55 PLUS

Nice N Easy : A Profile of John MacDougall

55

Golf: How to Avoid Injuries • Retirement Planning for Unmarried Women

PLUS Issue 45 June / July 2013

For Active Adults in Central New York

to Do 10 Things in Las Vegas

Marvin Druger Launches Book Finding Rewards in Running B&Bs

An EditorĘźs New Life At 60, retiring Post-Standard top editor Mike Connor talks about his career, future of newspapers and a new life he is about to start in France

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55 PLUS

55 PLUS

June / July 2013

Savvy Senior 6 Financial Health 8 Gardening 14 My Turn 22 Aging 32 Consumers Corner 41 Golden Years 44 Druger’s Zoo 48 Last Page 50

30

CONTENTS

10 15

36 45

34

10 PROFILE

34 ACTIVE LIFE

15 SPORTS

36 LEARNING

18 RETIREMENT

38 VISITS

24 COVER

42 ADVICE

• Nice and Easy with John MacDougall

•Golf: How to avoid injuries this season

• Retirees find rewards in running B&B

• Top Post-Standard editor starting new life in France after working for the paper for 37 years

30 MEMORY

• Working as a reporter, a half-century ago

• Marvin Druger, an emeritus SU professor, inks his sixth book

• OASIS sees record growth in number of participants

• Explore the world and never leave Las Vegas

• Looking for a new car — a Mustang perhaps?

45 EXPERIENCE

• Dale Drypolcher: Broadcasting in his blood June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

5

savvy senior

By Jim Miller

W

Retirement Planning Resources for Unmarried Women

hen it comes to planning for retirement, most Americans could stand to brush up on their financial knowledge a bit, but it’s especially important for unmarried women. Here’s what you should know.

Retirement Struggles It’s an unfortunate reality that most unmarried women — whether they’re divorced, widowed or never married — face much greater financial challenges than men in retirement.

Why? Because women tend to make less money (about 78 cents for every dollar a man makes) and have shorter working careers (due to raising children or caring for aging parents) than men. And less money earned usually translates into less money saved and a lower Social Security benefit when you retire.

In addition, women also live an average of five years longer than men, which requires their retirement income to stretch farther.

Listed below are some good resources that can help.

Financial Education A good place to start is with the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement, a nonprofit organization dedicated to financial education for women. At wiserwomen.org you can read and download for free a wide variety of easy-to-understand publications on retirement planning, money management, saving and investing, as well as Social Security, health care, annuities and more. If you don’t have a computer or Internet access you can call 202-393-5452 and order hard copies of their publications and have them mailed to you for a few dollars.

Another resource you should tap into is mymoney.gov, a U.S. government website dedicated to 6

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

financial literacy and education. You can also call 888-696-6639 and order a free “My Money” tool kit that includes a variety of publications about moneyrelated issues.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, is another agency that offers a variety of publications, including the 62-page booklet “Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning,” and “Women and Retirement Savings” brochure.

You can see them online at www.dol. gov/ebsa/publications, or call 866444-3272 and have them mailed to you for free.

Also visit choosetosave.org, a website developed by the Employee Benefit Research Institute that offers the Ballpark Estimate retirement planning worksheet, more than 100 online calculators, brochures, savings tips and links to resources to help you manage your finances.

Social Security Help You also need to get up to speed on Social Security. To help with this, the Social Security Administration has an online resource specifically designed for women that covers how marriage, divorce, widowhood, work, caregiving and other life or career events can affect your benefits. You can access this information at ssa. gov/women, or call 800-772-1213 and order their free pamphlet “What Every Woman Should Know.”

Financial Advice If you need some hands-on help, consider getting a financial assessment or tune-up with a fee-only financial adviser. Costs for these services will vary from around $150 to $300 per hour, but it can be very beneficial to help you set up a retirement plan you can follow. See napfa.org or garrettplanningnetwork.com to locate an adviser in the area.

55PLUS Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Lou Sorendo

Writers

Deborah Jeanne Sergeant Sandra Scott Aaron Gifford, Mary Beth Roach Matthew Liptak, Suzanne M. Ellis

Columnists

Eva Briggs, M.D., Bruce Frassinelli Marilyn Pinsky, Harold Miller Jim Sollecito, David J. Zumpano Marvin Druger

Advertising

Jasmine Maldonado Marlene Raite Tracy DeCann

Office Manager

Laura J. Beckwith

Layout and Design Chris Crocker

Cover Photo

Chuck Wainwright 55 PLUS –A Magazine for Active Adults in Central New York is published six times a year by Local News, Inc., which also publishes In Good Health–CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper.

Health in good

CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper

Published at 185 E. Seneca St. PO Box 276 Oswego, NY 13126.

Subscription: $15 a year © 2013 by 55 PLUS – A Magazine for Active Adults in Upstate New York.

No material may be reproduced in whole or in part from this publication without the express written permission of the publisher.

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How to Reach Us P.O. Box 276 Oswego, NY 13126 Phone: 315-342-1182 Fax: 315-342-7776 Email: editor@CNY55.com Editor@cnyhealth.com

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7

financial health

By David J. Zumpano

What Is Medicaid Planning?

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55 PLUS - June / July 2013

ary recently went into the office of a Medicaid Practice Network (MPN) attorney because she was confused. Her husband recently went into a nursing home and she was approached by the social worker who inquired about her financial information and how she intended to pay for her husband’s care. It was over $8,000 per month. The case worker asked if Mary was going to apply for Medicaid. Mary was very confused.

The MPN attorney explained to Mary that Medicaid is a government program to help pay for nursing home costs, but to qualify Mary had to meet certain income and asset restrictions.

Mary was confused even more.

She told the attorney she was already on Medicare and that she didn’t know why she had to do anything and why wasn’t Medicare paying. Again, the MPN attorney explained that Medicare is a health insurance for individuals over 65 or who have been disabled for two years. Medicaid, on the other hand, is a social program to pay for people with little assets or income to ensure they have proper health care, including nursing home care. Mary didn’t know what to do. She didn’t think she had the money to pay for her husband’s care, but the attorney explained she wasn’t currently eligible for Medicaid benefits because she had too much money to qualify.

The MPN attorney explained there were two different elements associated with her Medicaid planning. First, the planning itself, which centers around making legal and financial decisions to get Mary’s assets and income to the acceptable limits to qualify for Medicaid. He further explained several legal strategies, including the use of certain types of trusts, that Mary would be able to retain control of her assets but give up some rights to them and able to be able to qualify for

Medicaid. Mary again was beginning to get confused. It all sounded too complicated. Fortunately, the MPN attorney was quickly able to explain to Mary how much of her assets were at risk and how much would be protected immediately. He was also able to explain when Mary’s husband would qualify for Medicaid and how he would ensure Medicaid paid as soon as provided under the law to minimize the loss of Mary’s assets.

F i n a l l y, t h e M P N a t t o r n e y explained the second requirement to receive Medicaid benefits, the qualification process. A separate qualification process for benefits is required after all ineligibility periods created during the planning process have expired. The MPN attorney explained, if necessary, he could be retained separately to assist in the filing of the application for Medicaid benefits with the local Medicaid department to have Mary’s husband to actually begin to receive the benefit. Mary was finally able to distinguish that Medicaid planning to get her husband eligible for Medicaid in the future was different than applying for the benefits from the local Medicaid Department. The MPN attorney clarified that this second step may not be necessary if her husband came home from the nursing home or if he did not survive the ineligibility period created under the plan. Mary was relieved to know she had begun a plan to ensure for her husband’s care and protect their lifetime of earnings.

Mary also learned that Medicaid planning is always better if you plan in advance, but, even if you wait until tragedy strikes, there are still options.

David J. Zumpano is an attorney and a certified public accountant (CPA). He operates Estate Planning Law Center. He can be reached at 793-3622.

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profile

Nice and Easy with John MacDougall How a would-be priest has become the major force in Upstate New York’s convenience store business

By Aaron Gifford

T

alk to John MacDougall for more than a few minutes and chances are he’ll use the phrase “reality set in.”

During pivotal moments in his life — the decision on whether to become a priest, his first attempt at trying to salvage a failing business, and the choice of whether to start his own enterprise — McDougall had to find the right balance between idealism and practicality without abandoning his convictions or losing everything that he worked for in the process.

At 72, MacDougall is still growing his Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes empire and he’s established a new standard for convenience stores in the northeast. As a youngster growing up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, MacDougall never imagined he’d one day become a local celebrity of sorts in 10

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

Upstate New York.

He describes his upbringing in the town of Bay Village as very “Ozzie and Harriet-like.” MacDougall’s father sold building supplies, while his mother was a stay-at-home mom. John MacDougall and his three younger sisters went to church every Sunday and participated in sports or other extracurricular activities. The MacDougalls were not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, John recalled, but Bay Village was considered an affluent community where residents felt safe and maintained peace of mind.

“You could go where you wanted to go and do what you wanted to do,” he recalled. “That experience shaped me. I guess I always wanted to be part of a place that was safe, easy and friendly. We’re always striving for that.”

MacDougall, who attended Catholic schools growing up, attended John Carroll University in Ohio, majoring in liberal arts. He left after his second year to become a priest, but later decided against that vocation, because “that was not a life I could live.” He left seminary school to return to John Carroll University, where the second time around he majored in business.

After graduation, MacDougall found work as a county welfare case worker, a job he held for two years.

He worked in inner-city Cleveland in a mainly African-American neighborhood known as “Hough.”

After two years with the social services department, he spent one year as a probation officer, where he mainly wrote pre-sentencing reports. During those three years as a county employee

Today there are 90 Nice N Easy stores (39 are corporate owned, while the remainder are franchises), including locations throughout Syracuse, Oswego County, the Mohawk Valley, the Ithaca area and the north country up to Massena.

About 1,700 people are employed by the company. he learned how to work with people from different walks of life.

“I learned a lot about myself,” he said. “It was a good stepping stone.”

In the late 1960s, MacDougall finally got the chance to put his business degree to work, and was hired by a small company that produced marketing plans for small dairy and ice cream stores. The company employed five people, including two brothers that ran it. This type of work allowed MacDougall to travel the country and learn about the convenience store business. At that time, there were only about 3,000 mini-markets across the United States, and 7-Eleven was the only large chain, he said.

Supermarkets were popping up all over the place, MacDougall explained.

The smaller stores had traditionally supplied larger grocers with dairy products, but as family-owned grocery stores expanded into retail chains, the smaller operations were afraid of losing business.

In Trotwood, Ohio, MacDougall worked with one particular franchise, Stop-N-Go, that took control of its own destiny by selling products under its own brand name.

“My job was to take these new

John MacDougall dressed as Santa at the Turin Road, Rome, grand opening in December 2007.

June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

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profile

In 1980, Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes was born. The first store, opened in that years at 67 Meadow St. in Clinton, still goes strong. franchises and help them plan their marketing, grand openings, hirings,” MacDougall said. “That’s the part of this business that I really fell in love with. I loved seeing watching businesses grow from literally nothing into a major operation.”

One of MacDougall’s accounts brought him to the community of Boonville in Upstate New York, in the mid-1970s. The owner of a fledgling 10store chain, whose name MacDougall preferred not to mention, offered him a 25 percent share of the company if he could turn the business around.

“At first I was cocky, and then reality set in,” MacDougall said. “It was more difficult than I thought. The stores weren’t well-run. There was no accounting system. They were trying to run a bakery as well, and it just wasn’t working. It was a disaster.”

MacDougall initially thought it would be a short-term venture, but he ended up staying there for nine years. During that time, he helped stabilize the business and expand it to 18 stories.

“We had a good relationship,” he said. “But it was time for me to go.”

By then MacDougall was living in the city of Rome. He had twins (a boy and girl) with his first wife, got 12

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

divorced and was remarried with two stepchildren. The economy during that time was particularly uncertain for a man in his late 30s who was trying to focus on his family’s long-term financial future. But a major change in the convenience store industry brought new opportunities to MacDougall.

MacDougall was planning to sell that 25 percent share of the business he helped grow and move to a new place and possibly a new career.

But then he and his former partners were approached by Clark Brothers Petroleum in Canastota. The offer: Convert our outdated gas stations into convenience stores that also sell fuel and you’ll get half of the gross margin on each gallon sold.

“You can’t get that deal today,” MacDougall said. “They told us just to get it up and running. I couldn’t believe it. Someone was just offering me half a company. I thought, ‘how could I miss?’ ” In 1980, Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes was born. MacDougall’s office was on the top floor of the former Wayside Market in the village of Clinton, Oneida County. At 6 foot, MacDougall was several inches taller than the attic ceiling. He used a makeshift desk out of milk crates.

Within five years, there were gas station-convenience store combinations throughout the Oneida Valley, and MacDougall began acquiring the stores and building more.

“We started getting calls from gas station owners who wanted to do the same thing,” he said. “The nice thing about it was, we had a mix of rural stores and stores that were in more populated areas.”

B y t h e m i d - 9 0 s , h o w e v e r, MacDougall encountered a new challenge. The Oneida Indian Nation of New York was rapidly expanding its chain of SavOn stores throughout Oneida, Canastota, Vernon and Verona. As a sovereign entity, the Oneida nation was not required to pay property, sales or excise taxes to the state or local governments, and enjoyed a huge advantage over its competitors. MacDougall knew he would have to reconstruct his business model in order to survive.

