Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 11, 2014

Mountain Views News Saturday, January 11, 2014 
10 THE GOOD LIFESENIOR HAPPENINGSMountain Views News Saturday, January 11, 2014 
10 THE GOOD LIFESENIOR HAPPENINGS
HOW TO CHOOSE A 
CONTINUING-CARE 
RETIREMENT 
COMMUNITY 


Dear Savvy Senior:
Can you give me some tips on picking a good full-service retirement community that offers all levels of 
housing, from independent apartment-style to nursing home care? My wife and I are both approaching 
80 and are looking to downsize from our current home, but we want our next move to be our last. 
One More Move 

Dear One: 
If you want your next move to be your final one, a full-service retirement community – better known 
as a continuing-care retirement community (or CCRC) – is a good option to consider, but they aren’t 
cheap, so you need to be prudent when choosing. 


CCRCs are different from other types of senior housing because they provide all levels of housing, 
services and care in one convenient location. 

While they vary greatly in appearance and services, most CCRCs offer apartments or sometimes 
single family homes for active seniors who need little if any help with their daily needs. In addition, 
they also offer on-site assisted living for people who require aid to bathe, dress or perform other basic 
tasks, and nursing home care for residents who need full-time skilled-nursing care. 

CCRCs also provide a bevy of resort-style amenities and services that include community dinning 
halls, exercise facilities, housekeeping, and transportation as well as many social and recreational 
activities. 

But be aware that all these services come at a hefty price. Most communities have entry fees that range 
from $20,000 to $500,000 or more, plus ongoing monthly service fees that can vary from around 
$1,000 to over $5,000 depending on the facility, services and the long-term care contract option you 
choose. 

With nearly 1,900 CCRCs in operation throughout the U.S, finding a facility that fits your lifestyle, 
needs and budget can take some legwork. Here are some steps you can take to help you proceed. 

Make a list: Start by calling the Area Agency on Aging (call 800-677-1116 for contact information) in 
the area you want to live for a list of CCRCs. You can also search online at leadingage.org/findmember.
aspx or carf.org/aging that has a national listing of accredited CCRCs. 

Call the facilities: Once you’ve located a few, call them to find out if they have any vacancies, what they 
charge and if they provide the types of services you want or need. 

Take a tour: Many CCRCs encourage potential residents to stay overnight and have a few meals in 
their dining hall. During your tour, notice the upkeep and cleanness of the facility, and talk to the 
current residents to see how they like living there. Also, check out the assisted living and nursing 
facilities, and find out how decisions are made to move residents from one level of care to another. 

To check-up on a facility, call the state long-term care ombudsman (see ltcombudsman.org) who can 
tell you if the assisted living and nursing facilities within the CCRC have had any complaints or other 
problems. Also, use the Medicare nursing home compare tool (medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare), 
which provides a ranking system. 

Investigate fees: During your visit, get a rundown on the different kinds of contracts that are available 
and their costs. Also, find out what types of services are included and what costs extra. What yearly 
price increases can you expect? How much of your entry fee is refundable to you if you move or die? 
And what happens if you outlive your financial resources? 

Research the community’s financial health: Find out who owns or sponsors the facility, and get a copy 
of their most recently audited financial statement and review it, along with the copy of the contract 
with your lawyer or financial advisor. Also get their occupancy rate. Unless it’s a newer community 
filling up, occupancy below 85 percent can be a red flag that the facility is having financial or management 
problems. 

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

KATIE Tse.....................This and That 



“GREEN 
MANSIONS!” 

Adults tend to idealize childhood 
things, only later to realize that 
they are not as impressive as they 
originally seemed. Your cavernous 

kindergarten classroom feels smaller, now that your 
own youngster has started school. Similarly, old 
pictures of people from your childhood can prompt 
exclamations like, “Wow, I thought Miss Humphrey 
was ancient at 37, but she looks pretty hot, now that I’m 
45!” An amusement park you visited as a kid was full of 
excitement and adventure. But 20 years later, it seems 
a little corny. My glamorized childhood memory was 
the (minor) motion picture “Green Mansions.”

