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Older Persons Action Group, Inc., held its annual membership meeting Nov. 15 in Anchorage. At the meeting, board members nominated and voted-in the following officers: Yvonne M. Chase, president; Pam Yeargan, vice president; Leonard T. Kelley, treasurer; Jan Carolyn Hardy, secretary. Other OPAG board members include Sharon White-Wheeler, Robert Bracco, Christian Montana, Anne Gonzalez and Susan LaBelle. Directory release Also in November, OPAG released the 2018-2020 edition of its Directory for...
The Alaska Commission on Aging will hold its quarterly meeting on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This meeting will be held by videoconference and teleconference at the locations below. Public comment, scheduled from 1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., can be presented by going to the group videoconference or teleconference sites or by calling 1-800-315-6338, 53250#. Videoconference Locations Juneau - Senior and Disabilities Services, 240 Main Street, 6th floor videoconference room (907-465-3372) Anchorage – Senior and Disabilities S...
AARP Alaska, Older Persons Action Group and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center continues its series of “Age Smart – Let’s Talk” forums on Dec. 11, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center. The series is a monthly forum that focuses on a topic of interest and importance to Alaskans who want to be thoughtful about how to make good choices as they grow older. The series is developed to provide working age adults with information necessary to plan and fulfill a secure, healthy and satisfying “life After 60” (all ages are we...
In the digital age, frauds and scams are an unfortunate part of doing business online. During the holiday season, Social Security has traditionally seen a spike in phishing scams, and we want to protect you as best we can. We urge you to always be cautious and to avoid providing sensitive information such as your Social Security Number (SSN) or bank account information to unknown individuals over the phone or internet. If you receive a call and aren’t expecting one, you must be extra careful. You can always get the caller’s information, han...
The Alaska Training Cooperative and Rural Alaska Health Professions Foundation present “Alaska Native Storytelling: Teaching 10,000+ Years of Evidence,” as part of the Behavioral Health Continuing Education series. This is the time of year for Alaska Native storytelling, 10,000-plus years of evidence-based practice that has been taught and passed through generations. Stories teach beliefs and practices that support wellness, healing and survival of life’s challenges while often informing contemporary science. The class will be offered Dec....
Elders are among those most vulnerable to dehydration, and African American and Hispanic adults are more likely to become dehydrated than whites, researchers have found. In a patient-care advisory last February, staff at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explained that dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluid than it takes in, causing a shortage of fluids needed for normal functions. While everyone is susceptible, dehydration is especially dangerous for older adults and young...
You sit in the exam room waiting for the doctor. She enters, smiling, trying to put you at ease. She explains that your medical condition can be stabilized with a prescription drug she is going to give you. Maybe she said it was called “Overpricium,” or possibly “Bilgestuffex.” You were not really sure since you were stressed out, and all those prescription drugs are nonsense words anyway. You pop over to your friendly pharmacist to pick up your new prescription. You take home the cute little white paper bag containing the prescription and the...
Dear Savvy Senior: I will turn 65 in a few months and will be enrolling in Medicare, but I am concerned about Medicare’s coverage of dental care. Does Medicare cover dental procedures? And if not, where can I get dental coverage? - Almost 65 Dear Almost: Medicare’s coverage of dental care is extremely limited. It will not cover routine dental care including checkups, cleanings, or fillings, and it won’t pay for dentures either. Medicare will, however, cover some dental services if they are required to protect your general health, or if you n...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in December. This month’s training focus is “Ten Keys to Creating Healthy Holidays”. Bring a snack to share and canned or boxed goods to give to the food bank. Dec. 4, Caregiver support meeting and Christmas Tea at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Dec. 11, Caregiver support meeting and Christmas Tea at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Dec. 18, Caregiver support meeting and Christmas Tea at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Support meetings allow you to sh...
I was eating dinner with my husband Sam and having homemade chicken soup with a slice of sourdough bread and melted butter. It was simple and delicious. We ate silently. Toward the end of the meal, he said, "We always eat our soup and bread silently because we are mentally calculating how to time the last bite so it's perfect." So true. We usually chatter during meals, and tell funny stories, but when soup and bread hit the table, it all goes to silence. I like to time my last bite so it's soup...
Know your vitamin D levels For the holidays, give yourself a present. Make sure you get your vitamin D levels checked and if they are low, get treatment. A new study now shows that vitamin D levels in the blood are linked to cardiorespiratory fitness. “Our study shows that higher levels of vitamin D are associated with better exercise capacity,” said Dr. Amr Marawan, who is an assistant professor of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Virginia. “We also know from previ...
SAARP Alaska will host a two-hour workshop, “Get Ready for Medicare,” in Anchorage, Dec. 20, at University of Alaska Anchorage. Attendees will get to know the basics of Medicare, including Parts A, B, C and D, and also learn about Medigap (supplemental) plans and whether they need one. The workshop will be held in Cuddy Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Registration is requested. Call 1-877-926-8300 or register online at https://aarp.cvent.com/DECMED2018....
