Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, February 20, 2021

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Mountain View News Saturday, February 20, 2021 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HOW TO CHOOSE A MEDICAL ALERT SYSTEM

Dear Savvy Senior:

I am interested in getting my mom, who lives alone, a 
medical alert system with a wearable pendant button 
that will let her call for help if she falls or has a medical 
emergency. What can you tell me to help me choose one?

Too Many Choices

Dear Too Many:

A good medical alert system is an effective and affordable tool that can help keep your mom safe and 
living in her own home longer. But with all the different products and features available today, choosing 
one can be challenging. Here are some tips that can help.

Three Key Questions

Medical alert systems, which have been around since the 1980s, provide a wearable help button – usually 
in the form of a neck pendant or wristband – that would put your mom in touch with a dispatcher 
who could summon emergency help or contact a friend or family member as needed.

 To help you narrow down your options and choose a system that best fits your mom’s needs, here are 
three key questions you’ll need to ask, along with some top-rated companies that offer these products.

Does your mom want a home-based or mobile system?

Medical alert systems were originally designed to work inside the home with a landline telephone, 
which is still an option. But since fewer and fewer households have landlines these days, most companies 
today also offer home-based systems that work over a cellular network. With these systems, 
pressing the wearable help button allows you to speak to a dispatcher through a base unit located in 
your home.

 In addition, many companies offer mobile medical alert options, too. You can use these systems at 
home, but they’ll also allow you to call for help while you’re out and about.

 Mobile alerts operate over cellular networks and incorporate GPS technology. They allow you to talk 
and listen to the operator directly through the pendant button, and because of the GPS, your location 
would be known in order for help to be sent.

 If your mom doesn’t leave the house very often, she may not need a mobile system, but if she is still 
active, she may want added protection outside the home.

Should her system be monitored or not?

The best medical alert systems are monitored, meaning that the help button connects you with a 
trained operator at a 24/7 dispatching center.

 But you also have the option to choose a system that isn’t monitored. With these, when you press the 
help button, the device automatically dials a friend or family member on your programmed emergency 
call list.

 These products can often be set up to call multiple people and to contact emergency services if you 
don’t get an answer from someone on your list.

Should you add a fall-detection feature?

Most medical alert companies today now offer the option of an automatic fall detection pendant for an 
additional fee of $10 to $15 per month. These pendants sense falls when they occur and automatically 
contact the dispatch center, just as they would if you had pressed the call button. 

 But be aware that this technology isn’t full proof. In some cases, this feature may register something 
as a fall that isn’t. The alarm might go off if you drop it or momentarily lose your balance but don’t 
actually land on the ground.

Top Rated Systems

 Here are four top companies, rated by Consumer Reports, that offer home and mobile monitored 
medical alert systems:

Bay Alarm Medical: Fees range between $20 and $40 per month; BayAlarmMedical.com; 877-522-9633.

GreatCall’s Lively Mobile Plus: The device costs $50 plus a $25 to $40 monthly service fee; GreatCall.
com; 800-650-5921.

MobileHelp: Monthly fees run $20 to $45; MobileHelp.com; 800-809-9664.

Phillips Lifeline: $30 to $50/month, plus a onetime device/activation fee of $50 to $100; Lifeline.Philips.
com; 855-681-5351.

 

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.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … February Birthdays*

Tracy Verhoeven, Beatrice DaRe, Cathrine Adde, Hilda Pittman, Anne-Marie 
Stockdale, Susan Henderson, Allie Attay, Ursula El-Tawansy, Gladys Moser, Sylvia 
Lorhan, Ana Ptanski, Winifred Swanson , Janet Gillespie, Marian DeMars, Vickie 
Vernon, Mary Beth Knox, Sharon Lefler. To add your name to this distinguished 
list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required


SENIOR ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA MADRE

CHAIR YOGA Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 am Chair yoga with Paul is coming back! Class will 
begin on Monday, August 10th and will be held in the Covered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior 
Center. Please join us for some gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxa-tion. Class size is limited 
so please call 264-8923 to reserve your spot. 

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS Every Friday, 10-10:45 am Class will also meet in the Cov-
ered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior Center. Join the class with instructor Barbara as she leads 
you through the art of Hula. Please call 264-8923 with any questions. 

Classes will maintain a distance of 6 ft between participants. ALL participants must be wearing masks for the 
duration of the class. All equipment used will be sanitized after each use before it is stored. Each participant is 
responsible for providing their own water, masks and needed equipment or sup-plies for each class. Please call the 
Community Services Department at 355-5278 with any questions or concerns.