“We decided food service would have to generate more revenue and make up for the loss to gas and cigarettes.” he said. “At that time, stores pretty much just had hot dogs on rollers, microwavable snacks or coffee.

We’d have to do more.”

So bakeries, delis and pizzerias

were added to the stores, along with highquality coffees. Nice N Easy also expanded its beer selection to include craft brews and imported ales.

The larger stores even began carrying produce and meats. Tables were added so customers could dine in. These convenience stores even began competing with fast-food restaurants for the lunch crowds.

MacDougall didn’t have a strong background in food service, so he hired a food service manager for each store.

The success of Nice N Easy’s food service helped fuel the company’s growth throughout the region. Today, there are 90 stores (39 are corporate owned, while t h e re m a i n d e r a re franchises), including locations throughout Photo of grand opening ribbon cutting at Nice N Easy Onondaga Hill store Oct. 6.

Syracuse, Oswego County, the Mohawk Valley, the MacDougall enjoys fishing and Easy chief’s personality “infectious.”

Ithaca area and the north country vacationing at his Florida condo. He “He is the face of the company on up to Massena. He tries to visit each loves to read and also serves on several its commercials. And this past summer store annually. About 1,700 people are community boards (House of the he was also the face of the company employed by the company. MacDougall Good Shepherd, YMCA and Oneida singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” said he has been approached by Healthcare). He said walking in the a la Harry Carey at the Syracuse politicians and developers to open outdoors helps him to remain active, Chief’s games. It’s a taped rendition stores in other parts of the state and but still striving to get more exercise that played on the scoreboard. He fully other states, “but I don’t have any and get a better handle on his diet. admits that he is not a gifted singer!” plans for that right now.”

MacDougall’s children have Lenard visited the 5,000 square MacDougall says he enjoys management position with Nice N foot Brewerton Nice N Easy location appearing in Nice N Easy’s light- Easy but so far they haven’t shown last summer. Local lawmakers, he said, hearted commercials. He is also viewed interest in taking over the company “begged the company to open a store. as a company cheerleader. someday. MacDougall was quick to In the convenience store business, “Yes, I’ve been compared to Santa point out that while he has no plans that’s a rarity.” He gave the place rave Claus and people walk up to me and in retiring soon, “reality sets in, and reviews. say ‘I saw the commercial where your sooner or later you have to walk away “They had the nicest tomatoes I’ve face turns blue, or where the cows chase from it. What are you going to do ever seen at a store that time of year you,’” MacDougall said with a laugh. with it? Who is going to carry on the [last summer], whatever format. They “Happy-go-lucky is my nature. That’s concept?” also have two chefs on staff and they the Ozzie and Harriet childhood. I’ve In 2002, the Canastota American go to a different store every day with never been a confrontational guy who Legion Post named MacDougall samples to get people to try their food. screams and yells — except when I get its citizen of the year. In 2009, the They were both at this store, and the pissed. Do it John’s way, but if not we Convenience Store Decisions national turkey melt was exceptional.” do have an open-door policy where trade publication named Nice N Easy “Most of all, John and his team you can pitch ideas. I get more out of the convenience store chain of the exemplify the store name,” Lenard being their friend and a great boss than year. Jeff Lenard, vice president of the said. “They make sure that every I do screaming and yelling.”

Virginia-based National Association of customer has an experience at their W h e n h e ’ s n o t w o r k i n g , Convenience Stores, called the Nice N stores that is both nice and easy.”

June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

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f you are only as good as you were when you were in school then you might be stuck in first or second gear. There’s a whole highway of information to test drive, and a network of specialists to consult. I’ve based my career on this philosophy: If you stop trying to get better, then you cease being good.

The obvious is not always apparent. Sometimes getting back to your roots will allow you to see things through different eyes, even if it is through bifocals.

I recently interviewed experts at Cornell Plantations for an NPR audio program on WRVO public radio. The topic was the increase in numbers of white-tailed deer, the landscape problems they pose and related solutions. New York state averages 2.5 deer per square mile. In Ithaca, the incidence is 125 deer per square mile.

The impact there is exponential. Researchers at Cornell University know what works and what doesn’t. On this visit I spent time with Nina Bassuk, a former Cornell classmate who now heads the Urban Horticultural Institute there. We chatted about plants for a while, particularly deer resistant varieties. You might like to hear what she has to say before you invest in a shade tree for your yard.

The entire one-hour program can be accessed through at www.sollecito. com Once we get a handle on the deer in our landscapes, the next topic is often color trends. Currently, purple is one of the most soughtafter colors, followed by pink. And bicolor blooms are really hot. Kind of like butter and sugar sweet corn, you can benefit from the best of both worlds. Another positive aspect is that if you want to attract butterflies to your landscape (and who doesn’t?) then these colors are really great. Following the theme of learn-

ing and improving, I have converted a significant piece of the landscape at my garden center into a butterfly garden.

If a part of your lawn has not been as successful as you had hoped, perhaps you should accept that conditions just aren’t right for turf and retire the lawn mower from that spot. You can devote the area to a low-maintenance landscape bed full of fun color requiring a lot less work.

Many times stubborn soil just doesn’t allow for grass to reach its full genetic potential. By raising an area up a bit with topsoil and compost, something you’d never do with turf, you create an environment that will easily host plants that butterflies love. Stop in to see our new butterfly garden and grab a free handout with tips for creating your own butterfly habitat including a plant list of improved, low-maintenance butterfly-friendly varieties.

Since 80 percent of the plant varieties I currently offer were not even available 20 years ago, it stands to reason that you might have a yard full of Nehru jackets growing around your own home. Why not try something new with blossoms that will stop traffic? This might be the time for a little shovel pruning of some of your overgrown plants. New plant introductions offer brighter, showier blooms on more compact plant forms. This results in greater impact with less homeowner maintenance.

Plants grow, so rebalancing is always necessary. This is the best time of year for this kind of adventure.

Seize the day and expand your own horizons.

Jim Sollecito is the first lifetime senior certified landscape professional in NYS. He operates Sollecito Landscaping Nursery in Syracuse. Contact him at 468-1142 or at jim@sollecito.com.

55+

sports

Golf: How to Avoid Injuries this Season Injuries to lower back, neck, shoulder and elbow are common among some golfers.

Find out how to avoid them

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

s eager as you may be to hit the links, it pays to prepare before a round of golf to avoid injuries that can both hamper your ability to play this season and cause lingering issues.

“The problem I find with a lot of golfers, especially seniors, is they fail to warm up properly,” said Jon Fowler, head PGA professional at Oswego Country Club. “They go from the car to the tee without any stretching. People need to take the time before they get to the tee to do some maintenance. Injuries will happen more as we get older.”

In addition to skipping a warmup, many golfers grab their driver to really wallop the ball, instead of working their way up from wedges.

“You’ll see lower back, neck, shoulder and elbow issues,” Fowler said.

Stretching first can make a big difference. Don’t bounce as you stretch. Move slowly and repeat each stretch a few times on each side.

Fowler recommends sitting on a bench, placing the left ankle on the right knee and gently pushing the left knee downwards.

Gently swinging the lightest club in the bag in large circles can help stretch the arms and shoulders.

John Hayes, owner of Evergreen Hills Golf Course in Oswego, said that injuries to the rotator cuff and lower back are most common among golfers.

“These are usually caused not by over-extending but because they didn’t take the time to loosen up

muscles,” he said. “The golf swing isn’t a normal motion for your body.

You’re torquing your body one way, then trying to release it.”

He advises golfers to stretch out by bending the knees as if taking a golf shot, bending and the waist and returning to an upright position.

Again, it’s important not to bounce, which can cause an injury.

“It’s a nice easy stretch forward,” he said. “Then go back and forth to the right and left.”

Another stretch he likes is to raise an iron horizontally with both hands above the head as high as possible, hold 10 seconds, and repeat.

“It stretches all the muscles of the back,” Hayes said.

To stretch the legs, sit on a bench and rest one leg on it, slightly bent.

Bend towards the foot of the supported leg a few times and then switch legs.

Hayes also encourages walking golfers to use a wheeled cart for their bags.

“All the new carts are all made to push, not drag,” he said.

“Pushing it helps you avoid the stress on your back.”

Once you’re golfing, overdoing it can also result in injuries. Instead, take golf lessons or tips from better golfers to improve your swing.

“Everyone tries to hit the ball as far as they can,” Hayes said.

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“If you work on your technique, you don’t have to kill yourself hitting it as hard as you can. ‘Swing easily,’ the pros always say. The swing should be a fluid motion, not using every ounce of strength in your shoulders.”

How you move as you swing the clubs makes the difference between enjoying the links and grimacing on the couch at home. Todd Charland, physical therapist with Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at University Hospital, said that a lack of range of motion and flexibility often kicks off the chain of events that sidelines golfers. A lack of mobility alters the swing, and a change in the swing can lead to injury.

“Restrictions are common in the shoulders, trunk, hips and knees as people age which, leads to faulty swings,” Charland said.

While stretching out before teeing up will help prevent some strains and soreness, maintaining fitness year-round provides another key component in staying injury-free.

“An exercise program designed to improve range of motion and flexibility is important,” Charland said.

“You also must remain balanced and stable during the golf swing — at impact or during backswing — so if there are faults with your balance or trunk stability, exercises should be done to improve that. Improving leg strength is also important for your stance when addressing the ball.”

You should keep golf-ready all year round by staying conditioned.

Michelle King, occupational therapist at Adirondack Physical Therapy in Oswego, said that injuries in the wrist, forearm and elbow are common among golfers, and, among those 50 and older, the lower back.

“The big thing in maintaining your back is keeping a strong and healthy core,” she said. “There are a lot of ways of doing that. Workouts on a therapy ball are great, as are anything were you’re in a plank position. Try bridging exercises, where you’re flat on your back and lift up the bottom with your feet under you.”

Kevin Gretsky, physical therapist with Brighton Physical Therapy in Syracuse, sees a fair number of elbow and shoulder injuries that golfers could have possibly prevented had they maintained their fitness level during the off-season.

“Golfing is seen as a seasonal activity, but as with any type of athlete, maintain a level of flexibility and core strength any time of the year helps prevent injury,” he said.

He recommends general conditioning and physical fitness activities such as yoga, walking, and tai chi to provide low-impact exercise.

If you should become injured, Gretsky said that treating at home with RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation — should help. If symptoms do not improve after two to three days, seek medical attention.

“We want to avoid frozen shoulder, and things like golfer’s elbow

Jon Fowler is the head PGA professional at Oswego Country Club. “The problem I find with a lot of golfers, especially seniors, is they fail to warm up properly,” he said. can become debilitating if you don’t stay on top of it,” Gretsky said. “With proper treatment and care, there’s no reason someone can’t get back to the activity they love.”

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retirement

Retirees Find Rewards in Running B&Bs They say the rewards go beyond dollars and cents

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

t’s pretty common for retirees — or those near retirement — to start bed-and-breakfast accommodations. But the reasons behind how and why they opened their homes as lodging vary widely.

For Ann Hutchins, feeling “sick of my job” was enough reason to drop her 9 to 5 gig in an office and, along with husband Steve, hang out the shingle for River Edge Mansion B&B in Pennellville.

The property had been a B&B in the past, but the couple had to build up the clientele again after they bought it five years ago. Steve, 62, is semi-retired, working part-time as a telecommuting marketer for the American Council of Engineering Companies. He also handles the marketing for the B&B. So far the venture has panned out well. The Hutchins have hosted guests from Germany, Sweden, Thailand, England, as well as Americans. About half are local, and half are from other parts of the country or world.

Though keeping up with the rigors of cooking, cleaning and entertaining would have been easier when the couple was in their 20s, Anne sees her maturity as an advantage.

Compared with her young adulthood, “I’m a lot more relaxed,” she said. “I’m more comfortable with people of all ages. Our guests are mostly our ages. We have a lot in common.”

Ray Borg, 68, and wife Wendy Wilber, 78, founded the B&B Wellington in Syracuse 25 years ago. They, too, feel that starting the business as mature adults is a much different experience than they would have 18

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had than if they had opened the B&B decades before.

“I think my insight is considerably better at the age we started,” Wilber said. “At age 25, I wouldn’t stay in business. It takes a lot of patience and you have to be able to meet a variety of needs from dietary, chemical sensitivity to many other things.”

Wilber retired from her career in human resources in 2002, and felt ready to do something different, yet related to her background. Borg still works full time as a facilities engineer at Syracuse Hancock International Airport.

Operating a B&B also taps into their business skills and experience.

When she worked in human resources, Wilber became accustomed to interacting with all kinds of people.

Her husband’s connections to the

Steve Hutchings and his wife Ann Hutchins bought River Edge Mansion B&B in Pennellville five years ago.

“Our guests are mostly our ages. We have a lot in common,” said Ann.

Ray Borg, 68, and wife Wendy Wilber, 78, founded the B&B Wellington in Syracuse 25 years ago.

“The rewards are beyond making money,” Wilber said. “People we’ve had here are like friends.

Fred Myers and his wife Marjorie used their large farmhouse after the kids had left home and Marjorie had been laid off in 1998 to open Belle Maison Farm Bed and Breakfast in Rome. “We have thoroughly enjoyed it,” Marjorie Myers said.

travel industry also helped spark her interest in appealing to corporate travelers.

Though there is a “soft” side to the business, it’s not all bonding over morning omelets with guests. Wilber teaches a class on how to operate a B&B at two area colleges. She reminds students that it’s a 24-7 job.

