Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 21, 2015

12

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 21, 2015

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … February Birthdays

Hilda Pittman, Anne-Marie Stockdale, Ann Luke, Susan Henderson, Jan Reed, Peter 
Lippincott, Georgia Lippincott, Allie Attay, Ursula El-Tawansy, Gladys Moser, Sylvia 
Lorhan, Jan O’Day, Ana Ptanski, Winifred Swanson , Marian DeMars, Vickie Vernon, 
Mary Beth Knox, Sharon Lefler, Gordon Caldwell. * To add your name to this 
distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required but you must 
be over 60.

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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: Every 3rd Monday, from 11:00 to 11:45 am with Shannon. All ability levels are 
encouraged and welcomed.

Hawaiian and Polynesian Dance Class: Every Tuesday morning from 10:00am to 11:00am. Join 
instructor Barbara Dempsey as she instructs you in the art of hula.

Bingo: Every Tuesday beginning at 1:00pm. Cards are only $0.25 each! Everyone is welcome to join. 
May be canceled if less than 5 people. Canceled on August 5th and 12th.

Free Blood Pressure Testing: Held 2nd Tuesday of the month from 11:00am to 12:00pm. No 
appointment is necessary.

Free Legal Consultation: Wednesday, August 27th from 10:00am to Noon. Attorney Lem 
Makupson is available for legal consultation. He specializes in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, 
and Injury. For an appointment call 626-355-7394.

Chair Yoga: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 11:45 am, except on the third Monday of the 
month when the balance class is held. A suggested donation of $5 at one of the classes is requested, 
but is not required.

Birthday Celebrations: Every second Thursday of the month the Hart Park House Senior Center 
celebrates birthdays of our patrons. The free birthday cake is provided by the Sierra Madre Civic 
Club.

Game Day: Every Thursday starting at 12:45pm. A regular group of seniors play poker. Other 
games available for use.

Free Strength Training Class: Every Friday from 12:45pm to 1:30pm with Lisa Brandley. The class 
utilizes light weights for low impact resistance training. All materials for the class are provided.

LUNCH & LEARN PRESENTATION – HEART HEALTH

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015 beginning at 12:00 pm

February is American Heart Month, a time to show yourself the love. Learn about your risks for 
heart disease and stay “heart healthy” for yourself and your loved ones. 

 A representative from The Kensington will teach us about nutrition on how to eat a healthy diet 
and also activities that can help us maintain a healthy weight and lower cholesterol and blood 
pressure.

 If you would like to have lunch during the talk, please make a lunch reservation with the Senior 
Lunch Café at 626-355-0256 or you may bring your own.

SEASONAL FUN AT THE SENIOR CENTER

Valentine’s Day Craft: Give flowers on Valentine’s Day that won’t need water or trigger pollen 
allergies. Come and join us on Thursday, February 12th, in making tissue paper carnations. Craft 
making will begin at 11:00 am. All supplies will be provided.

HISTORIC RESIDENCE OF SAM MALOOF AND THE MALOOF 
DISCOVERY GARDENS (ALTA LOMA)

Date: Friday, February 27, 2014 Time: 9:30am - 3;30pm

Meeting Location: Hart Park House Senior Center Cost: $20 (Does not include lunch)

 Guided tour of the home of American woodworker Sam Maloof and furnished with his signature 
furniture. The house is also a showcase of 20th century studio craft and fine art. Following the tour, 
take a selfguided tour of the Maloof Discovery Garden and then visit the Museum shop stocked with 
crafts and Maloof publications. Please note there are 12 steps up to a mezzanine level in the historic 
home. Not able to accommodate wheelchairs in the historic home, but can accommodate walkers. 
Patrons are required to leave their handbags and other large belongings in a locked coat check room 
prior to touring the home. Lunch is scheduled for a restaurant 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

SIMPLIFIED SMARTPHONE OPTIONS 

FOR TECH-SHY SENIORS


Dear Savvy Senior,

I’m interested in getting my 72-year-old mother a 
smartphone, but want to get one that’s very easy for 
her to use. What can you recommend?

Shopping Around

Dear Shopping,

 There are several different ways you can go 
about getting your mom a simplified smartphone 
that’s easy for her to use. Depending on how much 
you’re willing to spend, here are some different 
options to consider.

Simplify a Used Phone

 The cheapest way to set your mom up with an 
easy-to-use, uncomplicated smartphone is to get 
her a second-hand android phone, and install a 
senior-friendly “launcher app” on it, which is a user 
interface software application.

