement.

You So” column because new research Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and keeps showing up that backs up advice the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and that I’ve been giving for years. If you are Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact among the 21 million people in this coun- her, visit www.dearpharmacist.com.

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23

Son’s second wedding goes by new rules Dear Solutions: friends do best. After that, try to just relax My son is getting married for the sec- and enjoy. ond time. He had a large Dear Solutions: wedding and reception the What is the right thing in first time. He wants to invite this case? When someone my relatives and best friend gave me a gift, I thanked her again. verbally at the time. Then I am from the old school when I saw her at another and feel that this is not the time, I thanked her again in proper thing to do, but I person. don’t know what to say to Do I still have to send a him about it. written thank-you note?

—K Thank you in advance SOLUTIONS Dear K: for your advice.

It’s graduation time! Out of By Helen Oxenberg, — Rose the old school and into the MSW, ACSW Dear Rose: new world, where children Well, in this case, since who are marrying again often design, host you’ve thanked me in advance you don’t and pay for their own weddings. have to send me a note. But that’s not the If you are not the host of this wedding, rule. then it’s his wedding and his decision. Since The rule is: put it in writing! You can he’s your son, I assume that your relatives are also his relatives. The invitation will come from him, not from you, and they can certainly accept or refuse as they choose.

You may feel that since they’ve already attended his first wedding and given a gift, enough is enough. But that’s their decision.

Without being critical, you can tell your son how you feel and perhaps suggest that he just send announcements of his new marriage after the wedding, especially if it’s a small wedding this time. That would allow people to wish him well in whatever way they like.

As for your best friend, you should be able to talk frankly to her and tell her how you feel about this. That’s what best

thank people verbally, but they still want a written record of their generosity, not just the sound of it.

Just why writing thank you notes is such a chore is a mystery to me, since the note doesn’t have to be great literature, a thrilling romance novel or even politically correct.

If spelling confuses you and grammar sends you into a panic, relax. The simple words “thank you” are always spelled just that way, and are grammatically flawless and socially acceptable.

Dear Solutions: My husband is beginning to lose his hair, and he’s becoming obsessed with trying to stop it from falling out. He’s ready to try everything that’s advertised, and it scares me because I know some of this can be harmful.

I love him, and I don’t care if his

hair falls out. How can I stop him from trying everything? We’re arguing now because he says all I tell him is don’t do this and don’t try that, and I’m not being helpful. What to do?

— Nan Dear Nan: Here’s one more “don’t:” Don’t quote Will Rogers, who said “The only thing that can stop hair falling is the floor.”

Do help him find a really good dermatologist who can tell him what is good and not harmful and which new products can possibly help. Do assure him that you love him with or without hair. © Helen Oxenberg, 2011. Questions to be considered for this column may be sent to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915. You may also e-mail the author at helox72@comcast.net. To inquire about reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

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Money Law &

Qs & As ON MEDICARE Forecasting next year’s premium, and why some people pay more for Medicare Part B TAKE STOCK OF CERTIFICATES Old stock certificates may still have value even if the company is no longer in existence AN INFLATION-PROOF PORTFOLIO Inflation is expected to rise. Invest in I-bonds and TIPS to help stem its effect on your portfolio

Should you invest in potential high-flyers?

By Dave Carpenter Stocks that rocket out of nowhere are a dangerous temptation for the average investor.

If only you could catch the next Netflix, Apple or Google before it takes off, you’d really make some serious money, right?

The problem is that line of thinking mixes investing with gambling. And you shouldn’t dip into savings or jeopardize your financial security in the hope you’ll hit a stock market home run.

But if you’re meeting your financial needs and not taking undue risks, it’s OK to take a small flier on a stock that could hit it big.

“You can’t go without dessert all the time,” said Charles Rotblut, vice president of the American Association of Individual Investors.

A small portion of your portfolio can have an excess of risk. “You just don’t want [the equivalent of] Boston cream pie every day.”

Watch out for a nosedive There are plenty of recent precedents to fuel stock fantasies.

Netflix Inc.’s stock has quadrupled in barely a year. Shares in the movie subscription service have gone from under $50 a share in January 2010 to above $235.

And it’s not just tech stocks that can skyrocket. Shares of CME Group Inc., which operates securities exchanges including

the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, rose more than 20-fold in its first five years after going public. The price shot from $35 to $714 between 2002 and 2007. And Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. has soared about 1,400 percent in five years.

High fliers, however, can turn into deep divers.

The stock of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. tripled in less than a year. It reached a high of nearly $50 in 2003 before crumbling to under $5 within two years.

Before that was eToys, the Internet retailer whose shares went from $20 to $84 to 9 cents in less than two years during the dot-com bubble.

For that reason, many financial advisers frown on the idea of buying stock “lottery tickets.” Investors need to be prepared to lose that money because it’s very hard to pick such stocks, said Eleanor Blayney, consumer advocate for the nonprofit Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

“I’d rather see people look at a small-cap growth fund and enjoy the bounce up that may be expected,” Blayney said.

Some companies to consider If you have that appetite for extra risk and some extra money, however, there are some under-the-radar stocks with well-run businesses and promising futures.

As with any stock, you want one with strong management, demonstrated potential, and a business you can understand. And you should look for one with a unique product or service that can benefit from a broader trend — as Netflix did with its movies-bymail service and then streaming video.

Here are three companies that have the potential to see significant jumps in their stock prices: Financial Engines Inc. (FNGN) Sector: Financial services Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.

Mid-March stock price: $23.20 Financial Engines provides portfolio management services and retirement planning help to participants in 401(k)s and other employer-sponsored retirement plans. Customers include individual investors, large companies and financial advisers.

The company is well-positioned to benefit from the continuing transition from traditional pension programs to more self-directed retirement accounts, according to Chris Retzler, manager of the top-performing Needham Small Cap Growth fund, which holds the stock.

Its fee-based business model — earning fees based on assets under management — should help it grow significantly, particularly as inflation increases, Retzler said.

The stock price has doubled since the company went public last May at $12 a share, lifting its market capitalization to over $1 billion.

Imax Corp. (IMAX) Sector: Leisure Headquarters: Toronto Mid-March stock price: $26.58 Imax, which provides the technology for giant-screen movies, already has taken off.

Shares have gone from $4 to $27 in two years and doubled just since July, propelled partly by rumors that Sony or Disney could take it over.

Still, the stock is poised to rise even higher thanks to the company’s joint-venture expansion strategy and the improving economy, which is encouraging moviegoers and moviemakers alike to spend more on higher-priced Imax films. As an early adopter of 3-D technology, it also will benefit as filmmakers pile into that trend.

The company shares its earnings with film companies and theater owners, which has accelerated the installation of new Imax theaters and motivated studios to make more Imax-compatible films.

With fewer than 500 theaters nationwide, it is still relatively early in the adoption phase, according to Rob Lutts, chief See HIGH-FLYERS, page 25

Avoid the scams when donating to Japan Scammers wasted no time in taking advantage of the outpouring of compassion following Japan’s earthquake and tsunami disaster. Let it be a warning for charityminded individuals to be on the lookout for phony aid appeals.

One fraudulent scheme involves an email claiming to be from the British Red Cross that asks recipients to make Japan aid donations via wire transfer, said FBI spokeswoman Jenny Shearer. Legitimate charities don’t make requests for wire transfers.

Further evidence that fraudsters are seeking to profit from the tragedy is the proliferation of websites purporting to represent charities.

Roughly 350 Internet addresses related to Japan were registered in a 24-hour peri-

od in the week following the tsunami, according to Internet security expert John Bambenek. The names reference Japan and such terms as “earthquake relief,” ‘’aid” and “help.” Many ask for money.

“Some are probably legitimate,” said Bambenek, who works for the Bethesda, Md.-based Internet Storm Center, which tracks viruses and other security problems.

“But nobody can set up a charity that fast.”

Still another con artist used search-engine optimization techniques to make a bogus site appear at the top of Google search results for Japan quake information. The site pretended to be advertising anti-virus software but actually was malicious, Bambenek said.

Here are a few tips to help you steer clear of scams and donate wisely to legiti-

mate charities: 1. Be wary of online solicitations.

Spam and e-mail solicitations from charities claiming to be linked to relief groups are common after natural disasters. It’s better to go to your favorite charity’s website or call in your donation to ensure your money doesn’t go to the wrong place.

2. Do your homework.

Check out the organization at sites for the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) or Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator. org), an independent nonprofit organization that evaluates charities based on effectiveness and financial stability.

3. Watch out for phony names.

Some bogus charities use names that sound or look like those of legitimate organizations to mislead you. For example,

“foundation” in an organization’s name might be replaced with “association” or another word to confuse donors.

4. Examine Web addresses.

Avoid sites that end in a series of numbers, and be aware that most nonprofits have sites that end with .org, not .com.

5. Don’t pay in cash.

Pay by check or money order rather than cash, both in the interest of security and for your tax records. Make sure to address it to the full name of the charitable organization, not anyone acting on behalf of the charity.

6. Check with the charity.

If you are dealing with a telemarketer who claims to be working on behalf of an See SCAMS, page 25

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

High-flyers From page 24 investment officer of Cabot Money Management in Salem, Mass. His firm has owned the stock since 2009 and bought more last fall, with Lutts citing its “killer” business model and huge opportunities both in the rural U.S. and abroad.

“You can’t underestimate the American appetite for high-quality entertainment, and Imax theaters certainly deliver that,” he said.

SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA) Sector: Consumer goods Headquarters: Airport City, Israel Mid-March stock price: $42.65 Long established in Israel, the maker of home carbonating systems held a public offering here in November and now sells in U.S. retail chains including Bed Bath &

Scams From page 24 organization, check with the charity itself to verify that it has authorized the solicitation.

7. Resist pushy demands.

Beyond, Macy’s and Williams-Sonoma.

SodaStream’s soda-making machines, which cost $80 and up, turn tap water into sparkling water and soft drinks. During the third quarter of 2010, the company reported $57 million in revenue from selling 449,000 soda makers in 41 countries. As evidence of what could happen if it catches on here, it has sold a million of the kits in Sweden.

The company has potential similar to Green Mountain Coffee and its single-cup brewing business, according to Dave Dispennette, founder and president of The Stock Playbook, a Florida-based stock advisory service.

“Just as many people drink soda as coffee, maybe more,” he said. “It’s a product that has phenomenal growth in front of it.”

The stock has doubled since its first day of U.S. trading in November.

— AP

Do not send any money if the person seeking a donation uses high-pressure tactics, asks for cash or wired payment, or insists on sending someone to pick up your donation. These are all characteristics of a scam.

— AP

Please tell our advertisers, “I saw you in the Beacon!”

Don’t Become a Victim of Fraud!!

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MAKING SENIORS COUNT The Aspen Hill Chapter of NARFE (National Active and Retired Fed-

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Answers to questions about Medicare

By Kimberly Lankford Q: I just received my first Medicare Part B bill of the year, and my monthly premium is $115.40, rather than the $96.40 that most people are paying.

Why am I paying so much more than everyone else? I don’t earn enough to be hit by the high-income surcharge, and I’ve been covered by Medicare for several years. I’m 68, but I haven’t started collecting Social Security benefits.

A: You are correct: Most people are still paying $96.40 per month for Medicare Part B benefits, which cover doctors’ visits and outpatient care. That’s because the majority of Medicare beneficiaries are protected by the so-called hold-harmless provision, which prohibits their Social Securi-

ty benefits from going down in any year.

Here’s how it works: There was no costof-living adjustment in Social Security benefits for 2011 because inflation has been so low. Because most people have their monthly Medicare premiums deducted from their Social Security check, applying the increase in Medicare Part B premiums would have resulted in a reduced benefit.

Therefore, most existing Medicare beneficiaries are exempt from the premium increase. But because you do not yet collect Social Security benefits, you’re not protected by the hold-harmless provision and you have to pay the increased premium for Medicare Part B. There are other exceptions. People who enroll in Medicare Part B for the first time

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in 2011 are not protected by the holdharmless provision because they have not received Medicare benefits in the past.

Likewise, retirees who aren’t part of the Social Security system — for example, some former public-sector employees — are not protected by the hold-harmless provision. Both groups must pay the $115.40 monthly premium.

A few other groups will also pay more than $96.40 a month for Part B. Retirees who enrolled in 2010 will pay $110.50 per month, which is the same premium that they paid last year.

And individuals with modified adjusted gross income of $85,000 or more (or $170,000 or more if married filing jointly) will pay a high-income surcharge on both

their Part B and their Part D premiums.

For more information about who pays what Medicare premiums in 2011, see the Kiplinger article “How Much You’ll Pay for Medicare in 2011” at http://bitly.com/ MedicareCosts.

Q. What is expected to happen to Medicare and Social Security premiums in 2012?

A. Millions of retired and disabled people in the United States had better brace for another year with no increase in Social Security payments.

The government is projecting a slight upward cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next year, the first inSee MEDICARE, page 29

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

27

Old stock certificates may still have value

By Joyce B. Siegel “No value,” my stockbroker said to me.

“You might just as well use ‘em for wallpaper.

Just toss them.” He was talking about the pile of stock certificates my husband and I found more than 20 years ago when we were cleaning out my father-in-law’s house.

This was just after I’d found a stash of mint condition U.S. postage stamp blocks I’d put aside, hoping one day they’d be valuable. I took them to a philately store for evaluation. “Lick ‘em and stick ‘em,” the stamp expert said. “They are only worth the face value.”

Lick ‘em and stick ‘em is just what I did.

Every letter I sent out was a display of the history of American postage stamps. So I didn’t find any amazing treasures there.

After my disappointment with the stamps, I had a hard time accepting that the stock certificates were worthless. The only way I could research the companies that I was told were “belly up” was through my broker and some publications on company history he provided, so I had to accept his judgment. We didn’t have computer search engines back then.

But as certain as he was that the stocks were worthless, I couldn’t bear to throw them away. They were attractive products in their own right, carefully engraved work of craftsmen. I filed them away. After all, they didn’t take up much space.

Tracking down old companies Then, a few years ago, traveling on Amtrak between D.C. and New York, I looked

up from a book I was reading. It was a second’s worth of serendipity.

There, somewhere in New Jersey, were newly painted oil tanks clearly labeled Meenan Oil. Wait a sec! I had a stock certificate for several thousand shares of Meenan Oil, but I was told the company was defunct.

By the time this happened, I had a computer and access to online search engines.

As soon as I got home I hunted for Meenan, and sure enough, it was still in existence. It had simply gone from a public to a privately held company.

I contacted the company’s finance officer at its Long Island New York headquarters.

He told me a fund had been established to pay off old stockholders. My husband sent in the necessary paperwork and we received a check for several thousand dollars.

Inspired, I took out the pile of my fatherin-law’s “valueless” stocks and started looking into what had happened to the companies whose shares were supposed to be worthless. I found four more that had gone from publicly held to privately held.

We reaped a few thousand dollars more.

Last resort — collectors Two companies absolutely no longer existed, but there were two small businesses with the exact name as the defunct companies. Both small business owners were intrigued and asked if they could buy the stock certificate to display in their offices.

No problem, I said. We earned $100 more.

If you have old stock certificates you may have the same luck. You may have

cial, historic value, representing an especially interesting aspect of our nation’s past. Some may be signed by an “important” person like J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, Eastman of Eastman Kodak or Henry Ford. Who knows? Some are valuable because of the quality of the engraving.

Gone are the days when stock certificates are held in “bearer form” by individual investors. Now they’re in electronic form and held “in street name” on brokers’ computers. The use of paper stocks ended around the 1990s.

