Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 14, 2015

THE GOOD LIFE

11

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 7, 2015 


FYI: TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY IN YOUR 70S, 80S, 90S...

 Aging can be defined as: “progressive changes related to the passing of time.” While physiological 
changes that occur with age may prevent life in your 70s, 80s and beyond from being what it was in 
your younger years, there’s a lot you can do to improve your health and longevity and reduce your 
risk for physical and mental disability as you get older.

 Research shows that you’re likely to live an average of about 10 years longer than your parents—
and not only that, but you’re likely to live healthier longer too. According to the U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services, 40.4 million Americans (about 13 percent) were 65 years of age or 
older in 2010 and by the year 2030, almost 20 percent of the total U.S. population will be 65+.

So how do you give yourself the best possible chance for a long, healthy life? Although you aren’t able 
to control every factor that affects health as you age, many are in your hands. Some keys to living a 
long, healthy life include:

 Make healthful lifestyle choices—don’t smoke, eat right, practice good hygiene, and reduce stress 
in your life

Have a positive outlook

Stay as active as possible—mentally and physically

Take safety precautions

See your health care provider regularly and follow his or her recommendations for screening 
and preventative measures

 One of the most important things you can do to stay healthy in your golden years is to maintain 
your sense of purpose by staying connected to people and things that matter to you. However, this 
isn’t always easy—especially in a society that all-too-often views older people as a burden.

 Visit your local senior center. Spend time with at least one person—a family member, friend or 
neighbor—every day. Volunteer in your community, attend a local event, join a club or take up a 
new hobby.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … March Birthdays

Clare Marquardt, Karen Blachly, Carla Duplex, Ella Guttman, Viky Tchatlian, Mary 
Cooper, Georgina “Snooky” Greger, Sun Liu, Helen Wallis, Joan Crow, Nancy Fox, Nan 
Carlton, Martha Cassara, Rita Johnson, Mercedes Campos, Dorothy Webster,Terri Elder, 
Carol Cerrina, Amy Putnam, Sally Contreras and Lori Cooper. * 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: Monday, March 16th 11:00 to 11:45am with Shannon Vandevelde. A variety of 
balance exercises are practiced; all ability levels are encouraged and welcomed.

TECH TALK: Held on Monday, March 9 and 23 from 1:30pm-2:30pm. Learn how to use your 
technology devises. Reserve your space by calling 355-7394.

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS: Every Tuesday morning from 10am to 11am. 
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.

FREE BLOOD PRESSURE TESTING: 2nd Tuesday of the month from 11am to 12pm. No appt. 
is necessary.

BRAIN GAMES: Tuesday, March 17th, 11am -12pm, improve your memory and strengthen your 
brain. Activities facilitated by Swati Puri, Community Liaison for ComForcare Senior Services in 
Pasadena.

FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION: Wednesday, March 18 from 10:30am to Noon. Attorney Lem 
Makupson is available for legal consultation. He specializes in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, 
and Injury. Appointment are required by calling 626-355-7394.

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

CASE MANAGEMENT: Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month. Case Management services are 
provided by the YWCA and provide assistance in a variety of areas. Appointments are required and 
can be scheduled by calling the HPH Office at 626-355-7394.

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.

TAX ASSISTANCE: Every Thursday February 5th through April 9th from 1:00pm-2:00pm. Don 
Brunner is available for income tax consultation. Appointments are required, call 626-355-7394.

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.

SENIOR CLUB: Every Saturday at the Hart Park House Senior Center. Brown bag lunch at 11:30am. 
Club meeting at noon. Bingo 12:30-3:30pm. Annual Membership is only $10.00.

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SENIOR HAPPENINGS

Handy Aids For Achy 
Hands

Dear Savvy Senior:

What products can you recommend for seniors with 
hand arthritis? I really struggle with anything that 
requires gripping and turning, which makes most 
activities difficult. Gripless Joan

 Dear Joan:

There are literally hundreds of different arthritis 
aids and other products on the market today that 
can help people with arthritic hands and carpal 
tunnel syndrome.

