December 2014 | Howard County Beacon

The Howard County

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VOL.4, NO.12

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More than 30,000 readers throughout Howard County

Being gay and gray in Howard

New county task force The task force began meeting a few months ago. It is now composed of 10 members, including social workers, lawyers, county Office on Aging officials, and other advocates. Its goal is to help the local older LGBT community with any problems it faces, and to educate county residents about the LGBT community.

According to Dayna Brown, who recently left the county Office on Aging after being its Administrator for the past three years, the impetus behind the new task force was not a rise in documented cases or complaints of discrimination lodged with the county.

In fact, Nicole Baptiste Patterson, the Howard County Office on Aging ombuds-

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PHOTO COURTESY OF SUSAN GARNER

By Robert Friedman “As Bette Davis said, ‘Old age ain’t no place for sissies,’ so imagine what it means to be old and gay,” said Imani Woody, a human services specialist who works with older lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals in what is today known as the LGBT community.

What it could mean for many LGBT older adults, especially if they go into assisted living or nursing homes or need special services, is a return to the closet as they face prejudice from other elderly residents or caregivers, said Woody, who recently brought her message to Howard County.

Woody, founding director of Mary’s House, a new affordable housing option for LGBT older adults in Washington, D.C., recently presented the documentary Gen Silent in Columbia on behalf of the newly formed LGBT Older Adult Task Force for Howard County. Woody led a discussion about the film, which showed how older LGBT people fear discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other seniors.

The fears are no doubt based on experience. In a recent Pew Research Center survey of LGBT individuals of all ages, 30 percent of respondents reported being threatened or physically attacked, and 21 percent said they had been treated unfairly by an employer. Nearly 4 in 10 reported being rejected by family or friends because of their sexual orientation.

That said, it is difficult to find first-hand reports of discrimination against older LGBT adults here in Howard County.

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What is ‘social media,’ and is it for you?; plus, how to protect your ID from breaches, and apps that let you control your house remotely page 3

Susan Garner and Genna Browne got married in Ellicott City last year, when Maryland legalized same-sex marriages. Like many area LGBT couples, they say they have found Howard County to be welcoming, though there persists a perception that prejudice may still be a problem in some quarters.

man for people living in long-term care homes, said in her seven months on the job she has had no complaints of LGBT issues from residents of the homes in the county.

Similarly, Vernon Gray, administrator of the Howard County Office of Human Rights, said he has received no recent complaints regarding the treatment of older LGBT adults.

Still, there appears to be a strong perception among advocates that either problems exist and are not being reported, or that older LGBT adults are so afraid of a backlash that they avoid discrimination by keeping their sexual identity under wraps.

“There’s no real data in Howard County” about such prejudice, Woody said. “But there is data about prejudice nationally,

and I don’t think Howard County would be that much different.”

Task force member Jessica Rowe, a social worker and geriatric care manager, said, “We are all aware that as LGBT adults get older, they have to use such formal services as hospitals, healthcare agencies and nursing homes, and they may feel that they will be forced back into the closet or are afraid of discrimination.”

Rowe noted that while there are antiLGBT discrimination laws for Maryland hospitals, she has heard of instances where staff members were reluctant to treat gay patients.

Furthermore, there’s the fact that older adults came of age in a time when anti-gay See GAY AND GRAY, page 15

L E I S U R E & T R AV E L

Carlsbad’s caverns reveal underground wonders; plus, last-minute travel deals page 23 FITNESS & HEALTH 7 k Time to revisit Medicare choices k 90-year-old caregiver a winner THE SENIOR CONNECTION 16 k Newsletter for Howard County seniors LAW & MONEY k When to sell bond funds k Burial benefits for vets

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ARTS & STYLE k Whimsical, wearable art k Little Dancer comes to life

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PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE

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More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Credit where it’s due In my column last month, I promised to enhancement, exchange of ideas, mainteshare more about the awards our writers nance and improvement of standards, and the improvement of business have recently garnered in naconditions within the publishtional competitions. ing industry.

Each year, we enter a selecIn this year’s competition, tion of our writers’ original stohundreds of submissions from ries in two journalism competiNAMPA member publications tions: those of the North Amerwere judged in various cateican Mature Publishers Associgories by an independent panel ation (NAMPA) and the Naof experts from the University tional Mature Media Awards. of Missouri School of JournalThis year, we received ism, generally considered one more than 20 awards at the anof the top journalism schools in nual NAMPA convention, held FROM THE the country. in Shreveport-Bossier City, PUBLISHER Both the Greater WashingLa., in late September.

By Stuart P. Rosenthal ton and Baltimore Beacons NAMPA is an association of publishers producing newspapers and won first place “General Excellence” magazines for the mature market. It focus- awards in their circulation categories, as es on sharing best practices for publication well as “Best of Show” awards for the most

BEACON BITS

Dec. 8

HAMPDEN FOR HOLIDAY TREATS

A bus trip including an early dinner at Café Hon in Hampden followed by a visit to the Hampden Light Show is planned for Monday, Dec. 8 with the bus departing at 3 p.m. and returning at 9 p.m. Fee is $79.

For more information or to register, call (410) 313-7279 or email viruss@howardcountymd.gov.

Beacon

total awards in their categories.

Our Howard County edition also placed for General Excellence. The judges found the Beacon overall to be “a well-organized combination of well-done local stories and those of wider appeal. The range of content makes the pick-up-and-read experience satisfying. Overall editing and vision is strong.”

Our Howard County freelancer Robert Friedman was recognized for his profile of inventor Robert Fischell, which appeared on our May cover. The judges described Friedman’s story as “engaging,” and found it “an enlightening read that demonstrates the power of a writer to share his vision.”

Fischell was our keynote speaker at the Beacon’s 50+Expo in October. If you missed him there, you can view a video of his presentation on our website: www.theBeaconNewspapers.com.

Other stories in our Washington and Baltimore editions won NAMPA awards in the Feature Writing, Profile, Travel, Topical Issue, Reviews and Personal Essay categories.

In this year’s Mature Media Awards competition, Friedman won a Bronze Award for his cover story, “Can you expand your brain?” which appeared on our Howard County cover last November.

Our managing editor, Barbara Ruben, won a Silver Mature Media Award for her story “Secrets of healthy aging,” which appeared on the covers of both our Howard

County and Baltimore editions in May 2013.

Ruben also won a Silver, Bronze and Merit Award for three other Greater Washington cover stories, while Carol Sorgen, our Baltimore contributing editor, won two Bronze Awards. Our theatre reviewer, Michael Toscano, won a Silver Award for a cover story that appeared in our Washington edition.

In short, this was our best year to date judged by number of awards in both competitions. Last month, I recognized the entire Beacon staff by name for their hard work and contributions to our success. So let me just say “ditto” this month, as we pat ourselves on the back for all these awards.

Of course, whatever awards we do or do not win, what matters most to us is that you, our readers, find the information you are looking for in the Beacon.

Please let us know what you think — even (actually, especially) if you think we are missing the boat in any particular area.

Also feel free to share ideas for future stories, and to recommend your fellow citizens for profiles. Your opinions and suggestions are always welcome, whether you contact us by mail, phone, fax, email or online. I look forward to hearing from you.

The Howard County

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The Beacon is a monthly newspaper dedicated to inform, serve, and entertain the citizens of Howard County, Md. and is privately owned. Other editions serve Greater Baltimore, Md., Greater Washington DC, and Greater Palm Springs, Calif.

Subscriptions are available via third-class mail ($12), prepaid with order. Maryland residents add 6 percent for sales tax. Send subscription order to the office listed below.

Publication of advertising contained herein does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Signed columns represent the opinions of the writers, and not necessarily the opinion of the publisher.

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. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

BEACON BITS

Dec. 10

ENJOY BSO HOLIDAY POPS

Start celebrating the holidays early with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the performance of their holiday musical show in Baltimore on Wednesday, Dec. 10. A bus leaves at 12:30 p.m. and returns at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $79. For more information, email viruss@howardcountymd.gov or call (410) 313-7279.

• Publisher/Editor ....................Stuart P. Rosenthal • Associate Publisher..............Judith K. Rosenthal • Vice President, Operations........Gordon Hasenei • Director of Sales ................................Alan Spiegel • Assistant Operations Manager ..........Roger King • Managing Editor............................Barbara Ruben • Graphic Designer ..............................Kyle Gregory • Advertising Representatives ........Doug Hallock, ................................................ Steve Levin, Jill Joseph

Ongoing

EPILEPSY AND SEIZURES HOTLINE

One in 26 people will be affected by epilepsy. The Epilepsy Foundation and the “epilepsy therapy project” provide help, hope and support to people with epilepsy and seizures and their families nationwide. For answers to questions about epilepsy, seizures, first aid and treatments; assistance with finding epilepsy specialists or local support groups; referrals to national and local resources; and for free packets of educational materials, call the 24/7 Helpline at 1-800-332-1000 or visit www.epilepsy.com.

• Editorial Assistant ........................Rebekah Sewell

The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915 (410) 248-9101 • Email: info@thebeaconnewspapers.com Submissions: The Beacon welcomes reader contributions. Deadline for editorial and advertising is the 1st of the month preceding the month of publication. See page 35 for classified advertising details.

Please mail or email all submissions.

© Copyright 2014 The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

Ongoing

FREE TALKING BOOKS AVAILABLE

Free talking books, players and a download service are available for individuals who can’t read or handle regular print books. Materials are loaned free through a cooperating library in your area through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the Library of Congress. For more information, visit www.loc/gov/nls or call 1-888-657-7323.

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Say you saw it in the Beacon

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Technology &

Innovations What is ‘social media,’ and is it for you?

By Morgan Lamphere and Carol Sorgen There’s a notion common among many young people that older American’s don’t “get” social media. But actually, older adults are now the fastest-growing group of new users of social media in the United States.

The growth has been spectacular: In 2013, 43 percent of Americans over 65 used at least one social networking site, compared with 26 percent in 2010 and one percent in 2008.

The term “social media” refers to websites and mobile applications (or the more inclusive term: platforms) that enable people around the world to interact and communicate with others who have similar interests. There is generally no charge to use these sites, once you have Internet access and a computer or web-connected mobile device (smartphone or tablet).

When it comes to using social media, older Americans tend to be more private and cautious about what they share than are younger generations. But once they see the potential benefits of different types of social media, older adults do participate to the extent they are comfortable doing so.

We present below an overview of the most popular social media platforms, describing some of their features and benefits that may be of interest to you.

Facebook (www.facebook.com) Facebook is a platform designed to rekindle and preserve existing social connections using on online “forum” for sharing personal messages, written updates, photos and videos. The site is the most

popular social media site in the world, with 1.23 billion people using it monthly.

Users sign up for a Facebook page at no charge, and then may invite other users to connect with them as “friends.” In return, users can accept or reject invitations to connect with other individuals.

Based on the information you supply about yourself, and the Facebook pages you chose to connect with, the site recommends other users or groups you might know or want to know.

While users “friend” other individuals, they can “like” their favorite brands, groups, charities, TV shows and more — and receive updates from those designated Facebook accounts.

Facebook provides millions of older adults with the ability to keep in touch with family members, as well as learn of each other’s day-to-day activities, through messages and photos posted to their pages.

Laura Dorn Foxworth, who is 52 and lives in Woodmoor in Baltimore County, has been a Facebook user since 2008. “I started originally [in order] to keep track of what my daughter was doing on it,” she said. “But now I enjoy reconnecting with old friends that I have not heard from in years, and have gotten together with some who are still in town but with whom I had long since lost touch.”

Foxwor th’s high school class uses Facebook to inform members of reunions. Foxworth has also “friend-

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ed” current friends, family members and church members, and “likes” a weight loss surgery support group.

“I go on Facebook once or twice a day,” said Foxworth. “With the new messenger feature, I can get instant messages from people even if we do not have each other’s phone number.”

One social media site is “all I can handle,” said Foxworth, explaining why she’s not a fan of some of the other popular sites discussed below. Her only complaint about Facebook? “Sometimes I learn more about people than I care to know!”

For “semi-retired attorney, dad, older hipster and pseudo-hippie” Eric Bergerson, who is 63 and lives in Potomac, Md., Facebook is an opportunity to connect with a “remarkable amalgam of folks,” such as a swami whom he recently met on a lonely country road in Illinois as he was driving along Historic Rt. 66. “[The swami] was walking across the country on a peace mission, and I felt compelled to stop for the man in his orange robes as he gave a beaming smile and enthusiastic wave in my direction as I passed by,” said Bergerson, a Baltimore native.

The two are now Facebook friends.

“For me, Facebook acts as a podium to post compelling articles that may have some connection to the lives of family or friends who will see them,” he added.

Bergerson, who uses Facebook daily, also participates in various forums on the site, including several related to growing up along Liberty Road in Baltimore County.

And, like most Facebook users, Bergerson uses the site to store and post photographs, many of which document various areas within and around Baltimore.

“Of course, I also post [photo] albums of many other events and other places to which I have travelled, and I am not shy about posting photographs of my daughters.”

LinkedIn (www.LinkedIn.com) LinkedIn is a social media platform intended primarily for business connections. It currently has more than 277 million users.

The site is frequently used by workers See SOCIAL MEDIA, page 4

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Social media

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

From page 3

CALLING ALL PLAYWRIGHTS Try It Out Theatre is issuing a call for new playwrights to submit

short plays of no more than 20 minutes that have not been performed previously.

The plays will be considered for performance on Mother’s Day weekend next May. Actors and directors are also needed for the Mother’s Day weekend “It’s All About You, Mom” show. For more information, visit www.TIOTheatre.com or call (410) 992-0638.

and businesses to network, in an effort to gain new business or find jobs. Many employers have begun posting job openings on LinkedIn. Once your profile is complete, the site will even match you to potential job openings according to your skills and previous job experience.

But retired and semi-retired people also use LinkedIn. It’s a way to keep in touch with former business contacts who may not necessarily be considered friends you would connect with on Facebook. According to Social Media Today, 70.6 percent of LinkedIn users utilize it to reconnect with past business connections.

LinkedIn users may also join various groups with some sort of business connection. There are groups devoted to certain professions, associations, interests, geographic regions, and even current and former employees of certain companies (e.g., a Current and Ex IBM Employees Group).

In addition to networking with individuals, LinkedIn users can also “follow” particular companies, and keep abreast of the latest news from those organizations.

Pinterest (www.pinterest.com) Pinterest is a website that allows users to share, collect and organize a variety of different items of interest represented by photos or graphics.

Think of it as a very large online personal bulletin board. Pinterest has more than 70 million users, the majority of whom are women.

The most popular shared images or “pins” contain recipes, home décor, arts and crafts, fashion, fitness tips and do-ityourself (DIY) ideas. But there are also categories that tend to be of more interest to men, including cars, photography, design, architecture and film.

Many consumer brands also have Pinterest pages and share their content in little images that can in turn be re-pinned to a user’s own Pinterest “board.”

