BEACON - November 2013

November 2013 Vol. 27 •

• 2013

No. 11

Western Colorado’s Monthly Newspaper for Adults 50+. Over 32,902 Readers.

Celebrate the holidays with some of the area's finest merchants inside this month's insert.

Downtown Holiday events you can’t miss page 6

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Special Issue

Salute to Veterans

the THE need NEED for FOR

SPEED

Baby boomers like Jet Davis can't get enough of it. Just look inside and let these boomers take you on a joy ride.

Photo courtesy of Cynthia Tucker-Davis

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November 2013

November 2013

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Editorial 3

Residents’ rights a riot

By Kevin K. VanGundy

I

n its third year, the recent Residents’ Rights event sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging was a riot all right, but not the protesting kind.

Instead, it was a riotous celebration of the quality care that many area seniors experience in our local longterm care facilities.

“It’s a time to recognize the rights of our seniors in long-term care facilities and celebrate our local successes,” Long-term Care Ombudsman Marilyn Richardson said.

Richardson added that with some 150 people present from over a dozen area facilities, it is the largest such event in the state.

While there was music, food and a celebratory atmosphere, there was also a sobering message. As a community, we need to be on the lookout and speak out when we see elder abuse.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), in a recent study on elder abuse, about 9 percent of the study participants had been abused in the

last year. Perhaps more significantly, the NCEA estimates that only about 7 percent of elder abuse is ever reported to authorities.

We are blessed to live here, but…

While Larchwood Inns has been happy to host this annual affair, that might not be the case next year, as the event has grown beyond their capacity to host it.

“This is the reason we need a new senior center,” Larchwood Inns Administrator Melissa Wood said.

You’ll get no disagreement from me. What do you think?

Please visit our website and take our poll, or drop us an email at beacon@pendantpublishing.com.

Enjoy freedom? Thank a vet!

By writing and publishing the stories of local veterans, we are able to tell the human experience of war.

In honor of these veterans and in observance of Veterans Day, we have put our best efforts forward in this special issue of the BEACON Senior Newspaper. ■

Happy Thanksgiving!

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4 Cover Story

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November 2013

The need for speed through October, every other weekend at the Western Colorado oy Cozzette has Dragway, Hwy 50 and 32 three brothers, but Road. Division and nawhen she was growtional races take them to ing up, she was the Las Vegas and California. one working under To the inexperienced the car with her dad. spectator, drag racing It should come as no might appear to be as surprise that today simple as two cars drivyou can find Joy at ing as fast as they can in the Western Colorado a straight line to be the Dragway as a top first to cross the finish drag strip racer. She’s line. now part of a sport “The fastest car doesn’t that uses terms like necessarily win,” John “burnout,” “slicks,” said. “If that were the “digger,” “breakouts,” case, then the guy with “flopper” and “slingthe most money invested shot.” in his car would always Although Cozzette, win.”

53, competes in a This makes winning sport where she is much less dependent on typically outnumlarge amounts of money bered by men five and more dependent on to one, her skill and skill. competitive spirit “Everyone has a handirank her ahead right cap so you may not start now in the pro-point at exactly the same time series. Her husband John and Joy Cozette are two tough competitors when it comes to drag racing. in the race,” John said. and fellow competi- They are seen here with Joy's 1977 Vega, which is appropriately named "Joy Ride." “You have to ‘dial in’ tor, John Cozzette, your number, or the time ately named “Joy Ride.” John’s first 53, chuckled and said, “But it’s the you think it will take you to run the car was a 1969 Camaro. Today, he is last time that’s going to happen.”

1/4-mile track. The winner is the first known for popping wheelies in his The Cozzettes were born and across the finish line without going car named “Wheelie Wagon.” raised in Grand Junction and have over their predetermined time.”

Sharing the love of the competitive been friends since first grade. They Drag racing is both a mental and world of drag racing calls for a strong reconnected at their 20th Grand machine sport. marriage.

Junction High School reunion and “You have gauges and a computer, “This town is so small that we race and you factor in temperature, wind, married seven years ago. each other, friends and family,” Joy John shared the love of drag rachumidity and barometric pressure,” said. “If you win, you have to earn it.” John said. “Cars run faster or slower ing with his dad for years, starting John said they don’t cut each other under different conditions. For in 1978. After a two-year break and any slack. trying other interests, he was back example, in the heat of the summer, “If you race, you have to want to into racing with a new partner by his the car thinks it’s at 8,000 feet and at win,” he said. side. Joy started out in the pit crew, sea level a car will run faster. Within You also have to want all it takes to the same day, conditions change, so but said, “It’s much more fun drivcompete. ing.” you have to change how you drive.

“This is a lifestyle, a real commitJoy has won two track class chamWinning versus losing a race can be a ment,” John said. “We use all of our pionships in her four years of racing. matter of thousands of a second.”

“We built a car for Joy,” John said. “I vacation time and extra money on Joy has her own strategy. drag racing.” created a monster!”

“I learned by just listening to the Her original 1977 Vega is appropriThe race season lasts from April guys talk,” Joy said. “The guys are alBy Melanie Wiseman

Rodney Snider

Racing is a family affair Rodney and Karen Snider, both 50, and Bud Pruess, 52, share a lot in common.

The Sniders have owned Scotty’s Muffler for 31 years and Pruess has owned Bud’s Signs for 33 years. But for the last five years, it seems that they work in order to compete in drag racing.

Rodney and Pruess were recently in Alabama for a race called “The Million.”

“Name only, not the purse,” Rodney said.

The Sniders’ two sons raced, but once they left the nest, they left a drag racing car behind. Rodney suggested to Karen that they modify it and start racing.

“We made it a family affair,” Rodney said. “It’s something the two of us enjoy doing together.”

For Pruess, racing allows him to spend quality time with his son.

Pruess enjoys the competitiveness, the common goal, traveling and the camaraderie of drag racing.

“The time in the seat actually racing is a very small part of the whole sport,” Pruess said. “The rest of the time is spent working on your car and sharing experiences with the other drivers.”

Pruess boasts about the local racing facilities. He encourages friends and groups to come watch on the weekends. “Friday night streetcar racing helps keep kids off the streets," he said.

Pruess said drag racing is an equal sport, where age, physical condition, sex and experience don’t always mean you’re the best driver. Drag racing allows for all drivers to compete on an even playing field.

J

November 2013

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ways tinkering with their cars. Con“If someone wanted to get startsistency is really the best thing.” ed, there would be someone at John said, “She listens to the the dragway to help,” Joy said. guys and doesn’t do the dumb “This is one sport where things we do.” we’re all very competitive, Joy said the first year she yet we’re all friends and would raced she just hung on to do anything for each other. We’re the wheel, stepped on the like a big family.” gas and looked straight Living for go-karts ahead.

With a name like Jet, you al“Now I can drive with most expect a person to like one hand and adjust the speed. Go-kart competitor Jet mirrors with the other Davis not only likes speed, hand, and watch my comhe lives for it. petitor at the same time,” Although his given name she said. is John, his siblings called Bragging rights is also The Wally, the coveted him Jet when he was just part of drag racing. trophy in the drag strip a few days old and it has “It’s the only sport that arena, was named takes 30 minutes to deafter Wally Parks, the stuck his entire life. Born in scribe a 10-second run,” founder of the NHRA. Durango and raised in the John said.

Glenwood Springs/Aspen The coveted trophy in the drag Valley where he lives today, Davis, strip arena is The Wally, named after now 53, puts a lot of miles on his car Wally Parks, who started the NHRA. traveling to the Grand Junction MoAmong many other awards, John tor Speedway every few weeks. received a Wally in 2003. He was “Yes, it’s a hobby, but it’s my only recently in the final four in Las Vegas hobby,” Davis said. “I work and race to qualify for nationals in Pomona, shifter karts. The faster I go, the betCalifornia. He lost by just a 9,000th ter.” of a second.

Go-kart racing seems like a good Joy’s wall of awards is also filling outlet for a guy who only had his up quickly. She will receive her first license for four months between the Wally December 14 in Las Vegas ages of 16-21. Numerous speeding for having the highest points in the tickets put him 36 points in the hole. pro-championship for the Western “I was not very smart but I knew Division. how to drive,” Davis said. “I never Street vehicles race at the Western had an accident. I finally got smart Colorado Dragway on Friday nights enough to do it on and modified cars the track instead race on Saturdays. of the street.”

The National Hot Davis inherited Rod Association the love of speed (NHRA) boasts and mechanics over 200 classes, from his dad, who so there is somealso raced. Davis thing for every raced road course skill level. Before cars first, then late any vehicle can model cars on dirt. race it must first Street vehicles race at the Western Colorado “I went broke pass a safety inDragway on Friday nights and modified cars with other kinds spection. race on Saturdays of racing, which The Cozzettes could run up to $100,000 a year beencourage young people to get tween out-of-pocket costs and sponinvolved in drag racing. Their 8-yearold grandson is now a junior dragster sors,” Davis said. “I can race shifter and their 10-year-old granddaughter karts all over the country for about is showing interest. $30,000 a year.”

With go-kart racing, the motors are tuned to the weather conditions and you have to know how the track works. But first and foremost you have to be fast. The Grand Junction course is a curvy 9/10-mile course where drivers race up to 90 mph on the straightaways, and average 60 mph over the course, while using a six-speed transmission.

Davis enjoys the thrill of winning, but has a higher purpose for the sport.

“I want to help younger drivers who can start as young as 5 years old,” Davis said. “I teach them to drive because someday, we’re going to all be on the same road.”

Although go-kart racing is an individual sport, Davis loves the team spirit at the competitions.

“I will do anything for anyone who’s there,” said Davis. “Sometimes I help people and they end up beating me.”

Davis said some racers have a hard time switching back and forth between the track and the street.

“My wife tells me I drive like an old grandpa on the road, so I don’t have that problem,” Davis said.

Davis may drive like an old grandpa on the road, but he will be among the elite racers at the World Go-Kart Race the week before Thanksgiving in Las Vegas. Davis is thrilled to have won the championship to qualify for the world’s largest go-kart race.

He will be among 600 racers from around the world.

“We’re all basically just motorheads,” Davis said. “We obviously don’t do it for the money. We actually spend a lot of money for a trophy.” ■

To get involved in drag racing

or go-kart racing, or for a schedule contact:

Western Colorado Dragway 523-1720 115 32 Road www.wcdra.com

Grand Junction Motor Speedway 256-0107 3002 N. I-70 Frontage Road www.gjmotorspeedway.com

Cover Story 5

National & Regional Award-Winning Publication Publisher ........................ Kevin K. VanGundy Founding Publisher................... Susan Capps Editor........................................ Cloie Sandlin Office Manager ..........................Lisa Moeller Office Assistant........................Genevra Shal Graphic Design.............................. Heidi Graf Production................................ Karen Jones Advertising Sales.........................Sue Bowen Advertising Sales......................... Val Begalle Proofreader................................. Jan Weeks Delivery....................................... Judy Miller Delta-Montrose Bureau Assistant Editor...................Liesl Greathouse Advertising Sales.................... Virginia Carlile Delivery..........................................JR Milner Garfield Bureau Editor/ Advertising Sales..........Cheryl Currier P.O. Box 3895, Grand Junction, CO 81502 970.24 3.8 829  80 0. 536.7516 fax Website: www.BeaconSeniorNews.com E-mail: Beacon@ PendantPublishing.com The Beacon is published at the beginning of the month. Our goal is to inform and inspire the 50+ community in Mesa, Delta, Montrose and Garfield counties.

Publication of advertising does not necessarily constitute endorsement. Columns are opinions of the writers, not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. Display advertising rates are available upon request. Deadline for advertising and announcements is the 20th of the month preceding publication. © Copyright 2013 • All Rights Reserved

Cover Photo Jet Davis, 53, races his gokart no. 22D at the Super Karts USA Super Nationals in Las Vegas last November. This huge competition draws racers from all over the U.S. and several other countries around the world.

6 Feature Story

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November 2013 Left: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington, VA. 1922. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: The 90th anniversary at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey, London.

Known but to God

By Richard Bauman

T

he Tomb of the Unknowns is in Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac from Washington, D.C. It’s the resting place of heroes. So cherished, it is perpetually guarded.

Regardless of whether it’s noon or midnight, or whether it’s raining, snowing or blistering hot, there are always armed sentries guarding the tomb.

No other tombs at Arlington, not even the graves of presidents Kennedy and Taft, are so protected.

The revered sepulcher was called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier until 1958. Its name was changed nearly 55 years ago for a couple of reasons. First, the remains of two more servicemen—one from World War II and another from the Korean War—were interred there. Later, the then-unidentified remains of a serviceman from the Vietnam War were laid to rest there. Secondly, no

Above: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe, Paris. Photo by Jérôme BLUM.

had lost one son to the battlefields one knows for sure in which branch of the Great War. Another son was of the United States Armed Services gravely wounded. On many occathese heroes served. sions, Simon had organized honorThe notion behind honoring an ary escorts for the burial of bodies unknown soldier was that any parbrought back to Rennes from the ent who had lost a son in war, any front. He became distressed about wife whose husband never returned soldiers whose bodies either weren’t from battle, and whose body was recovered from battlefields, or were never identified, could stand at the tomb and feel that maybe his remains recovered but unidentifiable.

In November 1916, Simon had the are in there and perhaps they will opportunity to ask a French governgain a measure of comfort from that ment official why the government thought. hadn’t creThe inspiraated a special tion for paytomb for an ing special unknown homage to warrior who the unknown died dewar dead fending his dates to country.