Old stock certificates are getting increasingly rare, so while they may have no redeemable value as a security, they may have value to collectors (as long as they’re in pretty good condition). Either way, it may be fun — and worth a little detective work to find out if you have some treasures….or just wallpaper.

Joyce B. Siegel is a freelance writer in N. Bethesda, Md. MetLife Bank

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some certificates of interest to collectors.

There are businesses that buy and sell old stock certificates, and individuals hawking them on eBay, Amazon, etc. The buying, selling, displaying and collecting of old stock certificates is called scripophily. Does that make me a scripophilist?

Why do these old certificates fascinate so many people? For starters, just as I found out with my Meenan moment, they may actually have some retained value.

Some currently profitable companies were once organized under different names, but the old certificates are still valid.

Xerox, for instance, was first called Haloid, then Haloid Xerox and in the 1960s, it became just plain Xerox. If you had a share of Haloid and held on to it, you’d find it’s now worth a bundle.

American Oil Company became AMOCO and then was bought by BP. Who knows what that’s worth these days?

Some certificates may have some spe-

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

Medicare From page 26 crease since 2009.

But for beneficiaries whose Medicare premiums are deducted from their Social Security, the increased cost of Medicare is expected to wipe out any increase in Social Security benefits, leaving them without a raise for a third straight year.

As explained above, when Medicare premiums rise and Social Security benefits don’t, most beneficiaries don’t see their benefit check go down because of the holdharmless provision. But even in years when Social Security payments rise, if Medicare premiums rise as much or more, beneficiaries won’t see their checks go up, either.

David Certner of AARP estimates that as many as three-fourths of beneficiaries will have their entire Social Security increase swallowed by rising Medicare pre-

miums next year.

Q: How does Medicare Part D’s new 50 percent discount on brand-name prescription drugs work for seniors affected by the so-called doughnut hole?

Doesn’t it just mean that we end up in the doughnut hole for longer?

A: The prescription-drug coverage gap, known as the doughnut hole, has been the big downside of the Medicare Part D program since it was launched in 2006.

But beginning in 2011, the gap will start to shrink. Once your total drug costs reach $2,840 for the year (including your share and the insurer’s share of the costs), you will get a 50 percent discount on your brand-name drugs.

Your pharmacy will apply the discount automatically when you purchase the medications. After your out-of-pocket costs reach $4,550 for the year, you qualify for catastrophic coverage and your Part D

plan picks up most of the tab.

As you mention, this discount would have merely left you in the doughnut hole longer if they hadn’t changed the way the doughnut hole is calculated, too.

To avoid this problem, the entire cost of the drug — before the 50 percent discount is applied — counts toward the amount needed to fill the coverage gap. If the drug costs $100, for example, and you pay $50, the entire $100 will count toward your out-of-pocket costs that trigger catastrophic coverage.

The discount comes off the price that the Part D plan has negotiated with the pharmacy for that specific drug, said Jim

Turner of Humana. The dispensing fee (often $2 to $5) isn’t discounted, but it is added to the discounted amount of the prescription and does count toward the $4,550 in out-of-pocket costs.

Also starting this year, you’ll only pay 93 percent of the cost of generic drugs, with the government picking up the remaining 7 percent. But in this case, only the 93 percent of the cost that you pay yourself counts toward leaving the doughnut hole. © 2011 Kiplinger. All rights reserved.

Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc. The Associated Press also contributed to this article.

BEACON BITS

May 2

SENIOR LAW DAY The 34th annual Senior Law Day in Arlington will be held Mon.,

May 2 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the new Dept. of Human Services building, 2100 Washington Blvd. (Sequoia Plaza), lower level, Arlington, Va. The theme is “Connecting the Community to the Court System.” There is no fee; parking is free.

For more information, call (703) 228-1700 or (703) 228-0948.

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Our Savior Lutheran Church, Arlington, Va., is hosting its annual wine tasting benefit on Saturday, April 9, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. to

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The evening includes wine, cheese, appetizers, desserts, door prizes and live music. Ticket prices are $35 per person for a tasting ticket or $25 per person for a designated driver ticket. Non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. The event will be at the church, 825 S. Taylor St., Arlington, Va. Reservations can be made

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31

Ways to inflation-proof your fund portfolio

By Dave Carpenter Warnings of high inflation ahead have been around so long it’s easy for investors to take them for granted. Heavy government spending was supposed to have driven inflation sharply upward. Some experts predicted it would hit 8 percent by now.

So far, inflation is still tame. However, the long era of low inflation likely is nearing an end. Prices have accelerated abroad due to super-heated economic growth in China, Brazil, India and other emerging markets.

The U.S. consumer price index rose by .4 percent in January and .5 percent in February, increasing prospects that we will eventually have significantly higher inflation at home. Over the past year the index has risen 1.6 percent.

“Investors ignore inflation at their own peril,” said Christine Benz, director of personal finance at Morningstar Inc. Even those who normally leave their mutual funds on auto-pilot would be well-advised to consider inflation-proofing their portfolios.

Ways to protect yourself include overhauling your mix of funds, paring back on riskier international funds, and adding offerings that focus on inflation-protected bonds such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) — a type of Treasury bond whose payout is adjusted every six months for inflation. Investing in com-

modities funds and dividend mutual funds also may help.

Benz discussed the options and best moves for individual investors in an interview with the Associated Press. Here are excerpts: Q: Why can’t investors rely on fund managers to mitigate the effects of inflation?

A: Not many managers spend a lot of time thinking about the macroeconomic environment, whether it’s inflationary, deflationary, recessionary or whatever. Instead, most hew to a specific style (such as growth, value, small cap, large cap).

For example, it’s not typical for most core bond funds to buy TIPS. That means that investors who want to ensure that their portfolios have insulation against inflation should take steps to put it in place themselves.

Q: There aren’t any mutual funds composed of I-bonds — inflationlinked government savings bonds — so isn’t it better for inflation-wary investors to invest in TIPS? A: Both TIPS and I-bonds are fine options. I-bonds make good sense for investors’ taxable accounts in that they won’t owe federal income taxes from year to year — only when the bond matures or they sell.

But with TIPS, investors are not limited to purchases of $10,000 per year as they

are with I-bonds. By buying a TIPS fund you also get the advantage of professional management.

For plain-vanilla, low-cost possibilities, both the conventional mutual fund Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities (VIPSX) and iShares Barclays TIPS Bond (TIP), an ETF, are solid. For an actively managed fund, investors might consider PIMCO Real Return (PRTNX) or Harbor Real Return (HARRX).

For investors concerned that inflation is a global phenomenon, our analysts also

like the exchange-traded fund SPDR DB International Government Inflation-Protected Bond (WIP).

Q: How effective are commodities in fighting inflation?

A: In theory, buying an investment that tracks commodities prices is a good way to hedge against inflation. As you’re paying higher prices for food, gas, and other stuff you need, an investment in commodities See INFLATION-PROOF, page 33

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com | Law & Money

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

Inflation-proof From page 31 should also be going up, helping offset those higher costs.

Unfortunately, the best way to obtain pure exposure to commodities is to take physical delivery of the stuff — whether it’s pork bellies, cotton or oil — and that’s simply not practical for mutual funds.

Instead, most commodities funds obtain exposure by buying commodity index futures, which don’t perfectly reflect commodity prices at any given point in time.

Q: With those shortcomings in mind, do you still recommend any particular commodities funds?

A: If investors are OK with that imprecision, they could look to an exchange-traded note like iPath DJ-UBS Commodity Index (DJP) or to actively managed commodity futures funds such as Harbor Commodity Real Return (HACMX) or PIMCO Commodity Real Return (PCRAX).

Traded on major exchanges, exchangetraded notes are a type of debt security that combines the aspects of bonds and ETFs. Q: Why should investors see divi-

dend-stock funds as an inflation hedge as opposed to, say, bonds?

A: Stocks should be part of most investors’ inflationary toolkits because their long-run potential to beat inflation is much greater than is the case for bonds, and certainly cash.

And dividend-paying companies offer an important advantage that fixed-rate investments like bonds don’t: If business is good, they can actually increase their dividends. Those higher payouts, in turn, can help offset higher prices.

Among our favorite dividend-growth funds are Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX), a traditional actively managed mutual fund, and Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (VIG for the ETF and VDAIX for the traditional index mutual fund).

Q: Who should be thinking the most about adding inflation-fighting investments?

A: Retirees. Only a portion of the income that most retirees earn, such as their Social Security income, will automatically step up with inflation. The income they draw from their portfolios, by contrast, will be worth less and less as inflation increases.

— AP

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Does your organization use senior volunteers or do you employ a number of seniors?

Careers Volunteers &

If so and you’d like to be considered for a story in our Volunteers & Careers section, please send an e-mail to info@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Local leaders in aging to receive awards junct faculty member at the University of South Florida’s Aging Studies Program and then worked as a senior manager at AARP. In 1990, he assumed his present position as executive director of the Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA). The local nonprofit has grown much since then, and Gamse now manages a staff of more than 60, plus 500 volunteers.

Together they serve more than 30,000

Helping older job seekers find employment Two years ago, questions about employment were the fifth-most popular type of query received by the Senior HelpLine operated by the Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA). Last year, employment was the second-most frequent topic among the 14,000 calls received.

“That’s a sign of the times, and it isn’t about to change any time soon,” said Micki Gordon, JCA’s Assistant Executive Director.

JCA’s 50+ Employment Expo on May 17 will help answer some of these questions — and assist jobseekers in finding work.

Last year, 25 percent of the expo’s 3,200 attendees landed a job within six months of attending, while 84 percent of the 48 employers that exhibited said they had met candidates there who were suitable to hire.

The expo will be held at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center and is free of charge. No preregistration is necessary.

Job searching in hard times “Our success is all the more compelling because older workers have had such a terrible time in this economy, Gordon said.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) found that 2.2 million Americans age 55 and older were unemployed in November 2010. That is the highest level of older worker unemployment since DOL began collecting data in 1948.

Compared with their younger counterparts, older workers face longer periods of unemployment. They are more

likely to face age discrimination and to become “discouraged workers,” wanting a job but nevertheless exiting the labor force because they do not believe they will ever work again.

An analysis by the Pew Economic Policy Group found that nearly 30 percent of unemployed men and women age 55+ were jobless for an entire year or more, a rate that exceeds that of every other age group.

Help with interviewing, resumes The expo will feature dozens of employers, including non-profits, government, healthcare, retail and technology companies. Attendees can also attend seminars on resume writing, interviewing skills, finding jobs online and changing careers.

The keynote speaker will be Bob Ryan, lead meteorologist for the 11 p.m. news on ABC7.

The 50+ Employment Expo will be held on Tuesday, May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Rd., Bethesda, Md., one block from the White Flint Metro station on the Red Line.

The expo is a collaboration between JCA, the Montgomery County Health & Human Services Department, the Beacon Newspapers and other local organizations.

For more information, e-mail mgordon@AccessJCA.org or call (301) 2554231.

— Barbara Ruben

older adults and family caregivers each year, supplying information, assisting with transportation, helping workers find employment, and providing adult day care.

Gamse is being recognized for his accomplishments with a Leadership in Aging award from Seabury Resources for Aging, formerly known as Episcopal Senior Ministries.

“David Gamse has provided vision and leadership for the Jewish Council for the Aging for more than 21 years and helped improve the lives of older adults throughout the greater Washington area through his leadership in the community,” said Joseph Resch, Seabury’s executive director.

Helping is its own reward Gamse said he was surprised and honored by the award. “It certainly is a feel good, I’ll tell you,” he said.

“The award, or reward, I get from working really comes about from the smiles and hugs I get from seniors. That really is a terrific feeling when you’re in a directservice charity. So this is really icing on the cake.”

Over the years, Gamse has led workshops on aging and nonprofit management for a wide range of public and private organizations, including the American Management Association, the White House Conference on Aging, and the U.S. Department of Labor.

Internationally, he has represented U.S.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JCA

By Barbara Ruben David Gamse’s grandmother died of abuse in a nursing home while he was a college student.

“At the time that happened, I was majoring in both sociology and psychology,” Gamse said, “and that’s what led me to switch my major to gerontology. I’ve been working in the field ever since.”

After graduating, Gamse served as an ad-

Gerontologist David Gamse has been executive director of the Jewish Council for the Aging for over 20 years. He is being honored for his service to the community by Seabury Resources for Aging.

policy on aging at United Nations conferences and programs of the Israeli Gerontological Society.

Gamse also serves on a variety of policy and research boards and commissions, and has authored many articles about productive aging and delivering services effectively.

Also being honored at Seabury’s annual benefit is the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the largest private See LOCAL LEADERS, page 36

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

35

What’s the state of 50-plus unemployment?

Susan Sipprelle has taken on a thank- younger jobseekers.

A recent report by the Urban Institute less task: documenting the pain inflicted shows that seniority helps by the Great Recession on protect older workers from older workers. job loss — the average jobless An independent journalist rate for workers over 55 in and photographer, last fall Sip2010 was 7.7 percent for men, prelle launched Over50andOut and 6.2 percent for women. ofWork.com, a website dedicatThat’s considerably lower ed to telling the stories of jobless than the national unemployAmericans from a wide array of ment rate, which stood at 9.0 backgrounds through video inpercent in January. terviews.

Overall, workers age 50 to Their stories are supple- RETIRE SMART 61 were 34 percent less likely mented with interviews with By Mark Miller to lose their jobs during the some of the country’s top experts on older workers, joblessness and downturn than younger workers, the Urban Institute researchers found. the challenge of job-hunting over age 50.

But workers in that age group who have “I embarked on this project because I saw the devastating impact the recession lost their jobs in the recession are one-third was having on many of my peers,” Sip- less likely to find new work than their counterparts age 25 to 34. And workers over age prelle said.

62 were half as likely to be re-employed.

What’s more, workers who do find new jobs are accepting lower pay. Median hourly wages for displaced men age 50 to 61 who became re-employed from 1996 to 2007 fell 20 percent below the median figures for their former jobs. By contrast, wages fell just 4 percent for men age 25 to 34.

A role for federal government The findings point to the difficulty of keeping workers on the job longer — an aim of policymakers hoping to reduce pressure on federal spending for entitlement programs such as Social Security.

“We need to get people to work longer so they can help produce the goods and services necessary to promote economic growth and help pay taxes to fund public services,” said Richard Johnson, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and a co-author of the report.

“But that can’t happen unless seniors can find work. We need to devote more money to training and employment services for older workers.

“The federal government has only one small employment program targeted to older people — we need more. We should also consider extending unemployment benefits for older people, since it takes them so long to find work when unemployed.”

[In recent steps to reduce the federal deficit, the House of Representatives passed a bill that cut the older worker employment program by 64 percent and abolished the Senior Corps program, among other cuts affecting seniors.]

And age discrimination claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have spiked in recent years.

“Employers are clearly reluctant to hire See JOBLESS, page 37

In their own words “These are boomers who had expected to be secure in their careers, but when they found themselves unemployed, the value of their homes and savings had also declined, and they could not find jobs.

“I wanted to use new media tools coupled with old-school journalism to give outof-work older Americans a chance to tell their own stories and expose the issues they confront as they seek re-employment.

“Their stories are not only about the hardships they are currently facing and the resilience they possess, but also about the past 50 years of seismic social and economic change in the United States,” she added.

“If boomers can get back to work and regroup financially, their individual futures will improve, as will the economy and the long-term outlook for the country.”