“Pinterest is easy to use, easy to share, and it tells me whenever my Facebook friends join, so I can decide whether or not to follow,” said Cheryl Snyder Taragin, who lives in Baltimore.

“I have gotten the best recipes off of Pinterest. It is also a great way to bookmark URLs (website addresses) I think are interesting,” she said.

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Twitter (twitter.com) Twitter is known as a micro-blogging

site. On a blog, people write regularly, often at length, to share their thoughts and opinions and invite comment from other readers.

As a micro-blog, Twitter allows messages limited to no more than 140 characters (letters, numbers and spaces). Each message is called a “tweet,” and can be replied to or forwarded (retweeted) to others.

People who want to read other people’s tweets are said to “follow” that tweeter, and in turn may be followed by others who are interested in what they have to say.

Users can also share links, photos and videos via Twitter. Local businesses often tweet their daily specials or special deals to their followers. Today there are more than 645 million Twitter accounts.

Many feel that the real value of Twitter is when it is used as a means of instant communication. News organizations and even police departments “tweet” important messages to the public that can be viewed on their computer or mobile device.

During the manhunt after the Boston Marathon, the Boston PD regularly tweeted updates to its followers. Twitter has also been widely used by protesters involved in various political uprisings around the world.

Twitter has popularized the use of “hashtags” (descriptive terms preceded by the “#” symbol). Hashtags are a shortcut way of explaining what the tweet is about.

By monitoring certain hashtags, users can view online conversations about particular topics. Facebook has now adopted hashtags as well.

Depending on their needs, interests and comfort level with technology, potential users can easily test out these and other social media platforms, and explore them before deciding whether or not they are worth signing up for. Also, many community colleges and continuing education centers offer seminars on social media.

Social media sites will never completely replace face-to-face interactions, but they can provide other ways to stay connected to friends, family and former colleagues, as well as a means to learn more about what’s happening in the world today.

Morgan Lamphere is director of marketing for SearStone, a North Carolina continuing care retirement community. Carol Sorgen is contributing editor of the Baltimore Beacon. You can find Sorgen on Facebook, Twitter (@BaltimoreWriter), LinkedIn and Pinterest.

BEACON BITS

Dec. 17

Call 410-698-6672 today to schedule your tour!

Let us show you how affordable the superb Charlestown lifestyle truly is.

VISIT ARTISTS’ STUDIOS A tour of area artists’ studios on Wednesday, Dec. 17 will start

at 10 a.m. from the Columbia Art Center, 8100 Foreland Garth, Columbia.

Tickets are $45; cost of lunch is not included. For more information, call (410) Catonsville

730-0075.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Technology & Innovations

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

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12/14 HC

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Conveniently located near the Union Bridge Community Center. 24-hour emergency on-call maintenance.

Affordable rent. Caring & dedicated staff.

❏ Fall Prevention Study (see ad on page 14) ❏ Exercise to Prevent Falls Study

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Health Study Volunteers

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I N F O R M AT I O N F R E E ★ I N F O R M AT I O N F R E E ★ I N F O R M AT I O N

Branch Library, 9421 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. For more information, call

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library to an iPad in a program on Monday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Miller

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Discover how to browse, borrow and download e-books from the

Housing Communities

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BOOKS ON IPADS

For free materials on housing communities and health studies, just complete and clip this coupon and mail or fax it to the Beacon.

F R E E

Dec. 15

FREE INFORMATION

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BEACON BITS

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The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation offers a variety of fact sheets on issues ranging from alcohol abuse to dementia to depression. The site also has a searchable database of geriatric psychiatrists. http://www.gmhfonline.org/gmhf/ consumer/index.html

information, email viruss@howardcountymd.gov or call (410) 313-7279.

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Mental health help

at 9 p.m. Bring your own meal to enjoy on the bus. Tickets are $45. For more

★

From Charles Dickens to Willa Cather to Jack London, the full text of hundreds of books by classic authors are available free at Classic Reader. Dozens of poets, including Emily Dickinson and William Blake, are also featured, along with plays by William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen.

Share the classics of your childhood with your grandchildren as well. The site includes 10 Bobbsey Twin books, as well as the Five Little Peppers books and over a dozen in the Tom Swift series. www.classicreader.com

“Crazier than a June bug in May.” “Her driveway doesn’t go all the way to the road.” “The lift doesn’t go all the way to the top floor.”

Who knew there were so many ways to say someone is crazy? The American lexicon is richer for the regional, colloquial phrases that have been passed down through generations.

AmeriSpeaks collects these phrases (on subjects from aging to food to weather) and what they mean. Visitors can add their own. http://www.goodlingos.com/amerispeak

Recreation & Parks on Thursday, Dec. 11. The bus leaves at 4 p.m. and returns

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Free classics on the computer

Say it your way

Pageant of Peace in a Washington, D.C. trip sponsored by the Department of

F R E E

Window-Eyes is a screen reader that enables individuals who are blind or visually impaired to access Windows PCs via speech and/or refreshable Braille displays.

The display is connected to the computer by a cable and produces Braille with small plastic or metal pins that move up and down to display the characters.

Consumers using Microsoft Office version 2010 or higher can download the screen reader for free. The website provides download instructions and additional details. www.WindowEyesForOffice.com

BOTANICAL GARDENS & PAGEANT OF PEACE Enjoy the National Christmas Tree, Botanical Gardens and

Can’t make it to Capitol Hill in Washington for the Library of Congress’s current exhibit about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the history of the American Ballet Theatre?

The library’s website includes each photo and artifact, which can be enlarged for up-close viewing, as well as extended captions and explanatory information.

And if you missed an exhibit — say, last year’s retrospective on Danny Kaye— that’s there, too. The site includes full exhibits dating back to 1995. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits

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Computing help for the visually impaired

Dec. 11

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By Barbara Ruben

Library of Congress exhibits

BEACON BITS

FREE INFORMATION ★ FREE INFORMATION ★ FREE INFORMATION ★

Beacon Links

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Apps let you control your home remotely

By Jeff Bertolucci You could call it the march of progress.

First, technology allowed you to preset your VCR, and later it let you program your TiVo. Now you can watch videos on demand on your phone or tablet.

Next up: devices and apps that let you set and reset your home’s systems and appliances.

Free home security camera Got an extra iPad, iPhone or iPod touch?

Repurpose it as a home security cam. Just download People Power’s Presence app to an Apple device (free from the Apple App Store; requires iOS 5.0 or higher) and plug it into an electrical outlet.

Then aim the camera at whatever you want to watch remotely. (The company sells optional stands, including the $100

Galileo, which rotates 360 degrees as per your remote command.) Motion sensors trigger the video feed. To watch, sign into Presence from another Apple iOS device.

Presence Pro video (www.presencepro.com; $5 monthly or $50 a year) adds several features, including 2 gigabytes of cloud storage for your videos and the ability to make longer recordings (five minutes versus one minute).

The company says it plans to add the ability to view the feed from a Web browser soon.

Adjust temp from afar Google’s Nest Learning Thermostat (www.nest.com; $250) studies your habits and adjusts itself accordingly. For instance, if you lower the temperature a few days in a row at 4 p.m., Nest starts making that change automatically.

The mobile app, which works with Apple and Android devices, allows you to check your energy usage and change the temperature settings remotely.

Control your appliances Digital housekeys Copying a key and handing it to anyone who needs to get into your house isn’t wise.

August Smart Lock (www.august.com; $250) is an innovative alternative: It’s a deadbolt that unlocks via a smartphone app.

The Bluetooth-enabled Smart Lock replaces the latch on the inside of your door; the outside hardware remains the same.

Using your iPhone or Android phone’s contacts, you can send a “virtual key” that allows the recipient to unlock your door wirelessly.

Bonus: Smart Lock, which runs on four AA batteries, also works with a real key if the juice runs out.

The August Smart Lock app lets you send digital keys to the smartphone of anyone who needs access to your home.

The free Wink app (www.winkapp.com) lets you use your Android or Apple device to control more than 60 home appliances — including lighting systems, thermostats, smoke alarms and sprinkler systems.

The most inventive use of the Wink technology may be the Aros Smart Window Air Conditioner ($280), which, like Nest, learns from your usage patterns. It is the product of a collaboration between General Electric and Quirky, a crowd-sourcing site for inventors.

Jeff Bertolucci is a freelance writer for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypow-

The Wink app lets users control their home’s lights, appliances, sprinklers, thermostats and more — from wherever they are.

er@kiplinger.com. And for more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com. © 2014 Kiplinger’s Personal Finance; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Health Fitness &

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NEW COGNITIVE CULPRIT Cognitive problems are being linked to high blood glucose levels CAREGIVER OF THE YEAR A 90-year-old Maryland caregiver is among the nation’s best RX FOR SAFE MED USE Questions to ask your doctor when getting a new prescription FALLING INTO PLACE Join a study to the find the best exercise plan to prevent falls

Review Medicare options before Dec. 7

By Kimberly Lankford Falling leaves and pumpkins are signs of autumn — along with Medicare’s open enrollment season, when those with the health program can switch plans.

As your list of seasonal chores grows, you may be tempted to stick with your current Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription-drug plan. But that plan may no longer be your best option.

Insurers are boosting premiums and other out-of-pocket costs. They’re also adding expensive drug-pricing tiers, charging extra if you don’t go to approved pharmacies, imposing new restrictions on drugs, and dropping doctors from plans.

So even if you’ve been happy with your current plan, its coverage may change significantly next year. It’s important to take a look at what your plan will offer next year and review alternatives while open enrollment is available — through Dec. 7.

Finding the best drug plan For seniors who take many expensive medications, here’s the good news about Medicare Part D: The “doughnut hole” continues to shrink. Those who enter the coverage gap in 2015 will get a 55 percent discount on brand-name drugs and a 35 percent federal subsidy for generic drugs.

The doughnut hole works like this: For 2015, after you pay a $320 deductible, the plan provides coverage until your drug expenses reach $2,960 (including both your share and the insurer’s share of the costs).

Then the doughnut hole begins, and you pick up 45 percent of the cost of brandname drugs and 65 percent of the cost of generic drugs. When your out-of-pocket costs reach $4,700, the government picks up most of the tab.

Part D premiums are rising by just $1 a month on average in 2015, to $32 a month.

But those stable premiums could mask changes within plans that could boost your costs.

Here’s what to watch out for: 1. Beware changing formularies. Insurers have been changing their formularies — the list of drugs that are covered — and adding more pricing tiers. Such moves can increase your out-of-pocket costs.

A drug can also cost more because the

Part D plan is placing it on a higher-cost pricing tier. Most plans have five pricing tiers, generally with preferred and nonpreferred generics, preferred and nonpreferred brand-name drugs, and specialty drugs.

Some insurers that previously charged the same co-payments for all brand-name drugs, for instance, have started charging more for certain brand-name medications by adding a nonpreferred tier.

2. Buy at preferred pharmacies. The number of plans with preferred pharmacies jumped from 7 percent to 72 percent over the past three years. While an insurer will pay a portion of the costs of drugs bought from pharmacies in its network, it pays a greater share at preferred pharmacies. It’s not enough to go to a network pharmacy.

3. Overcome obstacles. Even if your drug is on the formulary, you may need to clear some hurdles before an insurer will cover it. For example, some insurers use “step therapy” for some expensive drugs — requiring you to try a lower-cost medication first before they’ll cover your drug.

Or they may require “prior authorization,” asking for your doctor to fill out a detailed form explaining why you need that medication. And insurers are imposing limits on the number of dosages.

The first step in determining whether to stick with your current plan, or to switch, is to review your “annual notice of change,” which explains any changes in coverage and costs for 2015, which you should have received by Sept. 30.

Before you change coverage, ask your doctor if you can switch any of your brandname medications to generics. The plan with the best deals for generics may be different from the one that offers the best rates for brand-name drugs.

With the online Plan Finder, you plug in your zip code and then your drugs and dosages. The tool then pulls up the plans in your area — providing details on premiums, deductibles and co-payments, and whether all of your drugs are on each plan’s formulary.

It will also show you how much you can expect to pay out of pocket under each plan during 2015. Focus on that number rather than on the premium cost. The Plan

Finder also notes the plans that impose restrictions, such as preauthorization and step therapy.

It’s important to enroll in a Part D plan, even if you use few drugs now. You never know if you will need expensive coverage several months into the year. You’ll have to pay a lifetime penalty if you decide to enroll later, unless you have “creditable coverage” from an employer, retiree or other approved plan.

To find a new Part D or Advantage plan, go to the online Medicare Plan Finder (www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan) or contact your local State Health Insurance Assistance Program (find your local SHIP at www.shiptalk.org or call 800-633-4227). A SHIP adviser will run through your best options either by phone or in person.

If you have Medicare Advantage Medicare Advantage plans are private insurance plans that provide both medical and drug coverage. Some do not charge a monthly premium beyond the monthly cost of Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care. The standard premium for Part B next year will be the same as this year: $104.90 a month. (Medicare Part A, which pays for inpatient care, is generally free.) Premiums for Advantage plans have averaged $35 per month for the past several years.

Unlike traditional Medicare, Advantage plans provide medical care through networks of doctors and hospitals. Recently, these plans have been shrinking their networks. Some plans dropped doctors in the middle of the year, forcing many policyholders to switch physicians. If this happened to you, this is the time to reassess your options.

If you have a Medicare PPO, you’ll pay a lot more to see out-of-network doctors — perhaps 20 percent for in-network doctors vs. 40 percent for out-of-network physicians. And you may face a higher out-of-pocket maximum if you seek out-ofnetwork care — perhaps $6,700 in-network compared with $10,000 for out-ofnetwork.

If you’re enrolled in a Medicare HMO, you may not get reimbursed at all for care delivered by out-of-network providers, except in emergencies.

As with Part D, Advantage insurers

should have sent current clients a notice

by Sept. 30 explaining any changes in coverage and costs.

After typing in your zip code in the Plan Finder, look at “Medicare Health Plans.”

Type in your drugs and dosages and your general health condition (excellent, good or poor in the “refine your search” section), and you’ll get an estimate of each plan’s medical and drug out-of-pocket costs for your situation.

You can also compare estimated out-ofpocket costs based on health condition (defined as good, fair and poor) at MedicareNewsWatch.com. This site lists Senior Gold Choice awards for the value of benefits and plan design for plans in 80 cities.

Check that the plan covers hospitals, doctors and other providers you use. Contact the plans for up-to-date information. If you’re now in a plan, ask your physician if he or she will be staying in 2015.

Weigh the importance of sticking with each doctor. If you have a chronic condition, keeping your current doctor may be a top priority. You may want to change doctors if you visit your primary care doctor just once or twice a year.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a major medical condition but discover that the top specialists aren’t included in any Advantage plan, consider switching to traditional Medicare and buying Medigap and Part D policies, Schwarz said.

Before you switch to traditional Medicare, find out whether you can qualify for a Medigap policy. In many states, you can be rejected or charged more for Medigap coverage based on your health if you don’t enroll when you first sign up for Medicare Part B. Contact your state insurance department to check your Medigap options. Go to the Web site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (www.naic.org) for a link to your state agency.