World War The idea I, and Franwas chamçois Simon, pioned by a in Rennes, deputy in the France.

A sentinel guards the tomb every day of the year.

French govSimon was a Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress. ernment and printer and

publicized in newspapers. In 1919, the French parliament approved the suggestion. On November 11, 1920, the world’s first tomb of an unknown soldier was created beneath the Arc de Triomphe, a place of honor even Napoleon would have envied.

As the French were creating a permanent tribute for its unknown soldier, the idea was spreading to other countries, including England and the U.S. Thus, the body of an unidentified British soldier was removed from an unmarked grave in France in 1920.

The British destroyer, H.M.S. Verdun, carried it to England, and in a solemn ceremony, the body was re-buried in the center nave at Westminster Abbey.

Although brought home to England, the Unknown Soldier remained buried in French soil. One hundred bags of earth from various battlefields were used to complete the interment. Likewise, when America’s first unknown soldier was brought home, his tomb at Arlington was constructed so that the casket rested on

November 2013 a two-inch layer of French soil.

No president and no national hero ever went to his final rest with the honors given to the Unknown Soldier.

On Armistice Day, November 11, 1921, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross, plus the highest decorations of Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Rumania, Czechoslovakia and Poland.

Of the more than 200,000 graves at Arlington, only the Tomb of the Unknowns has a sentry and it is far more than ceremonial. The tomb was defaced once, in 1926, and since then, it has been constantly protected by members of the First Battle Group, Third Infantry, better known as the Old Guard.

On the marble plaza in front of the tomb, a sentinel walks at a precise 90 steps per minute, back and forth, eyes straight ahead, with an M-14 rifle on his shoulder. The rifle is always on the shoulder away from the tomb, symbolizing that the guard has placed his body between the tomb and all danger. The guard is changed in precise fashion every hour in winter and every half-hour in summer.

Some people have called the sentries “parade-ground soldiers,” because of their special uniforms, their polished rifles and fixed bayonets.

The precise maneuvers of the post— 21 steps in each direction in front of the tomb, the 21-second pause at the

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com end of each turn—are immutable.

Yet, it is a real guard post, and that is most evident at night when the monument is devoid of tourists.

“We switch from the dress blues to regular uniforms and protect our perimeter,” one of the elite guards said.

“We can call in some mighty heavy support if we ever need it.”

Their presence has deterred wouldbe vandals.

Until 1998, an “unknown” from the Vietnam War was entombed there. But one family, after lengthy investigation, suspected the remains might be those of their son. The remains were exhumed and through DNA testing it was learned the body was that of Air Force First Lieutenant Michael J. Blassie. His remains were removed from the Tomb of the Unknowns, and he was laid to rest in a marked grave at Jackson Barracks National Cemetery near St. Louis, Missouri, on July 11, 1998.

Chiseled into the white Colorado marble that forms the Tomb of the Unknowns are the words: “Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God.” Those words, and the Tomb of the Unknowns itself, epitomize what François Simon wanted: a place of special honor for all those who gave their life for their country and its ideals. It is a place of solace, especially for those who lost a loved one to war. ■

kKkKkK More about the Old Guard kKkKkK The First Battle Group, Third Infantry, better known as The Old Guard, is the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the Army, organized in 1784.

The Old Guard is known for its ceremonial responsibilities such as guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns at the Arlington National Cemetery, and conducting ceremonies and memorial affairs at the White House, Pentagon and other locations in Washington, D.C. It also serves as escort to the president.

The Old Guard also participates in parades at Fort Myer in Arlington and Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C.

guard from the Washington Provisional Brigade, but the Old Guard took over in 1948. A present guard of the tomb can only break his silence and duty in front of the tomb in exceptional circumstances, and will issue a warning if someone enters the restricted area near the tomb.

According to the U.S. Army’s website, www.army.mil, “A soldier seeking the honor of serving as a sentinel at the Tomb must possess exemplary qualities, to include American citizenship, a spotless record, and impeccable military bearing.”

Since it is still an infantry unit, the Old Guard must still be prepared for combat.

Originally, a civilian watchman guarded the The Old Guard also provides security for Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by a Washington, D.C. in time of emergency.

Feature story 7

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Stuffed

November 2013

P umpkin

1 1/2 c chestnuts 1/2 c plus 2 T olive oil 1 lb fresh porcini mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-in pieces 1 lb fresh chanterelle mushrooms, trimmed and cut into 1/2-in pieces Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 1 loaf (1 lb) Pullman or other white sandwich bread, cut into 3/4-in cubes 1 lb carrots, peeled and diced 2 large onions, finely chopped 8 celery stalks, diced 1 large sweet potato, peeled, cored, and diced 4 garlic cloves, minced 2 c low-sodium store-bought chicken or vegetable broth Turkey Stock 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced 1 T fresh thyme leaves 1 T minced fresh rosemary 1 T finely chopped fresh sage 1/2 c finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves 3 large eggs 1 cheese pumpkin (10-12 lb)

NOTE: A cheese pumpkin is the same color as butternut squash, and flatter than the more common sugar pumpkin. The flesh is thick and smooth in texture. If this pumpkin is not available, use what you can find, but check for doneness after 1 hour 15 minutes, since the flesh will most likely not be as thick, and the pumpkin will cook more quickly.

Cut a slit in each chestnut with scissors or a paring knife. Cook chestnuts in a pot of boiling water for 20 minutes, then drain in a colander. When cool enough to handle, peel off and discard shells and inner brown skins.

Heat 3 T olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high until shimmering. Sauté chestnuts, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer chestnuts to a plate. Add both mushrooms to skillet and sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their juices and begin to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and season with salt. Add bread cubes and toss to mix.

Heat 3 T olive oil in same pan over medium high. Add carrots, onions, celery, sweet potato, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add stock and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer contents of pan to bread mixture, along with the chestnuts. Add apples, herbs, and another 3 T olive oil. Toss well and season stuffing with salt and pepper, then mix in the eggs.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove top of pumpkin by cutting a circle about 5 inches in diameter around stem with a paring knife; reserve top. Scrape out and discard seeds and stringy flesh from pumpkin. Rub inside of pumpkin with remaining 1 T olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spoon stuffing into pumpkin and replace top. Bake stuffed pumpkin on a rimmed baking sheet until pumpkin is tender when pierced with a skewer, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. (Do not overcook pumpkin or the side may split.) To serve, remove top and scoop out stuffing and some pumpkin flesh with a large spoon.

November 2013

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Ask the Old Bag

Advice Column for the Over 50 Crowd

By Gayle LagmanCreswick Dear Old Bag: My husband and I just celebrated our 40th anniversary.

Forty years and I know I should have left him 20 years ago when I realized we were not meant for each other.

The first 20 years were not so bad.

We were raising a family, whom we both love, which gave us common ground. Now they are grown and there is just us—two people who look at each other and wonder if this is all there is. What do I do now? We retired last year to this.

Signed, Hopeless Dear Hopeless: First of all, nothing is hopeless, and it is never too late. After being married this long, I’d think you would be willing to invest a little more effort into trying to save the marriage. I suggest you try a marriage boot camp or a marriage retreat. If that helps, follow it up with some marriage counseling. If none of this works, then you probably need to part company or at least have a trial separation. This should be the best time of your relationship. Let me know how it goes. O.B. Dear Old Bag: A woman recently wrote to you telling of her husband, who retired just to sit around. You told her to give him a year to adjust to retirement. That may work for some, but not my husband. He has been sitting in that recliner for five years and has no ambition to do anything but watch TV. This guy used to have a very active life and it kills me to watch him grow old in that darned chair! Any suggestions?

Signed, Active Still Dear Active: Something does not seem right. For an active guy to park himself in a chair sounds to me like he may be suffering from depression. Depression takes on many faces.

Some people lose their appetite and some eat everything in sight. Some cannot sleep and others sleep all the

time. Most persons who are depressed lose interest in life. I think you should take him to his family doctor.

Since some doctors do not pick up on depression, you may want to talk to the doctor before the appointment.

There is a high incidence of depression in older people and it should be brought to light—it can and should be treated. Good luck, O.B. Dear Old Bag: I am 55 years old and have the job of my dreams. It keeps me busy about 14 hours a day (eight at work and six at home).

My husband has a successful business, but he pretty much does it in eight hours. He is always after me to shut down the computer and join him for a drink or to go out. I love this job and I love him, and I don’t know what to do. Signed, Busy and Happy Dear Busy: Many men and women are finding themselves in this predicament, especially since the recession has caused many layoffs. This has left those remaining to pick up the slack. In many cases, this is ruining family life. I think you are doing the job of two people or you are not very efficient. Let me ask you a question.

Would you be so happy doing this job if you were to lose your husband? Because I believe you are on your way to losing him. There are too many women out there just waiting to have a drink with him and wanting to make him feel good. My mother used to say, “Even the brightest flame will soon grow low, without the air it needs, you know.” My advice is to ask your boss for help. Make sure he knows how much time your job is taking. If he says no, then you have a decision to make: your husband or your job. Good luck, O.B. ■

Send your questions to the Old Bag in care of the BEACON, or email lagmancreswick@cox.net.

Ask the old bag 9

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10 The healthy geezer

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November 2013

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Part 2

D

ry eyes are common in people older than 50. Tears are necessary for overall eye health and clear vision. A lack of tears is more common among women, especially after menopause.

First, visit your doctor to determine the underlying cause of dry eye. He or she can check for diseases and recommend treatment.

If a medicine you’re taking for another condition is causing dry eye, your doctor may recommend switching drugs.

If contact lenses are giving you dry eye, your doctor may recommend another type of lens or reducing the number of hours you wear your lenses.

There are procedures by eye care professionals to plug the drainage holes at the inner corners of the eyelids where tears drain from the eye into the nose. Lacrimal plugs, also called punctal plugs, can be inserted temporarily or permanently. In some cases, a simple surgery called punctal cautery is recommended to permanently close the drainage holes.

If other methods do not give you adequate dry eye relief, your ophthalmologist may suggest that you use a prescription medication. One such medication, Cyclosporine, works by stimulating tear production.

Steroid eye drops may also be used, but are generally not recommended for long-term treatment. Other treatment options may include ointments, gels and inserts.

Omega fatty acids are available in many foods and supplements, and may help relieve dry eye symptoms. Always talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.

A new study published in the peerreviewed journal “Cornea” showed that HydroEye, a nutritional supplement containing omega fatty acids, improved dry-eye symptoms. Dry eye researchers Dr. Stephen Pflugfelder and Dr. John Sheppard conducted the study, which evaluated 38 postmenopausal women with tear dysfunction in both eyes.

“Prior to this study, clinical evidence showing that nutritional supplements were beneficial in treating dry eye was scarce,” Pflugfelder said.

“However, within three months, the group treated with HydroEye showed statistically significant improvements in irritation symptoms of dry eye, and no progression of ocular surface inflammation or corneal irregularity.

The placebo group’s dry eye symptoms actually worsened over the sixmonth testing period.” ■

Send your questions to the Healthy Geezer in care of the BEACON, or email fred@healthygeezer.com.

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1.

Visit your eye doctor if your eyes seem drier than usual.

2.

If you wear contact lenses, consult your doctor about different lenses or reduce the time you wear your lenses.

3.

Omega fatty acids may help relieve symptoms. Flax seeds, walnuts, shrimp, tuna, salmon, kale and collard greens are all good sources.

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Health & wellness 11

Migraines ‘n medicine

By Lois Green Stone

G

ot a hurting head? Has a migraine ruined your normal routine? Do you get exasperated because you seem to do the right things, yet migraines still stir in your skull? Well, you may have a stomach-headache.

No kidding.

People see you as a fit person who works at maintaining health, strength, endurance and muscle tone, but they can’t look into your head. Some don’t even realize that there are three types of headaches: vascular, muscular and inflammatory, and none of the three care how old the calendar says you are. While you can’t do much for an inflammatory headache, since disease causes it, prevention may replace a pain pill for the other two.

Vessels dilate and substances are released, which cause swelling and intense pain. Vasoconstriction may be the result of a trigger-nerve impulse. Sometimes nausea and vomiting occur. Can vasoconstriction be prevented and what’s the stomach got to do with a migraine?

If you sleep late on weekends, the delay from the body’s accustomed breakfast hour may precipitate a headache. Lack of food might cause a mild deficiency of sugar in the blood and motivate an attack. So how can you prevent this problem? If you’d just get out of bed at the usual hour, drink some tomato juice and then go back to sleep, hypoglycemia might be prevented. Before you laugh, see if it works. Get up. Think of it as a bathroom stop, except it’ll be a juice stop before more sleep.

Anyone who consumes excessive amounts of caffeine can get head pain within 18 hours after abrupt withdrawal. One solution is to never withdraw caffeine. Sure, that might prevent the headache, but why not ease out caffeine and drink decaffeinated soft drinks, teas and coffees instead?

Drugs are often necessary. One medicine prescribed to abort a

migraine is ergotamine tartrate. It does constrict blood vessels, but you might hallucinate. LSD comes from ergot. Do I have your attention now?

Yes, ergotamine does work well on carotid arteries. Unfortunately, it also affects coronary arteries. Taking this drug too often to turn off a migraine can cause a rebound headache reaction when it is stopped. So drugs for one “cure” are contraindicated due to side effects, and the body also rebels when over-medicated.