“If you do this in retirement without having done it previously, think about how much time you want to devote to it.

“The rewards are beyond making money,” Wilber added. “People we’ve had here are like friends. It makes it extra special, and that gets you through a down day. We’re both pretty practical so it works pretty well for us.”

Opening their home as a B&B seemed a good way for Marjorie and Fred Myers to use their large farmhouse after the kids had left home and Marjorie had been laid off in 1998. The pros outweighed the cons, so they decided to go for it.

They installed a second bathroom upstairs, added a bedroom, renovated two other bedrooms, and upgraded the septic system. Since then, they have also added an open front porch to Belle Maison Farm Bed and Breakfast in Rome.

Marjorie did return to work eventually, but retired two years ago at age 66 to focus on the B&B. Meanwhile, her husband, 75, continues working in agriculture, though now part time, marketing microbial products for cattle. He had previously worked as vice-president of sales for Dreamstreet Holsteins in Walton, east of Binghamtom.

The couple still dabbles in agriculture on the farm, keeping a few heifers, chickens, horse and cat. The pastoral scenery the animals provide offers another benefit to guests, along with the frog pond and walking paths on the 100-acre property.

“We try to cater to families,” Marjorie Myers said. “The kids love to go to the pond with the net and catch frogs. The frogs are caught so often they almost jump in the net.”

The property is Fred’s family homestead, so the business provides another way to help maintain it.

“We have thoroughly enjoyed it,” Myers said. “This is our home.

Some of the bedrooms were our own children’s rooms. If you enjoy people, then our place is the place for you.”

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Social Security

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Driving with the Dog Not a Good Idea

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enior drivers who always take a pet in the car are at increased risk for being involved in a motor vehicle collision, said University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers. In a study published in “Accident Analysis and Prevention” in May, the research team said both overall and at-fault crash rates for drivers 70 years of age or older were higher for those whose pet habitually rode with them.

“This is the first study to evaluate the presence of pets in a vehicle as a potential internal distraction for elderly drivers,” said Gerald McGwin, a professor in the departments of epidemiology, ophthalmology and surgery and senior author of the study.

“The increased crash rate for elderly drivers who always drive with pets is important in the context of increasing driver awareness about potentially dangerous driving habits.”

Distracted driving has become a focal point for the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration and is defined as anything that could potentially remove a driver ’s eyes from the road, their hands from the steering wheel or their concentration from the task of driving.

“Adding another distracting element, especially an active, potentially moving animal, provides more opportunity for an older driver to respond to a driving situation in a less than satisfactory way,” said McGwin.

“Regulations in this area might be warranted, particularly if our findings are replicated by others.”

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my turn

By Bruce Frassinelli Email: bruce@cny55.com

My Crush on Annette Funicello

T

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me.

M-I-C-K-E Y M-O-U-S-E

o the strains of this catchy march, the “Mickey Mouse Club” debuted on Oct. 3, 1955, on ABC-TV, right after “Bandstand,” and this entranced 16year-old high school sophomore was there from the beginning.

In those days, “Bandstand” was a local show that aired on WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, and its host was Bob Horn, predecessor to Dick Clark.

“Bandstand” went national in 1957, and its name changed to “American Bandstand.”

It was by accident that I saw the first broadcast of the “Mickey Mouse Club,” on our 12-inch RCA TV, probably because I had been watching “Bandstand” until 5 p.m. and didn’t bother turning off the set.

After the opening intro, the “Mouseketeers” marched by to introduce themselves. When I saw 13-year-old Annette Funicello, I was instantly smitten. She was the first of three major teen-age crushes. The others were French sexpot Brigitte Bardot and Italian film star Sophia Loren, but I fell hardest for Annette.

Annette was different. She was cute, perky, innocent and chaste, even though I had an enormous curiosity and fascination about those two developing points coming from her chest that pushed ever so slightly through her Mouseketeer uniform.

Annette Funicello died in April at the age of 70, ravaged by multiple sclerosis which slowly sapped her energy, mobility, speech and, eventually her life.

When I saw the NBC Nightly News Report the day she died, I choked up and couldn’t talk for a few minutes. My wife, Marie, couldn’t believe it. As a hard and crusty life-long journalist, I did not give in to tears easily. I explained to Marie that an important part of 22

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my teenage memory bank had been withdrawn, and I was very sad.

I remember someone once told me that those “good old days” were really never as good as we remember them, but the mind is a great filter to make them seem more special and unique than they really were. Maybe that is true of a lot of things, but not with Annette.

No, my crush on Annette was no flash-in-the-pan. I watched her intently every weekday from 5 to 6.

I sometimes had to outwit my mom, because that was our dinner hour.

I kept making up excuses — had to go to the bathroom, forgot to wash my hands, had to change my socks and on and on. Finally, my mother capitulated and agreed to wait until 6 p.m. to eat.

When I tried to explain this to my disgruntled father, who wanted to eat earlier, he could not understand how his hunger had to play second fiddle to a 13-year-old girl.

When I told him that her last name was “Funicello,” my Italian immigrant father smiled slightly and was somewhat mollified.

I wrote to Annette numerous times, complimenting her on her singing and dancing abilities. Once, I even confessed, in great and specific detail, that I was madly in love with her and would be eternally grateful if she were to return the feelings.

Not surprisingly, I never received a response. But it didn’t matter. I knew she was busy.

I enjoyed most of the “Mickey Mouse Club” cast, including head Mouseketeer Jimmy Dodd, Big Mouseketeer Roy Williams and Annette’s contemporaries, Darlene Gillespie, Cubby O’Brien, Karen Pendleton, Bobby Burgess (who went on to fame on the Lawrence Welk Show), Sharon Baird and Doreen

Tracey. Johnny Crawford, who later starred on The Rifleman series with Chuck Connors, was on the show the first season only.

Each day had a theme: Monday was Fun with Music, Tuesday was Guest Star day, Wednesday’s theme was Anything Can Happen, Thursday was the Circus, and Friday was Talent Roundup, my favorite. Friday was the day when Annette really showed off her dancing and singing talents. She looked so cute in that cowgirl outfit she would frequently wear during “roundup” day.

Annette Funicello was born on Oct. 22, 1942, in Utica. When she was just 3, the family moved from Central New York to North Hollywood in the San Fernando Valley.

She instantly became the most popular of the Mouseketeers, but some critics said a large amount of the fan mail she received came from her large and extended family in Central New York.

When the “Mickey Mouse Club” ended, Walt Disney kept her under contract, and she went on to have

a successful career as a solo singer recording more than 200 songs. Some of her big hits were “O Dio Mio,” “Tall Paul,” “First Name Initial” and “Pineapple Princess.”

Her friend and musical director, Tutti Camarata, was instrumental in developing the “Annette Sound” by double-tracking her voice to make it appear stronger.

I instantly hated singer Paul Anka when he and Annette became an item. Anka even wrote his big hit “Puppy Love” about their relationship.

When she was 22, she began starring with singer Frankie Avalon in a series of insipid beach movies, including the first one “Beach Party” (1963), “Beach Blanket Bingo” and “How to Stuff A Wild Bikini.”

She promised Walt Disney that she would never wear a skimpy bikini in these movies and kept her promise by wearing one- or two-piece suits which never revealed too much of her ample charms.

She and Avalon had a reunion in the 1987 film “Back to the Beach.” It was during the filming of this movie that Funicello suffered physical issues which led to the M.S. diagnosis.

In 1986, I thought I was finally going to fulfill my lifelong dream and meet my teenage crush. She was listed as one of the stars who would appear at the 15th anniversary media spectacular to celebrate Disney World’s success in Orlando. At the last minute, she canceled because she was still filming “Back to the Beach.” Even though I interviewed Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Gloria Estefan and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger during that extraordinary weekend, I was crushed that I never got to meet my first love, Annette Funicello.

Upon news of her death, Bob Iger, Disney chairman and chief executive, summed it up best for those of us who were beguiled by this enchanting and unassuming darling with the funny mouse ears: “Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word ‘Mouseketeer’ and a true Disney legend. She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside….”

��������������������������� ������������������������� ���������������� ��������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������� ������������������������������� �������������������� ��������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������

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An Editor’s New Life Top Post-Standard editor starting a new life after working 37 years for the paper

By Suzanne M. Ellis

W

hen Michael Connor retired in May after 37 years at The PostStandard, he wasn’t thinking about endings. At the relatively young age of 60, he said, it felt more like the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his life.

By the time this story is published, Connor will have turned the first few pages of that new chapter and embarked on a journey he has long dreamed about: living in the south of France and pursuing his desires to write and return to college.

“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized I want to seriously explore my writing.

At first, perhaps, a memoir, a personal essay, making sense of my own life, if that’s possible,” he said. “A big part of the reason I got into the [newspaper] business was to write, but I didn’t get to do it for very long.”

In fact, Connor was hired by The Post-Standard in 1976 as a part-time stringer in Auburn and within six months he was offered a full-time job as bureau chief in Madison County. By 1983, just seven years later, he had made the meteoric rise to managing editor of a daily newspaper in Syracuse.

“My writing stopped pretty quickly because other opportunities arose that gave me the chance to step outside my own skin and work with the 24

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whole organization in a different way,” Connor said. “But that was only part of the reason. I think I was also a little insecure about establishing a ‘voice’ of my own as a reporter. Newspaper writing can be very formulaic and won’t allow you to have a voice of your own unless you write in a distinctive way. I didn’t have the confidence that I could write in a distinctive way.”

As long and distinguished as his career in journalism turned out to be, it was never on Connor’s radar. His plan was to major in labor relations and Russian studies at Cornell University and eventually become a lawyer.

“Growing up in a household with as many newspapers as we had, and having parents who were avid newspaper readers, we talked about the news constantly,” he said.

“I always enjoyed discussing current and world events but I never thought about becoming a writer because I was going to be a lawyer.”

And then something happened, an epiphany of sorts, when the prelaw major heard a speech by Seymour Hersh, winner of the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

“I wanted to hear him speak because I was opposed to the war in Vietnam and he was a rising hero, having exposed some of our conduct over there,” Connor said. “What I never

expected to hear was a passionate case for becoming a daily journalist.”

Hersh spoke that long-ago day about being a young reporter in Chicago and going to the scene of a fatal house fire. A man had killed his wife and four children, set the house on fire and then committed suicide, Connor said. Later, as Hersh dictated his story to an editor, he was asked if the victims were “of Negro descent.” When told they were, the editor curtly informed Hersh to kill the story and “cheap it out.” In newsroom vernacular, that meant Hersh should write one paragraph about the deaths and that would be the end of it.

“A family of six died that day; four children lost their lives that day.

And to that editor it was just blah, blah, blah,” Connor said. “Hersh said he learned that day about racism in America and he learned where his heart was. In relaying that moment to us, he just lit something inside of me and I knew I wanted to do that kind of work. I thought, who else will do it? How else will people know about these kinds of things if not through daily journalism?”

After graduating from Cornell, Connor became a stringer for The Post-Standard, covering city, town and village board meetings in the Cayuga County suburbs. Six months later, he

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Mike Connor leading a staff meeting in 1997 in which he described changes made to the paper after the merger of the evening Herald-Journal and morning The Post-Standard. was offered the bureau position in Oneida. It didn’t go well: He was fired within a week.

“There was this big going-away party in Syracuse for the guy I was replacing,” Connor said. “When the party was over, I did what I thought was the responsible thing. I didn’t drive; I got a ride back to Oneida.”

Because he hadn’t yet found a place to live, Connor decided to sleep at the bureau. He had no idea that people from the circulation department would arrive at 3 a.m.

“They walked in and saw this guy they didn’t know, asleep on the floor,” he said. “I was a little groggy, my hair and beard were longer and shaggier then, and they thought I was a vagrant.

I said hello and tried to be polite, but they called the circulation manager and had me written up for drunk and disorderly conduct. Then I got a letter saying I had been dismissed.”

Connor met with the powersthat-be at The Post-Standard and explained his side of the story, then left to stay with friends in Boston. “They

rethought it and invited me back for a second chance,” he said. “I guess you could say my career had a rather shaky beginning.”

All told, Connor’s reporting career lasted about a year and a half and he never found that “distinctive voice” he wanted. But over the next three and a half decades, he found a different voice, mentoring others in the complicated world of news gathering, advocating for top-notch investigative journalism and overseeing the kind of writing and reporting that resulted

Personally Speaking Name: Michael Joseph Connor Date of birth: Dec. 21, 1952 Birthplace: Auburn Residence: 311 Montgomery St., Syracuse Education: Cornell University graduate, 1975, Bachelor of Science degree in labor relations and Russian studies; Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, 1988-1989 Family: Divorced; two sons, Jeffrey Connor, 26, and Adam Connor, 22. Jeffrey, a graduate of Cornell University, and Adam, a graduate of the University of Vermont, are musicians living in California.

Hobbies: Reading, bicycling, hiking, traveling, cooking, swimming Favorite author: “That depends on what I’m reading at the moment; my interests are across many genres.

I read a lot of poetry, essays, nature writing and contemporary fiction.”

Volunteer work: Serves on the 26

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boards of directors for the Gifford Foundation and the Central New York Community Foundation.

Has also volunteered for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse, the Red House Arts Center, the Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series Selection Committee and Matthew House in Auburn. Regarding Matthew House, a hospice residence, Connor said, “That experience was beyond any volunteer activity I have ever done as far as connecting with people in a significant way. It was an extraordinary experience and an honor to serve people in a very modest way at that time of their lives, to see the resilience they had in spite of their circumstances.”