Over50andOutofWork.com already has collected more than 60 video interviews with jobless workers all over the country, and has a goal to collect 100. The site also has started a blog series focused on older entrepreneurs.

Less likely fired — or hired So, storytelling aside, how are older workers actually faring in the recession?

Unemployment data paints a mixed picture. Older workers have been less likely to get laid off, but they’re having a much harder time finding new work than are

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Volunteers & Careers | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

B&Bs From page 1 rooms to guests, basically leaving them furnished just as they were. She still does the day-to-day work herself, although she has housecleaners who come in every other week to help.

“I have to get up really early in the morning. That’s my only regret,” Siegrist said. “For the most part, everybody is very, very nice and honest. I’ve had no problems. I love people.”

Restoring a fixer upper Sometimes opening a bed and breakfast becomes the best way to acquire and/or

Local leaders From page 34 local foundation focused exclusively on the Washington, D.C., area. The foundation is the legacy of Morris Cafritz, one of Washington’s leading commercial and residen-

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

hold onto a valuable property whose costs of upkeep would otherwise get out of hand.

Anne Pomykala, the 72-year-old owner of the Gramercy Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Baltimore, became an accidental innkeeper in that way.

Pomykala and her husband Ronald, 76, are born and bred Washingtonians who knew little about Baltimore before purchasing the Gramercy 25 years ago. They were visiting a friend at Johns Hopkins Hospital and saw an ad for the sale of the mansion at auction.

The house and grounds had a long and storied past that appealed to the Pomykalas. In 1902, Alexander Cassatt bought the heavily wooded property as a

present for his daughter, Eliza.

Cassatt himself was well-known for his role as president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In later years, his fame became overshadowed by that of his sister, Mary Cassatt, an Impressionist painter who depicted the social and private lives of women, and whose work can be found in the National Gallery of Art. “We took one look [at the house] and fell in love with it,” said Pomykala. “We decided to buy it and make it our home.”

Because of the state of disrepair of the house and estate, neither developers nor individual homeowners were flocking to the auctioneer. “Every roof leaked, the septic system leaked, only one of the three

wells was working…there was a lot to do,” Pomykala recalled.

Undaunted, they purchased the property for $670,000. “Of course, we put a lot more money into restoring it,” Pomykala said mildly. “We knew we had a lot to do, but not quite how much or how expensive it was going to be.”

Neither of the Pomykalas — she was a full-time homemaker and mother of six children and he was, and still is, a practicing dentist — had ever restored an historic property before.

It didn’t take long before the Pomykalas realized that making the Gramercy their

tial builders from the early 1920’s to the mid-60’s, and his wife, Gwendolyn.

Over the last decade, the foundation invested more than $3 million in aging services for Washington, D.C.-area. The foundation also helped organize the Working Group on Aging, which has in-

creased the visibility of aging issues among other area philanthropists and community leaders.

“The Foundation has been at the forefront of innovations, service delivery system improvements, and provided a backbone of support for valued programs for older adults,” Resch said.

The evening will include a cocktail reception, award presentation and auction, and will be attended by leading businesses and industry professionals in the field of aging, clergy, lay leaders of local congregations, and committed individual donors.

Proceeds from the evening will benefit Seabury Resources for Aging’s services and will help low income older adults who need care management, meals, housing, care and help with home maintenance.

For additional information about the event or to make reservations or a contribution, call (202) 414-6313 or visit www.seaburyresources.org.

To share in the benefit The Leadership in Aging awards will be presented at a celebration on Thursday, June 9 at 6 p.m. at the Fannie Mae Building, 3900 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.

See B&Bs, page 37

BEACON BITS

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INTERAGES CELEBRATES 25 YEARS

Interages will celebrate 25 years of intergenerational volunteering on Thursday, May 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, is the keynote speaker. Congressman Chris Van Hollen and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett will honor Interages founder Austin Heyman during the event, which will be held at VisArts Center, 155 Gibbs St., Rockville, Md. For ticket information, call (301) 949-3551. For more information about Interages, see www.interagesmd.org.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

B&Bs From page 36 full-time residence wasn’t feasible. “The bills started coming in, and we decided it just couldn’t stay a private home,” she said.

A year after purchasing the property, they opened as a one-room bed and breakfast. Pomykala was the reservationist, greeter, housekeeper, chef and more.

At the start, it was difficult to get guests.

“You had to sign up with a reservations service and hope people found you,” she said.

But the Internet has changed all that.

She no longer relies on such services or even advertises. Through their website, email newsletter and blog, the Gramercy — and the B&B industry overall — are enjoying unprecedented success.

Today, the Gramercy has 11 guestrooms and a staff of 20 that handles the day-to-day operations (including Pomykala’s daughter, Cristin, who serves as manager).

“I still ‘meet and greet’ but I don’t have to do the hard work anymore,” Pomykala laughed.

Heights neighborhood of Washington 17 years ago, Haga “thought this is something I can basically run with my eyes closed.”

She soon discovered otherwise, however. “You have to have so much energy to do this 24/7,” she said. “In order to do it well and give guests the attention they need, you have to have an awful lot of stamina.”

In the early years she shouldered all the work alone for her 12-room Taft Bridge Inn. But over time, Haga, 60, has hired an innkeeper and part-time housekeeper.

Like the Reeds, she has enjoyed hosting guests from numerous countries, but laments that it’s difficult to take a vacation herself.

“It’s a hard business,” Haga said. “I am thinking about retiring within five years. But this is my life. It’s my baby. I made this business from scratch, and it’s hard to let go.”

Bill Rouchell, 57, closed his Capitol Hill B&B Maison Orleans in 2010, after 24

years in business. Three years earlier, he had undergone triple bypass surgery after a guest, who was a doctor, rushed him to the hospital.

“Those guests [who were at the inn at the time] still call every week to see how I am.

We have become great friends,” he said.

But that health crisis led Rouchell to reevaluate his three-guest room B&B and

take in housemates rather than temporary lodgers. Rouchell is still considering whether he will reopen as a bed and breakfast in the future.

“Unfortunately, with just three rooms there isn’t any wiggle room to hire someone to help out. There is only so much money one can make,” he said.

Additional reporting by Carol Sorgen.

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Difficult but rewarding Despite her success, Pomykala gently offers these words of caution to those considering opening their own B&B: “It’s a lot of work. It’s not as romantic as you think.”

Other local innkeepers agree.

“You can’t do this alone,” said the Aaron Shipman House’s Charlie Reed, 75. “This would have lasted three weeks if I had to make the beds.”

In addition to their housekeeper, he and his wife use a service that handles reservations and financial matters. Also, it can be important to have other sources of regular income. Charlie continued his work as an attorney and his wife, Jackie, managed their investment property after they opened their B&B. Innkeeper Yoshie Haga knows the workload all too well. She had worked in hotels in her native Japan. So when she bought a run-down turn-of-the century Georgian mansion in the Kalorama

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Jobless From page 35 older workers,” said Johnson. “Many are concerned that older workers are more expensive than younger ones; that they lack up-to-date skills; that they won’t be around long enough to justify the cost of hiring and training them.

“These concerns are mostly unfounded, but they’re widespread. If that’s not outright age discrimination, it certainly comes close.”

Mark Miller is the author of The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security: Practical Strategies for Money, Work and Living (John Wiley & Sons/Bloomberg Press, 2010). Subscribe to Mark’s free weekly eNewsletter at http://retirementrevised.com/enews. Contact: mark@retirementrevised.com. © 2011 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICE ON AGING

Spotlight On Aging VOLUME XXVI, ISSUE 4

A newsletter for D.C. Seniors

INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

April 2011

Ward 1 Senior Wellness Center Opens

By Donna S. Dunston Spring is here! Some begin spring with cleaning and others begin leading a healthier lifestyle, taking advantage of the extra hours of daylight and walking more.

Spring is also known as a time for renewal. Renew your promise to yourself to stay active and involved. Let’s all shed the pounds gained through hibernation during the winter months and do more.

Our First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, has launched a campaign against childhood obesity called Let’s Move, which encourages 60 minutes of activity each day. Share that goal with yourself. Remaining active should not just be for the young.

We encourage all residents age 60 and older who have been cleared by their medical doctor to join a wellness program in the city. We opened the Ward One Senior Wellness Center, located at 3531 Georgia Avenue, N.W., on Feb. 28. Take advantage of the centers and the wellness programs that are provided by the Office on Aging Senior Service Network.

The Office on Aging Senior Service Network has grant applications available. This is the agency responsible for directing community-based services for the elderly in each ward and operating grants for each of the six wellness centers in the city. If you know of a community-based organization or other entity that would be interested, please make sure they call 202-724-5622 or visit us on the Web at www.dcoa.dc.gov to see the Request for Application (RFA). The deadline for submission is April 22.

The deadline for applications for the upcoming Ms. Senior D.C. Pageant is April 11. If you or someone you know are interested in applying, please make sure an application has been submitted. For more information, please contact 202-724-5626.

If you haven’t already filed your taxes, it is not too late to do so.

The filing deadline for D.C. and federal taxes this year has been extended until April 18 because of the Emancipation Day Holiday.

If you need assistance with filing, call the Office on Aging at 202724-5626 for available resources.

Office on Aging Senior Service Network Wellness Programs BODYWISE .............................................. 202-274-6697 Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center.... 202-563-7225 Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center........ 202-291-6170 Model Cities Senior Wellness Center .......... 202-635-1900 Ward One Senior Wellness Center.............. 202-727-0338 Washington Seniors Wellness Center .......... 202-581-9355

The Ward 1 Senior Wellness Center officially opened its doors on February 28, with an open house for new registrants and an orientation for enrolled members.

Activities began on March 1 with a weekly calendar of activities throughout the month. A monthly activity calendar will be available for the month of April.

Participants are excited about fitness activities, such as the walking club, chair aerobics, indoor beach volleyball and tennis, and line dancing, of course.

The nutrition program has offered a diabetes management class over a six-week period, nutrition education classes on cholesterol and heart disease,

and a breakfast food tasting and demonstration.

To round out the program and to ensure enhancement of the mind and spirit, along with the enhancement of the body, participants are engaged in brain games and puzzles, tai chi and Bible study.

Look for an exciting monthly calendar to include trips around the Washington, D.C. area and many speakers with health promotion and consumer information.

Tuesday, April 19 is nationally recognized as “Humor Day.” We expect to have a humor therapist visit the center on that day. Come enjoy the many activities on the calendar, and laugh with us!

Call 202-727-0338 for more information.

Local Grammy Award-nominated artist Chuck Brown stopped by the Deanwood Recreation Center and signed autographs for the seniors at the program. The Godfather of Go-Go was nominated this year for a Grammy for the song ”LOVE,” featuring Jill Scott with Marcus Miller and produced by Chucky Thompson. This marked the first Grammy nomination for Brown, who has performed locally for more than 40 years. The seniors at the recreation center received the artist with nothing but Love.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

D.C. OFFICE

ON

39

AGING NEWSLETTER

Community Calendar April events 5th • 10:30 a.m.

Seabury Resources Senior Nutrition Sites will visit Macy’s Cherry Blossom Show, held at the Metro Center store. For further information on the trip, contact Vivian Grayton at 202-529-8701.

Ward 8 Nutrition Center seniors will be tested on their knowledge of egg safety and nutritional benefits of eating eggs. It will be held at Access Housing Services, 114 Wayne Pl., S.E. For more information, call Evelyn Minor at 202-562-6860.

29th • 10 a.m. to noon

7th • 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Attend the concert “Folk Music @ Its Best” with Bruce Hutton from the Performing Arts Society at the Washington Seniors Wellness Center, 3001 Alabama Ave., S.E. Call 202-581-9355 for more information.

9th • noon Join the East River Weekend Nutrition Program to decorate eggs for the holiday and learn about egg safety. It will be held at 3001 Alabama Ave., S.E. Call Evelyn Minor, program director, at 202-581-9355 to reserve your spot.

19th Seabury Resources will celebrate Volunteer Recognition Day at its nutrition centers and offices. The theme is “Thanks for All You Do”. For information, call 202-529-8701.

East River Family Strengthening Collaborative KEEN Seniors Program is sponsoring a Ward 7 Senior Town Hall Meeting. Share your thoughts on the state of Ward 7 and learn about what the city has planned for the community. The meeting will be held at the New Macedonia Baptist Church, 4115 Alabama Ave., S.E. For more information, contact Alia Manshio at 202-397-7300, ext. 246.

29th • 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Washington Seniors Wellness Center will sponsor a lunch and poetic reading of The 5th Inning with poet E. Ethelbert Miller at 3001 Alabama Ave., S.E. Call 202-581-9355 for more information.

Enter the Connecting Generations Video Challenge The U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) announces the Connecting Generations Video Challenge in celebration of Older Americans Month 2011.

The challenge will bring together multiple generations to create videos featuring the roles our seniors play in connecting us all. Anyone can participate by joining an intergenerational team — including at least one person age 60 or older and one person younger than 60 — to produce a video.

In the videos, teams will share their perspectives on how older Americans maintain and strengthen connections in our communities. From videos about seniors using

technology to connect with others to older adults assisting in schools, any video that demonstrates what seniors are doing to maintain and strengthen community connections is a candidate for this contest.

The AoA will post contest entries online, where participants can view and comment on all the videos.

A panel of judges will select the top 10 entries, and the general public will then vote for the winner from the finalists. Entries must be submitted by May 2.

To find out more or to enter the Connecting Generations Video Challenge, visit www.olderamericansmonth.org.

SPOTLIGHT ON AGING Spotlight On Aging is published by the Information Office of the D.C. Office on Aging for D.C. senior residents. Advertising contained in the Beacon is not endorsed by the D.C. Office on Aging or by the publisher.

441 4th St., N.W., 9th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 202-724-5622 • www.dcoa.dc.gov Donna S. Dunston, Interim Executive Director Darlene Nowlin, Editor Alice Thompson, Photographer The D.C. Office on Aging does not discriminate against anyone based on actual or perceived: race, color, religion, national origin,

May events

19th • 11 a.m.

sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, familial status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, disability, source of income, and place of residence or business.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination which is prohibited by the Act. In addition, harassment based on any of the above protected categories is prohibited by the Act. Discrimination in violation of the Act will not be tolerated. Violators will be subjected to disciplinary action.

The Office on Aging is in partnership with the District of Columbia Recycling Program.

1st • 3:30 p.m.

Meet artist Gail Rebhan and view “A Cultural History of My Neighborhood,” photo collages of historic and present day Tenleytown at Iona, 4125 Albemarle St., N.W. Call 202-895-9416 for more information about this free program.

13th • 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Washington Seniors Wellness Center presents its second annual Senior Awareness Workshop and Health Fair “Connecting the Communities.” The center is located at 3001 Alabama Ave., S.E. Call 202-5819355 for more information.

19th • 4 to 8 p.m.

KEEN Seniors Program presents, “East River Swing, A Celebration of Stars,” a “senior prom” for Ward 7 older adults. Enjoy dinner, dancing and a hand dancing performance. The cost is $15 ($20 for caregivers). Advance tickets only. None will be sold at the door. To buy tickets, contact Robin Gantt at 202-534-4880, ext 110. The event will be held at St. Luke’s Center, 5923 E. Capitol St., S.E.

America I AM: The African American Imprint Seniors Day

Walmart, the title sponsor of the America I AM: The African American Imprint exhibition, has partnered with the National Council on Aging (NCOA), the D.C. Office on Aging, the National Hispanic Council on Aging, and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged (NCBA), to host Seniors Day at the National Geographic Museum.