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Regulating what and when to eat is preferable to pill popping, and the migraine-stomach relationship has been medically established.

Did you know that drinking white rather than red wine is better when you’re migraine-prone? “The Lancet,” a prestigious medical journal, had printed a confirmation that “...red wine, but not necessarily its alcohol or tyramine content, can precipitate migraine.”

Stress, tension, sinusitis and dental disease also cause muscle-contraction headaches, and television commercials tell us to take extra-strength aspirin. So we gobble tablets to gain relief but upset our stomachs. For some, aspirin decreases uptake of vitamin C in leukocytes; then nutritional problems complicate matters. When possible, why not try hot showers, learn biofeedback, and have physical therapy instead of ingesting aspirin? Get a caring person to massage your pulse points for just a few minutes.

Back to those television commercials that claim the headache is halted as antacids act on the stomach. Madison Avenue advertisers may finally have said something accurate...headache from the stomach.

Bottom line? Be kinder to the stomach and some of the aches above the neck may stop. Sleep, exercise and diet carry no ill side effects, unless you oversleep, call pushing remotecontrol video knobs exercise, and caffeinated soda and salty chips a diet. ■

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November 2013

Don’t let the bedbugs bite

By Sue Ann Carpenter

B

edbugs are making a comeback.

They have shown up where there’s a high rate of occupant turnover: hotels, retail stores, theaters, libraries, planes, ships, trains, buses, even hospitals, but also in homes.

Why? Because they are successful hitchhikers—moving from infestation site to furniture, bedding, luggage, boxes, even clothing. They can be found in the most elite places, because international travel has facilitated their spread.

The common, most infamous form of bedbugs in northern temperate climes is Cimex lectularius. In Florida, the tropical bedbug is called Cimex hemipterus. Bedbugs were so named because they live within 5-10 feet of beds and feed on blood every five to 10 days, but can survive several months to a year without ingesting food. They are attracted to you and your pet’s warmth and blood, not dirt and grime. These fast-moving insects are nocturnal feeders. One sign of infestation might be if you wake up with painful welts resembling mosquito or spider bites.

Yet some people will have no reaction at all to their bites.

However, bedbugs can be seen with the naked eye, and there are telltale signs when cleaning or changing bedding. Look for dark spots (feces) about the size of a poppy seed. Reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses are caused by bedbugs being crushed. Their eggs and eggshells are white and about 1 millimeter long. They shed light brown skin casings as they grow. Live adult bugs are reddish brown and the size of an apple seed.

When they’re not feeding, bedbugs hide in a variety of places—near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and head board, baseboards, window and door frames, pictures, or where pipes and wiring penetrate walls. Bedbug infestations have a characteristic smell of rotting raspberries.

Bedbugs can be found in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains, in drawer joints, in electrical receptacles and appliances, under loose wall paper and wall hangings, and behind mirrors. Since bedbugs are only about the width of a credit card, they can squeeze into really small hiding spots.

If you have inadvertently brought home an invasion of these pests from your travels, there are some defensive moves.

• Scoot your bed away from the wall.

• Tuck in bed linens so they don’t touch the floor and de-clutter the area. Bed skirts, canopies, curtains, picture frames, chairs, storage boxes and area rugs are their hot spots.

• If you do find evidence of these critters, take a multi-pronged approach and be proactive with preventive measures, sanitation, chemicals, and contact a licensed pest control specialist.

• Diatomaceous earth is an organic, nontoxic powder made from tiny fossilized water plants, available at home or gardening stores. If you sprinkle it in cracks and crevices, and around floor moldings, it will

November 2013

Health & wellness 13

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

dehydrate and kill bedbugs. The fine dust can be irritating, so avoid using it on the bed. Better yet, fill cracks around pipes and wiring with caulk to prevent entry.

• Seal all infested bedding and articles into a large plastic bag and then toss them into a dryer (at least 113 degrees Fahrenheit) for one hour to kill bedbugs at all life stages. Just washing will not kill them. At the same time, go back and vacuum the bed frame, baseboards and all furniture. Be sure to remove the vacuum bag outside and place it inside a trash bag. Leave it all outside your home at the curb for pickup.

to steam your luggage, which will kill any bedbugs or eggs that may have hitched a ride. Wash all of your clothes, even those that have not been worn, in hot water to ensure that any bedbugs that may have made it that far are not placed into your drawers/closet.

• Never bring secondhand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining it for signs of a bedbug infestation.

• Regularly inspect areas where your pets sleep for signs of bedbugs.

• When shopping for clothes, hang your clothes on hooks, rather than across a cushioned seat in the dressing room or on the carpeted floor. These are popular havens for bedbugs.

Check the room for signs of infestation. Note any unusual stains in clothing. Pay particular attention to the inside seams, looking for any signs of sticky white eggs, shed skins and the bugs themselves. And notify the store manager immediately. Keep clothing in the store bag, tied and sealed if possible for the trip home. Shake articles out outside before bringing them in and then immediately launder the clothing in hot water or steam/dry clean delicate items.

One sign of infestation might be if you wake WASPs cropup with painful welts resembling mosquito

• A good investment is to buy a protective cover that encases mattresses and box springs. This will eliminate many hiding spots, and its light color will make bedbugs easier to see. Check it regularly for holes or tearing.

• During a hotel stay, bring a large trash bag to keep your suitcase in so bedbugs don’t take up residence before your departure. Use luggage racks to hold your luggage when packing or unpacking rather than setting your luggage on the bed or floor.

Bring a small flashlight to thoroughly inspect the entire room before unpacking, including behind the headboard and in sofas and chairs.

Pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, particularly at the corners, for telltale stains or spots. If anything is suspect, notify management and change rooms immediately.

Make sure you don’t move to an adjacent room or one directly above or below it. Bedbugs easily hitchhike on housekeeping carts, luggage and even through wall sockets. If an infestation is spreading, it typically does so in the rooms closest to the origin.

• Upon returning home, unpack directly into your washing machine and then vacuum your suitcases. Consider using a garment hand steamer

Although DDT eradicated bedbugs at one time, the EPA banned it because of feared toxicity to humans.

Household pesticides like diazinon and chlorpyrifos have also been taken off the market because of toxicity. Because of bedbug resistance and negative health effects, be sure to save a sample of whatever bugs you find and seek licensed professional pest control advice and assistance.

Eradication now requires a multifaceted approach over time.

Follow these preventive tips, sanitation and chemical basics, and you’ll be snug as a bug in a rug. ■

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November 2013

A

nyone can build a memorial, but it takes a dedicated and caring person to maintain that memorial over many years.

Seven years ago, Bob and Lois McGary created a memorial they call the Wall of Heroes at Lois’ Place, the restaurant they own, located at 241 Grand Ave. in Grand Junction.

The memorial honors the McGarys’ veteran fathers as well as friends and family members of their customers and staff.

Bob designs patriotic red, white and blue 8-by-10 inch posters of deceased U.S. veterans and displays them in the restaurant in the two weeks leading up to Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It takes the over 60-year-old couple a full day to redecorate the restaurant.

Why do they spend so much time on this memorial? For them, it’s a labor of love and they do it out of respect for all veterans.

For Veterans Day, they have a new plan for honoring the fallen warriors.

“We have installed a big-screen TV and through the closed circuit, we display the weekly menu specials and post two veterans’ posters per week,” Bob said proudly. “We still plan to place all the posters on the wall.

We are up to 69 now, with two or three new veterans to recognize this year.”

Even though the McGarys are retired, they intend to keep putting up the Wall of Heroes for as long as they are

involved with the restaurant.

“We are semi-retired,” Bob said.

“Yesterday I was tired. Today I’m retired.”

The Wall of Heroes tribute began in 2004 as a tradition to honor the couple’s family, starting with their fathers. Bob posted their photos and names, honoring them for their service to their country.

Staff and customers were moved by the tribute and asked the McGarys if they would post pictures of their family and friends who had served and died. Over the years, the tribute has grown to cover the walls in the small restaurant that Lois and her father started many years ago.

The walls are filled with tributes to veterans from both world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

All posters are strategically displayed where the family and customers can see them.

“Each is displayed prominently because they are all distinguished soldiers,” Bob said. “I list their name and military status. I will not post their rank. Why? Because rank doesn’t matter. Each answered the call and did their duty.”

This Veterans Day, stop by Lois’ Place for a bite to eat or just stop by to read about our country’s veterans that are honored on the Wall of Heroes. ■

Hours : mon-fri 8 am -5 pm, sat 9 am - 1 pm

970-242-2020

toll free :

1-877-301-1021

Bob and Lois McGary in front of the Wall of Heroes.

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

101-year-old vet served faithfully the Bulge.

“Once George Patton uido Bagwent by us in ett was a Jeep on his born on April way to the 21, 1912 in Battle of the Chialamberto, Bulge,” Bagett Italy. His father said. moved to the He was deU.S. and later nied furlough sent for 2-yearto his Italian old Bagett, his hometown, mother and Guido Bagett, center, surrounded by his children Rich- which was older brother. ard, top, Karen Aiello, left, and Beverly Hensley, right. located only Now at 101 60 miles from where he was stayears old, Bagett said he doesn’t tioned, because he was told he would remember much about the trip to the be sent to Japan. He was never sent U.S., except that he was quarantined there because the war ended. at Ellis Island because he had the Baggett said he shouldn’t talk about chicken pox. He also remembers bethe war because so many men didn’t ing dressed in knee pants and button come back. shoes, and stepping into two feet He visited Washington, D.C. with of snow when they arrived in the Western Slope Honor Flight at age Carbondale.

97. He didn’t want to go His father had a meat at first, but his daughter, market in Marble. His Beverly, convinced him family would ship in to go and he is glad he three carloads of Caliwent. fornia grapes and made After the war, he their own wine, which worked for the CocaBagett never liked beCola Company in Steamcause it was too sour. boat Springs for 13 His parents had three years. Then he started more children: a son and working for the Pepsi two daughters.

Cola Company in Las Bagett started trapping Vegas, New Mexico. furs at a young age. He He eventually retired won an award for the and moved to Grand best muskrat pelt, which Junction, but he wasn’t he still has today. done yet. Ernie Buescher His eyes still light up encouraged him to manwhen he talks about age the local Pepsi ComVera Mae, his wife of 74 Guido and Vera Mae married in pany, which he managed years. He first saw her for another 13 years.

1933. at Carbondale’s Potato Bagett inherited his love of hunting Day celebration. They married in and fishing from his father. He rides Delta when she was 16 and he was his exercise bike five to seven miles, 21. They had three children: Beverly, three times a week.

Richard and Karen.

For Father’s Day, Bagett was recAt 32, Bagett was drafted into ognized by the Mesa County CattleWorld War II. He was sent to Fort women as Father of the Year. He Leonard Wood in Missouri to the was chosen because of his children’s Engineers Battalion. After his trainpraise that he was a wonderful faing, he was shipped overseas and ther, his service to our country, and was present during the Battle of his love of beef. ■

By Patty Miller

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Laughing Matters Letter to my loving wife

A safe and secure day program for seniors with memory loss... a break for the caregiver.

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November 2013

We’ll wake the children - 7 It’s too hot - 15 It’s too cold - 5 Too tired - 39 It’s too late - 16 It’s too early - 23 Pretending sleep - 54 Windows open, neighbors might see/ hear - 9 Backache - 16 Toothache - 2 I’m too full - 4 Giggles - 4 Not in the mood - 21 Watched the late show - 7 Baby crying - 19 Watched the early show - 5 Mud pack - 5 Grease on face - 21 Reading in bed - 7 You’re too drunk - 5 Reading Sunday paper - 35 Headache - 10

beat. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money.”

Anagrams Submitted by Joan Grandona An anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER ASTRONOMER: When you rearrange the letters: MOON STARER DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT THE EYES: When you rearrange the letters: THEY SEE GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM

Do you think we could improve our record this coming year?

Signed, your loving husband.

P.S. I had a much better record between our engagement and our wedding.

SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME

Church fun

ELECTION RESULTS: When you rearrange the letters: LIES - LET’S RECOUNT

Submitted by Karen Jones Three boys were in the schoolyard bragging about their fathers.

The first boy says, “My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him $50.”

The second boy says, “That’s nothing. My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $100.”

The third boy says, “I got you both

ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS NO AMITY

SNOOZE ALARMS: When you rearrange the letters: ALAS! NO MORE Z’S A DECIMAL POINT: When you rearrange the letters: I’M A DOT IN PLACE THE EARTHQUAKES: When you rearrange the letters: THAT QUEER SHAKE

November 2013 ELEVEN PLUS TWO: When you rearrange the letters: TWELVE PLUS ONE MOTHER-IN-LAW: When you rearrange the letters: WOMAN HITLER

Advice for getting old Submitted by Genevra Shal Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. I love to hear them say, “You don’t look that old!”

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of algebra.

Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

Some people try to turn back time, but not me! I want people to know why I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

Police school Submitted by David Byers A police recruit was asked during the exam, “What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?”

He responded, “Call for backup.”

No men allowed Submitted by Hazel Gateway An elderly woman died last month.

Having never married, she requested that there be no male pallbearers. In

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, “They wouldn’t take me out while I was alive, I don’t want them to take me out when I’m dead.”

DOES YOUR

Not afraid of the devil

Need

Submitted by Larry Freed One Sunday morning, Satan appeared before a small town congregation. Everyone started screaming and running for the church door, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away.

Soon everyone was gone except for an elderly gentleman who sat calmly in the pew.