OCTOBER CRAFT

Wednesday, October 21, 11:00 am. Please join me as we try our hands at making Wooden Owl Orna-ments. This 
will be a new type of program as we create our masterpieces via Zoom to ensure all of our safety. I will have all the 
supplies individually packaged and ready for pickup on Monday, October 19th pickup will be between 10:00 am-
2:00 pm. I will have enough supplies for 10 participants. Reservations are required so please call 355-5278 x 704 
to secure your spot. Please note that this is an ONLINE class that will be held via Zoom. We will not be meeting 
in the Hart Park House Senior Center.

IDEAS

 Do you have any ideas for programming? Is there a class or club you would like to see in our Senior Community? 
Please call or email Lawren Heinz with ideas or questions. 626-355-5278 x 704 lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com

 City staff are monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement 
and interfacing less with the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner. If at any time additional information is needed, please 
contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are 
taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate per-son. For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note 
our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The City of Sierra Madre is following these procedures to provide current communication in light of COVID-19 
and keep the Senior Community and families informed of essential information and resources. City staff are 
monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement and practicing 
social distancing in the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner.

If at any moment additional information is needed, please contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-
7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate person.

 For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the 
Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

 Community Services Department will continue email communication with Senior residents and aging community 
members.

 If you know of family members or neighbors who may benefit from accessing information electronically, and 
to receive the department’s Seniors Newsletter via email but may not otherwise have been included on an email 
group list, please send your request with email address to the following team members: Lawren Heinz Lheinz@
cityofsierramadre.com and Clarissa Lowe Clowe@cityofsierramadre.com.

 City Social Media will continue via Facebook as well as Instagram, and information sharing will include updates 
as details becomes available.

Mater Dolorosa - Sierra Madre Meal Pick-Up Program provides seal-packaged frozen meals, 5-per person 
every Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Hart Park House Senior Center 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Donations 
are accepted. Call (626) 355-5278; x702 or 704. YWCA Intervale Meal Program - Effective 
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

YWCA has transitioned their distribution of take home meals at the Sierra Madre Hart Park House 
Senior Center to a home-delivery meal program. Participants previously reserved for meal pick-up 
as of Wednesday, 3/25/20 were informed that they would begin to have their meals delivered to their 
homes, beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2020 until further notice.

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


MANAGING YOUR DIGITAL AFTERLIFE: A 
GUIDE TO FACEBOOK’S LEGACY Contact

If you use Facebook to share, track, and report on important life events, it 
can provide an intimate snapshot of your life, and it can also serve as a key 
part of your legacy—one you’ll likely want to protect following your death. 
With this in mind, as with any other digital asset you own, you should 
include your Facebook profile as part of your estate plan.

To that end, Facebook offers a special function, known as a “legacy contact,” 
for managing your profile after death. Using a legacy contact, you 
can choose someone to look after your account and control the activities of your account once you’ve 
passed away. 

Managing Your Digital Afterlife

At the time of your death, Facebook allows your account to be “memorialized,” so friends and family 
can gather and share memories of you and your life. To have your account memorialized, Facebook 
requires proof of the account holder’s death using a special request form and evidence of death, such 
as an obituary. Facebook accounts can be memorialized regardless of whether or not a legacy contact 
has been selected. 

Once your account has been memorialized, only confirmed friends can see your profile or find it in a 
search. Your memorialized profile will no longer appear in friend suggestions, nor will anyone receive 
birthday updates or other account notifications.

When your account is memorialized, the word “Remembering” will be added next to your profile 
name. Depending on your privacy settings, friends and family members can post content and share 
memories on your timeline. A memorialized account is locked, so its original content cannot be altered 
or deleted, even if someone has your password information.

What Your Legacy Contact Can Do

If you’ve designated a legacy contact, once your account has been memorialized, that individual will be 
able to manage your Facebook account based on the permissions you’ve granted him or her. As with 
any other person you select to manage your assets after your death, you’ll want to carefully consider 
who to name as your legacy contact, as this individual will have control over your memorialized Facebook 
account and therefore also control your legacy to some extent. 

Your Facebook legacy contact can perform several functions, including:

Write a pinned post for your profile to share a final message on your behalf or provide information 

 about your memorial service.

View posts, even if you had set your privacy to Only Me.

Decide who can see and who can post tributes on your memorialized profile. 

Delete tribute posts.

Change who can see posts that you're tagged in.

Remove tags of you that someone else has posted.

Respond to new friend requests. 

Update your profile picture and cover photo.

Request the removal of your account.

Download a copy of what you've shared on Facebook, if you have this feature turned on.