Most meaningful professional awards: “The Nieman Fellowship at Harvard was a big one for me because it’s a gift that keeps on giving. You get to spend a year in close quarters with two dozen journalists, a dozen

from the United States and a dozen from overseas, and the relationships you make there become a network of connections that you have for the rest of your life,” Connor said. “The state AP [Associated Press] and Syracuse Press Club awards, the professional standards and career recognition awards meant a lot to me, too. The Gus Bliven award (Bliven-GanleyRossi Career Achievement Award) from the Syracuse Press Club was very meaningful to me because it came from local journalists and colleagues. I am most proud of the many awards that were won by our staff over the years, pretty much every journalism award there is except the Pulitzer and we were a finalist for that in 1993. When they can do their jobs well and be recognized for that hard work, it means a lot to me.” (SE)

55+ in dozens of journalism awards for his staff, including the near-win of a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for a series of stories about the poor medical care provided to inmates in New York state prisons.

In 2001, Connor helped shepherd colleagues through a difficult merger with the Herald-Journal, Syracuse’s former afternoon daily. It was an event, he said, that caused “a lot of angst and a lot of unhappiness.”

Then came the first of two rounds of buyouts and the painful departure of longtime colleagues and friends, followed closely by furloughs, changes in employees’ health benefits and the sharing of the costs associated with those benefits.

“One thing after another reinforced the fact that we were slipping down that slope, and psychologically that’s a very unhealthy place for employees to be,” Connor said. “Watching beloved colleagues go through uncertainty and tremendous change in their lives was a lot harder than seeing all the changes in the organization and the series of transitions it has gone through.”

In the final year of his career, Connor oversaw radical changes in The Post-Standard from a seven-daya-week, home-delivered newspaper to three days a week and the transition to a digitally focused news operation.

“We want to turn this massive aircraft carrier around and change direction so that we are on a better course than the perilous course we have been on. Something that large takes a long time to turn around,” he said.

Today, with nearly four decades of newspaper work behind him, Connor plans to focus on his own change of direction.

“My intention is to stay in France for at least a year and really immerse myself in the way of life there, to learn the language as well as I can. I could see staying for two years, depending on how things go, but beyond that I don’t know,” he said.

In addition to writing, Connor is working on a master’s degree in creative writing from Bennington College in Vermont. The program’s low-residence status requires students

cover

Head shot taken during a news budget meeting in 2004.

to be on campus for just 10 days at a time, allowing them to complete their coursework from afar while they work one-on-one with a professor.

He recently signed a one-year lease on an apartment in an older section of Aix-en-Province, a town 30 minutes northeast of Marseille. It’s a university town, about the same size as Syracuse, he said, and it was founded by the Romans some 2,000 years ago. It boasts 300 days of sunshine annually, a weather fact Connor relishes, and 90 or so days of rain. Midsummer temperatures average 72 degrees; midwinter averages 41.

One of its claims to fame, Connor said, is that renowned French artist Paul Cezanne spent his life there.

“The south of France has been an inspirational place for people for centuries,” Connor said. “I want to

see where my writing takes me and to do that, I felt that I needed to be in a very different environment than what I’ve been used to, to be away from everything that I was used to.”

To that end, this is a solo journey.

“I am in a wonderful relationship right now, but she has her own career as a family therapist to tend to, so she will stay in Syracuse,” Connor said. “I am healthy, my sons are not married so I have no grandchildren, and this feels like an opening in time and space that is allowing me to make a dramatic change. It’s giving me the chance for a different kind of adventure.

“I see this as a two-year sabbatical and not as a traditional retirement. It could turn into that, but I doubt it,” Connor said. “I may return to the workforce in some form someday, but all of that remains to be seen.”

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An Insider’s View: The Future of Newspapers

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ichael Connor has left The Post-Standard newsroom where he spent nearly four decades, but his passion for the business remains as fierce as it

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has always been. He sees good things ahead for an industry that continues to find its way — and fight its way — amid sweeping changes in the way the world gets its news.

“This industry has been in a deep, dark depression for a long, long time,” said Connor, who retired May 24 as vice president of content for the Syracuse Media Group after a 37-year career with The Post-Standard.

“Revenue and circulation sales have been sloping downward for a long time and what’s happening now shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone,” he said. “Companies are struggling to create a new business model, rather than continue on this downward slope.

If we hadn’t done something, The PostStandard would have been extinct in a few years. It might not be gone entirely, but it would be a much smaller paper with a far smaller staff.

“As sad as it was to see our sevenday delivery go away,” Connor said, “it would be far more tragic to see a shadow of the former paper coming out seven days a week.”

Connor agreed that the Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday editions of the paper, now found only on newsstands, are pretty slim. That, he said, is because their purpose is to give readers a roundup of the latest news in hard-copy form. In-depth reports are found in the much larger editions on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

“We don’t have any illusions about the value of the street sales [newsstand copies] as compared to the Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday papers,” he said. “We are trying to find the right balance of in-depth and breaking news and build our capacity to report and update the news on the Web to serve an audience that is continuously growing for that kind of delivery.”

The Post-Standard always tried to stay ahead of the ever-changing technological game, and Connor was instrumental in helping to move the newsroom into the computer age of journalism. The staff accepted new technology as soon as it became available and, long before many people were even comfortable with the Internet, the domain name of syracuse. com was claimed as the newspaper’s website.

“If we stayed stuck in the [newspaper] business model that goes

back to 1829, because the process is still essentially the same, all the trend lines tell us that nothing good would come of it,” Connor said. “If we aren’t serving readers and advertisers in the ways that 2013, 2014, 2015 and beyond will demand, then we’re done.

Good journalism flows from having the revenue and the profit to support it; making money is the basis for everything else.

“There was so much chatter a few years ago about newspapers going out of business, people were predicting that papers were going to close all over the country, and it hasn’t happened,” Connor said. “Every major city in the U.S. has a newspaper serving it, and there are very few communities that have no newspapers. People predicted the death of the New York Times and, as far as I know, they are out of debt.

It’s certainly not a rosy picture but the industry has survived a really challenging recession.

“I like the investment that [Syracuse Media Group and The PostStandard] are making in all the new techniques, and I am pretty optimistic about the prospects for the future,” he said. “Sure, we’re making a lot of this up as we go along because it’s all new, but I think the basic plan is sound and gives us a better chance to stay the course.” (SE)

Connor: Staying Fit at 60

W

holesale changes at the newspaper over the past few years made for a lot of long days, Michael Connor said, and exercise often ended up on a back burner. In recent months, however, he’s made some changes of his own and looks forward to maintaining a healthier lifestyle in the south of France.

“I have always loved bicycling, and I try to stay as physically active as I can. And I’m eating a lot better than I used to,” said Connor, who retired May 24 as vice president of content for the Syracuse Media Group after 37 years with The Post-Standard in Syracuse. “One of the things I am really looking forward to in France is going to the fresh markets and selecting my food for that day and then going back the next day and doing it again.”

His healthier eating habits, he said, can be attributed to a few different things, including the realization that he’s getting older, having a foodconscious woman in his life, and the discovery of organic potato chips.

“I certainly have an awareness of aging, but I would say the more significant factor is living with a

woman who is much more conscious of food choices than I have ever been,” he said.

As for the organic potato chips, “I was eating them one day and noticed on the label that they have just three ingredients — potatoes, salt and some benign oil. So now I’m checking labels and trying to eat foods that have short lists of ingredients.”

Connor is especially proud of a lifestyle change he made in the spring of 2011 — the decision to give up alcohol. It has improved his life in many ways, he said, and in early June he celebrated two years of sobriety.

Ideally, Connor said, he tries to exercise four or five days a week.

“It’s been a lot less than that in the last year because of all the changes at work that were going on, but spring is here and I’m back on the bicycle again,” he said. He also keeps fit by hiking and swimming. Connor used to enjoy running, but not these days. “It hurts my legs, and I don’t like pain,” he said. “Bicycling is so much easier on the joints.

I much prefer the good feeling my body has after cycling than after running. (SE)

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memory

Being a reporter a half-century ago

By Richard Palmer

I

still remember that April day in 1964 when I walked into the old Herald-Journal building on Herald Place in Syracuse and landed a job as a reporter. Most people wouldn’t believe it was possible,

Richard Palmer 30

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especially for a kid with just a high school education.

I didn’t have much of a resume.

Just a few clippings of articles I had written for the high school newspaper and for Joe Beamish, a popular Herald-Journal columnist who hailed from “Orton Hollow.”

But I and City Editor Bill Cotter hit it off right from the start and became instant friends.

In those days there was no such corporate components as a human resources or personnel office. This was a department head’s responsibility.

If you wanted to be a reporter you made an appointment for an interview with the editor. If applying for an advertising sales position you were interviewed by the advertising manager.

They were the best judges of who were or weren’t qualified.

There were no tests. It was as simple as that.

This was the time-honored method of maintaining a staff of qualified people. They didn’t expect you to know all there was to know about newspaper work. As long as you showed some talent and skill, the experience came with time.

Such had been the case for generations. Most of the people I initially worked with had been around for a long time and were great “practical” teachers who exercised patience. It was my good fortune to have worked with journalists with anywhere from 30 or more years of experience. At that time several reporters and editors had been at the Herald-Journal and its predecessors since the 1920s.

It was always a proud boast that during the “Great Depression” of the 1930s did anyone lose their job at the newspaper.

Publishing a daily newspaper has always been a tremendously challenging and exciting task for everyone involved. Although the advertising and editorial departments frequently bickered over various issues on a daily basis, they meshed quite well together. We all couldn’t wait to see the day’s end product.

The Herald-Journal was the afternoon paper, which was discontinued in 2001. It had been around under that name since 1939 when the

‘I walked into the old Herald-Journal building on Herald Place in Syracuse and landed a job as a reporter. Most people wouldn’t believe it was possible, especially for a kid with just a high school education.’

Herald and Syracuse’s other newspaper, the Journal, were merged.

The Journal was established in 1844.

Eventually it became part of the William Randolph Hearst newspaper empire.

The old Syracuse Herald started publication in 1877. At the time I started at the Herald-Journal it was on Herald Place, a block away from the present Post-Standard building on Clinton Square. The history of Syracuse’s newspapers dating back to the early 19th century, is long and interesting and would be worthy of a book. Reading through the yellowed pages is our window of our community’s past that can’t be found anywhere else.

Other than some technical advances made in the printing process, little had changed over the years.

The reporters got their stories the same way their predecessors had for generations — by “pounding the beat” armed only with a pad and pencil — no such things as smart phones, iPads and Iaptops. I can’t image lugging around all of these expensive gadgets to cover a story.

But most of all reporters didn’t sit in the office waiting for stories to come to them. By the way that was the best test for a cub reporter. City Editor Bill Cotter told me: “so you want to be a reporter? Go on out there and get a story and we’ll see.” I don’t recall what story I got, but apparently it was good enough and he hired me — “right off the street.”

We had a great team of editors and reporters who all got along and worked very well together. I treasure the memories of “the way things were” in that time-worn, smokefilled city room in the days when Alexander “Casey” Jones ruled the roost as executive editor. When he wrote an editorial, readers respected his opinions even if they didn’t always agree with him. As long as Casey was around there was no such thing as a “canned” editorial.

Over the years I covered just about every existing beat at one time or another, as well as working as a correspondent in the Auburn, Fulton, Oneida, Oswego and Watertown bureaus, which no longer exist. Later I was editor for several of the Eagle Newspapers and wound up my full time journalistic career as editor of the Erie Canal Times and Route 20 Pulse. One thing I can say about all this is I have no regrets. It was a lot of fun.

Social Media Etiquette Things to do and not to do in venues like Facebook

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

f you keep up with friends and family through social media, you have a lot of company.

A 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center ’s Internet and American Life Project found that 40 percent of Internet users 65 and older use Facebook, a jump of 150 percent since 2009, and that the same age group is the fastest growing of those getting involved with social media.

Wi t h a l l t h a t information flying about cyberspace comes responsibility, too. That “funny” story about your adult daughter ’s behavior at a family party could Nekritz embarrass her socially or cause her problems at work. A teen grandson could feel mortified that you discussed his health problems online.

“Cute” photos or videos posted online often go viral, spreading as fast and far as the common cold. And like the common cold, there’s no cure. Once you post, they can go anywhere as long as people keep re-posting.

Don’t one-up your children or grandchildren’s postings. Anything that would be embarrassing to them in person is just as embarrassing to them online, only it lasts longer.

In addition to posting blushworthy photos or comments about your children or grandchildren (“TMI” means “too much information” by the way), you may post comments that make you or your loved ones open to theft.

Posting your whereabouts can make you a sitting duck to burglars.

For example, “Can’t wait until our trip to Florida next week” or “Going out to Olive Garden tonight! See you there at 7!”

“They shouldn’t say when they’re leaving their house,” said Tracie Alexander, OASIS Syracuse program

and volunteer manager. “They’re setting themselves up for being a victim of theft.”

Chatting about your granddaughter’s upcoming trip with her friends to Mexico could set you up for an all-too-common ploy of thieves who pose as the grandchild and call you with a plea for money to be wired to her because of some kind of illness or accident.

This scam usually occurs in the middle of the night so you’re not thinking as clearly. The thief has already culled details from your posting to sound more authentic.