Satan walked up to the man and said, “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Yep,” the man replied. “Sure do.”

“Aren’t you going to run?” Satan asked.

“Nope,” the man said. “Sure ain’t.”

Frustrated, Satan asked, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

The man calmly replied, “Been married to your sister for over 48 years.”

Abortion bill Submitted by Abigail Laurel A Congressional aide asks the politician, “What are we going to do about the new abortion bill?”

The politician replied, “Shhhh... just pay it.” ■

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Laughing matters 17

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November 2013

Why Vietnam? collapse if people were not slender enough to transport such things hy Vietnam?” asked my as huge porcelain vases, racks of friends when I told them dresses, or aquariums full of fish on that I would be traveling to Southeast motorbikes. One of the mysteries of Asia for 19 days. I replied that it was Vietnam is how people who eat great the only time I could take a vacation, quantities of fresh, colorful and delithat it was warm there, and that since cious food stay so slender. I gained I was far too chicken to travel to an five pounds in 19 days.

Asian country by Second, Vietmyself, Overseas nam is reputed to Adventure Travel be a place where had some openolder people are ings available for respected and my friend Ann since I am past and me. “the new 50,” I Throughout wanted to see the trip, though, how this actuI kept asking myally works. What self the question, I found is that “Why Vietnam for while Vietnam is any American?” a good place to be The answers are old, it’s an even as diverse as sidebetter place to be walk activities in dead, especially if any Vietnamese you are an ancescity. (Sidewalks in tor. In the BudVietnam are used dhist tradition, for cooking, resthe ancestors get It’s normal to see thin people carrying heavy taurants, skinning lovely shrines in frogs, motorbikes, loads in Vietnam. the best rooms motorbike parkof almost every ing, weddings, house. funerals, public In some areas markets, fish of the country, a markets, automobody is buried for bile body work, three years and recycling Amerithen the family of can bomb parts, the deceased digs manufacturing up the coffin, fish sauce and opens it, washes trash disposal— the bones and any activity, in places them in a fact, except walksmaller coffin in a ing.)

Sidewalks are used for almost any activity but tiled shrine.

First of all, In a cold, Vietnam is a great walking. Here is a sidewalk restaurant. drizzling rain, place to see thin people. In the U.S., really thin people we visited a small cemetery of such shrines to pay respect to some ancesare practically extinct, but in Viettors who were sort of standing in for nam thin is still the norm, and this our leader’s grandmother, who was is a good thing, a necessary thing, buried a thousand miles away. Since because otherwise a mother, father, it was the anniversary of her death, two children and a crate of oranges our guide wanted to honor her by could not fit on a motorbike. The entire economy of the country might paying respects at another woman’s

By Wendy Costa

“W

November 2013

Weasel coffee is a Vietnamese delicacy made from the weasels’ feces.

Travel 19

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Motorbikes are a common sight on the sidewalks and in the streets of Vietnam.

grave. He placed a baguette, a pack come to be called weasel barons by of Marlboros, some fake money and future generations.) History will delighted incense on a grave. Then he cide if weasel coffee will join penicilgave us similar things to place on lin, Teflon, and Viagra on the list of other graves, which was quite a chal- accidental discoveries that changed lenge, because the rain kept extinthe world. guishing the incense and dozens of An important reason to visit Vietmotorbikes nearly nam or any foreign ran us over. land is to meet the A third reason people who live to visit Vietnam is there. We had the to see how weasel opportunity to visit coffee is made, even several families in though few Ameritheir homes and cans can afford this share wonderful delicacy. Apparently, meals with them. some alert person I must admit that I noticed that weasels enjoyed the dinwere eating cofner inside the fee beans but not, home of a young um, digesting them architect more completely. The cofthan the lunch in fee beans that pass the backyard of a through the digesvillage chief whose tive tracts of these Sidewalk cooking in Vietnam. roosters were in weasels are brewed training for a New into an especially delicious beverage, Year’s cockfight while we munched, which is now all the rage. Visiting or rather, crunched, on barbecued foreign dignitaries get goodie bags lizard. that include weasel coffee. Weasels, On the 10th anniversary of my which used to be wild and free, now father’s death, I shared a great meal cost $700 apiece and live in small with three aging Viet Cong guerilcages that have mesh bottoms to cap- las, who are now prosperous comture their valuable poop. munity leaders. Memories of bitter Elegant new mansions have rearguments with my father about the placed the corrugated tin shacks of Vietnam War flooded my mind. He the farmers who produce weasel cof- was a World War II veteran who had fee. (Perhaps these rich farmers will seen the Iron Curtain descend on

Eastern Europe after the war, so he was, understandably, a hawk when it came to Vietnam. I was an idealistic college student who thought that the South Vietnamese government was as terrible as anything that Ho Chi Minh would establish and that the U.S. had no right to interfere in a civil war.

Thirty-eight years have gone by since the communists won, and now I think that perhaps we were both right. The American military ruined millions of lives and huge land areas with Agent Orange, and that was a horrific crime. But communism, at least initially, was really terrible.

From 1975 until about 1987, Vietnam was a harsh, starving country.

Since 1987, it has normalized relations with the rest of the world and it has become, for the most part, a capitalist economy. It is difficult for a foreigner who does not speak Vietnamese to know how many freedoms are curtailed, but it is clear that most Vietnamese are very proud of their rapidly developing, unified nation that is becoming more prosperous and beautiful every day.

Why Vietnam? Go for the sidewalk culture, the motorbike madness, the “otherness” of an ancient Buddhist civilization, and the quirkiness of weasel coffee. And go for a lesson about the Vietnam War (or the American War, as it is called in Vietnam). ■

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20 Recreation

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November 2013

Fun after 50

Offered by Grand Junction Parks and Recreation

R

egistration for all of the following programs is required. Call 2543866 or visit www.gjcity.org/recre ation.aspx. For a full list of activities, pick up an activity guide at the Grand Junction Parks and Recreation office, 1340 Gunnison Ave. or at the Senior Recreation Center, 550 Ouray Ave.

Classes November 6

Free estate planning for baby boomers

Senior Recreation Center 550 Ouray Avenue - 970 243-7408

The Senior Recreation Center offers activities for seniors age 50 and older. The center is open Monday - Saturday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Annual membership is $10.

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Boomers are taking care of their children and grandchildren, and in many cases, their parents. Explore wills vs. trusts, how to plan for a disability, and how best to leave your inheritance. Class is at 4:30 p.m. at Brown & Brown, PC, 1250 E. Sherwood Drive. For more information, visit www.brownandbrownpc.com or call 243-8250. Registration is required.

Monday

9:00 a.m.

10:30 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

Cribbage Computer Classes Gray Gourmet Card Bingo Dominoes Singles Pinochle (1st Singles Pinochle (1st & 3rd Monday)

Tuesday

9:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

Cribbage & Pool Tourney Gray Gourmet Bingo

Wednesday

9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

Ladies Pool, Card Social Jack & Jill Pool Tourney Free Blood Pressure Clinic (3rd Wed) Gray Gourmet Pinochle

Garden Talk

Thursday

9:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

10:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Canasta Cleaning Crew (Last Thursday) Bunco (3rd Thursday) Band (1st Thursday) Pokeno Dance

Seniors Thanksgiving Party

December 13

Friday

9:00 a.m.

12:00 p.m.

12:30 p.m.

12:45 p.m.

Canasta, Painting Class & Pool Tourney Gray Gourmet Bible Study Bridge

Saturday

8:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m.

1:30 p.m.

Bridge Class Bridge Bingo

Sunday

1:00 p.m.

Dance (1st & 3rd Sunday)

November 14 & 21

Cowboy Cha Cha

Have fun and learn the Cowboy Cha Cha—a couples line dance—in just two classes. Class is from 7 p.m.8:30 p.m. at Lincoln Park Barn.

Cost is $24 per couple.

November 20 Margie Frey will demonstrate how to make fairy gift gardens at noon at the botanical gardens. Cost is $5.

November 21

The seniors at the Grand Junction Senior Recreation Center are having a Thanksgiving Party from 10 a.m.1 p.m. Cost is $3 to preregister and $5 at the door.

Chocolate Walk Experience downtown Grand Junction’s holiday charm during a walking tour of beautiful Main Street, featuring your choice of either an Art on the Corner or History Tour. All paid participants will receive a special commemorative mug filled with Enstrom’s hot chocolate. To guaran-

tee a commemorative mug, register

by Thursday, November 7.

Ongoing Classes Classes take place at Lincoln Park Barn.

Gentle Yoga Incorporate strength, balance, flexibility and relaxation into your life.

Designed for all abilities, this class is taught in a supportive atmosphere utilizing props such as a chair, blocks and straps. Class is from 7:45 a.m.8:45 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays through December 19. Cost is $4 to drop in.

Beginning line dance Meet new people, improve your balance and coordination, strengthen your heart, and stimulate your mind.

No partner or previous dance skills needed. Class is from noon to 1 p.m., Mondays, November 4 through December 16. Cost is $18.

Intermediate line dance Build on your skills from the beginning class while learning popular line dances. No partner is needed.

Class is from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays. Drop in for $4 or purchase a punch pass at the Parks and Rec office.

Total Core Conditioning Experience the benefit of utilizing props to effectively use deep torso and spinal muscle work to improve control, strength, balance and conditioning of the core. Class is from noon to 12:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through December 12.

Cost is $4 to drop in.

Sports • Indoor pickleball is offered at Lincoln Park Barn from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Monday through Friday. Equipment is available to borrow at the Parks and Recreation office. Cost is $4 to drop in.

• Senior Softball is open to men and women aged 50 and older, and is an excellent avenue for exercise and friendly competition. For more information, call Carl at 255-6688. ■

November 2013

Marines leave no one behind

By Jim Cotsana

W

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

ith the approach of Veterans Day and the daily reports of our troops still fighting wars, I pictured the young officers currently in harm’s way. This got me thinking about my days in the USMC Officers Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia.

In 1970, I reported to Quantico and was assigned to a platoon of approximately 35 other “candidates.”

The first couple of days were spent getting our uniforms, boots, socks and buzz cuts before we began the trials and tribulations hoping to become “90-day wonders” and commissioned second lieutenants. As I recall, each platoon had a first lieutenant in charge, along with two E-6 staff sergeants and two E-5 sergeants, who all had significant combat experience in Vietnam.

Their goal was to begin molding young, raw men into officers capable of leading troops in combat situations.

But first, we had to learn the military language, how to salute and march, and the very basics with respect to weapons and tactics. However, the emphasis was on conditioning and pushing the body far beyond what we felt we were capable of. When you thought you couldn’t go any further or take another step, the platoon sergeants pushed you even harder.

After the third or fourth week, one of my platoon’s staff sergeants, whom I will call Staff Sergeant Smith, for some reason had my number. Whenever I made a mistake (and there were many), he belittled me, called me every name in the book, and rode me no end. No candidate was immune to his wrath, but for some reason, I received extra attention.

In addition, I swear all the platoon sergeants must have gone to stand-up comedy school. Some of the comments and remarks they came up with were hysterical and it took all my effort not to laugh out

loud. However, I couldn’t control my facial expressions and of course, this caught the attention of Staff Sergeant Smith. He could be at the far end of the squad bay chewing a candidate up one side and down the other and come up with a comment that would break me up. He knew it and would immediately turn to me and say, “So you think this is funny?”

I would reply, “No, Platoon Sergeant,” but that was for naught. All he said was “begin,” which meant for me to start doing bends and thrusts.

I had to ask, “How many, Platoon Sergeant?” and he would say, “Forever.” I was only allowed to stop after a large pool of sweat was on the deck (floor) surrounding me.

This went on for the majority of time I was a candidate and the others kept asking how I got on his bad side, but I had no answer. However, during the last two to three weeks, I got the impression he took some special interest in me and was pushing me to excel and to go beyond what I thought my capabilities were.

During the last week of OCS, even though we started with approximately 35 in my platoon, some washed out during the initial training for a variety of reasons—medical, did not demonstrate leadership skills, could not maintain the physical requirements, or just couldn’t cut it.

Finally, graduation day came, and those who successfully completed the 90 days from all the other platoons entered a large auditorium with our brown second lieutenant bars in our pockets. Included in the graduation ceremony were all the platoon staff along with candidates’ family members and other invited guests.

Upon completion of the ceremony, we were officially commissioned second lieutenants and many of the newly commissioned officers had family members pin on their bars. I had no family attending but I walked over to Staff Sergeant Smith and

I swear all the platoon sergeants must have gone to stand-up comedy school.

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rather sheepishly asked if he would pin on my bars.

To my great surprise and delight he said, “It would be an honor.”

Once pinned, he was the first to salute me and call me “Sir,” a whopping change from what I had been accustomed to.

What he said next I have never forgotten. The man who tormented me for nearly 90 days said the following.

“Remember that a second lieutenant is lower than whale dung (although he used a different, more descriptive word). Also, once you’re in country (meaning Vietnam), pay close attention to your experienced NCOs. They will keep you and the people you lead alive. Marines leave

O P E R A T E D

B Y

H I L L T O P

no one behind.”

I took all this to heart and have never forgotten his advice.

Finally he said, “It would be an honor to serve under your command.”

After graduation, we immediately spent another six months at the basic school, also in Quantico, for far more advanced training.