What Your Legacy Contact Cannot Do

However, it’s important to point out that your legacy contact doesn’t have unlimited control over your 
account. To this end, your legacy contact cannot take the following actions:

Log into your account as you.

Read your direct messages.

Remove any of your friends or make new friend requests.

Alternatively, if you’re not interested in having your Facebook account continue 
after your death, you can choose to have your account permanently deleted upon 
your passing. 


WHAT’S PETE GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

If there's anybody that can be 
conned, it's Yours Truly. It's 
not so much that I'm stupid; 
I'm just naïve. I believe when 
somebody says something, they mean exactly 
what they say.

So, if you can't swindle me, you might as well 
hang it up and get a real job. I must confess I 
often know a certain person is trying to take advantage 
of me. But, that's another story.

One problem I see is that people are always 
blaming someone else for their problems. I must 
confess I do that on occasion, probably more so 
than I will acknowledge.

To blame someone else for my problem gets me 
off the hook, or so I think.

I gladly will take credit, but I'm slow in accepting 
blame. I'm trying to change that a little bit, but 
it's a slow progress.

The other day the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage 
and I were going downtown to do some 
shopping. I don’t always go with her when she’s 
shopping, but sometimes it’s necessary.

During these times, I always allow her to drive 
her vehicle. She has a wonderful red van, and 
enjoys driving it. I encourage her to drive it, and 
not because I don't like to drive, or because she's 
a better driver than me.

If the truth were known, and I keep this a little 
under the table, I allow her to drive because I am 
not using the gas in my vehicle when she is driving. 
I'm not cheap, but I am rather stingy when 
it comes to money.

She is an excellent driver, and why shouldn't she 
be? I'm the one who taught her how to drive. 
Enough said on that subject.

As we were driving down the main street, several 
cars swayed in and out of the traffic, and my wife 
almost hit one.

In complete frustration, she said, "For Pete's 
sake, what's wrong with people these days?"

Because she was in the driver's seat, I needed to 
go along with her and keep my mouth closed. 
There are many times when I need to open my 
mouth, but I have yet to discover which times. 
While she's driving, this is one of the times when 
I keep my mouth closed and my thoughts to 
myself.

She reiterated this phrase several times to the 
store and back home again.

I helped take the store items into the house while 
I kept my mouth closed.

We had supper, and then graduated into the living 
room to have our coffee and watch a little bit 
of TV news. I like to try to keep up with what's 
going on in the world.

Several stories were just outrageous, and people 
were doing such crazy things.

It wasn’t long before my wife said, “For Pete’s 
sake, what’s wrong with people today?”

Okay, I think I've had enough of that, and I 
wanted to get to the bottom of it without sinking 
my ship.

"Who," I said as calmly as possible, "is Pete, and 
what does he had to do with anything?"

She looked at me, gave me one of her stares, and 
then went back to watching the news.

It wasn't long before another story came across 
the screen, and she said, "For Pete's sake, doesn't 
anybody know any different?"

I tried controlling myself. Honestly, I tried. But 
at this point, it had crossed over the line, and I 
said to her, "Who is Pete? And do I know him?"

I tried my best to control any giggle. I looked at 
her, and she looked back at me with another one 
of her stares.

“Well, who do you think he is?”

At that point, I was tempted to answer, "Is Pete 
any relation to Jake?" I knew that I would be in 
more trouble than I could handle at the time. I 
sense she was getting a little frustrated, but most 
of her frustration was in my direction.

To look at me and said, “What are you laughing 
at?”

I couldn't contain myself at that point. I replied, 
"I just was thinking of a joke." No sense in showing 
my hand at this point.

For several days she never used that phrase, at 
least in my hearing. And I was waiting for it.

I can only hold myself for so long. One night 
there was a loud noise like gunshots outside, and 
we couldn't comprehend what it was.

Looking at my wife, I said, "Call Pete and ask 
him what's going on."

She gave me one of her looks and finally said, 
“Why don’t you call Jake and ask him?”

Finally, we laughed together most heartily. I love 
it when a joke comes together.

I thought about this for a couple of days. How 
often we blame people for things I don’t even 
make sense? We really don’t want to take personal 
responsibility for a lot of things.

Thinking about this, I remembered a biblical 
passage. "And the man said, The woman whom 
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the 
tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto 
the woman, What is this that thou hast done? 
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, 
and I did eat” (Genesis 3:12-13).

Blaming others is not a new phenomenon. But, 
it only gets us into trouble and what started the 
mess we're in today. Accept the blame and get 
on with life.

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of 
God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 
34472. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com