Nabbing your phone number wasn’t hard; most landlines are easy to look up on the Internet.

It’s not hard to obtain your cell phone number either if you use it for business.

The thief will sound upset, like he has been crying, so the voice is harder to distinguish from your grandchild’s.

Background sound will also help muffle the voice.

Thieves usually plea to not tell the parents “so they won’t Alexander worry.”

“If someone gets a call from a ‘grandchild’ in the middle of the night, check with another family member to see if it’s true,” Alexander said. “It’s also odd the ‘grandchild’ would call only the grandparents. The parents would be the first one they’d call.”

Fuel to the fire The more details you’ve posted online, the more convincing the scammer can sound and the less likely you’ll see it coming.

“Obviously, don’t post things like your phone number, home address, and Social Security number,”

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aging

By Marilyn L. Pinsky

My Adventurous Trip to Southeast Asia

T

his winter I went to Southeast Asia for five weeks, with a stop in Dubai. As I’m not the only person who has ever written about those areas, I won’t do a travelogue, but instead will tell you a few personal experiences of the trip.

My theory about traveling is to do the most difficult trips while still healthy and this particular tour fell in that category. It also fit my criteria of trips Philip, my late husband, would never have done, so I didn’t feel badly doing them alone. Spending five weeks in 90-100 degree temperatures, walking barefoot over dirt and stones to see many, many, many temples, climbing endless stairs, and riding up extremely steep and winding hillsides in open sided trucks and horse carts, was definitely not his thing.

My three days in Dubai.

A 12-hour flight is not a piece of cake and I am not one of those lucky people who can sleep sitting up, so day one I hung around the hotel and rested while figuring out the currency and investigating tours. Walking through the hotel complex and seeing women in lovely burqas talking on their cell phones, men in long robes with briefcases having busi-

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ness meetings, and seeing women sunning in bikinis (probably tourists,) made me feel I was someplace very different. As Dubai is known as “Islam light,” women’s dress ranged from totally covered with only the eyes showing, to beautifully madeup women in gorgeous headscarves, unbelievably high heels and stunning outfits.

Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, is a city built in a desert, with architecturally diverse skyscrapers, the tallest building in the world, the “Burj Khalifa,” many elegant shopping malls, including one with an indoor ski slope and ice rink, and the most expensive brands of everything in the world.

For me, the best part of traveling is the people you talk to along the way, often while waiting on line for the ladies room; a universal inconvenience that leads to rolled eyes and miming conversation in any language.

I was lucky to run into so many people who spoke English. In the Dubai gold market, I met a young woman covered from head to toe in her black burqa, giggling with her girlfriends while we all waited in the long line. She spoke a little English and said she was from Iraq, but was living in Dubai because her boyfriend was there and she works as a massage therapist. Not the response I anticipated and a really fun encounter.

On a very long taxi line, I struck up a conversation with a high school student from Russia, who asked if it was true that my president was supporting gay marriage? He told me how difficult it was for him living in Russia where there was so much anti-gay sentiment and no protection from the government. He said he dreamed some day of being able to move to a country where he would feel accepted.

I shared a cab with a British cou-

ple who retired to Spain, and were also touring Dubai. We discussed health care. They felt the Spanish system was excellent and functioning well and that even as non-citizens, they had great health care.

Next stop Bangkok To catch up with the tour to SE Asia. Having no idea where my hotel was, I had arranged for a car service after seeing an ad on the Web for “Rat Car Service” (shortened from a long Thai name.) After a slight delay in finding each other at this bustling airport, entirely my fault, I connected with the proprietor/driver, Mrs. Rat, and knew we were meant for each other. She had parked her car in the huge airport garage but had forgotten exactly where. The two of us were running around the garage at night, pulling my three bags of luggage and laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Then we spent the hour drive discussing our children and grandchildren.

There were eight of us on the pre-trip to Burma, also known as Myanmar. For many years the country did not encourage tourism, so we were all very excited to be going there.

After waking at 3 in the morning for a 6 o’clock flight, we landed in Bagan and hit the ground running.

Before I knew it, we were walking barefoot on a dirt pathway to a stupa (a Buddhist shrine), then climbing unbelievably steep steps without a railing, and only wide enough at the top for one shoe at a time, to see the famous panoramic view. It was thrilling and petrifying at the same time and looking down was not a great idea. It was the first of many temples that required walking in bare feet for the hours you were there.

Then off to a wonderful farmers market where the fruits and vegetables were unbelievably gorgeous and were displayed like works of art,

followed by driving through villages that have not changed, except for electricity and tourism. That was followed by more temples, of course in bare feet, and we ended a very long day in the back of a horse drawn cart driving through a UNESCO designated area covered with thousands of stupas. It was just amazing.

After a breakfast of coconut soup with egg and coriander, vermicelli and potatoes, we took a two-hour drive to Mt. Popa, a sacred Buddhist shrine on the top of a mountain that is reached by climbing 770 steps. I pooped out and didn’t make it all the way up and still my legs shook for hours and I walked stiffly all week.

Well, if I was looking for adventure, I found it in a rickety truck, driving up a steep mountain with unbelievable hairpin turns. There were people all over the sides of the road on motorbikes or walking, and how they don’t get hit, I’ll never know.

I held my breath while forcing myself to look over the side of this mountain as we climbed higher and higher. Then we got out, climbed some stairs and finally took escalators to the very top and entered this absolutely gorgeous, 360-degree shrine with walls of colored shiny mirrored chips and watched the sunset with hundreds of people from all over the world as prayers were broadcast over a sound system. It was breathtaking all around.

After having broken the locks on closet safes in the previous two hotels, for variety, upon returning to this hotel, I broke my key card in the lock.

I now understand what “walking the plank” means as we literally did it. To get to our boat for a trip on a lake, a wooden board was laid down between the riverbank and another boat. One person on the bank holds one end of a bamboo pole and a person on the boat holds the other end to form a railing of sorts and you walk across the plank, one foot in front of the other, trying not to look down. This was repeated between two more boats before we got to ours. It was good not to know some things in advance, and not have too much time to think before having to act, so as not to hold up the people in back of you.

In Burma, as in some of the other countries we visited, the scenery is just gorgeous, but the pollution is awful. Whether from vehicles spew-

ing black smoke, farmers burning crop waste or the outdoor cooking, we all dealt with burning eyes, coughs, sore noses and for some, chest pain. Remembering the fights put up by car companies in our country over the dire consequences of catalytic converters and the ongoing fights over pollution controls generally, two days in places without these controls will make you a converted environmentalist.

Back to Bangkok for a few days.

The city is huge and a fascinating mix of old and new. Traffic is slow and once you get used to the idea that taxi drivers will most likely take you the long way around, you learn to ask the price first.

Driving around SE Asia you see many monks, but seeing them hanging on the back of a bus with one hand and holding onto their cell phones with the other, was a kick.

For better or worse, Bangkok is a very sexually open city. The better part is that people are accepted for who they are and I learned that the expression for a gay man is “a man born with a woman’s heart” and for a Lesbian, “a woman born with a man’s heart.” I thought that was such a beautiful way of looking at life.

I’m leaving out just amazing sights, such as the Grand Palace of Thailand outside of Bangkok; it was exquisite and worth a day’s visit, even in 100 degree heat, but I can’t do it justice in a paragraph.

Back on the plane to Laos, first stop Luang Prabang, where the whole city is a UNESCO Heritage site that has been preserved as it was in colonial and ancient times.

Then into the mountains to see a day in the life of a village. The bus climbed and climbed around endless turns through thick, beautiful, tropical forests while our guide told us that one of the main products of Laos has been opium, which as you can imagine has been a big problem.

Opium grows best on high mountains, so the government solution was to move everyone living in the mountains down to the lower level villages. Two men we met with in the village talked about losing two hundred acres of land that had been in their family for generations and told us how they couldn’t sleep well as village life was so different from their homes on the mountain. They said they weren’t growing opium, it was their neighbors but they got relocated anyway.

And once again, air quality was an issue. We are so spoiled to have good air to breathe that we don’t have to think every minute if we should be wearing a mask or not.

In contrast, the air is so bad in Laos, that everyone in our group was sick and local people we pass on the streets are always coughing.

Despite the air, the country is beautiful and the people are so friendly in Laos. When our guide wrote my name in Laotian on my neck tag, people stopped to call me by name.

• Next edition: Viet Nam and North Thailand and things I’ve learned about traveling.

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active

Marvelous Marv Former SU biology professor shows creative side, inks sixth book

By Alyssa Mammano

M

arvin Druger made the decision to enroll in college on a whim, and has since enriched the lives of more than 50,000 college students during his 60 years as an educator.

Four years after his retirement from Syracuse University as a longtime biology professor, Druger is still sharing his life’s work.

He is working on his sixth book, a self-published piece that is a collection of his 55 Plus magazine “Druger’s Zoo” columns, along with a section on “More Misadventures of Marvin,” including “Insulting Insults.” He has yet to give it a title.

His first poetry book was “Strange Creatures and Other Poems” followed by a second poetry book, “Even Stranger Creatures and Other Poems.”

He also penned a recent book for children, “Mr. Moocho and the Lucky Chicken.”

“Misadventures of Marvin” (2010) is a book for the older set. “‘Misadventures’ is sort of a true memoir and describes all the stupid things that I’ve done in my life. His wife Patricia concurs: “It is a very fat 34

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book,” she said jokingly.

SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor wrote that this book was “a delightful read,” while local media personality George Kilpatrick wrote that the book was, “Laugh out loud funny.”

His other book is “Practical Perspectives on Science Education” (2010), geared for teachers and professionals. It is a collection of essays on science education that was published in the Journal of Natural Sciences Education.

“I’ve taught for more than 55 years and this book provides practical tips on teaching and many insights that I’ve gained about science education,” he said.

His latest yet unnamed work is a collection of wisecrack remarks made by his wife Pat and friends who enjoy poking fun at him.

The book has more to do with his life as a retired college professor. It ties in aspects of his area of study, biology, and his quirky personality. He takes pointed jokes and turns them around on the jokester.

It also includes funny scenarios and interesting stories from his personal life (See sidebar, this edition).

Growing up, Druger was the product of a low-income household in Brooklyn. His father was a truck driver and his mother, a housewife.

While his older sister went to work after high school, he and his two younger brothers were preoccupied with playing basketball, punch ball and stickball in Borough Park.

“In fact, I belonged to a gang: the Wild Cats,” Druger said. “It was a good gang. We didn’t drink, we didn’t smoke, and we didn’t like girls. It was a social-athletic club. We had purple jackets. We had a clubhouse, but in our clubhouse when we had a party we didn’t have drugs.

We had Pepsi-Cola and salami sandwiches.”

Ironically, Druger met his wife Patricia at one of his clubhouse parties. At the time she was 15 and he was 20, but despite the age difference, he couldn’t help but think that moment might change his life forever. He tells that story to his students, noting that a single moment in time can have a great effect on the rest of their lives.

Along with teaching biology, Druger also likes to teach his stu-

dents life lessons. His main lesson is to have as many experiences as life will allow because that is how to gain knowledge, not through memorization and testing.

It’s about the journey “I want to do everything because we’re not going to be here that long.

Those experiences are going to stay with you and make you who you are.

It’s not going to be the information that you memorize or the tests that you take,” said Druger. “Every opportunity that comes up to do something that is an experience I try to take advantage of. I’ve tried personally to enrich my life so I can bring those enrichments to my students.”

Druger has those experiences to thank for becoming a biology professor. He said when he graduated high school, he originally planned to go to work to support his family, because that is what people did in those days.

Druger posing with a mannequin in a Syracuse store.

Druger and his wife Pat. His latest yet unnamed work is a collection of wisecrack remarks made by her and friends who enjoy poking fun at him.

But a conversation he had with a friend changed his mind.

“When we graduated high school, I didn’t really know what I was going to do,” Druger said.

‘Beezy,’ Ronald Kronheim, who was the leader of the gang said, ‘I’m going to college.’ I said, ‘College, what is that?’ He said, ‘I’m going to Brooklyn College, it’s free.’ I said, ‘It’s free?

I’ll go too then.’”

At Brooklyn College, Druger discovered his love for teaching biology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in science education. He was equipped with teaching experience after graduating, and was offered a job as a lecturer of zoology at Columbia University.

There he would earn his master’s degree and doctorate.

When he went to Columbia, Druger looked up the name of a lecturer he had sat in on one afternoon while at Brooklyn College. His name was Theodosius Dobzhansky, and his lecture on the genetics of flies, for some reason, stuck in Druger’s mind.

“He became my mentor. He had a tremendous influence on my professional career. He was one of the leading evolutionary geneticists in the world. I did my Ph.D. under him. When I graduated, the value of that was I never had to look for a job.

I got offers from all over the place,” said Druger.

Among the offers was an assis-

tant professor position at Syracuse University. He accepted the job because his family was still living in New York and he loved the area, he said. In 1962, Druger started his career as an assistant professor at Syracuse University, where he eventually worked his was up to associate professor, then full professor and finally professor emeritus after his retirement in 2009. He stayed there for 47 years, and still maintains an office.

“The way I developed my course was unique. I always felt that because experiences are so important to students, I wanted to make sure that you don’t just go to class to sit there and hear a boring lecture. You want to do something exciting, something interesting, something that will stick with them and stimulate them to want to learn more,” Druger said.