Unfortunately, we never did meet again but I often think of him, his advice and the torture he put me through, which made me a better man. I only hope that the young officers currently fighting and leading their troops were blessed to have a Staff Sergeant Smith instill in them what it means to be a United States Marine. ■

22 Local lore

KKKKKK Four female pilots leave their ship, Pistol Packin’ Mama, at the four-engine school at Lockbourne AAF, Ohio. They are members of a group of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) trained to ferry the B-17 Flying Fortresses. 1940.

(U.S. Air Force photo)

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

Women changing the face KKKKKK of military vets

The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to Women Airforce Service Pilots on July 1, 2009.

By Adele Israel

T

raditionally, the face of U.S. military veterans was male. But now, this image is beginning to encompass women serving in the military as well.

The role of women in the military has often been minimized or completely overlooked.

During World War II women were not only nurses and support personnel, but pilots and telephone operators near the front lines. Women

Air Service Pilots (WASP) were not recognized as veterans until 1977 and finally honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

The number of women veterans is on the rise.

The number of women veterans doubled between 2000 and 2010 and is expected to double again over the next five years. The Grand Junction VA Medical Center has proactively adapted to these changes and the face of female veterans is quite visible.

Although women veterans have been served by VA hospitals since 1949, health clinics specifically for women are a relatively new concept.

The local VA Women’s Clinic opened its doors in 2009 when a qualified nurse practitioner signed on for the project.

Current Medical Director Cindy Neal was the first designated women’s provider. Winner of the 2005 Florence Nightingale Nursing Award, Neal explained that prior to the

clinic women veterans received a hodgepodge of services.

“The women really appreciate having all their services in one clinic,” she said.

Pam Schultz is the women’s health program manager for the clinic with its exclusive female health team.

“The clinic provides comprehensive women’s health care to veterans ranging in age from 23 to 92 years,” Schultz said.

This includes preventive care,

reproductive care, maternity care, mental health services, women’s health education, and nutrition and weight management. The clinic also provides services for a hidden population of homeless women veterans and is a good starting point for women to discuss mental and physical disabilities affecting their lives.

Many women veterans that receive services from the clinic also work or volunteer there.

Rebecca Hewett, LPN, is involved daily with the Women’s Clinic and establishes close relationships with patients. A four-year Air Force veteran, she also receives her health care from the clinic.

Deb Trunzo, RN, is a women’s health nursing expert focusing on triage and fielding patient questions.

Program Assistant Marina Smith, another veteran and clinic patient, primarily manages women’s mammograms.

More than 650 women are currently enrolled for primary care through the VA Medical Center and almost all of them utilize the Women’s Clinic.

The largest group of women, between the ages of 45 and 64 years old, makes up 45 percent of the patients and primarily served during the Vietnam era. Women over 65 years of age account for another 14 percent of patients, including women who served during World War II and the Korean conflict. Younger women vets have served in Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn.

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com served an 11-month tour as a medic in Iraq in 2010.

There are no front lines in the most recent conflicts and Chacon said troops refer to a “wire” instead of a line because there is so little separation between combat and noncombat situations.

The VA system has placed a big emphasis on providing mental health support to all veterans. Since 2006 more than 800 programs, including outpatient PTSD clinics, have opened to serve both urban and rural areas.

Less than a year ago, Grand Junction VA Medical Center started the new support program focusing on peer group interactions. Chacon’s role as a peer support specialist is to talk with her peers and do even more listening. She works with many female vets but her job extends to male vets as well.

Chacon is also a patient at the Women’s Clinic.

“I’ve been coming to the Women’s Clinic since 2011 and I’ve always felt comfortable with the all-female staff,” she said. “The atmosphere is nonjudgmental and perfect for some of my friends who feel awkward with male providers.”

Mature faces of female veterans

Peggy Vanderberg is another face of female veterans and a volunteer at the Medical Center.

The 82-year-old not only served as a WAF (Women’s Air Force) but is a former military wife, member of VFW Ladies' Auxiliary Post #4663 and a frequent volunteer Younger faces of at the VA Medical Center. female veterans Born and raised The increased in Durham, North role of women in Carolina, Vanderberg the military often went to work as a means women leave Peggy Vanderberg is a WAF veteran the military with the and active volunteer at the VA Medical cashier for the telephone company after same medical issues Center. high school. In 1951, the 21-year-old as their male counterparts.

Erin Chacon is an eight-year vetheaded over to Raleigh to become a eran of the local U.S. Army Reserve WAF. Vanderberg completed eight Engineering Company. Chacon weeks of basic training under living

Local lore 23

Left to right: Deb Trunzo, Cindy Neal, Pam Schultz and Erin Chacon. conditions not designed with women in mind. Training for the WAFs was the same as their male counterparts with the exception of the rifle range.

During her first assignment in Massachusetts, Vanderberg discovered she was not suited for office work and trained as a flight attendant. Part of that process was loadmaster training, a requirement for men and the eight women in the class, however, women were not given a degree or permitted to serve as loadmasters.

Vanderberg served as a flight attendant in the Atlantic Division working primarily on C97 aircraft.

This double-decker plane was used to transport cargo, troops, dependents and sometimes the dead.

While in school, Vanderberg met the man she would marry and they tied the knot while still in Massachusetts. She and her husband, who served as a loadmaster, were transferred back to Texas, where Vanderberg continued as a flight attendant as part of the Continental Division.

She logged enough hours of flight time to earn her Wings. At the time, women in the military could not serve once they had dependent children so her Air Force career ended after two years.

Vanderberg enjoyed her brief stint in the Air Force and traveled to diverse locations, including most of Europe, Newfoundland, Iceland, North Africa and Bermuda.

“Sometimes we even got to get off the plane,” she joked.

The Vanderbergs settled in southern California and raised three children. Her husband died before they had a chance to retire together. Once she turned 65, Vanderberg moved to Grand Junction to fulfill their retirement dreams. She is pleased that several of her younger family members have continued the tradition of military service.

Vanderberg has volunteered at the Medical Center for 15 years and can be found at the welcome desk three mornings a week. Through the Ladies Auxiliary Post, Vanderberg coordinates assembly of maternity care packages for distribution to pregnant clients of the Women’s Clinic.

Vanderberg said she has developed the ability to “enjoy everything I’ve ever done,” and added, “Staying busy is the secret to staying alive.” It doesn’t look like this vet will be slowing down anytime soon. ■

If you’re a woman veteran

and want to know about services for you, call the Grand Junction VA Medical Center at 242-0731 or call the Women Veterans Call Center at 1-855-VA-WOMEN (829-6696).

24

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

Remember Willie & Joe?

By Tait Trussell

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re you old enough to remember Willie and Joe? They were the sloppy, unshaven, mud-caked and downtrodden GIs who appeared in the World War II cartoons drawn by the imaginative Bill Mauldin.

Willie and Joe were the embodiment of World War II frontline soldiers. They were depicted in foxholes and chow lines griping about Army life and the war. The humor was biting.

Mauldin was an Army rifleman himself. When he had time to do his drawings nobody knows. The cartoons appeared in the military publication “Stars and Stripes.” But the descriptions of soldiers on the European front found wide distribution throughout the war. Mauldin’s dry humor won him a Pulitzer Prize.

I recall one cartoon showing Joe standing next to a battered Army jeep with a broken wheel. His head was turned away, one hand over his eyes, the other with his pistol aimed at the collapsed jeep. The caption-less drawing was considered by Mauldin as one of his best and was one of his favorites.

In another cartoon, Willie and Joe were standing in a foxhole in a heavy rain. It was pouring down on their metal helmets. Joe says to Willie, “You’re right, Willie, it does sound like the patter of rain on a tin roof.”

In another, Willie says, “Joe, yestiddy ya saved my life an’ I swore I’d pay ya back. Here’s my last pair o’ dry socks.”

At age 13, Mauldin saw an ad for a correspondence course in cartooning.

This gave him his start. He later attended the Academy of Fine Art in Chicago.

When he was 18, in 1940, Mauldin joined the Arizona National Guard. He went on duty as a rifleman in the 45th Infantry Division. In 1943, as a sergeant, he was transferred to Sicily.

He was soon assigned to cover the war in cartoons for “Stars and Stripes.”

Willie and Joe’s frank depiction of Army life and the war entertained soldiers and their families everywhere. The pair slogged from Italy to Germany.

The cartoon that won Mauldin the Pulitzer in 1945 was captioned “Fresh-spirited American troops, flushed with victory…” The cartoon depicted wretched, drenched, mudcaked, unshaven infantrymen slogging through a downpour.

Mauldin’s cartoons were a release from the pent-up rancor of the average GI. Most of the Army brass liked the cartoons and saw them as an outlet for soldiers’ frustrations.

But that was not so for General George Patton. He threatened to have “Stars and Stripes” banned from the Third Army as long as the cartoons of unkempt soldiers were pictured. He felt the cartoons disgraced the military.

Patton and Mauldin were ordered by General Dwight Eisenhower to meet and discuss the matter. After the conference, Mauldin said, “I came out with all my hide on.” But it may have been a bit raw.

After the war, in his book “Up Front,” he described his wartime cartoons as “heavy humor that doesn’t seem funny at all when you think about it.”

His marriage ended and his cartoon style became angry and more political—unlike the treatment of his wartime characters, which avoided any political jabs.

Mauldin died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2003. It was while working at the “Chicago Sun-Times” that he drew one of his most famous cartoons when President Kennedy was assassinated.

The drawing showed the Lincoln Memorial with Lincoln, his hands covering his face in grief.

For the veterans of World War II, Mauldin will long be remembered for giving them a chuckle in the darkest days of battle. ■

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

ask the computer guy 25

Three simple steps to stay safe from scammers Ask the computer guy

By Daniel Ashurst, Alpine Computer Solutions

I

have recently been bombarded with calls from people who have been scammed in one way or another.

I really don’t like it when scammers take advantage of honest people that simply didn’t know any better. This month, I would like to address some of the scams that are floating around, and three ways you can prepare yourself and keep you and your identity safe from scammers.

remove the viruses. Could there be viruses on your computer?

Yes, there very well could be. But giving someone you don’t know access to your computer is just asking for trouble.

Keep in mind that if my customers agree to it, I have a software program that can allow me to remote in and troubleshoot their computers. But I also live close enough to my customers that they know where to find me.

3. Never give out personal information. The third step to keeping yourself safe from scammers is to never give out personal information over the telephone 1. Be cautious. First, if someone calls to someone that you don’t know. Today you on the telephone that you don’t know, be very cautious about what they there are a plethora of scams designed to get just enough information from you tell you. It’s not a bad thing to ask for to be able to steal verifiable information your identity. They Your safety and wellabout the company they are represent- being is more important than will try to use the suspected death ing. A good rule of being agreeable or liked by of a loved one, an thumb is to imagine accident, or they will that they are standsomeone you don’t know. even try to convince ing at your front you that you have door. What would you do then? Your won something. No banking institution safety and well-being are more imporis ever going to ask for personal infortant than being agreeable or liked by mation over the phone or solicit you for someone you don’t know. information.

2. Never give away control of your Be cautious about opening your life to computer. This may seem obvious someone you don’t know, never give when you have time to think about it, control of your computer to a stranger, but in the unexpected moment when and never give out personal information someone calls you, seeming like they over the phone. know a lot more than you do about a subject, they become the expert by deI am not advocating for being rude or fault. When someone calls and tells you becoming overly suspicious, but just bethat they are from Microsoft and have ing cautious. As always, feel free to give noticed that there are some viruses on us a call at Alpine Computer Solutions. your computer, it’s a scam. Companies Call me at 257-1011 or email daniel@ like Microsoft don’t have the power alpinepc.com. ■ to run surveillance on your computer without you giving them permission or Email your questions to Daniel Ashurst without your cooperation. with Alpine Computer Solutions at Usually, a scammer like this will gain access to your computer and run a program on your computer that supposedly shows you all of the viruses that need to be removed, and they charge you to

solutions@alpinepc.com or mail them to the BEACON at P.O. Box 3895, Grand Junction, CO 81502. For professional assistance, call Daniel at 234-1011 or Alpine Computer Solutions at 257-1011.

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26 Finance

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

Insurance you can probably do without

By Jason Alderman

I

’m a big believer in having the appropriate amount of insurance, especially when it comes to your health and personal liability. But if money is tight and you want to get the most bang for your buck, there are a few types of insurance you can probably do without or that may duplicate the coverage you already have elsewhere.

Extended warranties. When you buy a car, appliance or electronic device, the salesclerk usually will try to sell you an extended warranty. These policies often duplicate coverage already provided in the manufacturer’s warranty. Plus, many credit cards provide an additional warranty on items purchased with the card.

Smartphone insurance. After shelling out big bucks for a smartphone, you might be tempted to buy replacement insurance. Just be aware that you’ll probably pay a hefty deductible and likely receive a refurbished phone, possibly not even the same model. My advice: Keep your old phone to reactivate in case you drop or lose the new one.

Flight accident insurance. The risk of dying in a plane crash is miniscule and already covered by regular life insurance. Also check your credit card cardholder agreement, since many cover such accidents for tickets purchased with their card.

Child life insurance. Life insurance is intended to provide economic protection for a person’s dependents, so unless your children are movie stars supporting you, this coverage is probably unnecessary. You can better protect their future by stowing those monthly premiums in an emergency savings account or buying additional term life insurance for yourself.

Pet insurance. With veterinary treatments now rivaling human medicine (organ transplants, chemotherapy, etc.), you could easily spend a small fortune keeping Fido alive. Before buying pet insurance, however, compare plan features carefully and

weigh the expense you’d pay out over your pet’s lifetime. For example, monthly premiums increase with your pet’s age, deductibles and copayments are typically higher than for human coverage and there are usually predetermined per-year and per-condition caps. Plus, preexisting and hereditary conditions usually are not covered.