 Growing up, my family never had TV in the usual 
sense. We had a TV set, but we were too cheap to get 

cable. So, I grew up watching a lot 

 
As I recalled this scene, it took 

of videos of old movies. At school, 

place on a dark beach, thick with 

I had no clue about the shows my 

palm trees and roaring surf lapping 

classmates liked. However, I didn’t 

at the villagers’ feet. The men wore 

lust after the toys they saw advertized 

exotic costumes as they danced 

either. (My parents must’ve saved a 

around a raging bonfire. To prove 

lot of money this way!) While some 

their manhood, they had to endure 

films became as familiar as bedtime 

a large wooden board covered with 

stories (“The Road” movies and “The 

bees being pressed against their 

Honeymooners”), others recorded 

chest. The last one standing won.

from TV by my grandparents were 

 In reality, the set had barely any 

only watched once or twice. This was 

sand, dirt, or stones to suggest the 

either due to the bad quality of the 

outdoors. Harsh lighting didn’t 

recording or the bad quality of the 

help either. The boards had bees, 

movie in general. “Green Mansions” 

but only half a dozen at most. 

was one of those movies.

Three very old-looking women 

 Produced in 1959, “Green Mansions” 

hobbled over to Silva and two 

starred Anthony Perkins and Audrey 

other youths. They pressed the 

Hepburn. The story is set in Venezuela 

boards against the men’s chests 

around the turn of the last century. 

with all the mighty force you’d 

Perkins is a disgruntled army defector 

expect from a frail old lady. The 

in search of gold in the uncharted 

jungle. He eventually happens upon a 
tribe of South American natives (played by actors of 
different races, many sporting what looked like a bad 
tan).

 The chief, Sessue Hayakawa, looks just as Japanese 
as he did in “Bridge on the River Kwai.” But with a loin 
cloth, feathered arm bands, and a lot of imagination, 
he fits right in. After Perkins impresses Hayakawa 
with magical fire (a cigarette lighter) Hayakawa takes 
a liking to him, much to the dismay of his younger 
son, Henry Silva. This Silva tells Perkins that his older 
brother (the man who would be king) was killed by a 
mysterious woman in the jungle bordering their camp, 
and that is why Perkins is forbidden from searching for 
gold there. Ignoring these warnings, Perkins takes off 
into the brush at first light.

 “Jungle” is a loose term for the “Alice In Wonderland”meets-“
Wizard of Oz” type of set created for this film. 
Perkins walks along an unusually smooth path through 
massive, waxy leaves and flowers. He hears the sound 
of a woman laughing as a fawn darts by. (You’ve heard 
of jungle fawns, haven’t you?) And suddenly –there’s 
Audrey Hepburn! 

 She’s wearing a gossamer dress, clearly constructed 


2014! Oh My!
Fourteen yearsfrom the end of 
the last century.
Remember 
1999? What about Y2k? People thoughtthe world was going to come to an end 
despite what the Mayans said about2012. Oh, the Mayans were wrong too. 
Any more predictions about the end ofthe world I don’t know about? Let me 
know.

 I had relatives in Northern Minnesota 
who were in a major panic mode in1999. I’ll tell you why a bit later buthere’s a hint to their panic? Can youname an industry that really benefited 

of forest fibers. She introduces herself and they talk 
about a special flower that only blooms for one day, 
and then dies. But she assures him there’s no reason to 
be sad about its dying. When the flower dies, another 
one is getting ready to bloom somewhere else in the 
jungle. 

 Hepburn brings Perkins back to meet her 
“grandfather,” Lee J. Cobb, with white hair and a 
mustache-and-beard stolen from a mall Santa. Cobb 
has raised Hepburn since infancy. He sounds like a 
regular American, but somewhere in the jungle she 
picked up a British accent. Perkins leaves for the 
village, but promises to return.