 This type of launcher will turn the appearance 
and performance of most android smartphone into 
a simplified phone with big understandable icons 
for commonly used features (phone, text messaging, 
camera, contacts, etc.) and no excess clutter. Most 
launchers can also be customized to fit your mom’s 
needs and preferences.

 There are a variety of launcher apps available 
today that provide this type of technology and 
are completely free to use. Some popular options 
include, Necta Launcher (launcher.necta.us), Wiser 
(wiser-me.com), Seniors Phone (seniorsphone.
mobi), Fontrillo (fontrillo.com) and Big Launcher 
(biglauncher.com), which also offers an upgraded 
version for $9.

 Or, if you have an old Apple iPhone that you’d like 
to convert, check out Silverline Mobile (silverline.
mobi) that converts both Apple and androids for 
free.

Purchase a New Phone

 If you’re interested in purchasing your mom a 
new smartphone, you have options here too. For 
starters, you could purchase her a smartphone 
that’s specifically designed for seniors, like 
GreatCall’s Touch3 that costs $150 (with no 
contract) at greatcall.com or 800-918-8543. This is 
an android phone, made by Samsung, that has a 
4-inch touchscreen and provides a simple menu list 
to often-used features like the phone, text messages, 
camera, pictures, email and Internet, along with 
your contacts and apps. 

 It also offers a variety of health and safety 
features like the “5Star app” that would let your 
mom speak to a certified agent 24/7 that could 
identify her location and get her the help she needs. 
“Urgent Care,” which provides access to registered 
nurses and doctors for advice and diagnoses. And 
“MedCoach,” which sends medication reminders.

 Another way you could go is to purchase her a 
standard/mainstream smartphone that provides 
a built-in “Easy Mode” or “Simple” feature in 
the phone’s settings. This will let you convert the 
phone into a much simpler mode of operation, 
that provides larger, well labeled icons, to only 
commonly-used functions like the phone, camera, 
messaging, Internet, pictures, contacts and her 
favorite apps.

 Smartphones that offer the “Easy Mode” or 
“Simple” feature include the Samsung Galaxy 
phones, which are available through most cell 
phone carriers at prices typically ranging between 
$400 and $850 without a contract. Or, for a more 
budget-friendly option, the Huawei Vision 2 and 
Huawei Ascend Mate 2, which you can buy as an 
unlocked phone or through Consumer Cellular 
(consumercellular.com, 888-345-5509) for $80 or 
$225 without a contract. Consumer Cellular is a 
top-rated no-contract service provider that also 
offers discounts to AARP members. 

 A nice advantage of getting your mom a 
mainstream phone is that if she masters the Easy/
Simple mode (or gets bored with it), and is ready to 
expand her skills, you can always switch the phone 
back to the standard operation mode exposing her 
to more options. You can also add any number of 
health and safety features to her phone, like what 
the Touch3 offers, by downloading their apps at 
greatcall.com/medical-apps.

 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

THE SNOW LINE


UPCOMING EXCURSIONS:

I’m not as up-to-date on current 
events as I should be, but I do 
know that, at least here in sunny 
California, we’re still in the throes 
of a historic draught. In contrast, 
much of the rest of the country 
is experiencing severe winter, 
including plunging temperatures 
and seemingly endless snow. It is precisely this snow 
that caught my attention. 

 According to my cousin in Massachusetts, heavy-
duty tractor trucks have started routinely shoveling 
away the excess snow and dumping it in the river. 
But now the river is overflowing, so they really have 
a snow problem on their hands. My mom’s friends in 
Michigan are in a similar dilemma, with unwanted 
snow piling up all over the place. Imagine, so many 
people across America are suffering with too much 
solid water, while here in California we are dying for 
lack of moisture.

 Why not forget worrying about the oil pipeline 
going from Canada to the Gulf, and instead spend 
that money on an East-to-West Coast “snow line?” 
They’re just dumping all that snow in rivers and 
lakes anyway. Let’s just melt it and pump it over to 
us! If they can push crude oil over the frozen Alaska 
tundra, pumping slushy snow East to West should be 
a snap. Heck, a snow pipeline might even create new 
jobs and give a little boost to the sagging economy. 
Well, write to your state and local representatives with 
this suggestion and maybe we’ll be able to recover 
from the draught, if only a little bit. And if a snow 
pipeline does happen to come to a community near 
you, remember --you read it here first!