Rental car insurance. In most cases, the optional insurance offered by car rental agencies duplicates existing coverage you already have. However, before automatically rejecting agency coverage, ask your insurance company and credit card issuer whether you are fully covered for rental cars.

A few considerations: Coverage through your auto policy often expires after 30 days or less of renting the car.

Sports cars, luxury models, SUVs and trucks are often excluded.

Travel outside service areas typically is forbidden, especially across foreign borders or in rough terrain.

If you don’t carry comprehensive and collision coverage on your own car, your insurance may not cover a rental. Also, ask whether such coverage is limited to your own car’s value, since most rentals are new.

Ask what happens if you violate rental agreement terms. (For example, driving recklessly or allowing unauthorized drivers.)

Specified disease insurance. Some people take out supplemental health and life insurance against specific conditions such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Before buying, make sure you have adequate major medical insurance, which already covers such conditions. Carefully review the policy for restrictions. For example, many cancer insurance policies won’t pay for outpatient care or cover skin cancer, and impose fixed-dollar limits on specific procedures.

When it comes to your budget and your family’s security it pays to know which insurance is essential and which you can probably skip. ■

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

27

A gardener’s favorite Rose Veteran gardener Susan Rose retires after 14 years

and needs. She was also instrumental in organizing volunteers for festivals, ctober 25 marked the end of an bus tours and conferences for the era for the Colorado State UniLavender Association of Western versity Extension and western slope Colorado. gardeners. CSU Extension HorticulRose said working at the CSU ture Technician and Master Gardener Extension and interacting with so Program Coordinator Susan Rose many people was intellectually and won’t set her alarm socially satisfying. for 6 a.m. anymore.

She is proud of the Instead, she will master gardener tend her own garden program and her or shop for a new role in its success purse. over the years. Her That Friday advice for new masmarked her retireter gardeners: “Have ment after 14 years fun and share all of of tending to a fresh the knowledge you crop of approxiwill acquire. Your mately 90 master personal landscape gardener apprentices and neighbors will every January. Rose thank you for it.” coordinated the The master gar11-week program of dener program is college-level hortiundergoing changes culture classes, and this year, but Rose guided apprentices isn’t worried. She and advanced master said it is a strong gardeners through program with dedithe maze of garcated volunteers. dening challenges When January brought to the CSU Susan Rose will likely spend her retire- rolls around, instead ment tending to her own garden.

Extension office. of interviewing dozRose quickly became an expert on ens of people for the master gardener identifying all sorts of bugs, plants program, she might be enrolled in and diseases, but none more satisfying geology classes at CMU. Even after than “getting the grasses.” Most prob- completing her master’s degree in lems master gardeners are faced with agriculture last year, she considers involve grass; What type is it? Why herself a life-long learner. is it dead in patches? What can I do Now, back to shopping for a new to get my grass greener, thicker and purse. When Rose first started her healthier? Identifying grass is a fine new job at the CSU Extension, she art and requires much science. Gettreated herself to a briefcase, which ting grasses is one of the most useful held the tools of her trade: hand lens, talents master gardeners will ever use. camera, fact sheets, long-handled Rose’s dedication to her job was screwdriver, sharp pruners, calenapparent to all who worked with her. dars and contact information. Now She was instrumental in the effort that she is retired, she is going to of researching lavender as a cash treat herself to something a little crop in the area, having immediately smaller and a lot more stylish. It jumped on board and organized a will probably still hold a hand lens, grower’s forum to assess the interest though. ■

By Kathy Kimbrough

Palisade Fruita

Grand Junction (new location)

O

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28 Crossword puzzle

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND FLOWERS

Share in the travels of fellow explorers

ArmchAir TrAveler ••• tr avel series •••

Circle the globe from the comfort of the library.

Join fellow travelers and learn about their experiences through slideshows and stories. this series is presented by the Newcomers Club.

Namibia and South Africa - Nov. 18

presented by Tom Woodward and Brian Olson

Hiking Across France - Dec. 16 presented by Janice Shepherd

Desolation Canyon, Utah - Jan. 13 presented by Lee Gelatt

6:30 p.m.

Central Library Community Room visit mesacountylibraries.org

Yoga for Seniors with a

Therapeutic Approach One week of free unlimited yoga.

970-683-0166 1048 Independent Avenue A207 www.academyofyoga.com www.facebook.com/academyofyoga www.integrativewellnesstoday.com

Richard W. Lewis, Funeral Director At least one study confirms what we know in our hearts to be true: After family, friends, and eulogy, flowers rank foremost as the most meaningful aspect of a funeral among grieving individuals. As an important component in the funeral, flowers are appreciated as a bright and welcome diversion, around which conversation can focus during a time of sorrow. Moreover, when asked to identify the gifts and memorials that helped them most in their time of grief, mourners singled out flowers (and plants) and sympathy cards as the most meaningful.

Each flower has a special meaning when presented at a funeral. For example: • The most popular funeral flowers are lilies. Lilies represent the innocence that is restored to the soul during passing. White Stargazer Lilies symbolize sympathy, while other white lilies symbolize purity.

• Carnations are another popular flower at funerals.

A red carnation symbolizes admiration, while pink carnations stand for remembrance, and white carnations symbolize pure love and innocence.

• Chrysanthemums or ‘Mums’ are also used routinely in funeral flowers. The white chrysanthemum is symbolic of death, lamentation, truth and grief.

• The gladiolus embodies strength of character, sincerity, and moral integrity.

• Roses are another mainstay flower of funeral arrangements. A white rose symbolizes reverence, humility, innocence, and youthfulness. Red roses mean respect, love, and courage, while pink roses evoke love, grace, and gentility.

Family and friends from out-of-town can order flowers right on our website: www.MartinMortuary.com. Just click on the name of the deceased in the upper right corner, then click the “Send Flowers” link on his/her page.

Service information will be transmitted with your order.

Martin Mortuary, your local Dignity Memorial® provider, has been serving the Grand Valley since 1917.

We have a dedicated, professional staff ready to assist you in making your funeral services a Celebration of Life. Please feel free to visit our mortuary at 550 North Avenue, and if a question arises, do not hesitate to contact us at 970-243-1538 to set up an appointment, or visit our website: www.MartinMortuary.com.

Whether you desire cremation or burial, Martin Mortuary now provides the security of insurance funded funeral prearrangements.

November 2013

Crossword Puzzle

Across 1 Typical reply to “Que pasa?”

5 Tall spars 10 Totalizes 14 Guinness of stage 15 Brass or bronze, e.g.

16 Passion 17 What a contested will might do?

19 Recital of events 20 Shakespearean stage device 21 Drenched in sauce 23 Three, in Milan 25 Per capita 26 James Cameron film 29 Engine parts 31 Mil. branch 34 Affirmative moves 35 Fencing ploy 37 Sergeant or corporal 38 “Jefferson in Paris” star 40 Deep matter?

41 Sacrificial stone 43 ___ as directed 44 Does 65, rather than 55 47 Grown grigs 48 Mal de ___” 49 Wee ones 50 Legally binding command 52 German border river 54 Lobby or novel ending 55 A cast of ___ 60 Cum laude start 64 Hindquarters 65 Will Rogers?

67 Wheelhouse direction 68 One starting a roast?

69 One of the Muppets 70 It’s in back of your house 71 Blows one’s horn 72 Line of stitches Down 1 Out-of-this-world org.?

2 Yodeler’s range?

3 Hero’s hangout 4 Crucial trial 5 ___-jongg 6 Hearty -libations 7 Like a long shot’s chances 8 Matador’s foe 9 Buddy, binary and block 10 Empire conquered by Cortés 11 One seeking Mr. Right?

12 Earnhart of NASCAR 13 Transport for Susan Butcher 18 Graceful seabird 22 “___ la vista, baby!”

24 It takes things to extremes 26 Per ___ 27 Like some lips or change 28 A nonproductive -tenant?

29 Blubbers 30 “___ Lang Syne” 32 Dieter’s place?

33 From Oslo 36 Prepared some beds?

39 Colorado park 42 Teaches 45 Balcony barrier 46 80’s “Star Wars” plan 51 She, in Rome 53 Took for a ride 55 Lazy Susan, e.g.

56 Polynesian dance 57 Hurler Hideo 58 Art trailer 59 Editor’s scribble 61 1,609 meters 62 “I Remember ___” 63 Niels Bohr’s concern 66 “___ Miserables”

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Letters are a morale builder However, the Nazis captured him along with other British military. In etter writing is a lost art in today’s the POW camp during the next four society of technology. What with years when the email, texting, Red Cross packcell phones and ages and mail Skype, a solfinally arrived, dier has almost the men jumped immediate for joy, danced, contact, which cried, sang is sort of like and shouted. being home.

Through correDecades ago, spondence, the maybe even “impostor” also today, every developed a soldier, Marine, love and eventusailor, WACs, ally inherited a WAVES and family. pilot anticipated John Tyree mail call. in “Dear John” In “The Civil by Nicholas War,” a film The picture is of Navy S1/c Charles H. Murray and Sparks, walked

by Ken Burns, wife Margaret found among a pile of airmail letters. through the Shelby Foote He was stationed on Guadalcanal 1944-1945. campgrounds to reveals that his tent holding boredom was a problem for the men.

When not in battle one soldier yelled, a letter. During his deployments, he still wanted to know that Savannah “I believe they have lost my letters. was waiting.

I haven’t received one in the three In “Guadalcanal Journal” (1940-43) weeks I’ve been here. Yet I’ve written PFC James A. Donahue recorded, “I every chance I sat down.”

Mail call seemed a salve as depicted received two letters and it was too in “The Captive Heart” (1946 movie). dark to read them. I was afraid I In 1940, a Czech soldier removed the would get knocked off before morning and then not read the letters. uniform from a dead British soldier.

By Anna Russell

L

Don’t know where to send your letter?

Operation Interdependence can help. OI volunteers send quart-sized care packages called C-rats to U.S. troops, containing items such as snacks, games and personal care products.

“We receive letters from troops all the time thanking us for the packages, but especially for the note from a stranger because it’s nice for them to know that someone cares back home,” OI President Karon Carley said.

OI will be at Shabby Chic Boutique, 2568 Patterson Road in Grand Junction, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on November 23 with materials to make and sign Christmas cards for the troops.

They will also host a donation drive from Veterans Day (November 11) to Pearl Harbor Day (December 7). Much needed items are ChapStick, Band-Aids, travel-size toothpaste, toothbrushes, eye drops, razors, small containers of shaving cream, wipes, hand sanitizer, travel-size shampoo, unscented soap and more. Donations can be dropped off at Shabby Chic Boutique. For more information about OI, call 523-4217.

I saw it happen before. I got more mail. Gee, Cassie is swell.... It is November 14 and I received letters dated October 7. That is real good service.”

In “Days of Anguish, Days of Hope,” Billy Keith tells of Air Force Chaplain General Robert Preston Taylor’s three and a half years as a World War II POW. Roper and Mary Frances were friends in grade school and dated through high school. However, immediately after graduation, Roper was drafted into the Korean conflict, severely testing their true and deep love. For six months, Mary Frances waited for Roper’s letters but none came. Another man pursued her and

Now Open!!!

they married. The day after Mary Frances’ wedding, Roper appeared.

The torturous Bataan Death March and imprisonment under Japanese torture had momentary relief should mail get through. A rumor swirled among the prisoners that the Japanese hoarded warehouses full of letters and packages intended for the American troops. When the Red Cross delivered the first mail from home, a near frenzy broke among the prisoners as they surrounded the guard hut and stood for two hours while the censored mail was distributed.

Letters are a good morale builder, so write a letter to a troop today. ■

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30 Mesa county

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

Mesa County Calendar Compiled by Cloie Sandlin November 1-2

Day of the Dead Martin Mortuary hosts a community celebration of Day of the Dead from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. at 550 North Ave. in Grand Junction. Enjoy mariachi music and informal videos about the holiday. Take part in an art walk of works (some for sale), including some vendor booths. Proceeds from food and a portion of proceeds from all goods sold will be donated to HopeWest. There will be community altars set up in the chapel on Saturday, and face painting, mask making and more activities for the grandkids.

For more information, visit www. martinmortuary.com or call 243-1538.

November 1-2

Cowboy Poetry Gathering Daytime program on Friday is 1 p.m.5 p.m. and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.

Suggested donation is $2 per person.

Both days’ evening programs begins at 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $7 per person. Takes place at Whitman Educational Center. Call 242-0971.

November 2

Culture Fest

This annual celebration of western Colorado’s cultural diversity is from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Mesa County Libraries’ Central Library. Nations and cultures from almost every continent are represented at Culture Fest and all are eager to share their customs and to answer questions. The Color of Dreams Art Show happens at the Central Library and an opening reception for the show is from 6 p.m.8 p.m. on November 1, featuring entertainment by Pete Jeffries and Friends. The art show will be on display through November 29. Culture Fest is open to the public free of charge. For more information, call 243-4442.

November 6

Senior Social at Crossroads Fitness

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Enjoy some fun and free fitness classes that are open to the public at Crossroads Fitness’ Airport Location, 2768 Compass Drive. Join us for Zumba Gold at 9:15 a.m. and Sweat and Sculpt at 11 a.m. Between classes, guest speaker Anna Boxwell will give winter health tips from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Receive some healthy

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Scott Washkowiak with Field to Fork CSA in Palisade explains a proper winter composting technique at the recent end-of-season celebratory Hoe Down, which BEACON staff attended.