Look carefully at the Advantage plan’s maximum out-of-pocket expenses, which is the most you have to pay for covered services during the year. Some plans provide extra coverage, such as vision and dental care. © 2014, Kiplinger. All Rights Reserved.

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Health Shorts Cognitive problems linked to glucose Poor dietary choices, being overweight and being inactive often lead to blood glucose problems. And research suggests that elevated blood glucose levels — in people with or without diabetes — may be linked with cognitive problems.

In a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine (August 2013), researchers followed more than 2,000 adults, with and without diabetes, for an average of almost seven years. At the start of the study, all of the participants were free of dementia — a group of disorders that includes

Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Among the participants who did not have diabetes, risk for dementia increased with glucose levels. And among the participants with diabetes, risk for dementia rose along with glucose levels.

Diabetes was also linked to cognitive function in a study published in September 2012 in Archives of Neurology. There, scientists measured the degree of change in the mental abilities of more than 3,000 elderly adults over an average of nine years.

The participants who began the study with diabetes had the poorest cognitive functioning both at the beginning and at the end of the study. During the study period, 159 subjects developed diabetes — this group also had a higher decline in mental abilities, compared to those who stayed free of diabetes, though not quite as high as those who started the study with diabetes.

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What’s the connection between blood glucose and the brain? Elevated blood glucose levels may damage blood vessels or increase inflammation in the brain.

However, research does not yet confirm that higher blood glucose levels cause dementia or cognitive decline. Further, the problem may stem from insulin resistance — the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.

— Environmental Nutrition

Double mastectomy doesn’t boost survival Removing both breasts to treat cancer affecting only one side doesn’t boost survival chances for most women, compared with surgery that removes just the tumor, a large study suggests. The results raise concerns about riskier, potentially unnecessary operations that increasing numbers of women are choosing.

The study involved nearly 200,000 California women treated for cancer in one breast and followed for several years afterward.

Ten-year survival rates were nearly identical — roughly 82 percent — for women who had lumpectomies to remove the tumor plus radiation, and for those who had double mastectomies. Women who had a single mastectomy, removal of just the cancerous breast, fared slightly worse.

The results confirm what many doctors have suspected, said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. “There’s no guarantee that by having the second breast removed that you will do better,” said Lichtenfeld, who had no role in the research.

In the study, just over half the women had lumpectomy treatment. But the number who had double mastectomies in-

creased substantially to 12 percent between 1998 and 2011. The trend was most notable in women younger than 40, climbing from just 4 percent to 33 percent.

Other research suggests that removing both breasts to treat one-sided cancer may improve survival chances for the relatively small number of women who have genetic breast cancer or strong family histories of the disease, said study co-author Scarlett Gomez, a research scientist with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California. But most breast cancer patients have neither of those risks.

The medical community is paying increasing attention to overtreatment and excessive costs, and the study results raise questions about reasons for rising use of an expensive, potentially risky treatment “of dubious effectiveness,” the researchers said.

Patients’ preferences and fear that cancer will return play a role, but that fear “usually exceeds estimated risk,” the study said.

Reasons why survival was slightly worse for woman who had just one breast removed are uncertain, although this treatment is more common among Hispanic and black women and those with lower incomes and public insurance than among wealthy whites.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

— AP

Many get unwanted care near death According to a recent report, Americans suffer needless discomfort and undergo unwanted and costly care as they die.

Though people repeatedly stress a desire to die at home, free from pain, the opposite often happens, the Institute of Medicine found in its “Dying in America” report.

See HEALTH SHORTS, page 10

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90-year-old caregiver among nation’s best Despite her appreciation at being recognized, Hartsock’s motivation comes from a different source. “I thought it would be rewarding if I could do something for somebody that would help them. You find a lot of elderly people really need the help,” she said.

A lifetime of hard work Hartsock’s dedication to hard work may have been influenced by her early life on her family farm in Romney, W.V. Most mornings, she rose early to help her family with their work, milking cows and taking care of their livestock.

“I’ve worked most of my life,” said Hartsock.

She entered the job market at the age of 16, picking strawberries at another farm.

She then moved to a job working at a factory making yarn. At 18, she moved to Frederick to find better job opportunities.

Eventually, Hartsock worked a variety of jobs, including one that made a lasting impression on her. For 28 years, she worked at the now-closed Francis Scott Key Hotel as a waitress, cocktail server, bar manager and, eventually, assistant hotel manager. It was there she discovered the value of learning to serve clients’ needs, she said.

Hartsock has one son and has been married twice.

A caregiver who cares

PHOTO COURTESY OF RIGHT AT HOME

By Rebekah Sewell On an average day, 90-year-old Mary Hartsock wakes up around 5 a.m. and works up to eight hours as a caregiver.

She began her career working for the inhome care company Right at Home at the age of 79, when most of her peers were either already retired or retiring. She currently works for the branch of the company in Frederick, Md. In her 11 years with Right at Home, Hartsock has never been tardy or missed a day of work, the company said.

“I certainly keep on the go,” Hartsock said modestly. She also stays active by volunteering with the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, serving on the administrative board of her church, and giving time to a local service club.

“Her integrity is impeccable, and her work ethic is relentless, especially with housekeeping tasks,” raved Right at Home’s community relations associate Linda Luber.

“She will work just about any shift to accommodate someone, and she even helps with administrative tasks in the office.”

For her commitment to her clients, Hartsock was named Right at Home’s National Caregiver of the Year. She also recently travelled to Kansas City, Mo., to accept the Caregiver of the Year award from the Home Care Association of America.

For her work with Right at Home, Hartsock regularly prepares her clients’ meals and assists them with household chores, such as bathing and other daily tasks. The work is often physically challenging, but Hartsock never shies away Mary Hartsock, center, was recently named National Carefrom a task that her giver of the Year by Right at Home, a home care agency clients need done. with nearly 400 franchises worldwide. Hartsock, who lives in Frederick, Md., is 90, and has been working for the “I go into their agency for 11 years. apartment and prepare their meals, starting with breakfast and her patients can be beneficial to their relaon through lunch, which is usual on a day tionship because their common ground shift. I do some cleaning. I always make helps her stay attuned to their unique their bed if they’re up,” she said. needs, she said.

The majority of Hartsock’s clients have Her first step is getting to know her been younger than she. But she currently clients. “The first day...I sit beside them works with a man who is 89, “the oldest and try to find out every little need that I’ve worked with,” she said. they have. I learn all about the person,” Their similar ages can give rise to some she explained. “How much cream do you shared humor. “He actually makes a big want in your coffee? Have you eaten breakjoke of things. When I come by, he’ll say, fast? Or do you take your bath first?”

‘Made it over the weekend, didn’t we?’”

Hartsock laughed.

See CAREGIVER, page 11 She also finds that being close in age to

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10 questions to ask about new medicines Dear Pharmacist: (MAO inhibitors) that can’t be combined How important is it when a pill label with cheese, or death could result. has warnings like, “take on an empty For your safety, let me give you the stomach” or “take with proper questions to ask your food?” I never adhere to doctor and/or pharmacist those warnings, and I’m about any new medication: still alive. Does it really 1. What is the name of the matter? condition that you are treating — J.J. me for?

Dear J.J.: 2. What is the brand name It matters in most cases, and generic name of the medbut not all. ication that you’re prescribing?

With antibiotics, it may be 3. Do I take it in the mornthat your medicine reaches a ing, at night, or divide the DEAR higher blood level when you dose throughout the day?

PHARMACIST take it on an empty stomach.

4. Better with food or on an

By Suzy Cohen But over the course of theraempty stomach? py, it doesn’t change the out5. About how long before I come, meaning the pathogens are killed. begin to see results?

With other medications, for example 6. Is there a less expensive generic altersleeping pills, a warning to avoid alcohol is native? important and should be adhered to be7. Are there any supplements that could cause the combination could be fatal. help this medicine work better, or any to Same thing with certain antidepressants avoid?

8. Is it okay to drink wine (if that applies) with my medicine?

9. Will coffee, dairy or mineral supplements inactivate my medicine?

10. How long do I stay on this medication? Some medications are only intended for a few days or weeks, but people remain on them indefinitely. This is the most important question to ask.

If the caution label states “on an empty stomach” that means two hours after you eat, or one hour beforehand. If it states “take with food,” it means to take it while eating or right after.

If it says “do not operate machinery or equipment,” that is your clue that the medicine will make you drowsy or clumsy. It means to avoid driving, using a chainsaw, mowing your lawn, or any other activity that requires you to focus.

Here’s another good rule of thumb: Start low and go slow! With medications, the lowest effective dose is ideal. You don’t need to kill a fly with a shotgun, and if you try, you

could wind up with side effects that you would not experience with a lower dose.

And finally, if you notice your medication keeps you up at night, then don’t take it too late in the day. Examples of medicines that are best taken in the morning include thyroid medicine, steroids like prednisone, attention-deficit drugs like Ritalin, and the fatigue buster Provigil.

Examples of medicine that should be taken at night include certain antihistamines (like diphenhydramine), anxiolytics like alprazolam, pain medicines like hydrocodone, and muscle relaxers. If in doubt, call your local pharmacist or physician.

This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement.

Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.SuzyCohen.com.

ed to give them the death they want, the authors found. The result is breathing and feeding tubes, powerful drugs and other treatment that often fails to extend life and can make the final days more unpleasant.

The report blamed a fee-for-service med-

ical system in which “perverse incentives” exist for doctors and hospitals to choose the most aggressive care, inadequate training for those caring for the dying, and physicians who default to life-saving treatment because they worry about liability.

Advance directives, including living wills, have been unpopular and ineffective, the report said. It urged repeated conversations about patients’ wishes beginning far earlier than many would think and continuing the talks throughout life.

“The fee-for-service model, the lack of coordination between medical and social services, the challenges that individuals face in finding a provider who’s willing and knowledgeable to speak with them about

death and dying, all conspire against them coming up with the right individual plan,” said Dr. Philip Pizzo, an Institute co-chair.

The report praised programs in palliative care, which focuses on treating pain, minimizing side effects, coordinating care among doctors, and ensuring concerns of patients and their families are addressed.

This type of care has expanded rapidly in the past several decades and is now found in a majority of U.S. hospitals, but the report said many physicians have no training in it.

In addition, the 500-page report authored by 21 experts said the very type of end-of-life care Americans say they want would shrink medical bills and reduce the governmental healthcare burden. — AP

Health shorts From page 8 Most people do not document their wishes on end-of-life care, and even those who do face a medical system poorly suit-

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11

What chia seeds, mushrooms can/can’t do Q: Is it true that chia seeds can help to 12 weeks generally show no effect on people lose weight and that they’re weight or body fat. super nutritious? How would I use However, chia seeds are an excellent them? source of the plant-based A: When chia seeds comomega-3 fatty acid, alphabine with liquid, they swell linolenic acid (ALA). They are and form a gel. That’s probaalso rich in dietary fiber and bly why some people suggest provide a small amount of that, by expanding in your protein. stomach and helping you feel They add a nutty flavor full, chia seeds could help you sprinkled on cereal, vegetalose weight. In other words, if bles or yogurt, but it’s mild they support weight loss, it’s enough that most people by helping you eat less, not by seem to appreciate them some magical fat-burning NUTRITION more for the crunch or texWISE power. ture they add, or as a nutrient However, only a few con- By Karen Collins, boost. trolled studies have tested MS, RD, CDM Combine about one teathis, and so far, they do not spoon chia seeds to four teashow that chia seeds make weight loss any spoons of water for a gel that can be used easier. Studies of participants using two to as a thickener in smoothies or salad dressfour tablespoons of chia seeds daily for 10 ings or as a vegan egg substitute.

If you’re trying to lose weight, keep in mind that each tablespoon of dry chia seeds contains about 70 calories. So if chia seeds are among the healthful foods you eat, substitute those calories for something else. Don’t just add them to your current eating habits.

Q: Are mushrooms a good vegetarian alternative to meat?

A: Mushrooms have a “meaty” texture, and add a flavor known as “umami” that tends to be very satisfying. These qualities make them ideal to include in pasta sauce, stews, casseroles, chili and other mixed dishes to maintain a rich flavor and texture while reducing or eliminating the meat they contain.

That said, mushrooms are not a substitute for meat nutritionally because they are not equivalent in protein amount or quality, and they do not provide comparable amounts of iron, zinc or vitamin B-12.

On the other hand, mushrooms do provide a variety of nutrients with just 15 calories in a whole cup of raw chopped or sliced mushrooms. For example, they are a good source of the mineral selenium, an antioxidant that may play a role in reducing risk of chronic diseases.

In dishes that contain large amounts of meat, you can replace a quarter to a half of the meat with mushrooms to make the dish lower in calories and still delicious.

You can also create a vegetarian dish by substituting mushrooms for all the meat or poultry in a recipe. However, in this case, make sure the meal also includes a good source of protein — for example, at least a half-cup of dried beans or quarter-cup of nuts.

This strategy can help you follow a cancer-protective plant-based diet by keeping animal protein to no more than one-third

Caregiver

home.”

If she’s not doing chores at home, she’s shopping or doing volunteer work. “When I get my work finished, I go somewhere,” she said. “I do keep very busy.”

Her advice to other seniors is to “get going someplace. You need to move, you need to walk. You need to do anything to exercise,” she said.

“Someone who’s not in as good health as I am might not be able to do [what I do].

But...you can do a lot of exercising in your own home. You don’t need to join any of the exercise places. You can stand up, swing your feet, your legs and your arms.

“Exercise to me is sometimes better than medicine. At least, I have a lot of faith in it.”

From page 9

Advice for a long, healthy life Hartsock has strong feelings about what steps older adults need to take in order to stay healthy.

“Seniors need to get away and get out of their homes. Two thirds of them are going

to sit around and watch television. They’re not exercising and not moving around.

“I don’t sit around and watch TV. I wouldn’t dare do that,” she said.

Waking up early is a habit of hers, and Hartsock highly recommends it to those looking to be more active. “I’ve always been an early riser. I’m getting ready to go to work, or doing work in my own

See NUTRITION WISE, page 13

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H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Crunchy, creamy sweet potato wedges Most everyone loves traditional potato wedges. Sweet potatoes offer a new way to enjoy potato wedges, yet these wedges are packed with beneficial beta-carotene.

Oven-roasted with a light coating of olive oil, instead of fried, these crunchy-on-the-outside and creamy-on-the-inside wedges are seasoned with rosemary, garlic and mustard.

There are more than 200 varieties of sweet potatoes, with colors ranging from white, yellow, orange and red to purple.

Commonly referred to as “yams,” sweet potatoes actually come from a different botanical family. True yams are common in Asia, Africa and Caribbean and are usually found in international markets. Interestingly, sweet potatoes aren’t botanically related to potatoes, either.

Sweet potatoes with their orange flesh are packed with beta-carotene — a carotenoid that may inhibit cancer cell growth, work as an antioxidant and improve immune response. The brighter the orange color of the flesh, the more betacarotene there is. Sweet potatoes also are rich in vitamin C, potassium and fiber.