 

To find out which devices can best benefit you, 
a good place to start is to ask your doctor for a 
referral to an occupational therapist, who can test 
the strength and functionality of your hands and 
recommend appropriate aids. With that said, here’s 
a rundown of some helpful products for different 
needs.

 

Kitchen aids: Activities like gripping cooking 
utensils, cutting and chopping, opening jars and 
cans, and moving around heavy pots and pans can 
make preparing a meal much more difficult when 
you have hand arthritis.

 

Some products that can help are Oxo Good Grips, 
which makes dozens of soft, large-handle cooking, 
baking and cleaning utensils that are easier to grip. 
And for cutting and chopping the Dexter DuoGlide 
and Ergo Chef knives are excellent ergonomically 
designed options.

 

For opening jars, the wall-mounted or under-
counter mounted Zim Jar Opener is a top manual 
opener. It has a V-shaped grip that holds the lid 
as you twist the jar with both hands. Some other 
good options are the Hamilton Beach Open Ease 
Automatic Jar Opener, and a nifty tool called the 
JarPop that pops the seal on jars so lids can be 
removed easier.

 

For opening cans, an electric can opener is the best 
option. West Bend and Hamilton Beach make some 
of the best. 

 

And if you’re interested in arthritis-friendly pots 
and pans, look for lightweight cookware that has 
two handles. These are much easier to lift and move 
around.

 

Household helpers: Turning doorknobs, key locks, 
twist-handles on kitchen or bathroom faucets, and 
twist-on lamp switches can also be difficult. To help, 
there are doorknob lever adapters, key turners, 
lamp switch enlargers, and lever handles for faucets 
that provide leverage for easier turning.

 

Personal care: Squeezing a shampoo bottle or a 
tube of toothpaste, or gripping a bar of soap, a 
toothbrush handle or even a piece of dental floss 
can make grooming a challenge. Solutions include 
a wall-mounted soap, shampoo and toothpaste 
dispenser, which provides easy access to suds. And 
for brushing and flossing, there are wide-handled, 
electric toothbrushes and flossers that vibrate or 
spin to do the cleaning for you.

 

Easier dressing: Fastening buttons, pulling zippers 
and tying shoelaces can also present problems. To 
help with these chores there are buttonhooks and 
zipper pulls, and elastic shoelaces, which transform 
lace-ups into slip-ons.

 

Reading, writing and computing: Holding and 
turning the pages of a book, hand writing and using 
a computer mouse can also stress arthritic hands.

 

For readers, an eReader like a Kindle or Nook is 
recommended because they’re lightweight and 
easier to hold than regular books. For writing, 
there’s the soft rubber Pencil Grip that fits on pencils 
and pens, and ergonomic-shaped pens like the Pen 
Again that reduce hand fatigue. And for easier 
computing, the 3M Ergonomic Mouse and Contour 
Roller Mouse can eliminate hand and wrist stress.

 

Hobby helpers: There are dozens of arthritis aids 
for hobbies too. For example, there are automatic 
card shufflers and cardholders for card players. 
If you like to paint, knit or crochet, there are 
ergonomic paintbrushes, and oversized knitting 
needles and crochet hooks that are easier to hold. 
And for sewing, quilting or crafting, there are tools 
like Fiskars self-opening Easy Action Scissors that 
spring open for easier cutting.

 

For a rundown of additional products and where 
you can purchase them, visit my online article at 
AchyHandAids.org. 

 

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


“ISN’T IT ORGANIC!”

What does March 13th mean to 
you? Probably nothing. But it’s my 
mom’s birthday! She’s 64! Woo 
Hoo! A lot of us start dreading our 
birthdays after we hit 30 or 40. I 
know many women who treat their 
age like it’s a matter of national 
security --right up their with their social security 
number. 

 Not my mom! She’s always loved her birthday 
and has never shied away from revealing her age, no 
matter how advanced it is. When she taught third 
grade, she got a kick out of her students’ shocked 
expressions when they found out she was older than 
their grandparents. Sometimes their behavior would 
even improve with this knowledge. “We better be nice 
to Mrs. Hopkins. She’s really old!” 