Thanksgiving recipes and ideas, and enjoy warm apple cider and homemade treats. For more information, call 242-8746.

November 8

“Distant Treasures in the Mist” exhibit opening

Local authors will be at the Museum of the West, 462 Ute Ave., from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to sign their books.

Get your Christmas shopping done all in one place, as signed books make great Christmas presents.

November 9-11

This exhibit opens at the Museum of the West, 462 Ute Ave. Hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturday. Cost is $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors, $3.75 for children and $20 for a group of up to six members.

Free day on the Monument

November 9

Metropolitan Opera in HD

An Evening in Paris Experience the sights, sounds and entertainment of the City of Lights as you visit the street painters of Montmarte Street or spend an evening at the Paris Opera House right here in Grand Junction. Enjoy an evening of fine food and wine, live and silent auctions, and dancing to the sounds of the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra. Artists from the Oakley Gallery will be in attendance, showcasing their talents in street painting, and dancers from Colorado Mesa University Dance Department will perform a special can-can. Cocktails begin at 5:30 p.m. and takes place at Two Rivers Convention Center, 159 Main St. in Grand Junction. Cost is $125 per person.

November 9

Authors’ Party

Enjoy the National Park Service’s fee-free day on the Colorado National Monument, celebrating Veterans Day weekend.

November 9 & 13

The Metropolitan Opera is broadcasted worldwide for millions to experience. See the MET at Regal Cinemas, 648 Market St. in Grand Junction, at 10:55 a.m. on November 9 and 6:30 p.m. on November 13. For more information, visit www.grandvalley opera.com.

November 14

Local Energy Resources-Geology This Changing Landscapes of Science lecture takes place at 7 p.m. at the Whitman Educational Center, 248 S. Fourth St. Cost is $5 for members of the Museum of Western Colorado and the John McConnell Math and Science Center, and $10 for nonmembers. Call 242-0971 for details.

November 16

A Publishing Primer From the first kernel of an idea to contract negotiations to reading a

November 2013 royalty statement, this course presented by national bestselling author Jeanne C. Stein will help prepare you for a career in publishing. Topics discussed include genre vs. literary fiction; point of view, setting, and world building; “rules” of writing; story structure; common mistakes; writing a query letter; which publishing venue is right for you; and you’ve been offered a contract, now what?

Come armed with questions and the first pages of your work in progress.

Breakfast and lunch are included in the $55 registration cost for members ($70 for nonmembers), along with door prizes and free books. Class takes place from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Grand Junction Business Incubator, 2591 Legacy Way. To register, call 497-6452 or visit www.rmfw.org.

November 16

Ignite Western Slope If you had five minutes on stage, what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Inspire us, but make it quick! Mesa County Central Library hosts Ignite Western Slope in Grand Junction for the first time from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Free and open to the public. Visit www.ignitews.org or call 527-4758 for more information.

November 16

Fur Ball

This annual benefit for Community Cat Care helps provides funds for programs that spay and neuter feral cats. The benefit is from 7 p.m.11 p.m. at A Taste of Heaven Catering, 2817 North Ave. There will be a fajita bar, cash bar, live auction, silent auction, live band, caricature drawings and more. Cost is $25 per person. Tickets can be purchased at City Market, Atlas Auto/Conoco, and by calling 216-2409.

November 22-23

Fall for Dance

Colorado Mesa University’s Dance Program presents this annual concert at the Moss Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. both days and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Ticket prices vary. Call the box office at 248-1604 for more information and to purchase tickets.

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com November 23-24

Art Center Art and Craft Fair The Art Center’s Art and Craft Fair is open to the public from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday and 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday at 1803 N. Seventh St. For more information, call 243-7337.

November 23

Send cards to the troops Operation Interdependence will be at the Shabby Chic Boutique, 2586 Patterson Road, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for people of all ages to make and sign Christmas cards that are sent to the troops. For more information, call 523-4217.

November 23

Community Contra Dance Come with or without a partner to La Puerta Ballroom, 523-1/2 Main St. in Grand Junction (upstairs in the Margery Building). A new dancer’s workshop begins at 7 p.m. and the dance takes place from 7:30 p.m.10:30 p.m. Adults are $8. Enjoy live Celtic/old time music by Fifth Reel.

For more information, call Connie at 243-6736.

November 23-24

Craft Bazaar and Bake Sale This event is open to the public and takes place at the Moose Lodge, 567 25 1/2 Road. Saturday’s hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday’s hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call 242-4754.

River City Singles

Mesa county 31

November 2013 Activity Schedule

“Young-at-heart adults getting together for fun and friendship!”

Friday Afternoon Club meets at 5 p.m. Fridays in the lounge at The Doubletree Hotel, 743 Horizon Drive. The first FAC meeting of the month is our business meeting. Call Janice Koppang at 261-9114 or 433-7108 for details.

Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. - Join us for Early Start Breakfast at Denny’s on Horizon Drive.

Call Debbie Grose at 245-4995 for details.

Wednesdays at 5 p.m. - Dine out at the following locations every week. Visitors are welcome. Call Debbie Grose at 245-4995 for details.

November 6 - Johnny Carino’s, 2480 Hwy 6 & 50 November 13 - Red Robin, 2530 Rimrock Ave. November 20 - The Ale House, 2531 N. 12th St. November 27 – Pantuso’s Ristorante, 755 Horizon Drive Saturdays at 9 a.m. - Meet at Albertson’s on the Redlands for a leisurely bicycle ride along the Colorado River Trail. RSVP to Bob Lewis at 263-8482.

Sundays at 12:30 p.m. - It’s Bowling Sunday followed by card games at Orchard Mesa Lanes, 295 27 Road. RSVP to Bob Lewis at 263-8462.

Sundays - Cheer on the Broncos while enjoying a potluck at the Moose Lodge, 567 25-1/2 Road. Contact Mary Wynn at 255-7370.

November 10 vs. Chargers. Meet at 2:15 p.m.

November 17 vs. Chiefs. Meet at 2 p.m.

November 24 vs. Patriots. Meet at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 2 at noon - Have lunch and play billiards at Bank 8 Billiards, 2460 Patterson Road. Call Mary Wynn at 255-7370.

Tuesday, November 5 at 9 a.m. - Come with us to Red Cliff Lodge Museum in Moab, Utah. Meet at Albertson’s on the Redlands. Pack a lunch or lunch will be available for $10.50. Contact Mitzi Taylor at 242-2807.

Thursday, November 21 at 5:30 p.m. - Restaurant Rove to Leon’s Mexican Restaurant, 507 30 Road. Contact Mary Lu Graham at 241-0280.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28

Turkey Trot This 5K Race takes place on Main Street, starting at Two Rivers Convention Center, at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Register early to guarantee a T-shirt. Proceeds benefit Toys for Tots, Colorado Professional Firefighters Foundation and a local fund for sick or injured firefighters and their families. For more information, call 560-4616. ■

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If you have an event or photo you would like to have appear in the Beacon, send it to: beacon@pen dantpublishing.com.

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We speCialize in HOnesty

32 Mesa county

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Mesa County Beacon Bits Compiled by Cloie Sandlin

Weight loss surgery seminar If you are considering weight loss surgery, attend a free education session presented by the staff of St. Mary’s Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Center. Learn how the different types of surgery work, who qualifies, and how St. Mary’s will support you as you change your life. Sessions take place at the St. Mary’s Life Center, 2686 Patterson Road in Grand Junction. Call 298-6400 to register.

• November 6 - 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

• November 20 - noon to 1:30 p.m.

Suicide prevention training This free training helps people know how to recognize if someone is at risk and helps them know how to respond. The next training will be held from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Thursday, November 14 at Community Hospital, 2021 N. 12th St. Registration is en-

couraged, but not required. Register at www.suicidepreventionfounda tion.org or call 683-6626.

Veterans Day Flag Service The Redlands Lions Club members and volunteers will be placing flags out for Veterans Day, weather permitting. They will place flags out in the early morning and pick them up the same day late afternoon. Areas served are Tiara Rado, Seasons, Monument Village, Panorama, Village Way and a few other subdivisions and area businesses. The flag service honors 10 holidays throughout the year. Cost is $30. To receive the service or to volunteer, call 242-3222 or 422-7961.

Concert reminder for MCCA ticket holders Thank you for a sold-out season! Voca People performs at 7:30 p.m. November 3 and Twisted Strings performs at 7:30 p.m. November 14 at Grand Junction High School. Doors open at

6:45 p.m. Call 243-1979 or visit www. mesacountyconcertassociation.org for details.

Home Care of the Grand Valley’s Nurse of the Year The National Association for Home Care and Hospice agrees that Home Care of the Grand Valley nurse Judi DeVore is special. In fact, the organization named her Colorado Home Care & Hospice Nurse of the Year for 2013. She moved to Grand Junction in 2002 to help establish Home Care of the Grand Valley, a nonprofit organization that has been named one of the top home care agencies in the country by Home Care Elite seven years in a row. “I find home care so satisfying because it presents the challenge of meeting patients in their homes and making an impact on their lives,” DeVore said. “The most gratifying part of my job is helping patients learn to deal with a chronic disease or recover from a recent illness in the place where they feel most comfortable and safe.”

Country music and dance Bill Bartley plays classic country music for biweekly dances from 7 p.m.10 p.m. at the Grand Junction Senior Recreation Center, 550 Ouray Ave. All ages are welcome. November dances are on the 9th and 23rd. Cost is $5.

Donation drive for veterans Operation Interdependence will host a donation drive from Veterans Day (November 11) to Pearl Harbor Day (December 7). Much needed items are ChapStick, Band-Aids, travel-size toothpaste, toothbrushes, eye drops, razors, small containers of shaving

November 2013 cream, wipes, hand sanitizer, travelsize shampoo, unscented soap and more. Donations can be dropped off at Shabby Chic Boutique, 2586 Patterson Road in Grand Junction. Call 523-4217.

Military Open House Operation Interdependence invites all veterans, active military and their spouses to an open house from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. at VFW Post # 1247, 1404 Ute Ave., as a thank you for their service. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Call 523-4217 for more information.

Holiday food drive for vets Your donation of canned and nonperishable food items will help feed local veterans and their families during the holidays. Donations will be accepted through December 6 and can be dropped off at the Grand Junction Vet Center, 2472 F Road, or at any Alpine Bank location, Cabela’s and Crossroads Fitness (airport location). Donations will be distributed in December. For more information, call 245-4156.

Support groups • Mending Hearts Support Group is for any adult who has experienced the death of a loved one. This group meets from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. every Thursday at the Miller Homestead at HopeWest, 3090 N. 12th St. Call Paul at 683-3202 for details.

• Caregiver Connections is open to all caregivers. This group meets from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. every Tuesday at the Miller Homestead at HopeWest, 3090 N. 12th St. Call Terry at 2608931 for details.

November 2013 • St. Mary’s Stroke Support Group meets from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. on the third Friday of each month in the Grand Mesa Room of St. Mary’s Life Center, 2686 Patterson Road. Call 298-1929 for details.

• Breast Cancer Support Group meets from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the Reflection Room of St. Mary’s Hospital (Entrance 25). Call 298-2254 for details.

• GriefShare is a nondenominational Christ-based support group for those mourning the death of a loved one.

Choose from two different times: 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Mondays or 6:30 p.m.8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. For details, call Vicci Hofmann at 778-1599.

Volunteer opportunities • RSVP connects individuals 55 and older to volunteer positions in any of our member agencies. For a list of volunteer opportunities and to register, call 243-9839.

• Operation Interdependence needs volunteers to write notes for the troops, help collect products and pack civilian rations. Call 523-4217.

• Harden Hospice needs volunteers to help patients tell their life stories.

Training is provided. Call 210-5912.

Club activities • Friendship Force meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at Community Hospital’s lower conference room. Call 260-4653 or visit www.thefriendshipforce.org.

• Vestafjell Lodge, Sons of Norway will celebrate Thanksgiving and honor veterans at 2 p.m. November 10 at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, 3133 F Road. Election for 2014 officers will also be held. Bring a generous side dish to accompany the roast turkey provided by the lodge. Call 245-5649, 242-3396 or visit www.vestafjelllodge.org.

• Western Slope Coin Club meets at 6:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at the VFW Post # 1247, 1404 Ute Ave. Get a free coin/ currency evaluation before the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Call 241-1770 or visit

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Mesa county 33

ww.gjcoinshow.com.

• Two Rivers Sams Chapter, Good Sam RV Club, meets at noon on November 9. For location, call 523-5625.

• Mesa County Genealogical Society meets at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the Commons of Hilltop and at noon on the fourth Wednesday of the month (bring a lunch) at the Museum of Western Colorado. A help session is at 1 p.m. on the first Friday of the month at one of the Mesa County libraries. Call 245-5312.

• Western Slope Non-Smoking Singles has potlucks on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month at 6 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church.

They have dinner on the third Wednesday of the month and have monthly outings. Call 434-5277.

• Mesa Fiberarts Guild meets at noon the first Wednesday of the month at First Presbyterian Church, and at 6 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at the City Clerk’s Office break room. Call 245-9469 or visit www.mesafiberartsguild.org.

• Grand Junction Christian Women’s Network meets at 12:15 p.m. for a luncheon at The Clarion Inn. Cost is $14. RSVP required. Call 858-1044.