Though available year round, sweet potatoes are in peak season during November and December, finding their way onto holiday tables. Select firm sweet potatoes with no cracks, bruises or soft spots, and store them in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place for up to 10 days.

Fresh rosemary gives these brilliantly colored potatoes the enticing aromatic essence of pine. Garlic powder enhances sweet potato’s sweet-savory flavor, and ground mustard lends its rustic flavor. Olive oil binds the garlic and mustard seasonings to the potato and ensures a pleasingly crispy texture.

Nutrition wise From page 11 of your plate.

You can also reduce risk for colorectal cancer by eating no more than 18 ounces of red meat weekly, which meets one of the recommendations for cancer prevention from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR).

The American Institute for Cancer Re-

Roasting the potato wedges creates heavenly caramelized sweetness without the added fat calories of frying.

Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary is an easy-to-make spin off of popular potato wedges, sure to become a family favorite side dish with sandwiches and meals.

These wedges can be made in advance — especially for the Thanksgiving meal, where culinary tasks can be overwhelming. Reheat in the oven for a crispy texture, or in the microwave for soft slices.

Sweet Potato Wedges with Rosemary 3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise in 8 wedges 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, plus a few sprigs for garnish ½ tsp. garlic powder ½ tsp. dry mustard powder 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive or canola oil Salt Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place wedges in large bowl. Add rosemary, garlic powder, mustard and oil. Toss to coat well.

Arrange potatoes on baking sheet, making sure not to overlap potatoes. Bake 15 minutes. Turn wedges over and bake another 15 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and beginning to brown.

Lightly season to taste with salt. Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 146 calories, 7 g. total fat (<1 g. saturated fat), 20 g. carbohydrate, 2 g. protein, 3 g. dietary fiber, 54 mg. sodium.

— American Institute for Cancer Research search 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. NW, Washington, DC 20009. Collins cannot respond to questions personally.

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Dec. 1+

BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENING AT LIBRARIES Howard County General Hospital offers free walk-in blood pressure

screening and monitoring at three county libraries in December: Monday, Dec. 1 and Monday, Dec. 15 from 3:30 to 5:50 p.m. at Glenwood Branch, 2350 State Rte. 97 Cooksville. Call (410) 313-5577 for details. Monday, Dec. 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Savage Branch, 9525 Durness Ln., Laurel. Call (410) 313-0760 for details. Tuesday, Dec, 9 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Elkridge Branch, 6540 Washington Blvd., Elkridge. Call (410) 313-5977 for details.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

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Fitness & Health | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Health Studies Page

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Help find the best exercise to prevent falls

By Carol Sorgen Falls and their consequences are a serious medical concern to older adults. Approximately 30 percent of people 65 or older who are living independently or with family — and over 50 percent of those living in institutions — fall each year.

Among older adults, complications of

falls are the leading cause of deaths due to injury, and are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries and hospitalization for trauma. The total lifetime healthcare cost of fall-related injuries for the elderly is estimated to reach $85 billion by the year 2020.

Even if an individual who falls does not sustain an injury, impaired balance often re-

Want to Prevent Falls in the Elderly?

Seeking Men and Women to participate in a research study at the University of Maryland &Veterans Affairs of Baltimore to better understand balance and the prevention of falls in aging individuals.

You will receive:

• Health evaluation • Balance, step, strength, and/or flexibility exercises • Compensation for your time If interested call: 410-605-7179 & Mention code: LIFT at Baltimore VA/University of Maryland Gerontology Recruitment Line *You must be at least 65 years old and in good health *Participants will be seen at the Baltimore VA Medical Center and University of Maryland School of Medicine *You will attend approximately 41 visits for 1 to 4 hours each per visit

CALL TODAY!

sults in an overall lessening of physical activity and less ability to function satisfactorily both independently and in social situations.

The University of Maryland is currently conducting a study of individuals 65 and older to determine whether a therapeutic intervention can improve balance and prevent falls in older people.

Approximately 200 people will participate in this study, scheduled to end in August 2015. In addition to the University of Maryland, the VA Maryland Health Care System in Baltimore is also participating in this study.

Sidestepping the problem Those who fall experience more significant impairment in neuro-mechanical factors — such as balance and gait — than do older adults who don’t have falls.

When balance is impaired, taking protective steps is an important part of preventing a fall. Many older people at risk for falls find it particularly difficult to step sideways to help recover from losing their balance.

Researchers suggest that age-related declines in this sideways (lateral) balance function, known as “protective stepping,” is a result of limitations in hip muscle strength. The researchers also suggest that these impairments can be reversed with a combination of a type of specialized exercise — called “high-intensity induced step training” — and muscle strengthening.

Participants in the study will be randomly assigned to one of four training groups.

Training will occur three times a week for 12 consecutive weeks.

The first group — Induced Step Train-

ing — will use specialized equipment that applies motorized waist-pulls in both the left and right directions to produce sideways stepping. Those in the second group — Hip Strength Training — will perform muscle resistance exercises.

Participants in the third group — Combined Induced Step and Hip Strength Training — will receive both waist-pulls and muscle resistance exercises, while those in the fourth group — Standard Flexibility and Relaxation — will perform only relaxation and flexibility exercises.

The researchers hope to show that the training groups will achieve a significant and longer-lasting improvement in their balance function and hip strength.

Who can join the study?

To qualify for the study, participants must be 65 or older and have a body mass index between 18 and 30 (a range from normal weight to overweight).

Potential participants will be tested to see if they are at risk for falls. Those at very low risk cannot take part in the study.

Others who are not eligible to participate in the study include those with Parkinson’s disease, peripheral neuropathy or a history of stroke, and those who have had a knee or hip replacement in the last six months.

Reimbursement for time and travel may be available to those accepted into the study.

For more information, or to see if you are eligible to participate, contact physical therapist Mark W. Rogers, PhD, at (410) 706-0841, mrogers@som.umaryland.edu, or physical therapist Michelle Prettyman at (410) 7067165, mprettyman@som.umaryland.edu.

BEACON BITS

Nov. 27

FREE COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING DINNER

Alone on Thanksgiving, or maybe you just don’t have the ability to cook? Melville United Methodist Church is offering a homecooked Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, Nov. 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., featuring all of your favorite foods. The church is located at 5660 Furnace Ave., Elkridge. Seating is limited. To reserve your spot, call Jeanne at (410) 499-6885.

Dec. 9

HANUKKAH PARTY

The annual Hanukkah Party sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Howard County will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia. The event will feature a traditional Hanukah lunch and entertainment by Andrea Hancock, known as Seniorita Sunshine. The event is free, but registration is required. To register, call the Bain Center at (410) 313-7213 or email snovinsky@jewishhowardcounty.org.

Dec. 10

GENEALOGICAL MEETING

The Howard County Genealogical Society will meet on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. to discuss members’ research and host a speaker on the Ellicott City Girls School. The meeting will take place at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. For more information, call Arlene Dale at (410) 381-7899 or email dtat63@msn.com.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Gay and gray From page 1 prejudice was far more common than today. Therefore, older LGBT adults may either have internalized those attitudes, remaining afraid to come out of the closet, or simply are aware that more of their peers are less tolerant of LGBT lifestyles, so they choose not to speak of it.

“From everything we’ve learned, LGBT older people are undercounted,” said Rowe. “Some of them are ‘out’ everywhere, some are not ‘out’ anywhere. Some have never told their children.”

No clear figures No one knows just how many LGBT seniors live in Howard County — or in Maryland. According to the Institute for Multigenerational Health at the University of Washington, some 2 million Americans 50 or older identify as LGBT, with that number expected to double by 2030.

The first large-scale federal government survey of Americans’ sexual orientation, released this summer, found 2.3 percent of respondents reported being lesbian, gay or bisexual. That National Health Interview Survey, part of the government’s chief method of measuring Americans’ health status and behavior, was based on in-person in-home surveys, which some LGBT advocates believe tainted the results.

Other scholarly surveys have typically found 3.5 to 4 percent of respondents identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual.

Whichever is more accurate, there are common misconceptions about the numbers. A Gallup poll in 2011 found that Americans on average estimated that 25 percent of the population was gay or lesbian. Only 8 percent of those surveyed said the number was less than 5 percent.

Apparently no surveys have been conducted in Howard County itself, either of the actual number of LGBT individuals or of their experience with discrimination.

Perhaps the new Task Force will undertake such a study.

“As some point, some kind of needs assessment is going to be a next step.”

Brown said. She noted that some attendees at this year’s Howard County 50Plus Expo interest expressed in joining PFLAG, an organization for family and friends of LGBT individuals.

Fears within and without While the gay community in general is experiencing much more freedom in recent years, “it’s easy to forget that it’s more difficult for older people to come out than younger people,” Rowe said.

That may be partly because of the less tolerant attitudes of their peers, but it may also be due to attitudes of age discrimination among younger LGBT individuals.

“No one is quite sure where it is safe to be out, and older LGBT people often are not accepted by the younger LGBT community as well as [by] the mainstream older community,” Rowe added.

At the same time, Americans’ attitudes in general are rapidly growing more tolerant of LGBT lifestyles, as reflected in the growing number of states legalizing samesex marriage, including Maryland.

Susan Garner, 67, and Ginna Browne, 78, are openly gay residents of Columbia who were married in Ellicott City last year.

Both were previously married to men, and each has one son (and a total of five grandchildren, all boys). They have been living together for the past 35 years.

Garner, a retired Howard County public school psychologist and current head of the Howard County-Columbia PFLAG chapter, said that she and her current spouse have been “lucky,” in the sense that they have run into little or no prejudice for their lifestyle.

“We haven’t been in the closet, and we haven’t met with any overt objection” from neighbors or residents of Columbia, which Garner said could be among the most liberal places in the country for people with nonconventional life styles.

Nevertheless, she said, she feels “much freer” in her relationship since she retired after 38 years in Howard County public schools.

“It hasn’t always been a smooth road,” she said. “I didn’t always feel comfortable

BEACON BITS

Dec. 8

STRESS AND YOUR BRAIN Dr. Majid Fotuhi, author of three books on brain health, will dis-

cuss how stress affects the brain and what can be done to reverse its effects in a lecture on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Miller Branch Library, 9421 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. This “Well & Wise” event is in partnership with the Howard County Department of Citizen Services and Office on Aging. For more information, call (410) 313-1950.

Dec. 9

LEARN ABOUT BARIATRIC SURGERY The Johns Hopkins Center for Bariatric Surgery will offer a free program about weight loss through surgery on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at

5 p.m. at the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center, 10710 Charter Dr., Columbia. For more information call (410) 550-5689 or visit hopkinsmedicine.org/jhbmc/bariatrics.

with my colleagues.” And, of course, she didn’t let the students or their parents know about her personal life.

Baltimore-born Rob Lance, 67, and Tim Edwards, 60, also got married last year, after 35 years of being together. Lance, a retired data processor at Johns Hopkins University, also said that, like Garner and Browne, he and Edwards have met with no prejudice or uncomfortable experiences as a couple in Columbia, where they have lived for 29 years.

Despite their good experience here, the general perception of active discrimination elsewhere, and of potential problems yet

15

to occur, continues to stoke fears.

“If we lived in Missoula, Mont., it might be a different ballgame,” Lance said. “If we suddenly had to go into a retirement community, there may be problems there. I read about how there has been much less acceptance of LGBT people by the older generation.”

The Howard County Older Adult LGBT Task Force meets the first Thursday of every month from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Florence Bain Senior Center in Columbia. Potential new task force members are welcome. Contact sueginna@gmail.com for more information.

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410-997-9900

8860 Columbia 100 Parkway, Suite 101, Columbia, MD

More ways to say “I love you.”

If you, or a loved one, is Deaf, hard of hearing, Deaf-Blind, or have difficulty speaking, Maryland Relay offers many calling options to keep you connected by phone.

You may also qualify for a free assistive device through the Maryland Accessible Telecommunications program.

Calling Options t TTY (Text Telephone) t Voice Carry-Over t Hearing Carry-Over t Speech-to-Speech t Captioned Telephone t Spanish Relay Just dial 7-1-1 to make a Relay call.

Visit mdrelay.org to learn more.

800-552-7724 (Voice/TTY) 443-453-5970 (VP)

16

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

VOLUME 4, NO. 12 • DECEMBER 2014

A Message from the Administrator

By Dayna Brown, Office on Aging Administrator First, on a personal note, this is my last message to all of you as I am leaving the Office on Aging this month. I want you to know that the past three years as Administrator of the Howard County Office on Aging are three of the proudest years of my career. I am proud of all that I and my staff have accomplished to support the ability of older Howard County residents to get to what’s possible — aging in place, maintaining a healthy life and finding support for caregivers, among other things.

While the time has come for me to move on to explore new opportunities, I am confident and have no doubts that the Office on Aging staff will continue to work hard to make Howard County the best place to live and age in community. As for me, I also plan to stay here as long as possible in the county that my spouse and I have grown to love. I have no doubt that we will see each other soon!

I want to wish you all the best for this holiday season and the New Year. And, I leave you with these messages…

As we enter the season of giving, many of us are giving thoughtful consideration to choosing the perfect gifts to show our friends and family how much they mean to us.

When you are shopping for holiday gifts, I encourage you to pick up a few extra items to donate to those less fortunate in our community. The Office on Aging’s Project Holiday helps to make the holidays a little bit merrier for older adults in Howard County who don’t have families in the area. Your donations (see the ad, opposite, for suggestions) will be gift packaged and personally delivered to residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and others in our community just in time for the holidays.

To give a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year, consider a making a donation to the Vivian L. Reid Community Fund. This emergency assistance fund was started by Vivian Reid, the first administrator of the Office on Aging, as a way for the community to show their support for older adults in need in Howard County.

Funds are used to meet basic needs such as purchases of personal care items, dentures and eyeglasses, and help to avoid eviction and utility turnoff. Tax-deductible contributions, made payable to the Director of Finance, may be mailed to the Vivian Reid Fund, c/o The Howard County Office on Aging, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 200, Columbia, MD 21046.

Help Project Holiday Spread Cheer in Howard County Project Holiday began in 2004 as a way to brighten the holidays for 10 of the Office on Aging’s guardianship clients. “We were their only family,” explains Ofelia Ross Ott, Division Manager for the office’s Home and Community Based Services, who was an ombudsman at the time. “As time went on, I identified more and more older adults with little or no family support who were in need of basic items. That’s when I decided to expand Project Holiday to include seniors in long-term care settings, nursing homes and assisted living facilities.”

Project Holiday now serves nearly 300 individuals, including a growing number who live independently in communities throughout the county but lack family support. Staff and volunteers work together to package items donated by the community so these seniors will receive a gift and a personal visit during the holiday season.

Requested items include personal care items (lotion and body wash), cold weather gear (socks, sweaters, gloves/mittens and throws or blankets), sleepwear (nightgowns, pajamas, undershirts and slippers) and other items like stationery, stamps and puzzle books. If you would like to donate items, donation boxes are located in all Howard County senior centers, now through December 5.