America I AM is a four-year touring museum exhibition that celebrates nearly 500 years of African-American contributions to this country.

Adults ages 50 and over in the Wash-

ington, D.C. area will receive free access to experience this one-of-a-kind exhibition on April 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Complimentary lunch will be included in the day’s festivities.

To register for Seniors Day or to learn more about this event, contact Gina Hill at the National Council on Aging at 202479-6970 or gina.hill@ncoa.org.

Walmart is also offering speciallypriced tickets for the public at select Walmart stores in the Washington, D.C. area: $10 for adults and $5 for children. The discounted prices are 17 percent off standard ticket prices.

D.C. Residents 60 and older are invited Join us for lunch and activities at Dupont Park Adventist Senior Apartments 896 Southern Ave., S.E.

Serving mid-day meal Monday thru Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Enjoy a nutritious, hot lunch with your neighbors and new friends or old.

For more information, call 202-562-1363

40

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Style Arts &

Actress Helen Mirren stars in a multitude of recent films. See story on page 44.

Revisit Richie and the Fonz in Happy Days

By Michael Toscano It’s fitting that, prior to the performance of Happy Days, A New Musical at Toby’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOBY’S DINNER THEATRE

Dinner Theatre in Columbia, a buffet of steaming entrees and vegetables occupies the same middle-of-the-room space as the actors later fill.

That’s because the show, based on the old TV sitcom “Happy Days,” is the theatrical equivalent of the comfort food served up by Toby’s chefs. It’s warm and familiar, there’s lots of cheese, and it goes down easily, if not memorably.

Somebody in the kitchen must have noticed, as names from the show have been affixed to some of Toby’s standard fare. For example, that’s not just any spinach you’re

eating; that’s “Spinach Fonz Casserole” on the plate next to the roast beef! And look, it’s “Richie’s Redskin Mashed Potatoes.”

That’s right, the Fonz and Richie Cunningham, and all the other guys and gals who populated a Milwaukee high school around 1959, are back. Only now they sing and even dance. Devoted fans of the TV show, which ran on ABC from 1974 to 1984, will probably find Happy Days, A New Musical to be joyfully nostalgic.

The rest of us can enjoy a dynamic cast turning in high-energy performances.

Under Toby Orenstein’s rigorous direction, they strut and sing and wring all that’s possible from the thin material.

From Garry Marshall, Paul Williams The Fonz, played by Greg Twomey, shares a dance with Pinky Tuscadero, played by Lauren Ball, in Happy Days, A New Musical now at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Md. The musical is a collaboration between Garry Marshall, who created the TV show “Happy Days,” and composer Paul Williams.

Washington Balakaika Society Orchestra Svetlana Nikonova, conductor

THE ART OF THE BALALAIKA

Featuring America’s premier balalaika soloist, Andrei Saveliev with sensational soprano, Olga Orlovskaya

Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 pm

T. C. Williams High School • 3330 King Street, Alexandria, Va.

Tickets: www.balalaika.org 703-644-9151

Sunday, May 1 at 3:00 pm

F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre • 603 Edmonston Drive, Rockville, Md.

Tickets: www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre 240-314-8690

Regular admission $25 | Advance purchase $20 Seniors $18 | Students $15 Age12 and under free with adult Free parking

Information and group sales: 703-644-9151

www.balalaika.org

Garry Marshall, creator of the TV series, teamed up with songwriter Paul Williams to develop the musical version a few years back. It’s easy to see why it never made it to Broadway.

Marshall took the easy route, eschewing character development or even new plot progression. He merely has all the characters trot out their favorite catchphrases and ticks, introduces a negligible

storyline about saving Arnold’s, the malt shop hangout, and hopes it holds together with what turns out to be a disappointingly bland score from Williams.

The composer may be an Oscar winner (“Evergreen” from A Star is Born), but he’s best remembered for his 1970s pop hits, such as “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” And in this show, Williams barely stretches beyond generic light pop.

The show is supposed to remind us of the 1950s, or at least the sanitized, cleancut kind of 1950s with fresh-faced white kids enjoying sock hops and malt shops and going home to an apron-wearing mom.

But Williams’ music offers little 50sstyle rock-and-roll or authentic doo-wop sound. The best song remains the memorable theme song from the TV show, which is presented several times.

The worst song is the wretched “What I Dreamed,” as homemaker Marion Cunningham (Esther Covington) explores early feminist stirrings with such overwrought lyrics as “I never expected apron strings to be chains.” Mom Marion is joined in the song by daughter Joanie (Amy Sonntag), who seems to be yearning for traditional domestic bliss in a kind of tortured cultural counterpoint.

Enthusiastic fans of the show probably won’t care. Not when they can experience the Fonz saying “Aaayyy” and Richie calling somebody “Bucko” and Ralph declaring “I still got it” once again.

Poking fun at the TV show Marshall does exhibit some sense of self-deprecation as he injects a few zingers lampooning the TV show. There’s a joke about Chuck, the older Cunningham brother who disappeared without explanation early in the series’ run, and even a reference to “jumping the shark.”

The latter is a term that has come into wide use, referring to a moment when something or someone descends into selfparody. It’s based on an episode when a surfing Fonzie literally jumps over a shark in Pacific waters.

The digs cut a little closer to the truth when Richie (Jamie Boyle), Potsie (Dan Sonntag), Chachi (Chris Rudy), and Ralph Malph (Dan McQuay) attempt some a See HAPPY DAYS, page 42

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

STRATHMORE

®

COMPLIMENTARY PARKING CLOSE TO HOME NO TICKET FEES!

MUSIC CENTER PERFORMANCES

ARTS ADVENTURES FOR ALL AGES!

APRIL 8–10

BRING THE GRANDKIDS! SATURDAYS, 2–3PM

The Stravinsky Project

Bruce Hutton

Discover Series

CO-PRODUCED BY STRATHMORE AND POST-CLASSICAL ENSEMBLE This city-wide festival celebrates the groundbreaking composer Igor Stravinsky. Events include concerts, educational programs, post-concert discussions and an exhibition at Strathmore as well as events at Georgetown University and the National Gallery. See www.strathmore.org/stravinskyproject for a complete schedule of concerts and events.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 8PM

Discover the roots of American music! Bring your family and enjoy this new set of classes for parents and children age 6 and up to learn the history of three musical genres that have shaped popular American music—the storytelling of folk music; the trials and tribulations experienced in the blues; and the ever-evolving improvisational creativity of jazz. Trace how these pioneering forms of music have evolved over generations and inspired and influenced the music we hear today. Musicians and music lovers alike will have the opportunity to participate in these family shows led by professional musicians.

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM DISCOVER FOLK, APRIL 2, taught by Bruce Hutton DISCOVER JAZZ, APRIL 9, taught by Vince Evans DISCOVER BLUES, APRIL 16, taught by Daryl Davis Tuition $10 per class (Stars Price $9)

Arturo Sandoval

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 11AM–12:30PM

Featuring pianists: Alexander Toradze, George Vatchnadze, Genadi Zagor, Vakhtang Kodanashvili and Edisher Savitski The Washington Bach Consort Chorus Post-Classical Ensemble, Angel Gil-Ordóñez, conductor Joseph Horowitz, artistic director Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Asbury Methodist Village.

This Grammy-winning trumpeter is fluent in at least four musical languages: he can burn through an AfroCuban groove, tear up a bebop tune, soar over a Mozart concerto and soothe you with a luscious ballad.

“Unabashedly spectacular” (The New York Times).

Tickets $20–$55 (Stars Price $18–$49.50)

Charles Bush

FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 8PM

Nancy Wilson CO-PRESENTED WITH BLUES ALLEY After a sold-out performance last spring, Nancy Wilson returns to Strathmore for a one-night engagement. Her career has led her through jazz-influenced pop and R&B, with a triumphant return to her roots with her Grammywinning 2004 release R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal).

Tickets $28–$78 (Stars Price $25.20–$70.20)

Daryl Davis

When Jazz Came to Symphony Hall Aniko Debreceny explores music by American composers such as William Grant Still, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, who moved out of the jazz clubs and into the concert halls with jazz-infused classical music.

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tuition $15 (Stars price $13.50) MONDAY, APRIL 11, 11AM–12:30PM

When the Symphony Learned to Shimmy Aniko Debreceny guides you through the jazz influences in symphonic music by such composers as Copland, Bernstein, Stravinsky, Debussy and others.

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tuition $15 (Stars Price $13.50) FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 10AM–3PM

Silk Painting Workshop

MUSIC IN THE MANSION THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 7:30PM

The Vertigo String Quartet CORIGLIANO String Quartet No. 1, “Farewell” MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 44, No. 2 Original compositions by the ensemble MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tickets $28 (Stars Price $25.20) Sponsored by Asbury Methodist Village

Leave your cares at the door and step into the wondrous world of silk painting!

No previous painting or art background needed, and even experienced artists will benefit from the master instruction of Diane Tuckman, founder of Silk Painters International and author of three books on the art of silk painting. Learn many exquisite silk painting techniques including stretching, diluting, resisting, spotting and salting.

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tuition $125 (Stars Price $112.50) MONDAYS, APRIL 18–MAY 9, 7:30–9PM

So You Think You Can’t Sing John Horman guides unsure singers through the basics of vocal production. In a relaxed atmosphere, students build their skills through vocal warm ups, proper posture and breathing, pitch matching games to improve in-tune singing, exercises for good tone and rudimentary sheet music reading. Register early, since this popular class always sells out!

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tuition $135 for 4 sessions (Stars Price $121.50)

FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 7:30PM

Los Angeles Electric 8 Strathmore presents the East Coast premiere of this electric guitar-based chamber ensemble, in an inspired program that explores the connections between traditional Indonesian music and American minimalist music.

MANSION, SHAPIRO MUSIC ROOM Tickets $28 (Stars Price $25.20) Sponsored by Asbury Methodist Village

Strathmore’s Guitar Festival celebrates the most influential instrument of the 20th century.

www.strathmore.org

Strathmore Ticket Office

5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD

(301) 581-5100

M/T/TH/F 10AM–5PM, W 10AM–9PM, SA 10AM–2PM

GROUPS SAVE! (301) 581-5199

John Horman

41

42

Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Happy Days From page 40 capella singing. While the harmonies are pleasant, Williams’ song, “Romeo Midnight” sounds a lot more like a barbershop quartet number than doo-op, prompting Fonzie to blurt out, “That’s the kind of music my dentist likes.”

Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli,” is the center of the show and is played here by Greg Twomey. Twomey is not really a Fonz type, physically. Still, he possesses a rich baritone that serves him especially well in the catchy, upbeat “Heartbeat,” a contemporary-sounding tune, and in the thoughtful act one ender, “Maybe It’s Time to Move On.” But the real star of this production is the effervescent Jessica Lauren Ball, who plays Fonzie’s lost love, the tough Pinky

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Tuscadero. She blazes through “The Pink’s in Town” and the scintillating “Message in the Music,” a robust dance number with a big band sound.

Her voice soars in the souped-up ballad “Legend in Leather,” while showing us vulnerable sensuality beneath the tough exterior. Twomey joins her in that song, a pairing that provides the strongest vocals of the show. Both shine again in their tender duet “Dancing on the Moon.”

As always, Orenstein makes efficient and effective use of the crowded in-theround performance area, and the unaccredited choreography keeps the show pumped with high energy.

A cartoon-like wrestling match is a highlight of act two, and the female ensemble members get a shout-out for managing to sing and move about on roller skates while balancing trays during a scene at Arnold’s.

Just like the TV show, all the issues are resolved by show’s end, and the audience exits to the sounds of the small but vibrant band pumping out that infectious theme song, which will likely rattle around inside your head for the entire ride home, and maybe beyond.

Happy Days, A New Musical continues through June 12 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Rd., Columbia.

The show runs seven days a week with evening and matinee performances.

The doors open at 6 p.m. for evening shows Monday through Saturday and at 5

p.m. on Sundays. Doors open for matinee performances at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays and Sundays. Following a buffet, the evening performances begin at 8:15 p.m. except Sundays, when the show time is 7:15 p.m. Matinee performances begin at 12:30 p.m.

Reservations are required. Ticket prices, including an all-you-can-eat buffet, range from $47 to $52, depending on performance time. There is ample free parking on the premises.

For reservations and information, call (301) 596-6161 or visit www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.

BEACON BITS

June 21+

RAISE YOUR VOICE IN SONG Singers 55 and over are invited to attend a five-day singing “camp”

at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where they will rehearse daily with conductor Jeanne Kelly, founder of Encore Creativity. The program includes rehearsals and performances of challenging classical and secular pieces. Also offered will be daily movement/yoga classes, vocal technique classes and sectionals. Singers will attend concerts and other events in the evenings. A public grand finale Encore Chorale concert will be performed on June 25. For pricing information and more details, visit Encore’s website at http://encorecreativity.org or contact Jeanne.Kelly@encorecreativity.org or (301) 261-5747.

Apr. 11

RADIO DAYS Enjoy radio classics and favorites from the airwaves, along with timeless standards sung by Cathleen Kenny, at the Margaret

Schweinhaut Senior Center, 1000 Forest Glen Rd., Silver Spring, Md. The free event takes place on Monday, April 11 at 1 p.m. Call (240) 777-8085 for more information.

Want to meet other seniors and enjoy yourself?

Would you or your loved one benefit from having help or supervision during the day?

Apr. 8

STRAVINSKY SYMPOSIUM AND CONCERT Attend a free Stravinsky concert and symposium at Georgetown on Friday, April 8. The concert begins at 1:15 p.m., followed by a

symposium from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. with university professors that looks at Stravinsky as a theatrical artist and his tradition of reusing old material — both his and others’ — in inventive ways. Both programs are open to the public and take place in McNeir Hall (New North Building) at Georgetown University, 3700 O St., N.W., Washington, D.C. For more information, go to http://performingarts.georgetown.edu or call (202) 687-ARTS (2787).

Come learn new skills, share interests and develop friendships at our two supervised adult day programs.

We provide: • transportation to Misler from your home and back • personalized attention • fun and stimulating activities

• lunch and snacks (kosher at Misler) • a welcoming atmosphere • financial assistance for those who qualify

Misler Adult Day Center (301) 468-1740

Gorlitz Kensington Club (301) 255-4204

located at Ring House in Rockville

located in Kensington

®

Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA)® www.AccessJCA.org

8127

52847

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N â&#x20AC;&#x201D; A P R I L 2 0 1 1

43

Cirque du Soleil plays under the big top

A circus without animals Totem is made up of 11 acts, with cast members performing with bars, rings, hoops, trapeze, roller skates and more. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a circus, but without animals, said Cirque spokesperson Amelie Hamel.

Totem is director Robert Lepageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second Cirque du Soleil show. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inspired by the foundation narratives of the first peoples, Totem explores the birth and evolution of the world, the relentless curiosity of human beings and their constant desire to excel,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;totemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; suggests that human beings carry in their bodies the full potential of all living species, even the Thunderbirdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire to fly to the top of the totem,â&#x20AC;?

Lepage said.

While all Cirque shows are different from one another because they each have different creators, Totem is unique, according to Hamel, because this show is â&#x20AC;&#x153;very realistic and natural.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unlike other shows, Totem is not set in a fantasy world,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding that while the production traces human evolution, it is not promoting any philosophy or belief system. Instead it incorporates myths, symbols, signs and dreams to tell the story of mankind.