Tossing of the keys One unique experience in Druger’s class was throwing the answer keys to his tests out the window.

Druger said the one thing students remember from his course is that he would gather them outside after his tests and toss down the answer keys from an above window.

It became a tradition until someone got hurt.

“Suddenly an ambulance drives up, picks up this body and drives off.

Continued on page 49 June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

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learning

Students from choreagrapher Tammy Panzironi’s OASIS Flash Mob class performed a surprise six-minute routine of dance at Destiny USA Dec. 14.

OASIS Syracuse Sees Record Growth

By Matthew Liptak

T

he Syracuse campus of OASIS, a national educational program for active adults, has seen a record growth in unique participants in 2012 surpassing all other 11 cities where similar programs are maintained.

Executive director of OASIS Syracuse, Lauren Feiglin, cites the community’s commitment to learning for the success of the local OASIS program.

“I think this community is unique,” she said. “People seem to 36

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be very committed to helping others and being connected and sharing their skills or learning new skills,” she said.

“The great growth that we had last year I attribute to the high quality of classes that are offered and the enormous efforts of our volunteers.

We came out number one of all the national network of OASIS programs in terms of unique participants.

We’ve increased by like 16 percent.

The interest has been very strong.”

Feiglin said officials from the headquarters in St. Louis are even

considering sending representatives of other campuses to Syracuse to learn the strategy adopted locally and replicate the process in other communities. That leadership led to almost 1,500 enrolled students in the fall of 2012, a record for the local campus. There are around 9,600 members in all at Syracuse OASIS. Membership is free.

OASIS is designed to be run largely with the help of volunteers.

There are four full-time paid staff but a lot of the direction of the program is provided by volunteers. There is a

volunteer leadership team as well as volunteer instructors.

“The leadership team of 11 volunteers is really like our unpaid professional staff,” Feiglin said. “They are constantly updating procedures and morphing the systems into more effective ways of doing things.”

The program operates by being closely attentive to the desires of its students. Each student has the ability to fill out a class evaluation at the end of the class.

OASIS also tries to be as self-sustaining as possible and keep its costs down. Many of its instructors are from local universities and they are encouraged to volunteer their time.

Lauren Feiglin is the executive director of OASIS Syracuse: “The great growth that we had last year I attribute to the high quality of classes that are offered and the enormous efforts of our volunteers. We came out number one of all the national network of OASIS programs in terms of unique participants.”

Classes can run from free to around $50 or more, Feiglin said.

SUNY Upstate Medical University pays for the lease of the building OASIS uses at 6333 state Route 298 in East Syracuse and for two of its employed staff. Funding also comes from the Onondaga Department of Aging and Youth, but other expenses are covered directly from class fees.

OASIS moved from its former location in the Shoppingtown Mall to the East Syracuse location off Carrier Circle in late 2010. With the move it doubled its program space to 11,000 square feet.

Although economic times are tight and the OASIS leadership has had to pinch its pennies, the program has actually been able to expand its offerings. Among its most recent ventures are classical music concerts, open to not only OASIS members, but to the public at large. A popular self management program for people with chronic disease has also become available.

“We have probably three to four concerts each trimester,” Feiglin said.

“They’re very high-quality, high level musicians coming in. Especially after the Syracuse Symphony folded. Margery Conner, our former chair of our advisory counsel, wanted very much for us to open up the concerts to the community at large. We changed that policy to follow her suggestion.

Now anybody of any age can come in. They don’t have to register. They can just come in for the hour of the concert from 11 to 12.”

The chronic disease self-management program is a six-week health program that was created by Stanford University. It is run through the Onondaga Department of Aging and Youth, The Centers at St. Camillus and OASIS. It seeks to improve the quality of life of older people suffering from chronic disease. Currently 71 people are enrolled.

Whether it be through music, health care or one of the many other subjects covered by its courses, OASIS seeks to enrich its members through a three-fold approach: healthy living, educational classes and social engagement.

“I see all this goodness happening,” Feiglin said. “People working together. It’s very positive, very energizing, very inspirational. OASIS is a very inspiring place to be.”

For more information on OASIS Syracuse, call 464-6555.

OASIS Programs Cover Wide Range Some of the programs offered from June through August include music concerts, discussion about immigration and how to become an iPad expert. Here’s a summary of the courses offered this time of the year: “Dolce Flutes” — Flautists Kelly Covert, Dana DiGennaro, Martha Grener and Jeanne Pizzuto-Sauve will perform old and new works from the classical repertoire, including some original arrangements.

Tuesday, Aug. 13.

“Black Classical Music”— Curtis Finney, professor emeritus, Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. This presentation will comprise music of historical and recent individuals as well as some comment on the effect of race on pertinent issues.

Monday, July 22.

“We are America — A Look at Some Aspects of US Immigration and Migration History” — Charles Coon, retired social studies teacher, Baker High School, adjunct professor of Onondaga Community College, SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego, will discuss many the history of immigration in the U.S. Thursdays, June 20 through Aug. 1 from 1 – 2:30 p.m.

“Lessons of the Vietnam Wars” — John Langdon, professor of history, LeMoyne College, will discuss on “What do the two Vietnam Wars (1946-54 and 1961-75) have to teach us?” Participants will discuss these and other questions and will receive a list of recommended readings. June 19 through July 10, “Become an iPad Expert” — Al Fasoldt, technology writer, The Post Standard, and Nancy Fasoldt, former editor, Stars Magazine, The Post Standard will talk about how to become an expert on iPad. Learn what the experts know in a dozen easy steps spread out over two classes. June 10 and 12 To find out more or to register, visit www.oasisnet.org/Syracuse, then click on “View our Catalog.” Or call 464-6555.

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55+

visits

10 Things to Do in Las Vegas

Explore the World and Never Leave Town

By Sandra Scott

L

as Vegas is surreal. There is no place quite like it. While most people associate Vegas with gambling — and, rightly so — it also puts the world and its amazing sites in reach of all visitors. Many are free for the enjoying. So pack your bags and see the world — no passport needed, only one airfare involved,

1

Venice - Explore one of the Italy’s most romantic cities — if not the world’s most romantic city at the Venetian. Stroll along San Marco Square and ascend an exact replica of the Campanile Tower affording a view of The Strip from 200 feet above Las Vegas Boulevard.

Wander or, in this, case ride the peoplemover, across the Rialto Bridge. The most iconic activity in Venice and at the Venetian is a romantic Gondola Ride.

Glide along the quarter mile waterway beneath bridges, under balconies, and

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past street scenes. Inside the Venetian take note of the ceiling paintings calling to mind Michelangelo’s work at the Vatican in Rome.

2

England - The head-turning brilliant white “castle” with colorful conical roofs atop the many turrets is hard to miss. It is home to the Excalibur Hotel and Casino and one of Vegas’ top-rated family-fun activities. Spend an evening in Merry Olde England at the “Tournament of the Kings,” a Medieval-style banquet.

The tournament was adapted from the legends of King Arthur. Guests get rowdy and cheer on their favorite jousting knights atop their mighty steeds. Feast on a three-course meal served in traditional medieval style, which means eating with your fingers and pounding your fists on the groaning board (table) as you root for your favorite knight.

3

Paris - Ah, Gay ol’ Paree! Feel the passion, excitement and elegance of the City of Lights.

Wander the cobblestone streets, experience the sounds and flavors of Paris’ sidewalk cafes at Café Ile St. Louis, and stop at Le Creperie where the French-style crepes come with a variety of toppings. Paris, France, is known for its good food and shopping, both are available at Paris, Las Vegas. For the ultimate Paris experience ascend the 460-foot-high, half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower for a fantastic panorama view of the area.

The Eiffel Tower has a restaurant on the 11th floor also with great views.

There are also other Paris iconic sites, including the Arc de Triomphe, the Opera House, the Louvre, and even the balloon from “Around the World in Eighty Days.”

55+

visits

4

New York - Take a bite of the Big Apple at New York, New York.

Gaze at the Statue of Liberty, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge with a view of the New York Skyline with 12 of the Big Apple’s most recognizable buildings replicated at one-third scale. Get into the Coney Island spirit of on the thrilling Manhattan Express roller coaster. The heart-stopping ride rises 203 feet before dropping 144 feet leaving you coasting at 67 mph. Experience all the sights and sounds of the original Coney Island at their arcade with over 200 games and no visit to any New York is complete without Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs.

Shop along “Park Avenue” and take in a Broadway show or, at least, a show that features selections from many Broadway hits.

5

Egypt - Visit the Luxor, named for the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes complete with a massive pyramid, the 110-foot high Great Sphinx of Giza, and a140-foot obelisk. Not only is the shiny black pyramid easily visible so is the Luxor Sky Beam emanating from the apex of the pyramid, which at 42.3 billion candle power is the strongest beam of light in the world. It is said, on a clear night, to be visible from aircraft 275 miles away. The atrium lobby, which was the largest in the world when the hotel was built, has a step-style pyramid and an obelisk.

6

The Caribbean - Feel the lure of the Tropics. Visit Treasure Island where the beautiful Sirens of Treasure Island try to lure a band of renegade pirates with the enchanting melodies into their cove.

Watch this updated 17th century tale of revelry, seduction and danger as the battle ensues with cannons fired between ship and shore. The best part is that it is free with viewing areas in front of Siren’s Cove near the entrance to the hotel. You may want to dine on the fresh catch-of-the day at TI’s Seafood Shack.

7

Rome - Travel to ancient Rome and explore Caesar’s Palace where the architecture and statuary are all reminiscent of ancient Rome.

There are accommodations fit for a king and high-end shopping in stores located around a magnificent statuary display with King Neptune at the center. Watch the frequent animatronic “Fall of Atlantis” presentation.

8

T h e U n d e r w a t e r Wo r l d Mandalay is an inland city in Myanmar but Mandalay Bay in Vegas is a watery destination.

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55 PLUS The Magazine For Active Adults in Upstate New York

At Shark Reef there are giant rays, endangered turtles, piranhas along with over 2,000 aquatic animals in 1.6 million gallons of water. Certified divers can dive amid a large concentration of sharks that include Whitetip reef and sandbar sharks.

Central New York’s first publication to celebrate life after 55. Don’t miss out on future issues. Focus on health, finances, travel, housing, family, leisure.

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

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9

Germany - Not all the “worldclass” experiences are casinorelated or located on The Strip.

Spend an evening in Munich’s Hofbrauhaus. The fun starts the minute you enter and hear the Oom

Pa Band and continues until you raise your stein for the last time. Dine on authentic German specialties served by drindl-clad waitresses — all capable of carrying eight-liter steins of Hofbräu beer.

10

And, more - Head to Monte Carlo, a gambling Mecca, and who knows maybe James Bond will be trying his luck at the baccarat table. Or, visit Rio for fun of the Latin kind, or dine at one of the many Asian restaurants in the China Town area.

consumers corner

By Eva Briggs

It’s a Wonderful New World Medicine has greatly benefited from computer science and engineering.

The next frontier: finding a way to cure Alzheimer’s

C

omputer science and engineering have developed all kinds of assistive devices that I never imagined when I began my medical training. The first historical reference to a prosthetic is found in an Indian poem the, Rig-Veda, that dates back to between 3500-1800 BC. It’s the tale of a warrior, Queen Vishpla, who lost her leg but had an iron prosthesis constructed enabling her to return to battle.

The most common hand prosthetics today are body-powered, meaning that an unrelated body movement, such as a shoulder shrug, is transferred via mechanical devices like pulleys to move the prosthetic limb. The initial design was developed 100 years ago, and requires a socket that fits over an amputated limb’s stump. Until recently most sockets were made of hard, unbreatheable materials. Many amputees find the limbs so uncomfortable that 50 percent choose not to use them. In recent years entrepreneurs have been working to develop more comfortable sockets to attach to an amputee’s stump.

Other scientists are working to control prosthetic arms via electrodes planted directly into a patient’s brain. Using the electrical activity of someone thinking about moving their arm, scientists have made a robotic arm that can be moved by thought alone. What a bonus that could be for patients paralyzed by a spinal cord injury or a neuromuscular disease. Scientists in Sweden have developed an arm that attaches to a permanently implanted titanium socket. The socket attaches directly

to the patient’s own remaining nerves and muscles. The patient can then attach a prosthetic limb to the implanted socket and use the electrical signals coming from the brain to the nerves to move the arm. Once perfected, the design could solve the uncomfortable socket problem as well as overcome the limitations of picking up muscle and nerve signals from the skin surface.

Another device made possible by computer technology is the cochlear implant. This as complex electronic device designed to aid severely to profoundly hard-of-hearing individuals. Unlike a hearing aid, which amplifies the sound delivered to the ear, a cochlear implant bypasses the damaged portion of the ear and connects directly to the auditory nerve.

It doesn’t restore normal hearing, but provides a useful representation of sounds that can enable a person to detect environmental sounds and assist in understanding speech. The cochlear implant has four basic parts: a microphone to pick up sounds from the environment, a speech processor, a transmitter and receiver/ stimulator that receives the signals from the speech processor and converts them into electrical impulses, and an electrode array that collects impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different regions of the auditory nerves. Worldwide, more than 200,000 people have received cochlear implants.

Not just ears but also eyes can benefit from new devices. Disease or injury to the retina can’t be corrected by glasses, because of damage to the tiny photoreceptor cells that detect light and send signals to the optic

nerve. But now artificial retinas are being developed. These consist of a spectacle-mounted camera that captures image data. A minicomputer transforms the image into data that is sent to a neuron-stimulating chip implanted in the patient’s retina.