The Senior Connection is published monthly by the Howard County Department of Citizen Services’ Office on Aging.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

To contact us, or to join our email subscriber list, email seniorconnection@howardcountymd.gov with “subscribe” in the subject box. !"#$%&'!()*+&,-./0&!)&123)2 4567&'!8(9:3#&;#*0"#+&<$= '!8(9:3#>&?<&@7AB4 B7ACD7DC4B7A """=E!"#$%/!()*+#23)2=!$2 """=F#/0:!!G=/!9H !'!'3*3I0) <#+)#&?=&J$!")>&1%93)3K*$#*!$ Advertising contained in the Beacon is not endorsed by the Howard County Office on Aging or by the publisher.

“We don’t just deliver gifts; we deliver smiles!”

— Ofelia Ross Ott, Office on Aging Monetary donations are also welcome, as are gift cards to local store like Target or WalMart, which are used to purchase needed items. Gift cards or cash donations may be mailed to the Howard County Office on Aging, Attention: Nicole BaptistePatterson, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 200, Columbia, MD 21046. Volunteers are also needed to sort, package and deliver gifts; if you are interested, call 410-313-6423 (voice/relay) or email npatterson@howardcountymd.gov.

“Project Holiday’s recipients are grateful for even the smallest things,” says Ott, “We don’t just deliver gifts; we deliver smiles!”

And that may be the best holiday gift of all.

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Say you saw it in the Beacon

The Senior Connection

CALENDAR OF HOLIDAY EVENTS Wednesday, Dec. 3, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Holiday Craft Boutique · Ellicott City Senior Center Shop for fabulous handmade gifts and crafts at our Holiday Boutique, featuring 35+ vendors and lots of great food. Admission is $1; sponsored by the ECSC Council and Home Instead Senior Care.

Thursday, Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Fabulous 50+ Players Holiday Show · Elkridge Senior Center Enjoy homemade omelets with delicious sides and bread, and then enjoy a wonderful holiday show by the Fabulous 50+ Players. Free; donations accepted.

Thursday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m. · Camerata Musica · East Columbia 50+ Center Madrigal singers, holiday treats and refreshments make this a must-do for the holidays. Free; call 410-313-7680 for details.

Friday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Holiday Plant & Gift Sale · North Laurel 50+ Center Choose from a variety poinsettia & holiday wreaths as well as jewelry, handcrocheted accessories, art and pottery. Call 410-313-0380 for details.

Monday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m. to noon · Holiday Bingo · Elkridge Senior Center

A BETTER TOMORROW! LEARN MORE ABOUT

Howard County’s Master Plan The Howard County Department of Citizen Services and its Office on Aging will host public meetings at the following locations to update residents about the County’s 20 Year Master Plan for the Aging Population.

Monday, December 8 • 1-3 p.m.

North Laurel Community Center 9411 Whiskey Bottom Road, Laurel, MD 20723

Monday, December 8 • 7-9 p.m.

The Bain Center 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia, MD 21044

Tuesday, December 9 • 2-4 p.m.

Ellicott City Senior Center 9401 Frederick Road, Ellicott City, MD 21042

Bring a wrapped gift valued at $10 and play bingo for free! Lunch served at noon; call 410-313-5192 to order lunch in advance.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 10 a.m. · Holiday Swags · Glenwood 50+Center Join the staff and learn how to make swags. We’ll have everything you need to make a beautiful holiday decoration. Cost: $4; call 410-313-5440 to register

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 10:30 a.m. to noon · Hanukkah Party · Bain Center Enjoy a special Hanukkah program and luncheon. To RSVP, call 410-3137213 or email Sophie at snovinsky@jewishhowardcounty.org. Cost: Lunch donation requested.

For more information, visit

www.howardcountymd.gov/AgingMasterPlan This information is available in an alternate format upon request.

To request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations to attend, call 410-313-6400 (VOICE/RELAY) at least one week in advance.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. · Gifts from the Kitchen · Glenwood 50+ Center Sample delicious and creative treats from the kitchen, and learn how to package your treats for holiday and hostess gifts. Cost: $6; call 410-313-5400 to register.

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 10:30 a.m.

HCC Bain Senior Choir Holiday Recital · Bain Center Enjoy holiday refreshments at 10 a.m., then listen to the Bain Chorus as they sing holiday tunes that will be music to your ears. Call 410-313-7213 to reserve your seat.

PROJECT

Wednesday, Dec. 10, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Anything Goes Concert · North Laurel 50+ Center

Holiday

Enjoy a holiday concert from the musical “Anything Goes” followed by a special lunch. Sponsored by the Lyric Baltimore’s Opera Cares program.

Free; call 410-313-0380 to register; order lunch by Dec. 3.

2014

Friday, Dec. 12, Doors open at 10:45 a.m.

Holly Jolly Holiday Party · Ellicott City Senior Center

HOWARD COUNTY OFFICE ON AGING is

Join us for Two for the Show with Paula & Tom at 11 a.m. followed by a festive catered lunch at noon. Our Council Cookie Sale opens at 1:30 p.m. (cookie donations accepted Dec. 10-12). Cost: $20 includes show & luncheon.

Monday, Dec. 15, 9:30 to 11 a.m.

Create a Fresh Holiday Centerpiece · East Columbia 50+ Center Guided by our favorite Garden Club, astound your guests with your decorating talents!

Cost: $5 materials fee; call 410-313-7680 to register.

Monday, Dec. 15, 7 to 8 p.m.Caregiver Support Group · East Columbia 50+ Center

collecting donated items for low-income seniors who reside in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in the community.

The WISH LIST includes items for both adult men and women, such as blankets/throws, stamps/stationery, puzzle books, scarves, pajamas, toiletries, etc. Monetary donations are also accepted.

Drop off your donations by December 5 at any Howard County Senior Center or the

Dec.’s topic is “Strategies for the Holiday Season” with guest facilitator, Valerie Liss, the Office on Aging’s caregiver educator. Free; sponsored by SeniorsTogether. Call 410-313-7680 for details.

Howard County Office on Aging

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 11:30 a.m.

Marriott’s Ridge Women’s Ensemble · Ellicott City Senior Center

Nicole Patterson 410-313-6423 (VOICE/RELAY) or via email to npatterson@howardcountymd.gov

The outstanding voices of the Marriotts’ Ridge High School women’s ensemble will amaze you. A true holiday treat — don’t miss it. Free; call 410-313-1400 for details.

If you need this information in an alternate format, contact Maryland Access Point at 410-313-5980 or map@howardcountymd.gov

Thursday, Dec. 18, 11 a.m. · Bain Christmas Party · Bain Center Delight in traditional holiday gospel music with Bain’s Gospel Choir. Sign up in the lunch room by Dec. 11 if you plan to stay for our special lunch.

Details: 410-313-7213.

6751 Columbia Gateway Dr., Suite 200, Columbia, MD 21046 FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Money Law &

INDIA FUNDS ENTICE Mutual funds that invest in Indian stocks have skyrocketed since the country’s new prime minister took office STUDENT DEBT LINGERS More older Americans are carrying student loan debt in retirement, either from classes to advance their careers or from their kids’ loans

Time to lock in your stock market gains?

By Elliot Raphaelson If you have been investing in the stock market for the last five years or so, you know that the results have been excellent.

Since the stock recovery started in March 2009, the market has increased at an annual rate of approximately 25 percent through July 2014.

It is not unusual for the market to have a “correction” — a drop of 10 percent or more — at the end of a lengthy period of stock market gains. However, no one can tell you when or if you should protect your gains in some way. How you proceed depends on a number of considerations.

If you have a stable job and more than 20 years before retirement, and you have a diversified common stock portfolio, there is no compelling reason to sell your common stocks, whether they are in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or individual securities.

Because, on a long-term basis, common stocks should do better than bonds or other conservative investments — such as CDs, savings accounts and money-market instruments — you should maintain a significant percentage of your portfolio in common stocks.

Even if there is a short-term fall in stock prices, time is still on your side. In the long run, as long as you maintain a diversified portfolio of common stocks, you should be able to stay ahead of inflation and have a prosperous retirement.

Some should rebalance On the other hand, if you are retired or close to retirement, it is important to have a balanced portfolio, with a significant proportion invested in bonds.

Balancing is important. I do it at least once a year. If you have not balanced your portfolio recently, it is likely that the proportion of common stocks has increased relative to bonds.

For example, assume you determined a few years ago that you wanted your portfolio to be 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds. Because of the increase in common stock prices, your portfolio now might be 70 percent stocks vs. 30 percent bonds. It would be prudent to sell some of your stock holdings and go back to a 60-40 ratio.

In that way you are protecting some of your gains in case there is a general fall in common stock prices.

It is hard to predict Federal Reserve pol-

icy. However, with interest rates as low as they are, it is likely that they will trend upwards.

If long-term rates increase substantially, long-term bonds, even Treasurys, will fall substantially in value. Thus, it’s prudent not to have the majority of your bond holdings in long-term issues.

I maintain most of my holdings in intermediate-term bonds (both in mutual funds and ETFs.) In this way, I receive moderate income without a great deal of capital risk should long-term rates increase a great deal.

If you have short-term needs, such as tuition payments or a down payment for a home, then you should keep these funds in short-term investments, such as shortterm bonds, Treasury bills and moneymarket instruments.

To sell or not to sell?

If you have substantial investments in individual common stocks that have increased greatly in value, you have other options. The most conservative is to sell all of your shares and conserve all your profits.

However, if you are confident that the underlying company will continue to in-

crease its profits, and believe the stock will continue to do well, you can sell some of your holdings and reinvest the proceeds in more conservative vehicles, such as diversified mutual funds or ETFs, or intermediate-term bonds.

Another alternative is to use a stop-loss order. That’s an order to sell a stock that is triggered when the share price reaches a specified level. For example, suppose you bought a stock at $20 per share. It is now selling for $38. You think it will increase more in value but you want to protect some of your gains.

You can put a stop-loss order at $35. If the stock does fall to $35, your shares will be sold at prevailing market prices. If the stock continues to increase in value, you can cancel your previous stop-loss order and place a new one at a higher price.

If you have done well in the stock market, congratulations. If you want to protect your gains, however, you should consider some of the options discussed. Commons stocks prices don’t always go in one direction.

Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at elliotraph@gmail.com. © 2014 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

What’s the right time to sell bond funds?

By Stan Choe If bonds start to tumble, should I sell my bond mutual fund?

It’s a question investors are asking as expectations rise for a more volatile bond market. But a better question may be: How difficult will it be for my fund manager to sell?

Worries are increasing that some managers will have a tough time finding buyers for their bonds if a flood of investors tries to pull out of their funds at the same time. It’s a concept called liquidity, and a lack of it can accelerate losses for bonds when prices are falling, at least in the short term.

It would likely have less effect on fund investors willing to hold on through the volatility than those who sell amid a storm.

But it’s another risk that all bond fund investors need to consider.

regulations that have led to banks holding fewer bonds on their balance sheets. Previously, banks’ willingness to hold inventories of bonds offered a buffer when sellers in the market outnumbered buyers.

Inventories of investment-grade and high-yield bonds at Wall Street banks and other primary dealers are now just 20 percent of where they were in 2007, according to State Street Global Advisors.

The areas of the market most likely to be hurt by the liquidity concerns include corporate bonds, particularly high-yield bonds that are issued by companies with weak credit ratings, said Dan Farley, chief investment officer of the investment solutions group at State Street Global Advisors.

Treasurys, the largest sector of the bond market, aren’t a source of concern.

Why a concern now?

Periodic fears affect munis

The worries partially stem from new

Some bond fund investors are already

familiar with the phenomenon, such as those focused on bonds issued by cities and other local governments. Several times in the last six years, fear has pushed investors to rush for the exits out of municipal-bond mutual funds.

Managers typically keep a portion of their funds’ portfolios in cash, so they have some ready for departing investors. But when a flood of sell orders converge, it forces managers to sell bonds to raise more cash.

In past periods of low liquidity, when managers went looking for buyers for their muni bonds, they often found many others also looking to sell. That caused municipal bond prices to tumble, which further frightened fund investors, leading them to pull yet more money, and fueled even more forced selling.

Last year, the trigger was worries about rising interest rates and the creditworthiness of Puerto Rico and other municipal borrowers. Investors began withdrawing

their money from muni funds in the spring, and the largest category of municipal-bond funds lost 3.1 percent during the second quarter, according to Morningstar.

A financial analyst’s highly publicized prediction for a wave of defaults in the municipal bond market sparked a similar rush for the exits in late 2010. Investors pulled $13.3 billion from muni bond funds that December, according to the Investment Company Institute.

The toughest conditions, though, were during the financial crisis in 2008, according to John Miller, who leads the $95 billion municipal bond investing team at Nuveen Investment Management.

“In 2008, there was a feeling of being handcuffed,” Miller said. The few buyers available demanded steeper price cuts, and for a smaller number of bonds than he See SELLING BONDS, page 19

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

19

Burial and memorial benefits for veterans Dear Savvy Senior: Duty,” which you can request online Does the Veterans Administration pro- at archives.gov/veterans. vide any special funeral services or beneHere’s a rundown of some of the differfits to older veterans? My faent benefits that are available ther is a 90-year-old World to veterans who die a nonWar II veteran with late service related death. stage Alzheimer’s, so I’m looking into funeral options National and state and would like to know what cemetery benefits the VA may provide.

If your dad is eligible, and — Planning Ahead wants to be buried in one of the Dear Planning: 131 national or 93 state VA cemeYes, the Veterans Administeries (see www.cem.va.gov/ tration offers a number of cem/cems/listcem.asp for a SAVVY SENIOR burial and memorial benefits list), the VA benefits provided at

By Jim Miller to veterans if their discharge no cost to the family include a from the military was under conditions gravesite; opening and closing of the grave; other than dishonorable — which will perpetual gravesite care; a government headneed to be verified. To do this, you’ll need stone or marker; a United States burial flag a copy of your dad’s DD Form 214 “Certifi- that can be used to drape the casket or accate of Release or Discharge from Active company the urn (after the funeral service,

Selling bonds From page 18 was looking to sell.

Following each of those episodes, though, municipal bonds rebounded once the rush for the exits subsided. Miller’s Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond fund (NHMAX), for example, has returned 13.5 percent this year after losing 4.7 percent last year.

Other types of funds High-yield corporate bond funds saw a similar scare in August. Investors pulled out of such funds following warnings from the Federal Reserve that junk bond valuations may be “stretched” and worries that interest rate hikes may come sooner than expected.

That led to an average 1.2 percent drop for high-yield bond funds that month, their first loss in 11 months, according to Morningstar.

•

High-yield funds have continued to slide, losing .9 percent between Sept. 21 and Oct. 21.

Some areas of the bond market are better insulated from the liquidity concerns.

Buyers of high-quality bonds continue to outnumber sellers, for example.