Spectacular visual effects Another distinguishing characteristic, according to Hamel, is the productionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visual effects, which give audience members the distinct sensation of traveling to different worlds, be it in a volcano, under water, and so on. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The main objective is to simply experience the magicâ&#x20AC;Śto be amazed and entertained. That is what a Cirque show is all about,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Totem took a team of 12, led by director Lepage, about three years to create. The

team worked together on not only the original concept, but details such as make-up, lighting and set design. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It evolves, both creatively and logistically, from these brainstorming sessions,â&#x20AC;? said Hamel.

Cirque du Soleiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;raison dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;etre,â&#x20AC;? she added, is the creation of shows, to be presented under Big Tops, in theaters or arenas around the world. Nearly 200 creators have contributed to the 21 shows created since 1984.

Tickets for Totem range from $55 to $190 for adults.

Senior discounts of about 9 percent are available for those 65+ for non-peak performances (Sunday to Thursday, and Friday at 4 p.m.). Seniors will be required to provide verification of age through valid I.D. at the time of the show.

Tickets are available online at cirquedusoleil.com/Totem or by phone at 1-800-450-1480.

Tickets are also available at the box office at 2001 Kloman St., Baltimore, starting April 6.

PHOTO COURTESY OF OSA IMAGES

By Carol Sorgen Cirque du Soleil will bring its unique blend of music, dance, acrobatics and visual effects near to Washington when its new traveling show, Totem, sets up under a blue and yellow big top on April 7 at Westport Waterfront.

The waterfront, which is located about 2 miles south of Baltimoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inner Harbor, is under development. The show will run there through April 24.

Totem premiered in April 2010, in Montreal, home of Cirque du Soleil, and has since played in Quebec City, Amsterdam and London. It had its U.S. premiere in Charlotte last month, and will move on to Pittsburgh after it closes in Baltimore.

One of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s five big-top shows, Totem traces the journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage that evokes a giant turtle â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations.

Inspired by many founding myths, Totem illustrates, through a visual and acrobatic language, the evolutionary progress of species. Somewhere between science and legend, Totem explores the ties that bind humans to other species, our dreams and our potential.

Cirque du Soleilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Totem, in Baltimore from April 7 to 24, tells the story of the evolution of humans using acrobatics and spectacular visual effects.

See useful links and resources at www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Helen Mirren relishes revitalized career

Staying in the action Her upcoming Holocaust-vengeance tale

The Debt, set to be released in August, features what Mirren calls her “geriatric fight,” a close-quarters death match with an old man in a nursing home, defying Hollywood convention that action roles are for the young.

“The perception of being older is changing,” Mirren said in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, where The Debt premiered. “It’s a lot to do with the fact that the so-called baby boomers are coming into that age, and they’re refusing to let go of life, or you know, they’re refusing to let go of being in the center of life...

“They will not step aside. We’ll have to eventually, because we’ll be too old not to,” Mirren said. “But people used to consign themselves to old age quite early, and I think people don’t do that anymore.”

Certainly not Mirren. She had a second film at the Toronto festival, the crime story Brighton Rock (opening in the U.S. this summer), and last year also starred as a brothel owner in husband Taylor Hackford’s Love Ranch and did a voice role for the animated Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.

That all followed another best-actress Oscar nomination for 2009’s The Last Station, in which she played Leo Tolstoy’s imperious wife.

“I keep saying to my husband, ‘It’s all

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going to stop very soon, you know, Taylor,’” Mirren said. “It will inevitably.

But you know, while it’s not stopping, I’m happy to go along with the flow.”

The Tempest proved a star-crossed meeting of minds. Mirren had been watching a stage version when it occurred to her that Prospero — a single parent raising a daughter on a remote island while orchestrating revenge and redemption for old enemies — could be played as a woman without changing a thing.

She mentioned the idea when she met Taymor, creator of the Broadway adaptation of The Lion King. Taymor, who had directed stage productions of The Tempest, already Prolific actress Helen Mirren, 65, stars in the remake of had been thinking about a the film Arthur this month, as well as several others film version with a woman coming out later this year. Since winning the 2006 Best in the lead.

Actress Oscar, Mirren has found her talents in especially “It was hers as soon as high demand. it came out of her mouth,” Taymor said. “There’s a vulnerability she Starting with Shakespeare brings to the maternal part of this in a way Mirren began her career with Shakeyou’ve never seen with Prospero. And you speare, playing Cleopatra in a 1965 producbelieve in her intelligence, as well. What’s tion of Antony and Cleopatra for Britain’s behind those incredible eyes.

National Youth Theatre.

“She can do anything. Looking at the She later joined the Royal Shakespeare range of her work — she’s played persons Company and made her film debut in a of power, persons of magic….She’s played 1968 adaptation of the playwright’s A Mida couple of queens, so she’s definitely a summer Night’s Dream. formidable presence.”

She worked steadily in British film and It was not Mirren’s first gender-bending TV through the 1970s before breaking out Tempest role. As a child at her all-girls internationally in the 1980s in such films school, Mirren played wild man Caliban, a as Excalibur, 2010, The Mosquito Coast and role done by Djimon Hounsou in Taymor’s White Nights, directed by future husband Tempest.

Hackford.

The film also features Chris Cooper, The first of her four Oscar nominations David Strathairn, Alfred Molina, Alan came for supporting actress in 1994’s The Cumming and Russell Brand, who has the Madness of King George, with a second suptitle role opposite Mirren in the remake of porting-actress nod coming for 2001’s GosArthur.

AP PHOTO/CARLO ALLEGRI

By David German Helen Mirren is a shape-shifter, says director Julie Taymor, and the actress has extended her metamorphosing talents to changing the gender of not one, but two, well-known authority figures.

First, Mirren starred in Taymor’s film adaptation of The Tempest, released in December, playing sorceress Prospera rather than the traditionally male Prospero of Shakespeare’s play.

This month, Mirren steps into Sir John Gielgud’s shoes in a remake of Arthur, playing the tough old nanny and substitute parent to a rich, drunken, womanizing man-child.

At 65, most actresses are resigned to fringe roles as grandmas and spinster aunts. Mirren followed 2006’s The Queen, which earned her the best-actress Academy Award, with a stretch of work as busy and varied as any in her 45-year career.

Mirren reprised her long-standing TV role as police detective Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act. She hurtled into the action game with roles in Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck’s State of Play and Bruce Willis’ hit from last fall Red, a caper about aging spies.

See HELEN MIRREN, page 46

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

45

Am I a beacon or a soft-serve ice cream?

My knees and eyes are only shadows of person for an ID. I was surprised — no, of life. White hair says you have weathered Recently, I was in a meeting with a guy their former selves. But my ears can still amazed — when she asked to see mine, too. the storms. It says you are worthy of re- about my age. I have known him for more pluck sounds from faraway “Regulations,” she said. I spect (if not necessarily reverence). It says than 30 years. Like me — like all of us — corners. told her I hadn’t felt so young you know how to navigate the shoals. he has entered the ranks of white-headedSo, from across a crowded in years and I tipped her 25 So why do so many white-haired men room the other night, I caught percent. When she slipped dye their hair?

See BOB LEVEY, page 46 these pearls: “See that man over me the bill, of course. there? That’s Bob Levey. Yes, Being a beacon can have its the one with the white hair.” minuses. Surely it’s harder to I’ve been graying, gray or get a job — especially from white for more than three someone a generation younger decades.

— if you walk in looking like an Crepes • Omelettes • Waffles I’ve always thought that my Alp. Gluten Free Pancakes Available deep voice or dopey sense of HOW I SEE IT Surely it’s harder to be choSenior and Lunch Menus Monday thru Friday humor were my strongest as- By Bob Levey sen in a pick-up basketball sets. But the truth is ingame.

BETHESDA • 7700 Wisconsin Ave. • 301-986-0285 escapable. I wear a Human Business Card Surely it’s less convincing when you tell ROCKVILLE • 12224 Rockville Pike • 301-468-0886 FALLS CHURCH • 7395 Lee Highway • 703-698-6292 on top of my head. It reads: Bob Levey, a 35-year-old doctor, “Hey, doc, why are Beacon. Indeed, my silvery locks literally you sweating the small stuff? I’ve got all Free Parking Available make me findable. the time in the world.”

Join our Loyal Customer Club: www.ophrestaurants.com Years ago, when our daughter was small, But these are mere blips on the screen I took her and a friend to an amusement park on a sunny summer Sunday. The worst parental nightmare landed soon after we arrived. We got separated in a large crowd.

But the authorities soon located me because my daughter had said: “My daddy has white hair.”

Snow on the roof can lead to wonderful cases of mistaken identity. Once, while preparing to board a flight at a local airport, I stopped to buy mints at a newsstand. The man behind the counter had a thick accent and was obviously from another country.

He stared at my face, stared at my hair, and then asked: “Excuse me, sir. Are you Senator…?”

I’ve never been so lucky — or so foolish.

But like senators, I am often assumed to know lots about many subjects. And like senators, I am often assumed to be able to help anyone with anything at the drop of a hat. % Affordable Living For Those 62 or Better % Recently, a woman I don’t know walked up to me and asked me to help her patent Anne Arundel County Eastern Shore an invention. When I told her I knew nothing about the process, she replied: U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÃÌ \ {£ä ÇÇä ÎäÇä U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì ÕÀ >Vi À> V \ {£ä ÇÈ£ {£xä “But you look as if you should.” She was Harford County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì -iÛiÀ > *>À \ {£ä x{{ Î{££ staring straight at my hair as she said this.

U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Ý \ {£ä x£x È££x Baltimore City It’s a cliché to say that a man with white hair always gets the check in restaurants U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì i À\ {£ä n Î ääÈ{ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Ã > ` /iÀÀ>Vi\ {£ä ÓÇÈ È{{ä — a cliché that happens to be invariably Howard County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì `ëÀ }\ {£ä x{Ó {{ää correct. It’s a cliché to say that a man with U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì > > ` }\ {£ä Ç È {Î Baltimore County white hair never gets offered a seat on the bus — another cliché that happens to be U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ L >\ {£ä În£ £££n U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >Ì ÃÛ i\ {£ä Ç£ {È{ invariably correct.

U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì - Ü`i , ÛiÀ\ {£ä Ó ä äÎn{ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ `> \ {£ä Ónn x{nÎ Yet it’s invariably incorrect that white U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì V ÌÌ ÌÞ\ {£ä ÓäÎ xä£ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì Õ iÀÌ \ {£ä ÈÈÎ äÈÈx hair gives you a pass with the long arm of the law. One recent morning, I was speedU *>À 6 iÜ >Ì V ÌÌ ÌÞ \ {£ä ÓäÎ Óä È U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì À> >À > ` }\ {£ä Î £ nÎÇx ing on an interstate highway in Virginia. A U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì iÀà \ Îä£ {nÎ ÎÎÓÓ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì ,> `> ÃÌ Ü \ {£ä Èxx xÈÇÎ state police officer pulled me over and Prince Georges County U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì , Ãi`> i\ {£ä nÈÈ £nnÈ gave me a ticket.

“You should have known better,” he U / Ì Þ ÕÃi ­/ Üà ®\ {£ä nÓn Ç£nx * *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >`i ÃLÕÀ}\ Îä£ È Çnx said, solemnly. He was looking straight at U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÕÀi \ Îä£ { ä £xÓÈ U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì />Þ À\ {£ä ÈÈÎ äÎÈÎ my hair as he said this.

U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì >ÕÀi \ Îä£ { ä ÇÎä U *>À 6 iÜ >Ì 7 ` >Ü \ {£ä Ón£ ££Óä And what about the time I was having dinner with seven people in a restaurant?

The others were all in their mid-20s. Nary a white hair among them.

Everyone at the table ordered a cocktail.

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46

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Helen Mirren From page 44 ford Park.

The Tempest gave Mirren the opportunity to play a truly meaty Shakespeare role for an older actor, a rarity for women. “As you get older, as an actress specifically, the roles in Shakespeare as everywhere else tend to sort of die away,” Mirren said.

“It actually takes you a long time to

Bob Levey From page 45 ness gradually. He seemed content with what he had become.

And then, one Wednesday in his 66th year, he was chocolate brown again. It looked jarring. It looked unnatural. It

A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

learn how to do Shakespeare. You’re not good at it when you’re young. You get much better at it when you get older, but the annoying thing as an actress, as you’re suddenly getting into your powers with your Shakespearean abilities, the roles disappear.

“You’ve got Cleopatra, you’ve got Gertrude [Hamlet’s mom], which is not a good role, you’ve got Lady Macbeth, which is not a good role,” Mirren said.

“Queen Margaret [a central figure in some of Shakespeare’s historical dramas]. But none of them, they’re not the roles like the men have. It’s not King Lear.”

Since Mirren is breaking gender boundaries, how about a Queen Lear?

“That’s very different. You’d have to change so much. King Lear is such a male character, getting drunk with his all his followers. Women don’t do that,” Mirren said.

“Lear is such a paternalist sort of male, and that’s his downfall, his feeling the need for domination, control. When he foolishly gives that away and is powerless and then is mistreated, that’s when he goes mad.

“I think a woman would be far more adaptable than Lear. A woman wouldn’t go mad. A woman would be practical and find a way ‘round it.”

— AP

looked especially strange because his face still bore the same creases and crevasses that it had borne the week before.

Far better to do what another whitetopped buddy did. He decided not to worry so hard about being immaculately groomed. He decided to go three months between haircuts.

He began to look like Albert Einstein or a soft-serve ice-cream cone — as if he had just emerged from a wind tunnel and didn’t care what the world thought.

Of course, the world loved it. Men (including this one) said he looked healthier than ever. Women smiled at him. He hasn’t been cast in any lower-your-cholesterol TV ads, but I figure this can’t be far away.

Neither can the most inevitable progression of all. The gradual disappearance of all those white hairs. One pal calls it The

Three Phases of Man: From brown, to white, to pink.

I am happy to report that I am not there yet. But pink is beginning to peep. Soon, I may resemble a cue ball more than a beacon.

So I am embracing my outer Einstein, and letting the wind sweep my coiffure into fluffiness. I may not know a thing about inventions, but I sure know how to channel a senator.

Bob Levey is a national award-winning columnist.

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BEACON BITS

Apr. 10

Faure’s “Requiem” and Rheinberger’s “Organ Concerto” will be performed with the St. Martin Lutheran Church choir on Sunday, April 10 at 6 p.m. The concert will be held at Grace Episcopal Church, 3601 Russell Rd., Alexandria, Va. For more information, see www.gracealex.org or call (703) 549-1980.

Ongoing

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Martin’s West 6821 Dogwood Road Baltimore County, Maryland

For more information, contact Dr. Odessa Dorkins at 410-664-0911

MOTHER-DAUGHTER ART EXHIBIT

“Connected,” artwork by Lisa Brotman and Erica Leigh Orgen, is a mother-daughter show presented by the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia through Tuesday, May 3. Both are figurative painters with an affinity for bold color. The free exibit can be viewed Sunday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 12:30 to 6 p.m. at 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax Va. For more information, call (703) 323-0880.

Apr. 23

All Maryland citizens 100 years of age and older, and persons who will be age 100 by December 31, 2011 to attend

FREE ORGAN CONCERT

MEET LOCAL AUTHORS

Two local authors, Natalie Wexler and David Stewart, will discuss their books at an event at noon on Saturday, April 23 sponsored by the Opera Guild of Northern Virginia. Wexler’s historical novel, A More Obedient Wife, is about two women married to early Supreme Court justices during the federal government’s first decade. Stewart’s looks at the Senate trial of Andrew Johnson. The event, which starts with a luncheon and costs $15, is at 4301 N. Taylor St, Arlington, Va. To make a reservation, contact Miriam Miller at mcdm1@verizon.net or (703) 536-7557.