 Back at the ranch, Silva is angry at Perkins because, 
by Perkins coming out of the jungle in one piece, 
Hayakawa believes him to be an even greater warrior 
than his late son. Silva warns Perkins not to get too 
comfortable as Hayakawa’s new favorite, because the 
village will be hosting the right of passage ceremony 

for all the young men that night. 

two other guys quickly screamed 

and crumpled to the ground, but 
Silva maintained an icy stare ‘till the end. (You get the 
impression that he bribed or threatened the other two 
to give up quickly so that he would win.) 

 Perkins watches all this from a stake to which he 
was bound. (At some earlier point Silva persuaded 
Hayakawa that Perkins was no good.) Silva swaggers 
over to Perkins and informs him that his trial by bees 
has proven his supremacy as the ultimate warrior; and 
now he’s Hayakawa’s favorite again. Perkins better enjoy 
himself, Silva warns, because he’s going to kill him and 
the evil jungle woman the next morning. (It’s so helpful 
for the victim to have a schedule beforehand.)

 Several hours later the party has dissipated, and 
only one of the old bee ladies is left snoozing near 
Perkins. He wakes her up and gets her to give him 
something sharp, with which he frees himself. I forget 
how he persuaded her to do this, but what do minor 
details matter? Perkins rushes into the jungle to warn 
Hepburn and Cobb of Silva’s plot.

 I imagine the overwhelming suspense of our Hero’s 
fate has you falling off the edge of your seat right now. 
(Or not!) Stay tuned for Part II. 

RICH Johnson 
2014 RESOLUTIONS AND OTHER STUFF 

from the lead up to Y2k? A industrythat fed to the panic of NorthernMinnesotans? I’ll tell you later on inthe column.

 How are those New Year’s Resolutions 
going? Break any yet? Have any fromprior years that stand out as beingsuccessful in the long term? Me neither.
I think it’s time to change the flavor ofNew Year’s Resolutions. Instead of 
unobtainable lifestyle changes that wereally don’t want, let’s make positivenew resolutions that stretch our lives. 
I found a couple on the internet. Let’stake a look at a few of them, shall we?

Here’s one that’s doable. Resolve 
to get your photo taken in, let’s say, 

By Pat Birdsall 

FYI: SCAMS ARE ALWAYS IN SEASON

 After tragedy strikes-- Be it tornadoes in Oklahoma, bombings in Boston or a typhoon in the 
Philippines—expect two immediate reactions: well-intentioned people will want to give donations, 
and scammers will want to take them. Within hours of any disaster, charity scams go into full 
swing. Even before super-storm Sandy made landfall, 1000 websites with “Sandy,” “Relief,” or related 
keywords in them had been registered, many by scammers. They seek your credit card number to 
collect supposed donations and perhaps, to use later for identity theft.

 Unfortunately, disasters happen; be prepared to check out the charity before sending any information 
or monies. The Better Business Bureau has a website called Wise Giving Alliance others are…Charity 
Navigator; Charity Watch and Guide Star. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of common sense. 
Be careful! (More next week) 

HELPFUL HINT: Thanks to Pat Miranda for reminding me that Hydrogen Peroxide 
removes blood from clothing. In rereading that sentence it could go in many directions couldn’t it? 
From a murder mystery ala Hitchcock to reality…okay, okay, I cut my shin and bled like a stuck pig 
on my white pants. I like the murder mystery scenario better. It’s amazing how well and effortlessly 
the hydrogen peroxide works. Just pour it on the blood spots (it doesn’t have to be immediately), and 
let sit for a bit (it will fizz) and then wash as usual in cold water and detergent. (Sorry Neil, for the 
swine reference.) 

...................................................................................... 


FOR YOUR FUNNY BONE -I had just finished dinner at Frank, a Manhattan 
restaurant so hip it doesn’t even have the name on the door. I was standing outside when a man 
stopped and asked if I knew where the restaurant “Frank’s” was. I pointed to the door. “By the way, it’s 
“Frank” not “Frank’s.” He started to walk in and then backed up a few steps, turned to me and said, 
“Thank.” 