“Where we operate, it’s very healthy,” said Rob Galusza, who runs Fidelity’s Limited Term Bond fund (FJRLX), which invests in shorter-term corporate bonds and Treasurys. “People feel like they can withstand the volatility there.”

the flag is given to the next-of-kin as a keepsake); and a Presidential memorial certificate, which is an engraved paper certificate signed by the current President expressing the country’s grateful recognition of the veteran’s service.

National cemetery burial benefits are also available to spouses and dependents of veterans.

If your dad is cremated, his remains will be buried or inurned in the same manner as casketed remains.

Funeral or cremation arrangements and costs are not, however, taken care of by the VA. They are the responsibility of the veteran’s family.

Private cemetery benefits If your dad is going to be buried in a private cemetery, the benefits available include a free government headstone or

— the trigger is likely to be an unexpected event that shocks investors.

But if everyone is exiting bonds, and a lack of liquidity is sending prices down even further, it may make for a good buy-

marker, or a medallion that can be affixed to an existing privately purchased headstone or marker; a burial flag; and a Presidential memorial certificate.

Funeral or cremation arrangements and costs are again the responsibility of the family, and there are no benefits offered to spouses and dependents who are buried in private cemeteries.

Military funeral honors Another popular benefit available to all eligible veterans buried in either a national or private cemetery is a military funeral honors ceremony. This includes folding and presenting the U.S. burial flag to the veteran’s survivors, and the playing of Taps, performed by two or more uniformed military members.

See VETERANS, page 21

ing opportunity for those who were already interested in buying.

Similarly, for those looking to sell, it may pay to do so before there’s a run on the exits.

— AP

BEACON BITS

Nov. 26

WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS Howard County Commission for Women is seeking nominations for

the 2015 Women’s Hall of Fame, honoring women who have made significant contributions to the county, the state or the nation. Nominations close Wednesday,

A matter of timing

Nov. 26. Nominees may be either living or deceased, but must have lived in

The liquidity concerns don’t mean investors should abandon their bond funds, but State Street’s Farley says it could influence the timing for investors who are looking to either buy or sell.

It’s impossible to know when the next liquidity scare could hit the bond market

Howard County for at least 10 years. The nominees selected will be inducted into

&

•

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the Hall of Fame at a ceremony on March 12 at the George Howard Building in Ellicott City. To obtain a nomination form, visit www.howardcountymd.gov/cfw.htm, call (410) 313-6400 or email women@howardcountymd.gov.

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Why stock funds in India top the charts

By Stan Choe To find the year’s best-performing mutual funds, head east.

In India, excitement surrounding a new prime minister has catapulted stocks higher, and mutual funds that focus on the country have reaped the gains. The Matthews India fund (MINDX) has returned 52 percent in 2014 through Oct. 22, for example.

That’s more than any other fund that Morningstar tracks, and it’s more than five times the gain of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Only seven mutual funds have

returned more than 30 percent this year, and five of them focus exclusively on Indian stocks.

Nearly all of those big returns have come since the May elections that swept Prime Minister Narendra Modi into power.

Hopes are high that the government can push through reforms to invigorate the economy of the world’s second-most populous country.

India has struggled with high inflation and a slow-moving bureaucracy that has hurt growth, analysts say. Investors have seen some positive changes already, but

BEACON BITS

Dec. 10

MEDICARE 101

Learn about original Medicare (Parts A and B) and prescription drug coverage (Part D) at a free program presented by the State Health Insurance Assistance Program and Howard County Office on Aging on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. at the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center, 10710 Charter Dr., Columbia. For more information or questions, call (410) 740-7601.

Dec. 17

the most difficult work remains and could take many years to implement.

Most investors are content to keep just a small slice of their portfolios in Indian stocks. Usually, that means owning a general emerging-market stock fund that also includes China, Brazil and other developing economies.

But this year’s strong returns have lured more dollars to what’s historically been a small corner of the market. Investors have plugged a net $2 billion into Indian stock funds this year. Still, the category has just $7 billion in total assets versus $438 billion for general emerging-market funds.

MEDICARE HEALTH PLANS

A free program presented by the State Health Insurance Assistance Program and Howard County Office on Aging on Medicare Health Plans (Part C) and Medicare Supplement Policies will be held Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 10 a.m. at the Howard County General Hospital Wellness Center, 10710 Charter Dr., Columbia. For questions or more information, call (410) 740-7601.

Advice from a fund manager Those investors should keep in mind that Indian stocks have historically seen sharper swings than U.S. stocks, said Sunil Asnani, lead portfolio manager of the Matthews India fund. He’s optimistic that Indian stocks can keep rising in the long term, but anyone looking to make money in the next year may be disappointed.

Here are excerpts from a recent conversation. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How much of this year’s gains for Indian stocks are due solely to Modi’s election?

A: If you look at the fundamentals of companies that were doing fine before the elections, they haven’t gotten dramatically better. And the fundamentals of companies that were not doing well before he came into office haven’t become better, either.

My conclusion is this rally has been driven primarily by the Modi wave and the sentiment of what Mr. Modi can do.

Q: Have any big reforms actually gone through yet?

A: The big-bang reforms — labor, land, agriculture — they are still not coming. I don’t expect these to happen overnight. If they’re able to achieve 50 percent of them in the next few years, that will be a good achievement.

Q: Are you worried then that the See INDIAN STOCKS, page 21

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

SYMPHONY OF LIGHTS The Symphony of Lights, a 20-minute drive-through of more than

70 holiday light displays, is open nightly from 6 to 10 p.m. through Thursday, Jan. 4 in Symphony Woods at the intersection of Broken Land Pkwy. and Hickory Ridge Rd. in Columbia. A fund-raiser for Howard County General Hospital, the display is presented by Macy’s and is open to both walkers and vehicles except on Tuesdays and Dec. 31, when it is closed to drive-through traffic. Admission is $20 per car or van up to eight passengers. Tickets can be purchased at the main gate. For full information, visit www.hcgh.org/symphonyoflights or call (410) 740-7666.

Veterans

fits, eligibility details and required forms, visit www.cem.va.gov or call 1-800-827-1000.

From page 19 The funeral provider you choose will be able to assist you with all VA burial requests.

Depending on what you want, certain forms may need to be completed, which it is always better to have done in advance. For a complete rundown of burial and memorial bene-

Burial allowances

Indian stocks

So, with a longer-term view, it’s an easier call. In the next 12 months, it’s very hard to say.

Q: You were a police superintendent in India and may have a better view on this than others: How worried should investors be about the quality of accounting and corporate governance at Indian companies?

A: I would quote an investor — his name is Rob Arnott — and he says what is comfortable in investing is rarely profitable.

You will find a lot of companies with bad accounting standards in India. But at the same time, you will be able to find well-run companies and good entrepreneurs who are trying to navigate through the complex system of bureaucracy and the demographics of India. If you find them and stay with them in the long run, you should be fine.

Q: What misconceptions do investors have about Indian stocks?

A: People consider investing in India for diversification.

From page 20 market’s expectations are too high?

A: In India’s case, they are never realistic. Maybe they are expecting too much, especially on companies where their valuation is hinged on reforms taking place.

There, they will see a lot of disappointment.

Q: So is it foolish to get into an Indian stock fund now? Wouldn’t that just be buying high?

A: If you look at the valuations of stocks, they are slightly above their historical fiveand seven-year averages. So if you’re making a shorter-term investment, they can go in either direction.

But if you take a longer-term view, then you might see returns aligned with earnings growth for the companies. Nominal growth of the economy easily should be between 10 percent and 15 percent each year, with real growth of 5 to 7 percent and inflation on top of that.

In addition to the many burial benefits, some veterans may also qualify for a $734 burial and funeral expense allowance (if hospitalized by VA at time of death), or $300 (if not hospitalized by VA at time of

21

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

death), and a $734 plot-interment allowance to those who choose to be buried in a private cemetery. To find out if your dad is eligible, see benefits.va.gov/benefits /factsheets/burials/burial.pdf.

To apply for burial allowances, you’ll need to fill out VA Form 21-530 “Application for Burial Benefits.” You need to attach a copy of your dad’s discharge document

(DD 214 or equivalent), death certificate, funeral and burial bills. They should show that you have paid them in full. You may download the form at va.gov/vaforms.

Send your questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of The Savvy Senior book.

Now, diversification means different things for different people. When there’s a crisis in the developed markets, a person looking for diversification is hoping their investment will be safe in India. But it is quite the opposite. In 2008, the average Indian stock fund lost 64 percent versus a 37 percent loss for the S&P 500.

When there is a correction in the United States, there is a bigger correction in India, so the Indian market doesn’t provide

any diversification in the short term.

If you’re looking for long-term differentiated returns, then you will see India doing better than developed markets.

Q: Why are Indian stocks more volatile than the U.S. market?

A: Because it is dominated by foreign investors, both in ownership and trading.

So it will remain volatile, but the underlying earnings growth is less volatile.

— AP

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

More older Americans hold student debt

By Kimberly Hefling Rosemary Anderson could be 81 by the time she pays off her student loans. After struggling with divorce, health problems and an underwater home mortgage, the 57-year-old anticipates there could come a day when her Social Security benefits will be docked to make the payments.

Like Anderson, a growing percentage of aging Americans struggle to pay back their student debt. Tens of thousands of them even see their Social Security bene-

fits garnished when they cannot do so.

Among Americans ages 65 to 74, 4 percent in 2010 carried federal student loan debt, up from 1 percent six years earlier, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in September at a Senate Aging Committee hearing.

For all older adults, the collective amount of student loan debt grew from about $2.8 billion in 2005 to about $18.2 billion last year. (Student debt for all ages totals $1 trillion.)

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Learn more by calling (410) 997-0610 or visit www.cogsmd.org Thank you to our 2014 Executive Members PLaTinuM MeMber Howard County General Hospital – A Member of Johns Hopkins Medicine The Beacon Newspapers

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“Some may think of student loan debt as just a young person’s problem,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., chairman of the committee. “Well, as it turns out, that’s increasingly not the case.”

Anderson, of Watsonville, Calif., amassed $64,000 in student loans, beginning in her 30s, as she worked toward her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She said she has worked multiple jobs — she’s now at the University of California, Santa Cruz — to pay off credit card debt, and has renegotiated terms of her home mortgage.

But she hasn’t been able to make a student loan payment in eight years. The amount she now owes has ballooned to $126,000.

“I find it very ironic that I incurred this debt as a way to improve my life, and yet I sit here today [testifying] because the debt has become my undoing,” Anderson testified.

Despite not making payments, she’s managed to keep the education debt in good standing by getting permission to defer the payments even as the amount she owes has grown, she said.

Some guaranteed kids’ loans Ed Boltz, a bankruptcy attorney in Durham, N.C., who is president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, said in an interview that many of the seniors he sees with student loan debt are also struggling with challenges such a medical problems, job loss or divorce.

Some, he said, went back to school with hopes of making a higher salary, and that didn’t pan out. Or, the children they helped fund to attend school are not in a position to help the parent in return.

“They are stuck with these debts, and they can’t try again,” Boltz said. “There’s no second act for them.”

The GAO found that about 80 percent of student loan debt held by seniors was for their own education, while the rest was taken out for their children or other dependents.

It said federal data showed that seniors

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1 in 4 in default The GAO found that about a quarter of loans held by seniors ages 65 to 74 were in default.

The number of older Americans who had their Social Security benefits offset to pay student loan debt increased fivefold, from 31,000 to 155,000, from 2002 to 2013.

Sandy Baum, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, said seniors having their Social Security docked likely don’t have much discretionary income, and Congress should consider taking away this option. There’s a limit to how much Social Security can be docked, but some seniors are left with benefits below the poverty level, the GAO said.

“It’s not an issue that affects large numbers of people,” Baum said. “It’s a very big issue for people who are affected by it.”

In addition to docking Social Security, the government can use a variety of tools to recoup student loans, such as docking wages or taking tax refund dollars. Typically, student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy.

“As the baby boomers continue to move into retirement, the number of older Americans with defaulted loans will only continue to increase,” the GAO said. “This creates the potential for an unpleasant surprise for some, as their benefits are offset and they face the possibility of a less secure retirement.”

— AP

BEACON BITS

Dec. 4+

MEDICARE ENROLLMENT HELP

Open enrollment for Medicare will be held by appointment only on the following dates at Howard County senior center locations: Thursday, Dec. 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bain Center, 5470 Ruth Keeton Way, Columbia. Thursday, Dec. 4 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at North Laurel 50+ Center, 9411 Whiskey Bottom Rd., Laurel. Friday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ellicott City Senior Center, 9401 Frederick Rd., Ellicott City. To schedule an appointment at any of the centers, call (410) 313-7392.

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were more likely to default on loans for themselves compared with those they took out for their children.

It’s unclear when the loans originated, although the GAO noted that the time period to pay back such debt can range from a decade to 25 years.

That means some older Americans could have taken out the loans when they were younger and they’ve accumulated with interest, or got them later in life — such as workers who enrolled in college after a layoff in the midst of the economic downturn.

Dec. 6

A WILD EVENING

The Baltimore County Public Library hosts Carine McCandless, author of The Wild Truth and sister of Chris McCandless, subject of the book and movie Into the Wild, for a discussion and book signing. The powerful story of her brother, Chris McCandless, who gave away his savings, hitchhiked across North America, walked into the wilderness of Alaska and starved to death in 1992, fascinated not only author Jon Krakauer, but readers around the world.

A movie was made of the story in 2007. McCandless shares what drove her brother to such extremes and shares her own story. This event will be held at the Arbutus Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, 855 Sulphur Spring Rd., on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.bcpl.info or call (410) 887-1451.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Travel

23

Leisure &

New online sites can help you book last-minute travel deals. See story on page 24.

Creepy but captivating Carlsbad Caverns

NPS PHOTO BY PETER JONES

stone resembling molasses — plus 45,000year-old bat guano.

It’s is a geological wonderland for speleologists, spelunkers and amateurs, with 120 caves in a park of over 46,766 acres.

Will Rogers called it the “Grand Canyon with a roof on it.”

Its spooky allure attracted the filmmakers who produced the 1959 flick Journey to the Center of the Earth, based on the Jules Verne novel and filmed in the caverns with actors Pat Boone, James Mason and Diane Baker.

Carlsbad’s 400,000 visitors per year start in the headquarters at 4,400 feet and descend. There are eight tours, with the lowest dropping to what’s called the Lower Cavern, 800 feet below the entrance, the deepest part of the cavern open to the public.

Of the park’s 120 known caves, with 185 “cave miles” surveyed, Carlsbad Cavern is the most accessible and famous. Visitors can explore about 10 percent of the underground acreage. (For comparison, Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave system is the longest known cave system in the world. Around 400 cave miles have been mapped.)

If New Mexico is the “Land of Enchantment,” as its license plates tout, Carlsbad enchants underground.

As visitors descend to Carlsbad Cavern’s 25-story Big Room, largest underground room in the world, they pass several spectacular speleotherms (mineral deposits), including this one, named the Temple of the Sun.