Apr. 10

MOZART CONCERT

The New Dominion Chorale will perform two Mozart works at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 10 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center, 3001 N. Beauregard St., on the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Tickets are available online at www.newdominion.org and may be purchased at the door. Tickets are $30; $25 for seniors; $5 for students and children. More information is available at www.newdominion.org or (703) 442-9404. Parking is free.

Apr. 1+

A FANTASTIC SHOW

The story of young love and heart-wrenching distance is explored as the Arts Barn Theater presents a Rockville Musical Theater Production of The Fantasticks. The show runs April 1 through 17, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Admission is $18, $16 for Gaithersburg residents. The theater is located at 311 Kent Square Rd., Gaithersburg, Md. For more information and tickets, call (301) 258-6394 or visit online at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

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Travel

47

Leisure &

Places where you can volunteer while on vacation. See story on page 49.

A natural beauty beyond words in Alaska ship, the sheer drama of Alaska’s scenery is difficult to express in words.

Bountiful outdoor pursuits

PHOTO BY BRUCE GENDERSON

Apart from struggling to write about it, there are numerous ways to enjoy one of Mother Nature’s most splendid settings.

Those who prefer to spend their time just basking in the beauty may think they have found the ultimate in dramatic landscapes — until they round the next turn of the road.

Visitors who prefer engaging in sports and other activities as they take in the views have a seemingly endless choice of alternatives. Popular warm-weather pastimes range from hiking and biking, to fishing, rafting, sea kayaking and much more.

In winter, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snow-shoeing and dog mushing are among activities that induce people to brave the cold.

Opportunities to observe wildlife in its natural setting, sometimes at close hand, are virtually everywhere. Many Alaska itineraries include a stop in Denali, a world of Arctic tundra and soaring mountains known for sightings of the “big five” — grizzly bear, caribou, moose, wolves and dall sheep. This vast wilderness is also home to a menagerie of other creatures.

But those who don’t make it to Denali need not despair.

Towns throughout Alaska are never far from the wilderness, and in many places they overlap. Parks often begin within city limits and extend to backcountry landscapes.

Moose, bear and other critters looking for food sometimes wander into urban settings, eliciting little surprise from two-legged residents used to such intrusions. For example, the Far North Bicentennial Park at the eastern edge of Anchorage provides inviting habitat for bears and moose.

People gather along river banks there and elsewhere during spring and summer to observe the spawning run of A bear catches a leaping salmon as it swims upsalmon.

As the fish uncannily stream to spawn in an Alaska river. From moose and bear to dall sheep, visitors can take a gander at a return to their birthplace, wide range of wildlife in the nation’s 49th state. after spending several years

PHOTO BY BRIAN ADAMS/ALASKA TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

By Victor Block The most immediate, and dramatic, impression Alaska is likely to make on you comes from its sheer size. Alaska has more than twice the area of Texas, and is rimmed by more coastline than all of the other states combined. No wonder the Aleutian people named it “the Great Land.”

Mount McKinley — the tallest peak in North America, at more than 20,000 feet — looms over Denali National Park and Preserve. The park itself is larger than Massachusetts, helping to explain how Alaska contains more than two-thirds of the United States’ total national park acreage.

Not only is Alaska huge, it is magnificent. The unbelievable scenery is what first catches the eye. Row after row of glacier-garbed mountains stretch to the horizon. Some are reflected in the water of lakes dyed a bluish hue by the silt of melting ice and snow.

Braided rivers, which find new routes around ice dams that form during winter, meander through U-shaped valleys that were gouged out eons ago by advancing glaciers.

Whether flying over, driving through, walking in, or viewing it from the deck of a

Kayaking outside of Juneau offers views of the bluish-white Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is 12 miles long, ending in this lake studded with icebergs that have “calved” from the glacier.

at sea, they battle their way up rushing water, leaping to surmount low falls along the way.

Another obstacle they face is the phalanx of hungry bears that congregate to gorge on their favorite food as they stoke up for the long, frigid winter that instinct tells them lies ahead.

Whale-watching cruises offer close-up viewings of those behemoths, if you time it right. Between April and November some 600 humpbacks congregate in waters near Juneau.

Anchoring in Anchorage and Juneau Population centers in Alaska share a unique rough and rugged history. With a population just under 300,000, Anchorage has an urban setting that resembles other U.S. cities of comparable size, along with its share of chain stores and traffic jams.

But there also are welcome differences.

For one, untamed nature is never far away.

Chugach State Park, at the edge of the city, has huge stretches of alpine terrain that are visited by more animals than humans.

The Far Nor th Bicentennial Park/ Campbell Tract provides habitat for bears, moose and spawning salmon. People hiking or biking on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail can spot beluga (white) whales swimming

nearby and come face-to-face with as many as a half-dozen moose during a brief outing.

A favorite stop of mine is the Alaska Native Heritage Center to delve into Native cultures, part of the state’s mystique. The customs and traditions of the 11 major cultural groups are presented through dance, music, art, storytelling and other mediums at this living history museum.

Outside, encircling a pond, stand authentic Native dwellings representing six indigenous groups. Each is staffed by people from villages around Alaska who clearly delight in relating stories of their people.

The population of Juneau, the state capital, is slightly more than 30,000, but that number swells during mid-summer tourist season when cruise ships disgorge hordes of passengers.

Gold was responsible for the town’s location when it was discovered there in 1880, about 15 years before the Klondike Gold Rush began. Visitors today may relive those heady days during visits to several mining sites, or by trying their hand at panning.

Another claim to fame is that the terminus of the most readily accessible of the 10,000 or so glaciers in Alaska, the Mendenhall, is not far outside town. Looming above the suburbs of Juneau, bearing See ALASKA, page 48

48

Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Alaska From page 47 the typical bluish-white glacial hue, it flows about 12 miles from the ice field where it originates. At the lake where the glacier ends, large chunks dramatically break off to become icebergs, in a process called “calving.”

Ketchikan occupies the site where Tlingit natives set up summer fishing camps near salmon-rich waters, and it lays claim to the title “Salmon Capital of the World.” It also boasts the largest display anywhere of standing totem poles, in three formal collections as well as in front of private homes.

Another popular attraction is Creek Street, a wooden boardwalk over the stream that runs through the heart of town.

For about three decades beginning in the Prohibition era, some buildings perched

above the water served as brothels.

That time is recalled by a sign welcoming visitors to Creek Street, “Where fish and fishermen go up the creek to spawn.”

Those structures now house restaurants, galleries and gift shops.

The setting is very different in Sitka, where evidence remains of Russia’s incursion and effort at colonization, which ended in 1867 with the sale of the territory to the United States. The Russian Bishop’s House (built 1842-43), onion-shaped domes of St. Michael’s Cathedral, and a replica of a Russian fort blockhouse are among reminders of that chapter of history.

Remnants of Russia’s brief influence merge comfortably with constant reminders that the Tlingit, and to a lesser extent Haida and Tsimshain (sim-shee-an) people, have lived in what now is the southeastern corner of Alaska for thou-

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

sands of years. Everywhere, the rich Native cultures are close at hand.

Native influences Along with Alaska’s breathtaking natural beauty, constant opportunities to interact with wildlife and colorful history, its people also leave an indelible impression. I found this to be so in part because of the respect accorded the cultures of the Native people, and the extent to which they have been woven into the fabric of life.

One example is that both many Native and other Alaskans continue to use the word Denali — Athabascan Indian for “The Great One” — as their name for Mount McKinley. Another is that representations of totem poles and other traditional images adorn many T-shirts worn by locals.

I was moved by the pride with which an Aleut guide at the Alaska Native Heritage Center described how men from his village hunt for whales from kayaks using poison-tip spears, and how the women weave baskets that are among the finest in the world.

Non-Native residents manifest pride and independence in their own ways. This is evident in the motto on state license plates, “Alaska — The Last Frontier,” and on a sign I came across in a small town claiming, “Where the road ends and life begins.”

It was voiced by Elizabeth Arnett, a 40something nurse who said she came to Alaska 15 years ago, then added, “It takes an in-

dependent spirit to live this far from family and friends.” This spirit was expressed more succinctly by a shop keeper in Ketchikan who, when I inquired why she had moved to the state, replied simply, “adventure.”

Travelers seeking an adventure vacation couldn’t do better than to think Alaska. Others who prefer simply to observe wild animals and equally wild scenery from a distance, combined with a lifestyle different from theirs, also are likely to find much to like about the 49th state.

If you go Trips may be timed for viewing the wildlife that holds the most interest for you.

Because many animals bear their young during June, newborn sightings are most likely then. July and August are the best times to see bears congregating along rivers to catch salmon swimming upstream to spawn. During August, animals that go on an eating binge in preparation for winter tend to be more visible than at other times.

Alaska is a destination best explored by air, land and water. Airline flights between towns provide stunning views of flat tundra, glacier-carved valleys, and snowcapped mountain peaks stretching to the horizon. “Flightseeing” in small planes brings passengers up close and personal with majestic, must-see sites like Mount McKinley and sprawling glaciers.

See ALASKA, page 49

Summer Trips Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA

Sunday-Friday, May 22-27 (6 days/5 nights) Experience two of the most storied cities of the South, Charleston, SC and

Savannah, GA. In Charleston you’ll visit the historic district, the Water Front, the Old City Market, and Magnolia Plantation. In Savannah you’ll tour River Street, the historic districts, and Colonial Park Cemetery; cruise the Savannah River; and, as a special treat, enjoy lunch a t P a u l a D e e n ’s L a d y a n d S o n s Restaurant.

*

$899 per person, double occupancy St. Philips Church - Charleston

$1059 per person, single occupancy

The Finger Lakes, NY Sunday-Thursday, July 10-14 (5 day/4 nights)

Explore one of America’s most beautiful regions with breathtaking lakes, waterfalls, rolling hills, and canyons; charming towns and villages; and hundreds of wineries and idyllic farms.

It is also a region steeped in history and culture, where the Women’s Movement began. You’ll stay at the Ramada Geneva Lakefront on picturesque Seneca Lake. This is a perfect midsummer trip that promises to be one of our best trips ever.

$999 perperson, double occupancy $1199 single occupancy

Travel with Louise makes group travel easy and fun.

Call us for our complete schedule and more information on our trips.

Travel with Louise, Ltd. 3 0t r a1v e-l w5i t9h l 8o u-i s0e . 7c o 5m 7

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

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Volunteers mix altruism with global travel

By Dave Carpenter Opportunities to lend a hand in other countries are catching on among those nearing or in retirement as a way to see the world while contributing in at least a small way.

International volunteerism can be a less expensive travel option for the budget-conscious. Costs are often tax-deductible as out-of-pocket charitable expenses. The price of lodging and meals, usually built into the fee, is generally less than on typical overseas vacations.

But this isn’t all about bargain travel, especially with airfare added to costs that can total $3,000 or more. Participants in international service programs tend to want to invest in humanitarian efforts at a community grassroots level, said Michele Gran, senior vice president of the St. Paul, Minn.-based nonprofit group Global Volunteers.

That profile fits an increasing number who in another time might have retired to the golf course but now seek altruistic adventures.

“Voluntourism” took a hit during the economic downturn after growing explosively earlier in the decade. But business from retirement-age travelers has proven virtually recession-proof for several organizations.

More older volunteers The Earthwatch Institute, a global non-

Alaska From page 48 My wife Fyllis and I chose to join a tour group as the best way to pack as many attractions as possible into a limited time.

We selected the eight-day Escorted Alaska Explorer trip, one of a number offered by Gray Line of Alaska.

It combines train and motorcoach travel, tours of Denali park, Anchorage and other cities, and additional sites. Rates begin at $2,439 per person. For more information, log onto www.graylinealaska.com or call 1-888-452-1737.

The tours do not include airfare. United Airlines currently has the lowest roundtrip

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profit that sends volunteers on conservation field research projects, has seen the number of volunteers age 60 or older double in the last decade. Last year, nearly one in five of its 1,100 U.S. volunteers was 67 or over.

“Older volunteers want to contribute to organizations that offer the greatest return on their time and money, especially these days,” said Kristen Kusek, spokeswoman for Boston-based Earthwatch.

Rob Kendig, 66, of Denver, characterizes his recent three-week experience in Siedlce, Poland, as an unpaid working vacation. He taught conversational English to two classes of middle-school students every afternoon and loved every minute of it.

The retired dentist spent $2,600 on the Global Volunteers program plus another $1,100 for airfare. He considered the expenditure something of a philanthropic gift. But he also wanted to explore teaching as a possible second career, so he found it gratifying on multiple levels.

“The Polish children were adorable and appreciative,” he said. “Best of all, there was real work to do and the job was clearcut.”

About 30 percent of the group’s 2,000plus volunteers every year are over 60, according to Gran, who co-founded Global

Volunteers in 1984. Several who participated in the early years are now returning with their adult children and grandchildren, she said.

The oldest volunteer, age 92, spent two weeks teaching English in Ghana last year and is considering going to the Cook Islands with the group in 2011.

fare for June, with flights starting at just under $500 from Dulles.

To experience the Inside Passage — the strip of protected waters between Alaska’s southeastern coast and the string of islands that run parallel to it — we chose the Alaska Ferry System over more glamorous, and costly, cruise line vessels. Its 11 ships connect 31 communities in an area where water serves as the highway.

While ferry facilities are not luxurious, they are comfortable and clean. Other bonuses are frequent sightings of both sea and land creatures, and opportunities to meet and chat with Alaska residents, including Native people, who frequent the ferries.

For information, go to www.ferryalaska.com

or call 1-800-642-0066.

For information about visiting Alaska, see www.travelalaska.com or call 1-888-

Hone language skills Patti Cooper-Smith, 64, of Carson City, Nev., wanted to go somewhere for a month to both improve her Spanish and contribute something. So last year she went to Urubamba, Peru and taught English through a Projects Abroad program.

She spent $2,400, which covered accommodations with a host family, three meals a day, insurance and the organization’s local support services. Airfare and weekend travels pushed her total expenditures to about $4,000.

Cooper-Smith chose Projects Abroad even though she couldn’t deduct costs (because it is a for-profit company). Missing out on a write-off, she concluded, was well worth the opportunity to teach Peruvian high school students four days a week while immersing herself in a non-Englishspeaking family.

“It was much more enriching and a little more altruistic than me just paying some-

one to teach me,” she said. “You can’t accomplish much in a month, but I did feel that I was contributing.”

Other offerings through Projects Abroad, which places 8,000 volunteers a year in 25 countries, include working at an orphanage in Cambodia, participating in an archaeological dig in Romania, or doing forest conservation work in Costa Rica.

“We provide somewhere good for you to live, an introduction to local life and fulfilling work,” said founder and CEO Peter Slowe. “Above all, it’s fulfilling because it’s (providing) what local people want.”

Road Scholar, formerly known as Elderhostel, targets seniors specifically. Its international service programs are pricier than others at an average cost of $260 a night. That reflects a transformation from the organization’s roots in dormitories and cafeterias to more luxurious “adventures in lifelong learning,” as its tag line says.