 Being a Baby Boomer, my mom’s been dwelling on 
The Beatle’s “When I’m 64.” I’ve tried explaining to 
her that since 30 is the new 20, 60 is practically like 
what being 40 used to be. Except now (thank God!) 
she’s a lot healthier and happier than when she was 40. 
A lot of this because of retirement, regular exercise, 
and her vegan diet.

 Being a vegan isn’t easy. You’ve got to be vigilant 
about ingredients, which generally means restaurant 
food is off limits. Veganism usually requires multiple 
trips to the market for fresh produce. It is possible to 
be a lazy vegan and live off frozen dinners and instant 
meals. But unless you’re cool with eating the same 
things day in and day out, the boredom might drive 
you to a meat binge! And then there’s the question 
of whether or not your green leafies are GMOs laced 
with enough pesticides to make you glow in the dark. 
It’s at this point that the label “organic” becomes very 
attractive.

 As you probably guessed, organic foods aren’t 
usually on sale along with the Velveeta “cheese” and 
Hamburger Helper for “just $1.99!” Somewhere along 
your vegan journey 
you’ll most likely find 
yourself waiting in line 
to pay $50 for a few 
apples and a bunch of 
spinach at Whole Foods. 
Heck, just parking there 
is taking your life in your 
hands!

 But in the long run, 
you’ll feel a lot better 
knowing your salad is 
from a field rather than 
a test tube. You might 
even feel like singing my mom’s reinvented lyrics to 
Rodgers & Hart’s classic tune, “Isn’t It Romantic.” 
Even if your wallet is a bit lighter...

 Isn’t it organic?

 Veggies pure and ripe that never have been sprayed

 Isn’t it organic?

 Collards, kale and spinach lead the green parade

 I browse the aisles of produce --there! What do I 
see?

 Fresh green and purple cabbage --and no DDT!

 Isn’t it organic?

 Merely to be shopping for a fig or two

 Isn’t it organic?

 Queue up to the check stand. Bid your cash adieu

 Three plums for twenty dollars

 Do you mean that I must pay that price titanic?

 Yes, but it’s organic!

 * My mom said she’d try to get around to recording 
her piano rendition of the song on her website

http://readysets.com/ Check it out! (I can’t promise it 
will be there by the time you read this, but check it out 
anyway!) What can I say? I can’t force her to record it 
on time. It is her birthday, after all!

UPCOMING EXCURSIONS:


THE MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE (LOS ANGELES)

 Thursday, April 30, 2015 8:45am to 3:30pm

 Meeting Location: Hart Park House Senior Center

 Cost: $15 (Does not include lunch)

Opened in 1993, built at a cost of $50 million by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, named after Simon 
Wiesenthal, Holocaust Survivor. We’ll have a 3 hour docent-led tour of the Museum of Tolerance, 
a multimedia museum in Los Angeles designed to examine racism and prejudice around the world 
with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust. Lunch will be on your own at Factor’s Deli, a 
landmark location for over 65 years. It’s a booth-lined Jewish delicatessen known for its matzo ball 
soup and corned beef on rye. Participants should bring money for lunch and souvenirs. Last day to 
register is April 22nd. Level of walking: Medium to high. For more information, please call the Hart 
Park House at 626-355-7394.

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SENIOR CINEMA • 1st and 3rd Wednesday

Shown at the Hart Park House Senior Center 

MARCH 18TH – HITCHCOCK (2012)

Following his great success with “North by Northwest,” director Alfred 
Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) makes a daring choice for his next project: 
an adaptation of Robert Bloch’s novel “Psycho.” When the studio refuses 
to back the picture, Hitchcock decides to pay for it himself in exchange 
for a percentage of the profits. Is wife, Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), has a 
serious reservations about the film but supports him nonetheless. Still, the 
production strains the couple’s marriage. With the film’s screening being 
so well received, Hitchcock thanks his wife afterward for helping make it 
possible and affirm their love. Rated PG-13, Start time: 1:00pm (run time 
98 minutes)