Ancient origins Scientists say the caves of Carlsbad are actually a fossil reef laid down by an inland sea 250 to 280 million years ago.

They believe Paleo-Indians inhabited the Guadalupe Mountains 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. More recently, Spanish explorers, then U.S. Army surveyors and cattle ranchers combed the area.

Around the turn of the 20th century, locals extracted bat guano from the cave and hauled it up 170 feet in buckets for shipment to southern California to fertilize citrus groves.

In 1923, the federal government made Carlsbad Caverns a national monu-

NPS PHOTO BY PETER JONES

By Glenda C. Booth Drip...drip...drip... The slow-motion drip is mesmerizing. For millions of years, dripping, seeping, condensing, flowing, and ponding water has performed nature’s artistry in the depths of southeastern New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park under the Guadalupe Mountains.

It’s a persistent and powerful force — though it takes between 17 and 34 years for one drop of water to reach the bottom.

Carlsbad Caverns are a subterranean maze where water steadily shapes otherworldly cave formations — bearing names like icicles, icebergs, draperies, witch’s finger and lion’s tail (and which look uncannily like their monikers). Carlsbad has all of those, plus frozen waterfalls, strands of pearls, organ pipes, cookies, sponges, totem poles, miniature castles, bulging veins and more.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a netherworld of ghostly stalactites and stalagmites; glistening, glazed formations; “puffy” popcorn; soda straws; and flow-

A park ranger discusses the geological features of Devil’s Den in Carlsbad Cavern.

Visitors may take either an elevator or this 1.25-mile paved trail to descend 800 feet to the Big Room, where many of the cavern’s largest formations are found.

ment, and in 1930 Congress designated it a national park. It became a World Heritage Site in 1995.

It was discovered quite by accident. In 1898, a local ranchhand, Jim White, was repairing a fence and saw what he thought was smoke rising from a gaping hole in the earth.

He held a lantern over the opening, tossed in a rock and did not hear a sound.

He had happened upon a vast underworld.

Today, visitors can see the ladder he used to probe the depths.

The smoke? It was a cloud of bats swirling out of the caverns to feast on nighttime insects. Today, at least seven bat species use the caves, most as a nursery for bat pups, one per mom.

The most common bats are Brazilian or Mexican free-tailed bats that fly from Mexico to summer in the cave, congregate and have their young. Free-tailed bats have been in Carlsbad for thousands of years.

They produce so many droppings they’ve been called “guano bats.”

Today, 250,000-400,000 bats sleep during the day in the caverns, and spiral up at sunset like a whirlwind to catch mosquitoes, flies, ants, beetles and other insects.

Freetails, which weigh only half an ounce, consume at least half their weight in insects every night.

From May to October, rangers hold educational programs about the bats 30 to 60 minutes before sunset, when bats depart, and on some mornings as early as 5 a.m., when the bats return.

A final bat note: Some people fear and malign bats. But they are an important component of our natural environment.

They do not attack people, and perform valuable ecological services, such as eating insects and pollinating flowers.

Touring the caverns Visitors can take several guided and unguided tours of the caverns, and rent audio guides. Carlsbad Cavern, Spider Cave, and Slaughter Canyon Cave are open to the public, and nine caves are open for skilled, recreational cavers with the proper equipment.

A favorite destination in the Carlsbad Cavern is the largest underground room in the world, the 8.2-acre Big Room, 25 stories high. The self-guided walking tour to the Big Room descends on a 1.25-mile paved trail, mostly level but with a few steep slants — a descent equivalent to 79 stories.

You can also reach the Big Room by elevator, recommended for people not in good physical condition. But then you’ll miss the sights walkers get on the way See CARLSBAD CAVERNS, page 25

24

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

Book last-minute vacation rentals online With all the travel writers urging “rent early,” you might think that “last-minute vacation rentals” is an oxymoron. Fortunately, it isn’t.

A newly launched British website, snaptrip.com, focuses on last-minute vacation rentals, while the industry giants HomeAway and Flipkey allow you to locate various special deals, including lastminute offers.

stay prices rather than prices per night.

The top menu also includes a “top deals” option that returns, as you might guess, the best available deals for your dates throughout the UK, listed in order of percentage discounts.

I tested the site for one-week stays at the industry standard Saturday to Saturday periods.

For a stay starting one week after the day I tested, the site returned 33 properties with Snaptrip discounts ranging from 6 perNewcomer Snaptrip pro- TRAVEL TIPS cent to 29 percent, with several vides a friendly search sys- By Ed Perkins above 15 percent. I got about tem. Enter a destination — either a town or the same results for rentals starting two a county — plus dates you want, length of weeks after my test. stay, and number of beds, and the site posts However, three weeks ahead, discount available results. The price displays ac- percentages dropped sharply, and starting count for your length of stay; they post full- four weeks down the road, only four deals

were available. Snaptrip also displays a map with deal locations highlighted.

I focus on Snaptrip because, to my knowledge, it’s the first website devoted specifically to last-minute vacation rentals, and the pricing pattern provides some insight as to how the market operates.

All in all, Snaptrip is a well-planned and user-friendly website, making last-minute searches easy within its relatively small universe of rentals in the UK and Ireland.

But I wonder how scalable it would be for really large worldwide databases.

Given the typically high cost of lastminute airfares, a last-minute rental in the UK is a very limited market for North Americans. So Snaptrip is more interesting as a template for potential U.S.-based search systems than as a resource for typical North Americans.

Presumably, interest in last-minute

rentals concentrates on destinations within comfortable driving distance rather than those that require you to buy airline tickets.

The giant rental websites do post some lastminute deals, but they’re generally not as easily accessible as those through Snaptrip.

HomeAway The industry’s giant, HomeAway, continues to be puzzling. Altogether, it lists more than a million properties worldwide, well ahead of Flipkey’s 300,000.

Although HomeAway seems to be consolidating some of its many subsidiaries, it still operates four separate English-language systems: Homeaway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com that cater to North American markets, plus UK-based ownersdirect.co.uk.

For some reason, Ownersdirect seems to have the friendliest last-minute search system. Log on, select the “Find a Deal” button, enter country and region, and you get a list of deals. Examples include percent discounts, fixed “reduced” rates, and extras such as a rental car.

This site has limited coverage of North America, however, with only 13 properties in the United States, of which 12 are in the Orlando area, and none in Canada or Mexico.

Although the main HomeAway site doesn’t post specific “last-minute” deals, it does allow you to filter your search by prioritizing “special offers.”

VacationRentals tags some listings as special deals, although its former lastminute blog seems to have been discontinued. VRBO does not screen by special deals — or at least I couldn’t find it.

Flipkey Flipkey’s primary property display page includes a “deal” button that filters results according to special offers. The display does not show the exact nature of the special offer, however, only that it’s a deal.

In addition to varying deal display, the big online sites encourage you to sign up for periodic bulletins that feature any specials that might arise. Clearly, that’s a good idea if you’re at all interested in spur-ofthe-moment vacation rentals.

And remember: regardless of the online posting prices, you can always email or phone a property owner to ask about any special promotions that might be available for the dates you want to visit. Owners are free to negotiate as they choose.

Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net. © 2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Write a letter to the editor.

See page 2.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Carlsbad Caverns From page 23 down, including Bottomless Pit, Rock of Ages, the Lion’s Tail, the six-stories-tall Hall of Giants, and the Giant Dome, a 62foot high stalagmite. Allow at least an hour and a half to absorb the enormity of it all.

The self-guided tour starting at the natural entrance drops about 800 feet in one mile, winds around in switchbacks, and offers good views of Devil’s Spring, Whale’s Mouth and Iceberg Rock. In the mouth of the cave, you might see nesting or roosting cave swallows, and you can study red and black thousand-year-old pictographs high up on the walls.

The guided King’s Palace tour shows off ornate cave rooms, including giant draperies formed by water trickling from a slanted ceiling. Park rangers briefly turn off the lights to show the natural darkness of the caves.

The caverns may seem bare of life, but keen observers could spot a horsehair worm, water fleas, sow bugs and pillbugs, for example. Ask a ranger.

Carlsbad is the only cave in the park with paved walkways, handrails and lights.

Enthusiastic cavers might also want to explore ranger-led tours in Spider Cave and Slaughter Canyon Cave.

Protecting the fragile formations Caves have very delicate environments, posing special challenges to managers and visitors alike.

To preserve the caves’ pristine and fragile environment, park staff use Formula 409 cleanser to decontaminate shoes if a visitor’s been in a cave in the last seven years. That’s because people can inadvertently bring in harmful spores, fungi and other materials.

A major concern today is a bat disease called white nose syndrome, a fungus spread among bats that has killed millions

of them — in fact, 80 percent of the bats in the northeastern U.S. The disease is spreading throughout North America, though it had not been found in New Mexico or Carlsbad as of August.

Then there’s lint from visitors’ clothing — so much that volunteers with tweezers and special tools pick over 32 pounds of lint off the formations each year. Lint changes the ecology. To confine lint in the underground gift shop, T-shirts are kept in plastic bags.

Lights installed to accommodate the public change what otherwise would be a dark habitat. Lights and the heat they generate encourage photosynthesis and algae growth, so staffers must bleach some formations monthly to remove the algae.

In addition, camera lights and high frequency sounds from digital devices can disturb bats. Oil from human skin can discolor rocks.

“Caves have unique and rare qualities,” said Chuck Burton, Carlsbad’s acting superintendent. “The formations that are so spectacular and awe-inspiring have taken millions of years to create. Caves are very special environments, ecosystems that people do not know much about.”

Caves served as shelter to our Paleo-Indian ancestors. They are still home to microorganisms and troglobites, animals that live in the dark. And caves preserve the geologic and climactic record of an area.

David VonSeggern, an amateur caver, commented, “Caves often contain remains and relics of early mankind and of now extinct wildlife. They are the last frontier for exploration on Earth. Many deep and difficult passages remain to be explored, while a vast, unknown realm of caves has not even been discovered.”

Then there’s medicine: The National Park Service website says, “Studying [caves] has already revealed a food chain that begins with minerals in the rock, and has shown

that some of the organisms may help serious human diseases, such as cancer.”

If you go Park officials recommend reservations for guided tours by visiting www.Recreation.gov or calling 1-877-444-6777.

Wear sturdy footwear and inquire about physical requirements. Some trails are strenuous; some are not.

Underground, it’s a consistent 56 degrees Fahrenheit year round. Aboveground, summer temperatures can reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit; winter highs are in the 50s and 60s, with lows in the 20s and 30s.

The visitor center is at 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220. The only entrance is from New Mexico Highway 7, 20 miles southwest of Carlsbad by way of U.S. 62/180.

F o r l o d g i n g , t r y B e s t We s t e r n ,

25

http://bestwesternnewmexico.com/hotels /best-western-stevens-inn, (575) 887-2851, $162 a night, or Days Inn http://daysinncarlsbadnm.com, (575) 887-7800, $189 a night.

For accommodations with a little more personality, check out the Trinity Hotel, built in 1892 as a bank, www.thetrinityhotel.com, (575) 234-9891, $239 a night.

No airport is very close. Albuquerque is 304 miles from Carlsbad, while Roswell, N.M. is 103 miles away. In Texas: Lubbock, 206 miles; Midland, 194 miles; El Paso, 151 miles.

Carlsbad is served by Greyhound bus.

More information is available from: National Park Service, www.nps.gov/ cave, (575) 785-2232 Carlsbad Caverns-Guadalupe Mountains Association, www.ccgma.org, (575) 785-2484 Chamber of Commerce, www.carlsbadchamber.com, (575) 887-6516

BEACON BITS

Dec. 6

SEE THE NIGHT OF 100 ELVISES The Department of Recreation & Parks is sponsoring a bus to the

matinee showing of Night of 100 Elvises at Hunt Valley on Saturday, Dec. 6. The bus leaves at 12:30 p.m. and returns at 6:30 p.m. The $69 fee includes the bus and table seating; food is extra. For more information, call (410) 313-7279 or email viruss@howardcountymd.gov.

26

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Style Arts &

A new musical at the Kennedy Center is centered on the story behind Edgar Degas’ statue “Little Dancer, Age 14.”

See story on facing page.

Fashioning fun with whimsical wearable art

Creating a new career Kirn discovered ManneqArt circuitously.

Growing up in Essex in Baltimore Coun-

ty, Kirn, now 67, attended Kenwood High school, graduating in 1965. She’d always been interested in art, but hers is not a typical arts background: She worked for 38 years in the field of waste water facilities as a lab technician before retiring five years ago.

“A great career,” she said. But Kirn had other aspirations for retirement.

She began pursuing a career closer to her diverse interests in the arts. For over 40 years while working, she’s been taking a host of art classes that express a wide range of interest and talents.

“I tried everything. I started out doing pressed flower pictures. I would start out in the garden — getting flowers, little pansies and anything that would press — and framing them behind glass. Then I moved onto goose eggery, [the art of painting and decorating eggs] and loved doing that,” Kirn said.

“Then I found the Queen’s Ink at Savage Mill.” Equal parts art supply store and studio, Kirn has taken full advantage of Queen’s Ink’s classes in honing her artistic skills.

“I showed up at the Savage Mill store about maybe 10 or 11 years ago…I’m al-

ways down there taking a class,” said Kirn. Describing the studio in back of the store, she added, “It’s just a wonderful haven.”

Styling a winner

PHOTO BY EMILY MEYERS

By Tom Flynn and Barbara Ruben From shawls made from peacock feathers to skirts fashioned from wicker baskets festooned with flowers, Elkridge artist Sherry Kirn is garnering increasing notoriety through her wearable art.

This art form, known as ManneqArt, includes clothing designs (along with elaborate hair and makeup), often staged initially on a mannequin. Through the intricacy and whimsy of their design, they are considered works of art.

The focal point for the movement in the United States is an unassuming warehouse simply called ManneqArt in on Route 1 in Laurel that stages competitions in the genre that draw entrants from all over the country.

ManneqArt’s founder Lee Andersen calls the work “sculpture on the human form.” The clothing designer discovered it in her native New Zealand, and when she found no similar competitions in the United States, decided to start them here herself.

Ultimately, when she drifted into the ManneqArt studio one day, Kirn chose ManneqArt as her specialty.

Kirn was off to an auspicious start when she won her very first competition in the form — with the help of an enthusiastic young charge whom she was babysitting. She was tasked with creating artwork on one of 20 mannequins set up that night for the event. And she has not let up since.

The yearly competitions are themed. On the docket for 2015 are such Sherry Kirn poses with her wearable art creation fashwide-ranging subjects as ioned from peacock feathers. She creates ornate, whimnature, literature, art and sical costumes in a genre called ManneqArt. architecture.

A recent effort by Kirn as I worked on it. I had an idea, and it just was dubbed “Peacock Flight,” and it’s evi- flowed. It was so much fun to create,” she dent in its sprawling, colorful design how said. the name was derived.

A first-place winning design, which Kirn “I was inspired by the beauty of the peaSee MANNEQART, page 29 cock feathers, and the creation came to me

DVOŘÁK & GERSHWIN DECEMBER 6, 2014 at 7:30pm Gershwin: Cuban Overture

Rouse: Trombone Concerto Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” Order your tickets now to reserve the best seats!