Winter dog walks-on the right day they can be enjoyable excursions with snow gently falling and a low winter sun in the sky, but on other days they can be downright treacherous with icy sidewalks and no light to help you see the ice before you feel your feet slip out from under you. Sometimes the safest decision is to ignore that pleading look in your dog's eyes and stay inside. But that doesn't mean your dog has to be bored and restless. There are ways to keep her entertained inside that are...
Do you know what the second-fasted growing hobby in the USA is? Bird watching. Even if you aren't a bird watcher, it's hard to ignore the impact these sometimes tiny creatures have on our earth. Her in Alaska, bird watching is reaching every part of our society, from the very young (my grandson loves to go bird watching with me), to the older folks, from those who are new to this fun hobby, to those that have been bird watchers their whole lives, and from those than can recognize a chickadee...
The National Audubon Society’s 119th Christmas Bird Count will be conducted between the dates of Dec. 14, 2018 and January 5, 2019. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society. Since the count began over a century ago, Audubon Society has relied on the dedication and commitment of volunteers to conduct its early winter bird census across the U.S., Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere. Each count takes place in an established 15-mile wide diameter circle and is organized by a count c...
In October 1999 my husband Gary and I moved from Palmer to Slana, which was at that time one of the few places left on Alaska's road system still without commercial power. Residents ran their own generator, or did without electricity. This was not a completely new situation for us. Twenty-five years prior, while living on Chena Hot Springs Road out of Fairbanks, we learned it would take $10,000 to bring power to our property. After living there for a year and half, we moved to California. For...
Editor's note: This event is canceled this month (December). The January date and location will be announced soon. Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage and Mat-Su area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Service Providers Breakfast (formally known as the Interagency Breakfast), sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The December meeting is Dec. 12, hosted by AARP....
Russians knew there were gold deposits in Alaska, as they had sent a mining engineer to search the land after the gold discovery in the late 1840s in California. The engineer found colors all around the mouth of the Kenai River, but his discoveries must not have meant much to his superiors, because they pulled him off gold duty in 1852 and told him to look for coal instead. And the Russians didn't broadcast the fact that they had found gold, either, because they feared a rush of gold-seeking...
Adorable Margaret O'Brien began her big-screen career at the age of three with a one-minute spot in 1941's "Babes on Broadway." Her career took off the following year as the star of MGM's "Journey for Margaret." Throughout the 1940s she continued to endear herself to millions seeking Hollywood diversions as World War II came and went. Ms. O'Brien, now 81, is back this holiday season starring in "This is Our Christmas," a sequel to the popular 2015 TV movie "Beverly Hills Christmas," and follows...
What’s not black and white, but green all over? Environmental, social, and governance investing, or ESG. ESG investors evaluate and invest based on corporate behavior as a predicator of future financial performance. After wading into ESG investing a couple of decades ago, I have found that “investing for good” has become a successful and rewarding strategy to prepare me for retirement. ESG investing, like any type of investing, is not black and white. All of us stress over saving and the safety of our savings. Wondering what our invested dolla...
I’m not much of an oenophile. Occasionally I might enjoy a nice glass of wine with certain foods, but I can’t tell the difference between a Merlot and a Bordeaux. But despite my lack of sophistication in matters of the grape, I think about decanting quite a bit. To a wine connoisseur, decanting means pouring wine from one container to another. It is done either to remove sediment from the wine, or to let the wine breathe before drinking. But to an estate planner, decanting means something ver...
Q. As a longtime iPhone user, when I needed a new phone I would just get the latest model. Now the lineup has so many choices I’m confused. How do I pick one? A. The 2018 iPhone models create an array of choices, yet choosing among them can still be simple. There are three new designs: the iPhone Xs, which comes in two different case sizes, and the iPhone Xr, the least expensive model. Unlike most tech products, iPhone customers are not saddled with older technology when they step down from the most expensive model. The iPhone Xr is by far t...
You're never too old to sit in Santa's lap. It's true. One year I was in Nordstrom admiring their stunning Santa Claus when a woman next to me confessed she still visits Santa every year. There is something about a Santa Claus that pulls on your heartstrings no matter how old you are. I look back at one photo of me sitting in Santa's lap and I have a look of total adoration. This is perhaps one reason my life companion is a hippie version of Santa. And still, a man with a white beard and long...
If you've ever listened to the lyrics to the tune 'Wabash Cannonball,' you'll get a sense of train travel's intrinsic hold upon us: "Listen to the jingle, the rumble and the roar As she glides along the woodland o'er the hills and by the shore" Getting around Alaska by train is not just for summer tourists; it's also a winter mode of transportation that allows for access to and from some of our most treasured destinations, minus the crowds. Come winter, the Alaska Railroad modifies its...