How well vision is restored varies from patient to patient, and it’s generally less than 20/200 (the definition of legal blindness.) However the devices are in their infancy and they have helped restore mobility for some patients. They can assist only in certain forms of blindness, where the retina is damaged but the remaining nerve pathways are still intact.

Most exciting of all — what if a brain prosthesis could restore the ability of Alzheimer’s patients to form new long-term memories?

It sounds crazy, and that’s what colleagues told Theodore Berger, a researcher at UCLA. But he reasoned that perhaps data coming into brain region involved in memory formation, the hippocampus, could be fed into a silicon chip microprocessor.

The data could then be transformed via computer algorithms derived from healthy hippocampi. The transformed data could then be output to the brain, hopefully enabling it to be stored as long-term memory. It hasn’t been tested in humans yet, but early research in monkeys seems successful. Talk about a brave new world!

I hope never to need such a device, but if I do, I hope it’s perfected in time.

Eva Briggs is a medical doctor who works at two urgent care centers (Central Square and Fulton) operated by Oswego Health.

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advice Looking to to Buy Car?

55+

Perhaps A Mustang?

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

A

t this stage in life, the type of vehicle you need may be much different than they were when your children were young and unable to drive. Now that they have their own cars or may be out of the house altogether, it’s a good time to assess what you’re driving and see if it still fits your life.

Clark Gronsbell, owner of Fiscal Fitness in Syracuse, advises companies with retirement plans and other employee benefits. He thinks it’s a good time for retirees to buy a new vehicle since rates are low.

“You can get a good, reliable car that’s just off a lease and it may still have warranty left,” Gronsbell said.

“Rates can be 2 to 3 percent on a car loan, but credit worthiness makes a difference.”

While a fixer-upper may seem like a good deal, the seller won’t 42

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stand behind it like a dealership should. Especially if you’re not mechanically handy, you’ll likely pay more for it in the long run and go through the hassle of replacing your vehicle much sooner.

“For a retiree on a fixed income, I’d recommend a used car that’s reliable and good on gas,” Gronsbell said.

Hybrid vehicles make sense if you drive a lot, but Gronsbell said the battery replacement cost is too high for occasional drivers. Although a compact car may seem like the best way to achieve fuel efficiency, it may not be so.

“Full-sized sedans are getting good mileage now and the difference between that and a compact is marginal,” said Chris Burritt, owner of Burritt Motors in Oswego. “Smaller SUVs are pretty popular with seniors

since they have better fuel economy and more space. They’re available in four cylinders now.”

Burritt said that safety and comfort are the features most retirees want most in a vehicle.

“Full curtain airbags all the way around can provide safety,” he said.

“They are popular.”

Vehicles which connect a car to a cell phone via Bluetooth can allow the driver to control the phone directly from the steering wheel instead of fumbling with their handsets and headsets.

If you want to take the grandchildren places but don’t want the poor fuel efficiency of a minivan, consider a crossover vehicle, which may offer more space than a sedan without a minivan’s gas consumption.

If you’re not tech-savvy, stick with a model from the same com-

pany as your current car. Burritt said that the controls will seem more familiar to you.

If you see a model you like, but it doesn’t quite suit your needs, you may be able to tweak the vehicle with inexpensive add-ons to make it work for you. Steve Pacer, public affairs specialist with AAA Western and Central New York, recommended trying the following modifications: • Larger, angled rear and side mirrors improve visibility and minimize blind spots.

• Pedal extenders help drivers obtain a safe distance from the steering wheel/airbag and optimize visibility.

• Steering wheel covers improve grip for drivers with arthritic hand joints.

• Cushions and seat pads improve line of sight and can help alleviate back or hip pain.

• Key extenders offer more leverage for turning keys in locks or the ignition and reduce stress on finger joints.

• Leg lift straps allow the driver to use upper body strength to lift legs into and out of the vehicle.

• Hand controls allow the driver to perform all vehicle maneuvers and functions without the use of lower extremities.

• Leveraging devices allow the driver to use the upper body to ease vehicle entry and exit.

• Seat belt adjuster improves seat belt positioning.

• Seat belt pull reduces distance in reaching for the seatbelt and improves ease of grasping seatbelt.

• Shear seat covers decrease resistance when adjusting seat position.

• Flat swivel seat eases vehicle entry and exit.

• Rain-repelling glass treatment sheds water on exterior glass and improves visibility.

• Anti-glare film for side mirrors reduces glare from other vehicle headlights.

SIDEBAR AAA offers an interactive guide for finding the right vehicle by the features you desire.

Visit seniordriving.aaa.com/ smartfeatures and get clicking!

Social Media Etiquette continued from page 31

said Tim Nekritz, director of Web communication for SUNY Oswego.

“The more stuff you post privately, the better off you are. I don’t set my birth year, mostly for vanity, but people might want to avoid posting that, too.”

Your birth date is a primary identifier. If you list your age and post that “today’s my birthday” then you have just told the world your birth date, making it one step easier for identity thefts to sully your credit.

Be careful about posting about your purchases. Many online retailers offer an option to brag on your buy on Facebook, for instance. They want you to help them drum up interest in their products while you can flaunt your shopping prowess. But do you really want the world to know you bought expensive jewelry, electronics or other items thieves want?

Even if your comments are closed to only those in your group, others may re-post them to public groups, so never post anything you don’t mind the entire world reading.

Someone posing as an old friend wanting to become your online friend may actually be a thief.

“People have said things to me and I have to others like, ‘Pardon me,

but how do I know you?’” Nekritz said. “Generally speaking, you should have a certain amount of skepticism.

One of the first things I do is to look who their friends are. If none of them are people you know, chances are, you don’t know them. You’ve got to wonder why they’re friending you in the first place.”

Once a thief has been admitted to your online world, it can be easy for him to gain your trust by reading your previous postings and take advantage of you. Sometimes, thieves hack a legitimate friend’s account to ask for money. Treat this the same as a fishysounding email. Pick up the phone and call your friend to make sure this is for real before sending an electronic transfer.

“Be wary of clicking on links,” Nekritz said. “That’s how a lot of people get hacked.”

To stay safe on social media, don’t post anything you wouldn’t mind a criminal knowing about you. Ask friends and family with whom you chat to not re-post anything you say without letting you know first. Avoid interacting with people you don’t know in real life. Be wary of people who claim to be a friend from long ago.

Report: Social media can reduce senior isolation

S

ocial networking websites aren’t just for teens anymore.

Elderly adults are using social media for health information and emotional support, University of Luxembourg recently reported in the journal Gerontology.

“There are many online forums where people in difficult life situations, such as informal caregivers of a spouse with dementia or individuals with depression, can exchange thoughts as well as receive and provide social support,” psychologist Anja Leist, lead researcher at Luxembourg, said in a press release.

Other experts agree with Leist’s findings. James W. McNally, researcher in gerontology for the Ann

Arbor, Mich.-based National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, said the impact of social media on a senior’s emotional health could be powerful.

Social networking websites allow seniors to feel an immediate sense of real connectivity, according to McNally. “Very much it’s a buffer for depression and isolation,” he said.

The Pew Research Center published a report in February showing that 32 percent of people 65 and older are using social networking sites. “Increasingly older people just have the skills,” McNally said, adding that people underestimate the willingness and capacity of the elderly to use the Internet.

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golden years

By Harold Miller Email: hal@cny55.com

America’s Definitive Generations Our generation has turned the United States into the greatest nation on earth. Today’s generation, however, faces a possible reversal of fortune

W

hen WWII broke out in late 1941 I was 9 years old. In spite of President Roosevelt’s radioed “Fireside Chats” that told us, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” I was frightened, and our country was in a panic. Air raid sirens wailed at night and people were told to pull their shades. My wife Janet’s father was a door-to door insurance salesman by day and an air raid warden by night. My mother took a job with Bell Aircraft Co. in Niagara Falls. Generally speaking, women took jobs in defense plants while their husbands marched off to war. Rosie the riveter emancipated women forever

44

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and would prove our women could build things as good (or better) than anyone.

As Japanese Admiral Yamamoto sadly said after he engineered the attack on Pearl Harbor, “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” Indeed, America changed almost overnight from a sleepy agricultural based society to the world’s leading manufacturer. We built Liberty Ships by the thousands, aircraft by the hundreds of thousands, and overwhelmed our enemies — not only with our fighting spirit but our leadership.

Our parent’s generation led America’s victory against the forces of evil — freed the country and paved the way for my generation to capitalize on the greatest growth in America’s history. My generation shepherded the computer, exploding technology, and the entrepreneurial spirit. Consequently, the United States became the greatest nation on earth.

Today’s generation, however, faces a possible reversal of fortune.

Lee Kwan Yew, the former prime minister who invented modern Singapore and made it the economic dynamo that it is today, has written a book titled “The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States and the World.” Yew is bullish about our immediate prospects but concerned about our long-term success.

He believes that what made us great — our creativity, inventiveness, entrepre-

neurial spirit and our culture — will be sapped by our current political system and our all-engulfing media.

In short, a political culture stuck in the shallows, and a mass entertainment media that is destabilizing, destructive and injurious to our national culture. He is also worried about the fact that our elections have become “a never ending process of auctions” in which politicians outbid each other with promises. Yew says that our prevailing culture is being overcome with “guns, drugs, violent crime, vagrancy, unbecoming behavior in public, and the breakdown of civil society.”

He also says that America can be destroyed by “multiculturalism,” which he speaks of as not an appreciation of all cultures but a gradual surrendering of the essential culture that has sustained America. Furthermore, he says, “If you follow the ideological direction of Europe you are done for.”

I wish to add a personal postscript to this harsh evaluation of our beloved country. Being an optimist by nature it is hard to believe that we Americans will not rise to the challenge and initiate our great capacity for renewal and revival.

Lee Kwan Yew says, “[we] are still the most militarily powerful and economically dynamic nation in the world; America faces debt, deficit and tremendously difficult economic times, but for the next two to three decades [we] will remain the sole superpower.”

The critical job of reviving our can-do approach to crisis and recapturing the culture that built this great nation will pass to this generation.

To them I say: May the force be with you.

55+

experience

Broadcasting in His Blood

Time Warner broadcaster has been covering high school and college sports for decades

By Aaron Gifford

I

f Dale Drypolcher had landed a job in his chosen field immediately after graduate school, he probably wouldn’t have made quite the same impression on Central New York.

Drypolcher, 67, went from teaching and coaching, to graduate school, back to teaching and coaching, to landing a part-time job as a television sports commentator before he discovered that his true passion was indeed teaching.

In the process, he inspired a

countless number of young athletes, students and future broadcasters.

Drypolcher’s TV broadcasting career, while it dates back four decades, has always been part-time.

“I’ve always loved sports,” said the Manlius resident. “I was just happy to be at a game. To get paid for it, that’s a bonus.”

His story begins in Elmira, home of the legendary Ernie Davis.

Dypolcher recalls how the entire city rejoiced when Davis became the first African-American to win collegiate

football’s Heisman Trophy. Davis, he says, “was Elmira.”

Drypolcher loved watching and playing football, and he stuck with the sport after his family moved to the Fayetteville-Manlius School District. There, he played on the gridiron for the F-M high school squad and also became a part of its inaugural lacrosse team.

“But LaFayette,” he recalled, “was the team to beat. The Onondaga Nation kids were the best at it.”

Drypolcher went to SUNY Cort-

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45

land to play football after graduation.

Problem was, he said, “I didn’t finish. I was interested in football, but not studying.”

He transferred to Adirondack Community College to get his grade point average up before transferring to the University of Miami in Florida, where he majored in English education.

Challenging role After graduation, he worked as a teacher in the inner city. Most of the students were the children of Cuban refugees and spoke little or no English. There were 38 kids per classroom, and the school was so overcrowded that it had to operate two sessions per day to accommodate its 5,000 pupils. There was no time or space for extracurricular activities.

“They [students] wore tags around their necks so you’d know whom to contact in an emergency,” he said. “In Syracuse, I never ran into anyone who could not speak English.

This was an important experience for me.”

A college friend helped Drypolcher land a job in the Kings Park district on Long Island where he could also get on board as its junior varsity football coach. While Drypolcher enjoyed teaching and coaching, he soon realized the window for getting into sports journalism was closing.

He considered the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, but the University of Denver in Colorado offered him room and board and a monthly stipend to enroll in its a one-year master’s degree program.

Upon graduation, Drypolcher had difficulty finding a job in the sports broadcasting field that would cover the costs of food, clothing and rent. So he returned to Syracuse and accepted a teaching position at EastSyracuse Minoa.

“I was a little disappointed,” he said. “But I needed the money, and I did enjoy teaching.”

He taught ninth-grade English and also maintained a part-time job as the Henninger High School varsity football coach, which he held for 10 years.

Sports and PBS In the mid-1970s, John Faratis, one of Drypolcher’s former players who worked for WCNY public television, invited the coach to work alongside him as the color commen46

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

tator for a Colgate vs. Cornell football game. Faratis later lobbied the station to feature a high school game of the week, with Drypolcher joining him in the broadcast booth.

“This was really the first station to cover local college sports, and because it was PBS it had to be Ivy League,” Drypolcher said, laughing.

“Then we talked them into covering high school wrestling. PBS and high school wrestling? This was the same channel that showed ‘Masterpiece Theatre.’ But I said, ‘if you cover it, people will make donations.’”