Tickets range from $10-$25 ($2 service fee may apply)

David Murray trombone

Jim Rouse Theatre, 5460 Trumpeter Road, Columbia, MD 410-465-8777 www.columbiaorchestra.org

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

27

Degas’ Little Dancer comes to life on stage he choose her?’ She looked different from all the other ballerinas that he would paint, and you could tell that she had spirit, she had character.”

Degas, played by Tony Award-winning actor Boyd Gaines, made the wax-and-clay sculpture between 1878 and 1881 as his eyesight began to fade. The piece was cast in bronze and circulated widely after the artist died, making it a fixture in museums.

Sculpting the story Parts of the story are based on writings left by Degas and American artist Mary Cassatt, who collaborated with him and who figures in the story as a strong woman amid a rising feminist movement.

When Degas first exhibited his sculpture, critics disapproved, saying he created a homely specimen. Later, his young subject was fired from the ballet, though it’s not clear why. She disappears from the records, curators said. That gave Ahrens an opening to create the rest of Marie’s story.

Stroman and Ahrens said they grew up seeing Degas’ images of dancers. Ahrens would pose like the “Little Dancer” as a girl.

“For every little girl, every dancer, everybody who loves art...they know the

BEACON BITS

Dec. 1+

HOLIDAY SHOW AND SALE AT ARTISTS’ GALLERY

The Artists’ Gallery Holiday Show and Sale opens on Monday, Dec. 1, featuring a variety of artwork by gallery members who will be honored at a reception on Friday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery in the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Cir., Columbia. An open house and sale is also scheduled at the gallery on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.artistsgallerycolumbia.com or call (410) 7408249.

Dec. 5

HOWARD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL HOSTS HOLIDAY SALE

The Howard County Arts Council will hold its annual public open house and holiday sale on Friday, Dec. 5 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Rd., Ellicott City.

Local artists will be offering affordable art and handcrafted items for sale, and studios of the Council’s resident artists will be open to the public from 7 to 8 p.m. For more information, call (410) 313-2787 or visit www.hocoarts.org.

CC S

Quartetto Gelato Sunday, December 7 TWO PERFORMANCES 2:00–3:30 pm CandleKids Performance & Family Celebration Reception Duncan Hall Room 100, HCC

7:00–9:00 pm Chamber Music Series Performance Smith Theatre, HCC A lively program of showpieces, gypsy tunes and arias performed with a perfect blend of wit, virtuosity and entertainment!

www.candlelightconcerts.org

410-997-2324

face of that tough little girl,” Ahrens said. “But they don’t know her name.”

The story is a unique concept, crossing art forms with a music-and-dance-infused story inspired by a 130-year-old sculpture that was inspired by the ballet.

It’s a risk for the Kennedy Center in seeking to draw a crowd and to recoup its costs from often disparate audiences for theater, dance and fine art.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW KARAS

By Brett Zongker “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,” a famous sculpture by Edgar Degas that can be seen in museums around the world, including Washington’s National Gallery of Art, is coming to life in a new musical exploring the story of a mysterious 14-yearold dancer and the artist who portrayed her.

The production imagines the back story of Marie van Goethem, a struggling dancer in the world of the Paris Opera Ballet in the late 1800s, when dancing represented a chance at escaping poverty.

Degas took an interest in dancers for his paintings and sculptures, leaving behind images of young ballerinas popular more than a century later.

The $7 million Kennedy Center musical runs through Nov. 30. It’s the brainchild of the Broadway team of playwright and lyricist Lynn Ahrens, composer Stephen Flaherty, and director and choreographer Susan Stroman. The show was born out of their love of dance and an interest in one of the most important sculptures at the National Gallery of Art. “I would wonder about that little girl,” Stroman said during a recent visit to the museum. “Like, ‘Who was she? Why did

Melding genres Stroman — whose Broadway credits include The Producers, Contact and The Music Man — said she is one of the few people bridging genres as a lover of both ballet and musical theater. But she hopes Lit- Tiler Peck brings 14-year-old French ballerina Marie tle Dancer will appeal more van Goethem to life in the Kennedy Center’s production of Little Dancer. The new musical is based on a fawidely. mous sculpture of the dancer by Edgar Degas.

“What I’m hoping for is that someone who loves the ballet will want to come see a story about a what her hair looked like, where the ribballet dancer in Paris, and then someone bon was placed.”

Performances are Tuesday through who loves art will come to see the real story about the sculpture, and then some- Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m., with matinee one who loves musical theater will come performances on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Additional matinee performancbecause of that,” she said.

Tiler Peck, the New York City Ballet es will take place on Nov. 19 and 28 at 1:30 principal dancer who plays the young p.m.

Tickets, ranging from $45 to $155, are Marie, has visited the sculpture twice for sale on the Kennedy Center website, since rehearsals moved to Washington.

“I want to make sure I get it as perfectly www.kennedy-center.org, in person at the as possible, and to be as true to the sculp- Kennedy Center box office, or by calling ture as I can,” she said. “To be able to see Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600.

— AP exactly how her hands are clasped and

28

Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

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From page 26 calls “Alice in Wonderbra,” decorates a bra with lavender fabric wings, three-dimensional fabric teacups, a purple feather boa and more.

The Mall at Columbia recently displayed some ManneqArt, and Kirn’s own efforts were on display at the Garden Center in Clarksville.

As to the appeal of this particular art form to someone with such a broad realm of interests, Kirn said, “ManneqArt is truly my passion. I’ve met so many people; it’s just been tremendous. When I retired, I said I’m going to play with art, and I really am.”

“Peacock Flight” is now on display at the spa Medical Skin Therapeutics, 4801 Dorsey Hall Dr. # 110, in Ellicott City. For more about ManneqArt, see http://manneqart.org.

IRVIN SIMON PHOTOGRAPHERS

ManneqArt

29

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

BEACON BITS

Dec. 6

DVORAK AND GERSHWIN CONCERT The Columbia Orchestra presents a program of Dvorak and

Gershwin plus National Symphony trombonist David Murray on Saturday, Dec. 6 at

Kirn’s “Alice in Wonderbra” won first place in a recent ManneqArt competition.

7:30 p.m. in the Jim Rouse Theatre at Wilde Lake High School, 5460 Trumpeter Rd., Columbia. Tickets range from $10 to $25. For more information, visit www.columbiaorchestra.org or call (410) 465-8777.

Dec. 7

HOLIDAY JAZZ CONCERT SCHEDULED Jazz in the Mills at the Other Barn presents its annual Holiday Jazz Extravaganza featuring Davey Yarborough and Esther

Williams at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 5851 Robert Oliver Pl. in Columbia.

Advance tickets are $15 at the Other Barn or online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/569396. Tickets will also be available at the door for $20. For more information, call (301) 596-5128 or (410) 730-4610, or email Lavenia_nesmith@comcast.net or manager@oaklandmills.org.

FROM PAGE 30

ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD M A S A D A

A B A C U S

D I S R E P A W A I A C R Y E S S K W H E E M E B O N

E T H O S S O O C R T O S C P A U L R E E R E S

M A E S T R O

O U T T A

S A S C E S L L A S P

S S P T O I A L R A I N F A R N F C S M Y H R S O U N T B A S E A L N D A C O U R U C E T E A

L U R I D E A R S R O P E

U P O N

R S I L N Y G

B A B Y S H O W E R

U S R T L Y E A S E R S

T I S S U E

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 — H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

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Crossword Puzzle

Puzzle Page

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

Across Words 1

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Scrabble answers on p. 29.

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Across

Down

1. Crafted 5. Eight wks., or more 8. Defamations 13. 12 1/2 cents 14. Mustang or Pinto 16. One who sets his sights on knowledge 17. Miss America accessory 18. And some other folks 19. Literary device 20. Puzzler’s practice 23. Ready to give birth 24. Red carpet walker 25. Mood ring, or pet rock 26. ___ as a church mouse 28. Grp, with Eagles, Falcons, and Seahawks 29. Commuter’s option 32. Puzzler’s vow 36. Sit by the railroad crossing 38. Railroad crossing letters 39. With competence 40. Puzzler’s journey 45. Twenty Questions response 46. Bridge designers (abbrev.)

47. French hound 50. Comrade 51. Finalize wedding invitations 53. “Bali ___” 54. Puzzler’s flag (with 64 Across) 58. Longest of the five W’s 59. “Fine and dandy, like ___ candy” 60. Activates a home equity loan 61. Islamic prince 62. Brownish purple (or purplish brown) 63. Nation due south of Delaware 64. See 54 Across 65. ___ and crumpets 66. Conclusion of REV- or DIV-

1. Fortress overlooking the Dead Sea 2. You can count on it 3. Crumbling neglect 4. Logical beginning 5. Esteemed musician 6. “Get me ___ here!”

7. The fourth Beatle 8. Ingredient in Chicken Florentine 9. Sensational 10. Second word of many fairy tales 11. Land-line sound 12. Cagy 15. Suffix for motor, pay, or schnozz 21. SCISSOR, kicked of its start 22. Questionable 27. Tetra- times two 28. Las Cruces inst.

29. Event with diaper wipes ... and cake 30. www.thebeaconnewspapers.com, e.g.

31. Pigpen 33. Pouches 34. B’way sellout sign 35. Corn units 36. The ___ of the world 37. High card 41. Himalayan hopefuls 42. Divest one’s real estate portfolio 43. San Antonio or Oklahoma City 44. After-bath powder 48. Short cuts and cheat sheets 49. Lightweight paper 50. Use a Cuisniart 51. Foremost part of a pig 52. Derive from the facts 54. Dumb jerk 55. Razor-sharp 56. Nile snake 57. Clue weapon 58. ___ of lies

Answers on page 29.

H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

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 on the right.

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.

EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Caregivers LICENSED, BONDED & EXPERIENCED CNA and nursing student seeks full-time overnight position caring for your loved ones. I come with an extensive resume and stellar references. If interested, please call Jacqueline at 301-787-3555.

KIND, DEPENDABLE, EXPERIENCED caregiver for live-out care or live-in care for a flat rate.

Hygiene care, Meal preparation, Housekeeping, Errands, Appointments, Medication reminders.

Call 301-490-1146.

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Computer Services PROBLEM WITH YOUR PC/MAC OR NETWORK? Computer Systems Engineer will come to you with help. Call: David G at 301642-4526.

Financial Services ACCOUNTING, BOOKKEEPING, TAXES – conscientious CPA, 37 years experience, reasonable rates, accepting additional business, personal and eldercare clients and preparation of business plans. Call 410-653-3363.

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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, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

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Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad.

Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Baltimore Classified Dept.

P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227

For Sale CREST LAWN MEMORIAL GARDENS – 2 adjacent lots. Sermon on the Mount. Retail $4,375 each. Sell for $1,200 each. Call Sheila at 410-241-1882.

CHOLESTEROL SPINACH and other medicinal plants for diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and triglycerides, kidney problems, etc. (propagate and grow your own easily). Email: alpong@verizon.net. 301-854-9969.

Personal Services

Wanted

LEARN ENGLISH – SPANISH – ITALIAN – FRENCH – PORTUGUESE Conversational.

Grammatical. Private lessons. Reasonable Rates. Tutoring students. 443-352-8200.

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 rugs 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

2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed.

Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures if desired. Call Steve 410-913-1653.

BUYING MILITARY MEMORABILIA WW2, WW1, Civil War uniforms, weapons, photos and items associated with US, German, Japanese or items of other Military History. DAVE, 240-4640958.

Home/Handyman Services

VINYL RECORDS WANTED from 1950 through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s, Larger collections of at least 100 items wanted. Please call John, 301-596-6201.

BALTIMORE’S BEST JUNK REMOVAL – Clean Outs: Whole House, Emergency, Attics/Basements. Furniture and Junk Removal, Yard Waste Removal, General Hauling, Construction Debris Removal. Free estimates.

10% Senior Discount. Licensed, Bonded and Insured. Call Jesse, 443-379-HAUL (4285).

SANFORD & SON HAULING & RECYCLING. Trash + Junk removal, house & estate cleanouts, garage+ basement cleanouts. Demolition – Shed, deck fence + pool removal. Licensed + insured. Free estimates over the phone. Call 7 days a week, 7 am to 7 pm. 410-746-5090.

WE BUY OLD AND NEW JEWELRY, Coins, Silver and Gold, Paper Money Too. Watches, Clocks and Parts, Military Badges and Patches Old and New. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

OLD AND NEW WE BUY Sterling Silver Flatware, Tea Sets, Single Pieces of Silver, Large pieces of Silver Plates, Fountain Pens, Lighters, Tools, Cameras, Art Work. Toys From Trains to Hotwheels to Star Wars. Call Greg, 717-658-7954.

BUYING JEWELRY, MILITARY – Cash paid. Gold, silver, pocket watches, wrist watches. Old toys, sports, guns, knives, coins, collector’s, etc. Tom, 240-476-3441.

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ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE Clinical Research Studies

UM Elderly Falls Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Events

COGS Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Financial Services

Catholic Charities . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Golden Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Funeral Services

Harry H. Witzke’s Family Funeral Homes, Inc. . . . . . . . . .29 Going Home Cremations . . . . . .22 Sol Levinson & Bros., Inc. . . . . . .3 Witzke Funeral Homes . . . . . . . .21

Home Health Care

A-1 Action Nursing Care . . . . . . .8 Homewatch Caregivers . . . . . . . .13 Options for Senior America . . . . . .13 Right at Home of Central Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

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Housing

Alta at Regency Crest . . . . . . . . . .9 Brooke Grove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Charlestown Independent Living/Erickson . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Heartlands of Ellicott City . . . . .11 Homecrest House . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Paradise Assisted Living . . . . . . .20 Park View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Shangri-La Assisted Living . . . .20 Shriner Court/Quantum . . . . . . . .5 Somerford Place/5 Star Senior Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Vantage House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Legal Services

Carney Kelehan Attorneys at Law Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Frank, Frank & Scherr Law Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Medical/Health

Audiology First, LLC . . . . . . . . .10 Low Vision Specialists of Maryland & Virginia . . . . . . . . .9 Dr. Taylor & Associates Vision and Learning . . . . . . . .14 Maryland Relay Dial 711 . . . . . .15 Medical Eye Center . . . . . . . . . .15

Pharmacies

CVS Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Ellicott City Pharmacy . . . . . . . .11 Rite Aid Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . .24

Retail

Columbia’s Village Centers . . . .29 Sleep Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Senior Services

Senior Connection . . . . . . . . . . .16

Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation

CommuniCare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Theatre/ Entertainment

Candlelight Concert Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Columbia Orchestra . . . . . . . . . .26 Columbia Pro Cantare . . . . . . . .27

Tour & Travel

Eyre Tour & Travel . . . . . . . . . . .25 Side by Side Travel . . . . . . . . . . .25

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D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; H O WA R D C O U N T Y B E A C O N

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Assisted living - memory support

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