~ ~ ~ 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … January Birthdays 

Mary Tassop, JudyWebb-Martin, John Johnson, Mary Bickel, Marlene Enmark, Ross 
Kellock, Ruth Wolter, Sue Watanabe, Sandy Thistlewaite,Bobbi Rahmanian, Fran Syverson, 
Shirley Wolff, Judy Zaretzka and Becky Evans
* To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required. 


.................................................................. 


Quote of the Week: To shorten winter, borrow money due in spring.

 W. J. Vogel 
.................................................................. 
ACTIVITIES: Unless listed differently, all activities are at the Hart Park 
House (Senior Center) 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre

 YMCA San Gabriel Valley Intervale Senior Café: Monday-Friday at 12:00 Noon 

(Participants are urged to arrive no later than 11:45 A.M.)
All seniors 60 and up can take part in the lunch program. There is a suggested donation of $2.00 
for those 60 and over and $3.75 for non-senior guests. Daily reservations are necessary as space is 
limited. Please call 24 hours in advance...626.355.0256 

Free Balance Class: Monday, January 27th 11:00 to 11:45 with Shannon Vandevelde. A variety of 
balance exercises are practiced; all ability levels are encouraged and welcomed. 

Free Blood Pressure Testing: Held Second Tuesday of the month from 11:00 am-12:00 pm: No 
appointment necessary. 

Bingo: Every Tuesday afternoon from 1:00 pm- 3:00 pm Cards are only .25c each! 

Free Chair Yoga: 11:00 to 11:45 Every Wednesday morning. Join Paul Hagen for this free class that 
focuses on senior yoga techniques. No reservation is necessary! 

Free Legal Consultation: Pasadena attorney Lem Makupson volunteers on the 2nd Wednesday of 
the month. He focuses on estate planning, trusts, wills, probate, conservatorships and business law. 
*Appointments are a must! Please call: 626.355.7394 to make yours 

Birthday Celebrations: The 2nd Thursday of the month the Senior Center celebrates the birthdays of 
our patrons at 12:30 pm. Please join us for free cake and ice cream and “celebration.” (The cakes are 
provided due to a generous donation from the Sierra Madre Civic Club.) 

Game Day: Every Thursday at 1:00pm. Poker is usually the game of choice, or should I say chance? 
Board games and other card games are also available. 

Free Strength Training Class: Every Friday from 1:00 pm -1:45 pm Conducted by long-time 
volunteer, Lisa Brandley. The class utilizes light weights for low-impact resistance training. Weights 
are provided by the Sierra Madre Senior Center. 

Senior Citizens Club: Every Saturday at the Hart Park House (Senior Center). Brown bag lunch at 
11:30am; Club meeting at Noon; Bingo 12:30- 3:30 pm. Only .25c per card. 

Lunch & Learn: Wednesday, January 22nd 12:00 – 1:00pmA representative from the Center for Health Care Rights will be discussing Medicare benefits, co-
payments and deductibles as well as the recent changes in Medicare. Please join us for this informative 
presentation to learn more about Medicare. If you would like to have lunch during the talk, please 
make a reservation with the Senior Lunch Café at 626.355.0256 or bring your own. 


UPCOMING EXCURSIONS: 

Feline Conservation Center (Rosamond, Ca.) Date: Thursday, February 27, 2014 

Time: 9:00 am- 4:00 pm Meeting Location: Hart Park House Senior Center

 Cost: $15.00 (does not include lunch)
Home to over 70 of the world’s most endangered felines; the Feline Conservation Center is a breeding 
zoo and research facility. Cat lovers of all ages are fascinated by the cats (and the peacocks) and unlike 
a zoo, the Conservation Center has no moats so visitors can get as close as 5 feet away from these 
beautiful (but dangerous) cats. Following the one-hour tour is a visit to the gift shop and lunch at a 
nearby restaurant. It is recommended to bring $10-15 for lunch. Last day to register is Wednesday, 
February 19th. Level of Walking: Light to Moderate 