Drypolcher covered high school wrestling once a week, and the programming was later expanded to cover Syracuse University wrestling.

He also worked as a producer for the channel’s live coverage of the Empire State Games scholastic sports festival. When the station began covering high school football, Drypolcher had to choose between broadcasting and coaching to avoid a conflict of interest.

“I had to cover the game I was coaching, and you just can’t do that,” he said. “It was a tough decision, but I decided that I enjoyed covering sports more.”

Drypolcher was also newly married around that time and needed to balance his schedule between work and family. It was a nice change, he said, not to have to be at practice every evening.

By then, scholastic and college sports coverage was moved to cable stations due to the lack of PBS funding. The cable companies had more money for programming and included Syracuse University home and away games in their line-up.

The cable companies changed—New Channel, Cook, Cablevision and then Time Warner—but Drypolcher was still a household staple for local coverage of just about every sport, boys or girls, high school or collegiate.

Sporting experience “The college games could be pretty exciting, but I’d say I still enjoyed high school the most,” he said.

“Each level is more serious and more professional. They [kids] are not as jaded. They’re not looking for glory.

The higher up you go, the more complicated it gets.”

His oddest experience was covering a Liverpool-North Syracuse high school football game. A player got hurt and the action was stalled for nearly half an hour.

“We had to talk for 28 minutes live,” Drypolcher said. “We couldn’t cut to a commercial. It came to us saying, ‘I think I hear a siren. So how about those Yankees?’” Luckily the kid wasn’t hurt too bad.”

At ES-M, Drypolcher convinced the board of education to fund what became the only high school TV station in the area and expand its course offerings to include a class for TV news production, which of course the veteran sportscaster taught.

Several students continued their interest in broadcasting into college and found careers in the field, including Lauren Barnello, an Emmywinning CBS news producer.

“I told the kids, it’s a great major and a lot of fun. But you have to work really hard at it and get really good at it if you’re going to make a living of it,” he said.

When he turned 55, Drypolcher retired from full-time teaching and worked as a long-term substitute in the F-M district, where his sons Adam and Kyle attended high school and played soccer and lacrosse. He also taught courses at Onondaga Community College.

Drypolcher says he has really appreciated how broadcasting equipment, especially the cameras, got lighter as he got older. He was able to run with his players when coaching football and went skiing with his boys when he was younger. But the wear and tear on the joints from his former gridiron days resulted in arthritis, and he recently got a new knee.

“Thank God the equipment is so much easier to handle now. Otherwise, I’m not sure I could do it anymore,” he said. “On the road [Syracuse University away games], we had to bring these huge tapes back through the airport. It was tough to get around those X-ray machines.”

“It’s amazing. I used to operate a 300-pound monster on a tripod, and now I use a little camera in the palm of my hand,” he noted.

Drypolcher is now completely retired from teaching and, when he’s not calling games, enjoys spending time with his wife, Robin. They plan to travel to Europe this summer and visit Paris and Normandy. Drypolcher is a World War II history buff.

He plans to be in the broadcast booth again for the start of the fall season.

“It’s still a thrill for me,” he says.

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June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

47

druger’s zoo

By Marvin Druger

Twit, Text, Emails: Why I’m Not Crazy About All That I’m not at all interested in learning these communication technologies, and I use them reluctantly

T

he days of isolation and solitude seem to be over.

Virtually everyone, especially the younger generation, is constantly immersed in some sort of communication, using a variety of electronic devices. At dinner, my grandchildren sneakily hide their iPhones under the table and do text messaging. I always see people walking in the streets talking to themselves. It turns out they are using an obscure electronic device to talk to someone.

Use of the Internet for communications is compulsive for many people.

Facebook, Twitter, cell phones and emails are used universally to stay in touch with someone who you may not have seen (or wanted to see) for many years. Being 79, I am not a great fan or user of the current communication trends or electronic devices. I mainly use my cell phone to call my wife, Pat, when we are shopping in Wegmans to find out where she is. The most common exchange is, “Pat where are you?” “I’m here in the cereal section.”

When I was a child, we wrote with a pen or pencil. I often had the honor of being the inkwell

48

55 PLUS - June / July 2013

monitor who poured ink into the inkwell at each wooden desk in the classroom. Now, a 6-year-old child asked for my website, and another child talked to me about a GPS. Most youngsters know how to use the latest communication devices but, sadly, they don’t know as much about history, geography, science or math. Kids can survive well without knowing about the world around them, but they are forced by peer pressure to learn how to use all the electronic communication devices.

My wife, Pat, has a master’s degree in mathematics from Syracuse University, so she is my salvation when my computer fails me. My approach to fixing the situation is always to yell, “Pat, help!” Many people my age have a similar attitude toward the electronic age. I tell myself that I am not that stupid. I have a Ph.D. and, if a young child can learn to use technology effectively, I should be able to do so also.

My answer is that I really am not at all interested in learning these communication technologies, and I use them reluctantly. I have always taught my students that they can

learn anything, if they want to learn it. Motivation is a key to learning. I have not progressed much beyond using Word and email, mainly because I am not interested in going further. My son recently gave me an iPad as a present. Someday, I may ask my young granddaughter to teach me how to use it.

People who use communication technologies are usually very adept at doing so. I watch their thumbs zooming from place to place on their iPhone. The world is literally at their fingertips. In ten million years, if humans are still around, they will probably find fossil human remains with over-developed thumb bones.

There are few secrets remaining in life. Everyone knows everything about everyone and privacy is no longer possible. I’m not sure I want to know about the details about everyone’s personal life, or to be in constant, immediate touch with everyone. Sometimes, I get a response to an email, almost before I send my email to that person. It’s incredible how most people seem glued to their electronic devices, and can respond to an email immediately.

My latest progression has been to get a website to help advertise my recent books: “The Misadventures of Marvin;” “Strange Creatures and Other Poems;” “Even Stranger Creatures and Other Poems;” “Mr. Moocho and the Lucky Chicken;” and “Practical Perspectives on Science Education.” I was talking to a faculty member at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. at Syracuse University.

He asked, “Do you have a website?” I replied, “What’s a

website?” His complimentary reply was, “Marvin Druger without a website is like Barnum & Bailey Circus without animals.” He persuaded me to hire someone to design a website for me. I now have a website, complete with PayPal, so that anyone can push the buy button and buy one of my books. So far, the only sale has been to the website designer who wanted to test the system. By the way, the website is: marvindruger.com.

Nobody can deny the benefits of communication technologies to humanity. If we want to contact someone, we can do it easily anywhere in the world. My granddaughter is now in Spain in a special program abroad. She called us in Syracuse last night. The clarity of her voice was truly amazing. She wants me to use Facebook, so, using her computer in Spain, she updated my Facebook page. She also sent detailed instructions about how to use Facebook. She wanted to Skype us so that we could see her and her room, but we didn’t know how to use Skype.

Another amazing benefit of technology is that we can find out about anything and everything using the Web. We can read books, newspapers, journals, etc. without having them in hand. We can play computer games to amuse ourselves.

We can make airline reservations instantly, and even get our boarding pass through the Internet. I read that the new Blackberry has about 70,000 apps. I don’t think I have that many contacts I’d want to make.

The final word is that these technologies will be increasingly with us in the future. Youngsters are growing up with these technologies as a normal part of their education and lives. They thrive on using them. I wonder about the over-55 generation. We can keep up, if we really want to. I now send emails to my wife who is seated at the other end of this room. Her reaction is: “Stop sending me emails.” In some ways, even though I am progressing slowly in using technology, I reminisce fondly about the old days when I could actually talk to someone face-to-face. Also, I like some solitude and privacy. I still like looking up at the stars at night and wondering where the world is headed. I don’t have an answer.

Marvelous Marv Continued from page 35

I got a phone call that this girl was standing on a rock, and she jumped and fell off the rock and sprained her ankle.

So I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. What am I going to do?’ A student asked, ‘Why don’t you go on television?’ So for many years we had the Bio Answer Show. I would start out with a Saturday Night Live type skit, followed by going over the answers,” he said.

His “weird, nuts” methods of teaching are what kept students engaged, Druger said. He tried to come up with new and different ways for his students to take part in learning opportunities.

The most satisfying part of teaching, he said, was seeing students who are stimulated to move on in life in a positive way and have a positive attitude about everything around them. He loved to see kids’ faces light up and to know they are thinking. The excitement of doing something really good for someone that influenced the rest of his or her life is what he strived for.

On the other hand, Druger said motivating the unmotivated was his biggest challenge.

“You always have students that you love. They’re interested, they’re shining stars, they can’t learn enough. But on the other hand, you always have kids who just don’t do it. They cut class; they’re out drinking.

That’s a challenge. How do you motivate the unmotivated? It’s aggravating. His parents are paying $50,000 for the kid to be there and he’s cutting class, goofing around and going to the parties, barely scraping by. You see the kid has talent but he’s not using it,” said Druger.

The chase is on One way he would dissuade students from walking out of his

class was to chase after them, he said.

“In the big lecture halls there is an aisle up the middle.

I was giving a lecture one day and two people got up and started to go out the door. I thought, ‘I’m not going to let them get away with that.’ So I jumped off the stage, ran up the aisle and caught them outside the door. Once a semester I did that to get the attention of the class,” said Druger.

His focus on gaining and maintaining the attention of his class was what set Druger apart as a professor. He said students will not remember the “same old boring lecture classes.” He had to be strange and different not only for his students to remember the biology material, but for them to remember the experience as well. “We learn from everything we do, and everything we do becomes a part of who we are,” Druger said.

Since teaching so many lessons to tens of thousands of young adults for the majority of his life, what could Druger do but continue his influence after retirement?

He is still hosting a radio program on WAER-FM 88.3 entitled “Science on the Radio,” as well as writing articles for the Natural Science Education Journal and 55 Plus Magazine, performing poetry readings and campus tours of Syracuse University, and teaching a freshman forum course at the university.

“Many professors are very focused on one thing. I don’t do that. I do everything,” Druger said. “I like to look at the world and see what I can find out about it.”

Druger said he is inspired by everything around him, and he will never stop learning from the experiences he is lucky enough to have and the people he surrounds himself with.

June / July 2013 - 55 PLUS

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last

page

By Lou Sorendo

Bruce Coville Sixty-three-year-old local writer (he’s published 101 books) shares some insights and a good deal of humor Q. How many projects have you and your wife worked on together?

A. Over two dozen books. Kathy’s an illustrator, a very gifted illustrator.

Entirely self-taught with a match in style that’s perfect for the kind of work that I do.

Q. What or who inspires you?

A . I write for my audience. I live in terror of letting them down. I’m always hoping to delight and enchant them.

Q. How would you describe the genre of your books?

A. I’ve published 101 books. So I’ve written numerous genres and for numerous ages; everything from picture books to easy readers to middle grade, which is the 8- to 12-year-old group to young adult novels. I’ve written fantasy, historical, science fiction, horror. Mostly what I write is fantasy and mostly for that 8- to-12year-old age group.

Q. You’ve written 101 books. You have more than 10 million books in print. Did you ever anticipate this kind of success?

A. I dreamed about it because I’m a fantasy writer. I make my living hoping for impossible things.

Q. You’re a father of three — Orien, Cara, and Adam. Did they read your books growing up?

A. Well, they had to. I read them to them. They had no choice.

Q. What kind of audience were they?

A. Very useful audience. Their enthusiasm would sometimes give me a sense I was on the right track. They’d let me know if something wasn’t working. There’s one series called “The Space Brat” that we started trying to do in 1977. It didn’t sell. But the kids kept asking, ‘Why isn’t that a book, Dad.’ That’s why I didn’t give up on it. It finally sold in 1992, 15 years after I first wrote it. It sold overnight to the editor for the biggest advance I’d ever gotten. One of the reasons I kept trying was because my kids kept asking me about it.

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Q. Who’s your favorite author?

A. Right now, my favorite living author is Terry Pratchett, a brilliant British fantasist who started out as being a very, very funny writer. Some point, somehow he went from simply being very funny to being very funny and very wise.

Q. Do you have a favorite book?

A. My favorite book would be probably “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

When I was reading it, my oldest son, who had read it before I did, said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve never read it. It’s like Bruce Coville for grown-ups.’

Q. Do you have a favorite book of your own?

A. That’s the ‘who’s your favorite child?’ question. I can give you different ones for different reasons. I could say “My Teacher’s An Alien” because it made the most money. I could say “Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher” because if I had to guess which book would be around 25 years after I’m pushing up daisies that’d be the one

I’d put my money on. But if I had to choose just one it’d be our second picture book, “Sarah’s Unicorn.” In 34 or 35 years now, I’ve never written a book that was as good as what was in my head. Ever. But “Sarah’s Unicorn” came closest to what was in my head, so I love it for that reason.

But seven or eight years ago, something else happened. There was a carjacking in Florida. A woman’s getting ready to drive her children to school, an 8-year old little girl, a 6-year old little boy in the back seat.

They realize they’ve left something in the house. Mom runs up to the house.

While she’s in the house, a guy comes running across the lawn, jumps into the car and starts to drive off with the two kids in it. The little girl takes her library book and starts beating the guy over the head with it. The guy gets so upset, he stops and lets the kids out.

And the book he was beaten over the head with was “Sarah’s Unicorn.”

Q. What advice would you give to someone our age?

A. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.

Q. If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?

A. Sad.

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