Joining the Peace Corps At the opposite end of the cost spectrum is the Peace Corps, although it requires a much longer commitment. The government-run program pays volunteers a modest living allowance and then $7,425 at the See VOLUNTEERS, page 51

655-4020.

Victor Block is a Washington, D.C.-based travel writer.

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

We want to be your Family’s Pharmacy That’s why we give you more.

Our pharmacists are at the heart of everything we do.

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With Internet Refills, you can order your prescription without ever leaving the house. Just go to www.riteaid.com and click “Refill Now”, select Store Pick-up or Mail Delivery and simply enter prescription information.

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With every prescription, you will receive written information on the dosage, side effects and potential drug interaction.

Only Rite Aid pharmacists are specially trained to know vitamins. Ask your Rite Aid pharmacist for a personal vitamin profile.

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WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

A world of opportunities Here’s a sampling of organizations that offer international service or voluntourism opportunities, with their level of participation by older volunteers:

Cross-Cultural Solutions Headquarters: New Rochelle, N.Y. International volunteer opportunities: The nonprofit’s programs are available in 12 countries, last from two to 12 weeks, and cost $2,923 and up. Work is in orphanages and child care centers, schools, health clinics and hospitals, homes for the elderly, centers for the disabled, and other community organizations.

Seniors: From 10 to 20 percent of participants are age 50-plus, often repeat volunteers. Through a partnership with AARP, members get a 25 percent discount on one upcoming trip to spend a week volunteering at a senior care center in Lima, Peru. The cost is $1,482 and includes meals and lodging, not airfare.

More information: www.crosscultural solutions.org; 1-800-380-4777.

Earthwatch Institute Headquarters: Boston International volunteer opportunities: Nonprofit sends about 4,000 volunteers a year on conservation field research projects worldwide. Expedition costs range from $450 to $5,750, averaging $2,662 for a duration of three to 22 days.

Seniors: The number of volunteers age 60 or older has doubled in the past decade. Last year, 19 percent of U.S. volunteers were 67 or over.

More information: www.earthwatch .org; 1-800-776-0188

Global Volunteers Headquarters: St. Paul, Minn.

International volunteer opportunities: Nonprofit’s offerings in 18 countries outside the U.S. include teaching English, caring for at-risk children, providing healthcare services, working with community elders, and painting, constructing or repairing buildings.

Seniors: About 50 percent of volunteers are at least 50, and roughly 30 percent are over 60. 2,251 volunteers in 2009.

More information: www.globalvolu nteers.org; 1-800-487-1074

Peace Corps Headquarters: Washington, DC International volunteer opportunities: The government-run organization places volunteers in countries from Asia to Central America and from Europe to Africa. They get a living allowance comparable to local pay, then $7,425 at the close of 27 months of service to assist with the transition back home.

Seniors: Retired professionals can put

their skills to use on projects such as working on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention in Africa, addressing teacher shortages worldwide, improving the technical knowledge of farmers in Central America, or developing strategic management or marketing plans for small sustainable businesses. Of the 8,655 volunteers in fiscal 2010, 376 (4 percent) were 60-plus, including 42 who were 70-plus.

More information: www.peacecorps. gov; 1-800-424-8580

Volunteers From page 49 close of 27 months of service to assist with the transition back home.

The number of Peace Corps volunteers age 60 or older has more than doubled in three years, according to spokeswoman Kelly McCormack. Last year, 376 were at least 60, including 42 in their 70s and one 86-year-old serving in Morocco.

Many are putting decades of career skills to use. For example, a mental health nurse practitioner is doing counseling in a

village in Botswana, and a health services researcher is working at a university in Tonga.

Others go in completely different directions but bring powerful credentials to new tasks: a retired IBM executive who works at an orphanage in Swaziland, a college dean who works on agricultural efforts in Macedonia.

They share an interest in experiences that enrich the towns and villages where they donate their services as well as themselves.

— AP

Projects Abroad Headquarters: Sussex, England International volunteer opportunities: About 1,300 Americans participated in this for-profit company’s programs in 25 less-developed countries last year.

Teaching English is a common volunteer job; more physical work also is available on nature reserves.

Seniors: 9 percent of the 8,000 volunteers worldwide last year were 50 or over, roughly half of them retired.

More information: www.projectsabroad.org; 1-888-839-3535

Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel)

A Community Built Around You Enjoy all that life has to offer. At Forest Glen we combine the comforts of home with the retirement lifestyle you have always wanted.

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Headquarters: Boston International volunteer opportunities: Only a handful of its 8,000 educational programs involve service abroad.

They include recording archaeological sites on Easter Island, assisting in humpback whale research in Costa Rica, and helping to build new classrooms in rural Bolivia. Costs average $260 a night, including accommodations, meals, lectures, activities, transportation within the program, taxes, gratuities and insurance.

Seniors: Almost all of the 100 people who enrolled on international service programs last year were in their 60s or older.

More information: www.roadscholar. org; 1-800-454-5768

Volunteers for Peace Headquarters: Burlington, Vt. International volunteer opportunities: Nonprofit sends 500 to 800 volunteers a year to overseas projects operated by partner organizations. For a $30 membership, a $300 registration fee and airfare, participants might spend two to three weeks building latrines, putting roofs on houses, clearing brush for trails, or doing HIV-AIDS education in the developing world. Longer-term projects are also available.

Seniors: About 10 percent are over 50; less than 5 percent over 60.

More information: www.vfp.org; 1802-540-3060 — AP

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and Free “Guide to Jewish Life”

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A P R I L 2 0 1 1 — WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N

Letters to Editor

ONE BIG HAPPY By Rick Detorie

From page 2 as the father realizes. Why bring up the inapplicable anecdote about the spoiled daughter from another family?

Now consider the investment account (owned or just managed jointly). Even $300,000 now will make only $6,000 per year at 2 percent interest (bonds/dividends) after fees. That wouldn’t go far to help these daughters. Sell stocks/funds with significant gains (good luck)? Don’t forget the taxes.

Manage jointly? Could get dicey.

Back to the second daughter. Why does the father fear jealousy? No sympathy for her sister? Their needs are not equal. Even if she hasn’t started saving or can’t, surely she needs less to start a business than the first daughter does to buy a house.

Give her some — or invest. Then next year, if there are more needs, and dad’s investments and retirement income allow, give more — to both. Make up any difference in the will. To paraphrase Levey, “Where there’s a will (as well as plenty of cash on hand), there’s a way.”

Paul Crumrine Silver Spring, Md. Dear Editor: Congratulations on the Beacon taking home so many of the NAMPA awards.

Well deserved recognition.

Judy T. Massabny Office of Senior Adult Programs Arlington, Va.

Send your letter to the editor. s a ft! e ak gi M eat gr

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May 11

HISTORIC ST. MARY’S CITY Take a walking tour of St. Mary’s City, located in Southern

Maryland on the western shore of the Potomac River, near the Chesapeake Bay.

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NEWS & FEATURES • LAW & MONEY • FITNESS & HEALTH LEISURE & TRAVEL • ARTS & STYLE • VOLUNTEERS & CAREERS

Visit a tobacco plantation, the reconstructed State House of 1676, go aboard a re-created square-rigged ship, and tour the Woodland Indian Hamlet with

We are pleased to offer both First-Class and Third-Class subscriptions: Montgomery County Dept of Recreation. Lunch at St. Mary’s College is included.

$36/year via First Class Mail* $12/year via Third Class Mail* Please send my subscription to:

The fee is $55. The trip leaves at 7:15 a.m. and returns at 5:30 p.m. Register online at www.recweb.montgomerycountymd.gov or in person at 4010 Randolph

Name:____________________________________________

Rd., Silver Spring, Md. For more information, call (240) 777-4926

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City: _____________________State:_____Zip: ___________ ❐ ONE YEAR First-Class rate ($36 in VA and out of the area; $38.16 in D.C.; $38.16 in MD)

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Apr. 20

GARDEN GETAWAY Immerse yourself in springtime splendor at Longwood Gardens, a DuPont estate in Pennsylvania in this Fairfax County Parks trip on

Wednesday, April 20 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Enjoy formal plantings and fountains on the estate grounds and the grand conservatory, which houses vast collections of exotic plants and the Easter display of lilies, orchids and hydrangeas. The $99 cost of the trip includes transportation, driver tip, entrance and guided tour fees. Register by calling (703) 642-5173 or at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/education.htm.

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box below.

CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either. Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment.

Caregivers LOVING HOME CARE “Care you can trust and afford.” Licensed, bonded, insured. Companionship, hygiene supervision, meal preparation, housekeeping, errands, shopping, doctor’s appointments, etc. Loving, dependable caregivers for Live-In/Out, FT/PT. Call for your FREE consultation: 301-490-1146. www.lovinghomecare.org.

CHEVY CHASE HOME CARE – reliable certified caregivers at time of illness, infirmity, loneliness. Personal assistance, ALL AGES, 4to 24-hour shifts, homes, hospitals, nursing homes. MD, DC, No. VA. Tel.: 202-374-1240. www.ChChHomecare.com.

C A R E G I V E R A V A I L A B L E Live-in/out days/nights or weekend, car, cook, experience, excellent references. MD/DC/Northern VA. 703408-1347.

LIVE-IN NURSE with 25 years medical experience and a heart for the elderly. Will provide live-in care for your loved one. Call Liz at 240672-1767.

CATHERINE’S HOME HEALTHCARE It is now possible to keep your loved one in their home. We can assist you with aides, nurses, & companions. We also have doctors, physical therapists & laboratories that will come to your home. Part-time & around the clock care available. Kelsie, 301-428-0562.

CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANT Licensed

by Board of Nursing. Seeking to work Monday through Friday day or night. Excellent references from top agencies. Please call 240-3040448.

HOME HEALTH AIDE with skills looking for work. She has PhD in loyalty, masters in hard work, BA in devotion, and AA degree in care of elderly ones. Part-time 9 to 1 pm, 3 hours minimum per day. $9.00/hour to start. Temple Hills/Clinton area only. Call Patricia at 301-4493651, during day hours only please.

Computer Services PROBLEM WITH YOUR PC OR NETWORK? Computer Systems Engineer will come to you with help. HOME. BUSINESS. Call: D. Guisset at 301-642-4526.

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Computer Services

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate

COMPUTER LESSONS – Personal Computer training at your home. Email, Internet, general computer use, and more. Learn at your own pace with gentle and patient tutor. We also fix computers, set up your new computer, and troubleshoot. Working with Seniors since 1996. Ask about your Senior discount. Call David, 301762-2570, COMPUTERTUTOR.

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WE CREATE WIRED SENIORS ~ FREE! If you are 55 or older, Generations OnLine may be the program for you! Senior coaches guide you step by step to teach you how to use email and the Internet. Please call Marie at 240-395-0915 to register for our program in Silver Spring, Wheaton or Rockville. Open Enrollment!

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Entertainment PUT THE MUSIC YOU LOVE BACK IN YOUR LIFE! Enjoy live jazz and swing on the first Friday of the month at Hollywood East Café, Westfield Wheaton Shopping Mall, 7 to 10 PM. Listen to the Night & Day Combo perform the classic standard songs of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, from Cole Porter, Gershwin, et al. Great music, great food, no cover charge! http://nightanddaymusic.com/clubpage.html.

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Consider a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) as an Advisor who works only for you, with no obligation, Joseph I. Rosenberg, CFA/LLC or email jrosenberg123@gmail.com. Check out website: joe-rosenberg.com.

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Call 301-251-1998 evenings/weekends/leave message.

LOOKING TO TAKE THE LEAP? I’ll take you on a tour of the community, show you floor plans, discuss campus amenities, & offer how to best coordinate your move. I will preview units & contact you with a match. I also offer exceptional service selling your home. I’m a Seniors Specialist, Buyer Broker, Top 1% of Agents Nationwide, and a Leisure World resident! You can see my current listings on page 44. Contact me: 301-580-5556, SueHeyman@aol.com, www.SueHeyman.com, Weichert, Realtors.

LEISURE WORLD® - $119,500. 2BR 1FB “Hampton” model with access to Broadwalk.

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LEISURE WORLD® - $89,000. 1BR 1FB “A” model in “Greens”. Close to the elevator, new paint and carpet, enclosed balcony. 850 sq ft.

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ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD A L S O

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A L L L V I E E E E T T O G A S S G O T T E E R L E E S L E A R S A N C N E S P O R T E R O B A T B O I D A N A L T S M E

O B E X E C O T H T O T E E A S P C R W O E A W E R B S O O K K N O A R

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LEISURE WORLD® - $89,900. 1BR 1FB “A” model in the “Fairways”. Fresh paint and carpet, updated kitchen, close to elevator. 850 sq ft.

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ROOMS FOR RENT in a private home, shared facilities, only non-smoking female, fully furnished, no pets. $495 per month plus utilities.

301-233-4722 ROOM FOR RENT: in private home, nonsmoking female, $600 per month, utilities included, bus stops in front of home, close to shopping malls and Van Dorn Metro. Call 703-9415044.

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LAND LIQUIDATION 20 ACRES $0 Down, $99/mo. Only $12,900 Near El Paso, TX, Owner Financing, No Credit Checks! Money Back Guarantee Free Color Brochure. 800-755-8953 www.sunsetranches.com

For Sale YARD SALE: Rent table for $20 by April 18 to sell your goods at St. Elizabeth Church in Rockville April 30 to benefit agriculture program for Haiti sister parish. Information at 301881-1380.

ESTATE SALE 16/17 APRIL 10am to 3pm Kensington, MD – 4103 Spruell Drive. Take Connecticut Avenue (Exit 33) Take left (North).

Veer left onto Connecticut Avenue extended.

Make left at Denfeld Ave. (Rock View ES). Veer right to Dewey Rd. Left on to Spruell Drive.

Many old items, brick-a-brack, 1,000+ records, books, furniture, many packaged items, old political items/sports/odds and ends. Call 703-7995932.

DIRECT to home Satellite TV $19.99/mo. FREE installation, FREE HD-DVR upgrade. New customers - No Activation Fee! Credit/Debit Card Req. Call 1-800-795-3579.

FREE Home Security System $850 value! with ADT 24/7 Monitoring Package and $99 Install Fee! PLUS New Customer Bonus! Call now!

800-353-6348 ADT Auth Co. FREE HD FOR LIFE! DISH Network. $24.99/mo. - Over 120 Channels. Plus $500 BONUS! Call 1-800-915-9514.

Health FREE PRESCRIPTION DISCOUNT CARD Save 10% - 60% on your prescriptions pets included. Use at over 60,000 pharmacies nationwide to get your free card, call 888-559-5524.

WHERE IS YOUR PAIN? Back, Neck, Nerve, Arthritis, Joint & Muscle Pain, etc. Give us your opinion on our NATURAL pain relief LOTION. FREE SAMPLES FOR THE FIRST 25 callers.

Call 1-888-650-7822.

BACK BRACE COVERED BY Medicare/ Insurance Substantial Relief and comfortable We a r ! 1 - 8 0 0 - 8 1 5 - 1 5 7 7 e x t 4 3 2 w w w. lifecarediabeticsupplies.com.

TAKE VIAGRA/CIALIS? SAVE $500! 40 Pills, Only $99! + 4 Pills FREE! Money-Back Guarantee! 1-888-811-8646m.

Classifieds cont. on p. 55.

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES

Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 20th of each month.

Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards.

Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, offer a personal service, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $15 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

Commercial Party Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing commercial business enterprise. Each ad is $35 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one commercial ad.

The Beacon, Classified Dept.

P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227

Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

For information about display advertising, or to request a media kit, call (301) 949-9766.