Whale Watching (Long Beach, Ca.) Date: Saturday, March 22, 2014 
Time: 10:00 am-3:30 pm Meeting Location: Community Recreation CenterCost: $31.00 (does not include lunch)
Don’t miss the Community Services Department’s annual whale watching excursion. The 2014 
excursion will visit the same whale watching Charter Company as 2013, which features a narrated 
cruise by Aquarium of the Pacific staff and with indoor and outdoor seating. Participants can bring 
their own lunch to enjoy on the boat, or purchase snack items on board. Children 2 and under are 
free. Last day to register is Tuesday, March 11th. 
Level of Walking: Minimal 

*Registering for Excursions can be done in person at the Hart Park House Senior Center and the 
Community Recreation Center or online at www.cityofsierramadre.com Cash, checks, and credit 
cards are accepted. Make checks payable “City of Sierra Madre”. Payment must be made at the time 
of reservation. 

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Senior Cinema: FREE movies are shown this month, on the 3rd and 5th Wednesdays. ~Shown in 
Sierra Madre’s City Hall Council Chambers 

January 15- We are Marshall (2006)

 When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of 
its fans, the team’s new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive. Rated 
PG Start time: 1:00 pm (run time 131 minutes) 

January 29: The Producers (1967)
After putting together another Broadway flop, down-on-his-luck producer Max Bialystock teams up 
with timid accountant Leo Bloom in a get-rich-quick scheme to put on the world’s worst show. Rated 

the Pig. Get a selfie down at the Chinese flourished right up to January 1, 2000Theater in Hollywood. Or hanging with and then instantly died. It was thethe Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox wood stove business. No, not stoves 
Statues at Lake Bemidiji in Northern made of wood. Rather, stoves thatMinnesota.could heat the house by burning wood. 

Here’s another resolution: Resolve to These people flourished in Northernlearn something you never learned as Minnesota because everyone was surea child. Or maybe learned but haven’t all the electricity and gas was goingdone or have forgotten. Like mastering to become unavailable at 12:01 am 
a yo-yo. Maybe some of us always January 1st, 2000.
wanted to be a ballerina. Or try some I’ll report more on this next week but I’ll 
new cuisine. There are a number of get you ready for a tiramisu throwdownEthiopian Restaurants in LA. Seek one taking place at Corfu restaurant onout. Avoid Norwegian food no matter Saturday, January 25 at 6:30. Tiramisuwhat Wayne the great server at the is a wonderful Italian dessert and 
Peppertree Grill may tell you. He loves Corfu’s Amy makes the best. Another 

PG Start time: 1:00 (run time 88 minutes 

five interesting lutefisk, a Norwegian delicacy (and

places. The first place I use the word delicacy loosely). It’scould be getting a fish marinated in lye and served withphoto taken with a bland white gravy. If that appeals toSierra Madre’s own you seek professional treatment.
porcine hero, Neil Okay, here is the industry that 

baker has thrown down the challengeclaiming a better tiramisu. Join themfor dinner and automatically become ajudge.
Finally, there’s Len Mendoza. If youdon’t know Len Mendoza you haven’tbeen to the Peppertree Grill on Fridayand Saturday nights between 5:30 andaround 8:00. Len is a wonderful singer/
guitarist/soloist: a real joy to listen to.
And he bugs me. As you may know Iam a singer/guitarist. Not only is Lena better guitar player than I am, he is a 
better singer. And he has a higher rangethan I do. And if that’s not all, he has 
memorized every oldie rock song in theworld…or so it seems. Go have dinner 
Friday or Saturday, listen to this reallygreat performer. Then give him a good 
tip and tell him Rich sent you. Maybehe’ll sing off key or forget a chord in myhonor. Squeak squeak!