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Crossword

Puzzle Page

NEW! Daily Crosswords on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus

Triple Doubles 1

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by Stephen Sherr 6

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36

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27

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Scrabble answers on p. 53.

10

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49

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1. ___ dark stranger 6. Brain portion 10. Dapper and Desperate 14. Chicago Bears’ charming head coach Smith 15. Head honcho 16. Parting words 17. Longing for lollipops 19. Top quality 20. Switch ups 21. Grill type 22. “... ___ to disagree” 24. Came down with (as a cold) 25. Abstain from alcohol 26. Portion of the U.S.A. 29. The world’s second most popular drink 31. Sign of a hit play 32. Govern 33. It may be well done by a medium (abbrev.)

34. The 43rd state 38. Attentive 40. Held closely 42. Voice of Pepe Le Pew 43. “___ is me” 44. “Good grief!”

45. Compass letters, clockwise from the top 47. Astonish 48. Visits a diner 49. Washington Post employee 53. King or queen, perhaps 55. Well balanced individual 56. They may be Red or White (but not Blue) 57. Paul’s partner on Mrs. Robinson 60. Null neighbor 61. Accountant (or librarian) 64. Israeli airline 65. Part of 2011 AD 66. Pee Wee, whose number was retired by the Dodgers 67. It could get you a stamp in 1974 68. Autocrat 69. Cantankerous

1. “And another thing...”

2. Burg 3. Parallel lines on a Manhattan map (abbrev.)

4. Commit perjury 5. Release 6. Some summer babies 7. Unsuccessful tic-tac-toe column 8. She was Baby Jane 9. Returns from the mountains 10. Emulate a Samaritan 11. Cancel the mission 12. ___ day (ambitious fruit and vegetable goal) 13. Type of guitar or drum 18. Create confetti 23. Heart parts 24. A bit of tri-colored pasta salad 25. Select to run for political office 26. Kuwaiti or Jordanian 27. Consider carefully 28. Singer Fitzgerald 30. Snake head 35. Aquatic organism 36. Miami team 37. This entry, and the next one 39. Sour 40. Chicago fire starter 41. Puma rival 43. Simple card game 46. “From hell’s heart I ___ thee” (Ahab’s declaration) 49. Gave top marks 50. Bacteria that may cause a food recall 51. King of Troy 52. Jackets with wide lapels 54. Apply, as pressure 56. Hershey candy with butter toffee 57. Ruling class in a 1968 sci-fi film 58. Use a 53 Across 59. Low card 62. ___ roll 63. Shoe width

Answers on page 53.

Answer: What the lightweight boxer turned into when he retired - A "MIDDLE" WEIGHT Jumbles: LUNGE WHEAT BANDIT NUDISM

WA S H I N G T O N B E A C O N — A P R I L 2 0 1 1

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Health

Personal Services

Wanted

Wanted

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION can be treated safely and effectively without drugs or surgery covered by Medicare/Insurance. 1-800-815-1577 ext 433 www.lifecarediabeticsupplies.com.

Home/Handyman Services

CABIN JOHN ORGANIZING Household organizing, billpaying, and paperwork for seniors and those with ADHD or chronic disorganization. Member NAPO, GROWS, AADMM, www.cabinjohnorganizing.com. 301-263-9482 or Melanie@dorsetwest.com.

STAMP COLLECTIONS, AUTOGRAPHS purchased/appraised – U.S., worldwide, covers, paper memorabilia. Stamps are my specialty – highest price paid! Appraisals. Phone Alex, 301309-6637. Stampex1@gmail.com.

SPRING IS ALMOST HERE, plan now to downsize, move, donations, auction galleries.

New York, New England, Beaches. Expert owner, 33rd year. Paul Casey, 240-631-9178. Cell 301351-3840. Retired, U.S. Navy WWII, Bonhomme, CONNOISSEUR, and CRÈME de la CRÈME. We do clean-outs, with prompt, expert answers.

ELDER SUPPORT L.I.G.H.T. Outreach Program (Living-Independently-GenerationgHope-together). Let us help you! Assistance with:Reading and preparing forms; Scheduling appointments; Fitness; Nutrition; Shopping; Grooming; Housekeeping; Relocation. REASONABLE RATES. Call todlay 202-355-8412 / www.aidofnumanity.org/outreach.html.

MICHAELS HAULING Clean-outs, scrap & debris removal yard waste, etc. Mulch, dirt & stone delivery, lite dump truck, 20’ trailer & bobcat. Fully insured. 240-388-1898.

WILL DRIVE YOU to your appointments, shopping, errands and assist you as you need help in many areas. Honest, hardworking, over50 female. 301-222-7937.

HIGHEST CASH PAID FOR ANTIQUES AND COLLECTIBLES. Compare my price before you sell! Serving entire metro area. Call for a free consultation, and professional service. I will purchase one piece or your entire estate. Including Furniture, Artwork, Glassware, Jewelry, Rugs, Costume, Gold and Silver, Watches, Sterling Items, Flatware, Lladro & Hummel Figurines, All Military Items, Guns, Swords, Helmets, Bayonets, Medals, Scout Items, Clocks, Music Boxes, Toys, Baseball Memorabilia, Trains, All String Instruments, Including Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, Fishing Rods and Reels, Lures, Historical Items, American tools, Posters, Outside Iron Furniture. I am a very reputable dealer with two locations in Silver Spring and Bowie, MD. Please call Christopher Keller 301-408-4751 or 301-262-1299. Thank you.

ALL JUNK HAULING *Trash hauling *Estate/Garage/Basement/Yard clean-out *Residential –Commercial *Serving metro area (MD/DC/VA). 26 years old, family owned and operated. Toll free 1-877-586-5553 or 301-593-7373.

MAKE A SPOKEN MEMOIR! A CD keepsake for you and your descendents. You know how you want to be remembered. Pass on your life story to your descendents in your own voice. It’ll be almost like having you in the room! Make it as you relax at home. Memories flood back in an easy way. No extra preparation is needed. There’s expert assistance, high quality recording equipment, and editing to make sure your keepsake CD is just how you want it to be. GET A FREE INFO CD: “MAKING A SPOKEN MEMOIR.” Please contact Dave Checkman PhD, Memoir Keepers, 703-821-7666, david3933@verizon.net, McLean, VA.

Miscellaneous ATTEND COLLEGE ONLINE from home.

Medical, Business, Paralegal, Accounting, Criminal Justice. Job placement assistance. Computer available. Financial aid if qualified. Call 800494-3586 www.CenturaOnline.com.

DONATE YOUR CAR. FREE TOWING. “Cars for Kids”. Any condition. Tax deductible outreachcenter.com, 1-800-597-9411.

FREE Home Security System $850 value! with ADT 24/7 Monitoring Package and $99 Install Fee! PLUS New Customer Bonus! Call now!

800-353-6348 ADT Auth Co. PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? You choose from families nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions. 866-413-6292, 24/7 Void/Illinois.

Personal Services VAN MAN – For your driving needs. Shopping, appointments, pick-up and deliver – airport van. Call Mike 301-565-4051.

CHERYL’S ORGANIZING CONCEPTS. Specializing in residential and small business organizing, paperwork management and senior move management. Member National Association Professional Organizers (NAPO). Bonded, insured. www.CherylsOrganizing.com. 10% senior discount 301-916-9022.

DO YOU HAVE A NOVEL IN YOU? Awardwinning writer with 25 years experience with help you write, edit, and help find agents and publishers for your work of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or your memoir. Hourly rate reduced for senior citizens. Phone Jack Ryan at 703-8552501, or email to jryan12558@aol.com.

MOTHER WILL DRIVE YOU to your appointments, do your shopping, clean your house, cooking, personal assistant. Do you need to plan an event? Also does Elder Care. Honest, reasonable rate, and references provided. 240-595-7467.

WRITE A MEMOIR YOUR GRANDKIDS WILL READ! Professional writer/memoir-specialist will help you organize and polish your family memories. Info and rates: 301-221-5494.

Personals OLD FASHIONED 63-YEAR-OLD White male seeking old fashioned female 65-100 years old, for fun, walks, movies, TV and cuddling.

703-751-1037.

ACTIVE WIDOWED CHRISTIAN LADY, white, seeking active Christian gentleman, 7885, non-smoker. Likes going to the Eastern Shore and eating out occasionally. Please reply to P.O. BOX 12154, U.S. Post Office, Leisure World Plaza, Silver Spring, MD 20908.

IN SEARCH OF MURPHY? Lost your phone number. Please call. Let’s Talk 703-597-9015.

Thanks! Connie.

Vacation Opportunities RESOR T OPPOR TUNITY – BETHANY BEACH, DE. 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms.

Townhouse close to shopping, restaurants, and boardwalk. $399,000. 301-565-4051.

SELL/RENT YOUR TIMESHARE FOR CASH!!!

Our Guaranteed Services will Sell/ Rent Your UnusedTimeshare for CASH! Over $95 Million Dollars offered in 2010!www.sellatimeshare.com Call (800) 882-0296.

Wanted

WILL TYPE YOUR MEMOIRS, manuscripts, etc. For info and rates, call 703-671-1854.

WANTED TO BUY old magazines, books, postcards, posters, etc., pre-1975. Also bookends, antique bookcases with glass fronts. Please call 301-946-0941 anytime.

WOW! GREAT HAIRCUT at a great price!

Professional family hair salon conveniently located in Bethesda, MD. State board certified.

Call 240-432-7211.

WANTED: OLDER VIOLINS, GUITARS, BANJOS, MANDOLINS, ETC. Musician/collector will pay cash for older string instruments. Jack (301) 279-2158.

WE PAY CASH for antique furniture, quality used furniture, early American art, pottery, silver, glassware, paintings, etc. Single items to entire estates. Call Reggie or Phyllis at DC 202726-4427, MD 301-332-4697.

MILITARY ITEMS WANTED: Collector seeks to purchase military uniforms; flight jackets, patches, insignia, medals, etc. from the Civil War through Vietnam. Especially seeking U.S. Army Air Corps, USMC, Airborne, and German/Japanese/Italian items from WWII. ALSO BUYING old Boy Scout, Airline Items, Toys, Lighters. Call Dan (202) 841-3062.

CASH FOR JEWELRY: Buying jewelry, diamonds, gold, platinum, silver, watches, coins, flatware, etc. We make house calls. Ask for Tom or Katherine. Call anytime 301-654-8678.

OLD HIFI, STEREO EQUIPMENT PreAmps, Amplifiers, Tuners, Large Old Speakers, James B Lancing, Altec, Tannoy, Quad, Basement-Garage-Attic. Honest Pricing. Please Call Alan 240-478-1100.

FINE ANTIQUES, PAINTINGS AND QUALITY VINTAGE FURNISHINGS wanted by a serious capable buyer. I am very well educated [law degree] knowledgeable [over 40 years in the antique business] and have the finances and wherewithal to handle virtually any situation.

If you have a special item, collection or important estate I would like to hear from you. I pay great prices for great things in all categories from oriental rungs to Tiffany objects, from rare clocks to firearms, from silver and gold to classic cars. If it is wonderful I am interested. No phony promises or messy consignments. References gladly furnished. Please call Jake Lenihan 301-279-8834. Thank you.

WANTED: ANTIQUE ELECTRONICS, radio tubes, ham radios, tube HIFI amps; huge old speakers, vinyl records, scientific curiosities, antique computers, calculators. 202-527-9501.

CASH FOR RECORDS & CDs. BEST PRICE GUARANTEED. Free appraisals. All types of music, 33, 45, 78 & CDs. Call Steve 301-6465403. Will make House Calls.

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from the 20s through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s, Larger collections preferred. Please call John, 301-596-6201.

ESTATE BUY-OUTS ESTATE CLEAN-OUTS Single piece or entire estate, real estate prep, trash hauling. The Attic, LLC. Licensed, Bonded, Insured. MD/DC/VA. 301-520-0755.

HIGHEST CASH PAID FOR ANTIQUES, ESTATES. FREE evaluations and house calls.

We pay the most for your valuable treasures because we get the most money on eBay – the worldwide internet. Serving entire metro area – Maryland, Washington, DC, Northern Virginia. Buying the following items – furniture, art, paintings, silver, gold, old coins, jewelry, vintage wristwatches, military items, including guns, rifles, swords, daggers, knives, musical instruments, guitars, violins, banjos, old toys, dolls, trains, old golf clubs, baseball, football, tennis equipment and memorabilia, old fishing, tools, books, photographs, comic books.

I am a resident of Silver Spring. 20 years experience. Please call Tom 240-476-3441, Thank you.

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE ELDERLY NATION DONATIONS is seeking vehicle donations running or not. With your donation we are able to give financial support to our local elderly for medicine, medical devices, food, etc. We are a local non-profit organization. You will receive a tax deduction for you donation. Donate by phone at 410-865-3002 or 877-370-3002. On our website www.elderlynationdonations.org.

COLLECTOR BUYING MODERN FURNITURE, lighting, art & accessories from the 1940’s – 1970’s. Danish/Scan, Knoll, Herman Miller, Dunbar, Paul Evans, Thayer Coggin, Harvey Probber, Vladimir Kagan, Nakashima, etc. Also buying abstract modern art, ceramics, glass and records. Please call 202-213-9768.

CASH PAID for unexpired, sealed DIABETIC TEST STRIPS - up to $17/Box! Shipping paid. Sara 1-800-371-1136. www.cash4diabeticsupplies.com.

TOP CASH FOR CARS, Any Car/Truck, Running or Not. Call for INSTANT offer: 1-800-4546951.

WANTED DIABETES TEST STRIP Unexpired & ADULT Diapers up to $16.00. Shipping Paid 1800-266-0702 www.selldiabeticstrips.com.

WANTED JAPANESE MOTORCYCLES KAWASAKI,1970-1980, Z1-900, KZ900, KZ1000, H2-750, H1-500, S1-250, S2-250, S2350, S3-400. CASH PAID. 1-800-772-1142. 1310-721-0726.

BEACON BITS

May 22+

VIRGINIA HISTORY TOUR Walk through history in Roanoke and Bedford, Va., home of the

National D-Day Memorial and Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s personal retreat.

The trip includes several museums, a luncheon cruise, and overnight accommodations at the Grand Old Lady Roanoke Hotel. The trip leaves Sunday, May 22 and returns Tuesday, May 24. It costs $446 for Arlington County residents and $459 for non-residents. For more information, call (703) 228-4748.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

HELP THE RED CROSS The American Red Cross Greater Chesapeake & Potomac Blood

May 20+

EXPERIENCE THE JAZZ AGE IN PARIS Imagine yourself cruising the Seine with a glass of wine, great friends and the sweet, sensual notes of jazz filling the air. Or per-

Services Region is seeking volunteers to assist staff at blood drives in Maryland,

haps ducking into the small jazz establishments that are the hidden gems of this

Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. Volunteer responsibilities include greeting

romantic city. These experiences and more await you on the seven-day, six-night

donors, providing them with reading materials, and offering refreshments. The hours

Strathmore tour of the Jazz Age in Paris from May 20 to 27. Hear Wynton Marsalis at the celebrated Salle Pleyel, visit the Galerie du Jeu du Paume, and take in a

are flexible and training is provided. Call 1-800-272-0094, ext. 1, or e-mail karlofft@usa.redcross.org for more information.

performance at the St. Germain des Préz Jazz Festival. The cost is $4,995 per person, double occupancy. To learn more call 1-800-556-7896, ext 7373.

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