• Post 2009, American Legion meets at 5:30 p.m. for dinner at The Atrium of the Grand Valley with a meeting to follow. All honorably discharged veterans are welcome to join. Call 242-9195.

• Thunder Mountain Camera Club meets at 7 p.m. on November 26 at the Grand Junction Masonic Center, 2400 Consistory Court. Program by Rob Kurtzman. Call 260-7488.

• Play Pinochle from 1:30 p.m.4 p.m. Saturdays at Nellie Bechtel Senior Apartments. Will teach beginners. Call 241-0048.

• Bookcliff Duplicate Bridge Club welcomes new members to play at 2923 North Ave. Open games are at 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 6:30 p.m. Thursdays.

Call 243-7874. ■

Sub-acute care ▪ 24-hour skilled nursing ▪ rehabilitation ▪ Long-term care ▪ Dementia care ▪ Hospice and Respite care ▪ Secured Alzheimer’s unit ▪ Palisades Living Center

151 East 3rd Street, Palisade, CO 81526 (970) 464-7500

34 Delta/ Montrose counties

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

On the Western Slope. Delta/Montrose Calendar Across the Nation.

Compiled by Liesl Greathouse November 2

We succeed when we help change the lives of older adults and families in our communities.

• Valley Manor Care Center • The Homestead at Montrose • Horizons Health Care & Retirement Community • Senior CommUnity Care Meals • Senior CommUnity Care PACE • Home Health of

Western Colorado

Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, faith-based organization who since 1896, has been dedicated to helping those in need live healthy, safe and productive lives. On the Western Slope of Colorado, we offer independent senior and family housing and care services, including site-based and home delivery meals programs, PACE program and senior day centers, home health care management, assisted living, skilled nursing care, memory care, and transitional, rehabilitation, and respite care.

For more information, visit www.voahealthservices.org

There when you need them the most.

Minor injuries & Illness Colds, Flu & Allergies Sports, Dot & employment physicals.

Laceration and Fracture Care Terry S. Wade D.O. Barbara Budagaher P.A.-C Izzy Singleton P.A.-C MON

- FRI 8AM - 8PM SAT 8AM - 4PM - 4 PM, CLOSED EASTER, CHRISTMAS & THANKSGIVING

SUN NOON

Colorado Hard Cider Festival

Delicious Orchards is pleased to host the second annual Colorado Hard Cider Festival. Come out and taste some locally made hard cider and sample others from around Colorado. Come for lunch and enjoy great food and live music. Event takes place from noon to 6 p.m. at Delicious Orchards, 39126 Hwy 133 in Paonia. For more information, call 527-1110.

November 9

Down Home Country Bazaar This holiday bazaar is sponsored by the United Methodist Women from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at 19 South Park in Montrose. A delicious hot lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. There will be fresh baked goodies to enjoy in the coffee shop all day, along with a variety of vendors and crafts. For more information, call 240-3616.

November 9

Denim & Diamonds Casino Night Dream Catcher Therapy Center and End of the Trail Horse Rescue, which provide equine-assisted mental therapy, veterans programs, riding therapy and horse rescue, is hosting its annual casino night fundraiser with live and silent auctions, cash bar, food and dancing to the Ghost River Band. The event will be 6 p.m.10 p.m. at the Montrose Elks Lodge, 801 S. Hillcrest Drive. Tickets are $25 at the door. For more information, call 323-5400.

November 9 & 23

Dances at the Montrose Pavilion The Montrose Pavilion Dance Club hosts dances from 7:30 p.m.-11 p.m. at the Montrose Pavilion, 1800 Pavilion Drive. On November 9, there will be music by Ric and Karen and on November 23, there will be music by the Ghost River Band. Admission is $5. For details, call 252-7172.

November 14

AARP Driver Safety Course-Montrose Montrose County Health and Human Services will host the AARP Driver

Safety Program from 8:30 a.m.1 p.m. at 1845 S. Townsend Ave. Cost is $12 for AARP members and $14 for nonmembers. Preregistration required. Call Amy at 275-5251.

November 15

Mountain Film on Tour Come check out the best of the Mountain Film Festival from 2013.

This free event will be from 5:45 p.m.9 p.m. at the Montrose Pavilion, 1800 Pavilion Drive. Call 249-7015.

November 16

Civil War Sesquicentennial Event This event takes place at 1 p.m. at the Egyptian Theater, 452 Main St. in Delta, with the showing of the movie, “Copperhead.” This movie is about a family of abolitionists in upstate New York during the Civil War and the struggles they encounter trying to decide if and how to participate in the conflict. Local historian Gary Parrott will give a short presentation on “Copperheads in Colorado.” Tickets are $10 and include entry into a drawing for a Henry 30-30 rifle and a Civil War Era reproduction rifle. Must be present to win. For more information, call 874-8721 or 243-0476.

November 27

Pie Sale & Craft Boutique Crossroads Assisted & Independent Living in Delta is hosting its annual Pie Sale & Craft Boutique from 8 a.m.2 p.m. at 1380 Aspen Way. Proceeds will help buy Christmas gifts for the residents of Crossroads. Homemade apple and pumpkin pies are $10 and pecan pies are $12. Crafts include a variety of gift baskets, door art, wreaths and decorations, made primarily by the residents. For more information, call 874-1421.

November 29

Downtown Visitor Center Open House Tour the new Visitor Center in downtown Montrose. Enjoy decadent treats and beverages, purchase “Colorado Proud” gift items, view artist displays and more. This event will be 10 a.m.9 p.m. at the Visitor Center, 107 S. Cascade Ave. in Montrose. For more information, call 240-1558. ■

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Delta/ Montrose counties 35

Veterans and horses: comrades in arms

By Carol Inglis

involvement with service members oth military and veterans. service mem“My wife, Diane, bers and horses and I were originalhave served faithly just looking for fully across the volunteer work that centuries, giving would give back their strength and to others some lives for others. of what we have Throughout history received,” Vietnam many of them were veteran and DCTC comrades in arms, volunteer George facing the battlePettit said. field together. After Though he the wars, many considers himself of them worked an animal lover, together on farms.

George’s backToday, they often ground with horses come together to was only that of help each other being an occaand to reach out sional guest at a with service to local riding stable. others.

But when his wife Dream Catcher reported to George Therapy Center what she had heard (DCTC), currently about DCTC, it located in Olathe Army veteran Dustin Orth and Little Man, an 8-year-old quarter horse that was donated seemed like the and expanding specifically to be used by the veterans at Dream Catcher Therapy Center. ideal opportunity soon to Mesa Counto give back. ty, is serving as a cognitive and physical disabilities.

While Diane helped out with fundconduit to further facilitate this close They found that this mission fit well raising and serving on the board relationship between horses and with their desire to offer horses that of directors, George’s volunteering veterans through programs geared have been abused or neglected a secconsisted of mostly mucking stalls specifically to veterans. ond chance to be cared for, nurtured to providing the horses with a more Their informative brochure reads, “Dream Catcher Therapy Center sup- and valued. comfortable bed. His previous chalGiven the knowledge and experiports our troops and the horses do, lenge with back pain caused him to ence that comes with being a militoo.” shift emphasis to other tasks such The horses along with DCTC thera- tary family, it seems only natural that as grooming, being a “horse friend” pists can help those traumatized by they would guide DCTC into more to horses needing to reconnect with war regain the control necessary to live healthy lives.

MONTROSE ORAL SURGERY AND It hardly seems a coincidence that Dream Catcher Therapy Center and DENTAL IMPLANT SPECIALISTS End of the Trail Horse Rescue was • Specialist Implant Surgeons with Advanced Training founded by a military family.

• Most experienced implant team in our area Bill Hamm, who serves in the U.S. • Implants for denture stability & Army and is currently deployed overimplants for individual tooth replacement seas, and his wife, Kathy, established • Do your surgery asleep or awake the center as a way to meet some of • We work with your general dentist the challenges of their special needs • Conventional, Mini & Orthodontic Implants child and ended up extending its Craig T. Cayo D.D.S., benefits and opportunities to chilwww.montroseoms.com Dorcha W. Boisen D.D.S. dren and adults who have emotional, 970.240.4485 • 600 S. Park Avenue • Montrose, CO 81401

B

people, and working with the Therapeutic Riding Program.

DCTC now offers a Monday night gathering for veterans, which serves as an opportunity for veterans to hang out with a group of people who had shared a similar experience.

George said he “slid sideways into the new veterans program.”

Having decided to attend the program one Monday evening, he found meeting with the other veterans to be informal and relaxing without the rigid structure he’d found difficult in the military.

For George, DCTC completed the loop. He set out to offer his service to the program and in turn, he found himself being served. He has joined the other veterans and horses at DCTC who still find themselves comrades in arms.

For more information on DCTC and their services, call 323-5400 or visit www.dctc.org. ■

Community Theatre PRESENTS

36 Delta/ Montrose counties

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Quality Care with a compassionate touch Paonia Care and rehabilitation Center 1625 Meadowbrook blvd • Paonia, Co Hospice • Respite Care • 24 Hour Skilled Nursing Care • Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy • Medicare/Medicaid Certified Transportation to & from Appointments • Respiratory Services Available as Needed • Dedicated Rooms for Rehabilitations and Recoveries • Long Term Care and Private Rooms Available • Basic Cable Service Provided to our Clients • All Qualified Insurances Accepted Medicare • Medicaid • HMO • Private • PACE • UMWA • Hospice Respite Care • VA We Accept MC & Visa Credit Cards

970-527-4837 www.PCrC.web.officelive.com

November 2013

Delta/Montrose Beacon Bits Compiled by Liesl Greathouse

Events for veterans The Warrior Resource Center, 11 S. Park Ave. in Montrose, has the following events scheduled for veterans in November. If you have not previously registered with the Warrior Resource Center as a veteran, bring a form of military ID with you. For more information, call 765-2210.

• All veterans are invited for coffee from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. every Thursday.

• All military spouses (of any branch or era) are invited for coffee from 2:30 p.m.-3 p.m. every Thursday.

• The public is invited to eagle head cane presentations at 1 p.m. the first Thursday of every month. Beautiful eagle head canes created by Black Canyon Wood Carvers and Wood Workers Guild of Western Colorado are presented to veterans.

Support groups • Veterans PTSD support group meets at 10 a.m. Thursdays at the Montrose Workforce Center, 504 N. First St. Veterans must provide a copy of their DD214 as verification of eligibility of services. Call 245-4156.

• Stroke Support Group meets 11 a.m. to noon, twice a month, at Montrose Memorial Hospital’s Acute

Rehab Unit. For details and meeting days, call Tim Ramsey at 318-2028.

• Bosom Buddies Breast Cancer Support Group meets from noon to 1:15 p.m. Wednesdays at 645 S. Fifth St. in Montrose.

• Caregiver Support Group meets 1 p.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays at Crossroads Assisted & Independent Living model cottage (first cottage on the left) at 1380 Aspen Way in Delta. Call 773-4214.

• Mending Hearts Support Group, offered by HopeWest, is open to adults who have experienced the death of a loved one.

• Delta group meets at 6 p.m.7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at HopeWest, 195 Stafford Lane. Call 874-6823.

• Montrose group meets from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays and 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays at the Bosom Buddies Room, 645 S. Fifth St. Call 252-2520.

• Cedaredge group meets at 2 p.m.

Tuesdays at the Cedaredge Public Library, 180 S.W. Sixth Ave. • Hotchkiss group meets from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays at First Baptist Church, 203 W. Main St.

Volunteer opportunities • Harden Hospice in Montrose is seeking volunteers to help their

Custom Engraved:

Home appointments available

• Headstones • Stone Signs • Address Rocks • Sandblasting • River Rocks • Gifts & More

970-323-6658

Please call for an appointment

www.facebook.com/ MorrisMonument

morrismonument.com

1630 South Main Street, Delta

Life’s Legacy in Stone

November 2013 patients tell their life stories. Share some laughter, hold a hand, and be there when you’re needed most. For more information, call 210-5912.

• HopeWest in Delta and Montrose is seeking volunteers for a variety of positions. In Delta, call 874-6823 for more information. In Montrose, call 252-2642.

AARP Driver Safety Course Save on insurance, keep up on newer traffic laws, and learn defensive driving techniques. For details and schedule, call John Loring at 856-6924 or 424-1778.

Valley Symphony Concert Enjoy the special music of the holiday season with a candlelight concert featuring the Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. The program features an array of popular Christmas carols and holiday pieces (old and new). There will also be an audience sing-along. Always a favorite, this will be a concert to brighten the holidays, so don’t miss it! This event will be at 7:30 p.m. November 30 and 3 p.m. December 1 at the Montrose Pavilion, 1800 Pavilion Drive. It will also be at 3 p.m. December 8 at the Delta County Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $16 for adults and $15 for seniors 60 and older. For more information and tickets, call 249-7015.

New director joins Volunteers of America Volunteers of America is pleased to announce the appointment of Cindy (C.J.) Simmers as the new executive director of Senior CommUnity Care and Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The PACE model is centered on the belief that the wellbeing of seniors with chronic care needs are better served by providing health care and supportive services that enable them to remain living in their home whenever possible. A resident of the North Fork Valley for 20 years, Simmers has a degree in social work and sociology from Suffolk University in Boston. Her office will initially be located in the PACE Day Center in Eckert, 11411 Hwy 65.

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Magic Circle Players present “Man Of LaMancha” Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant have been thrown into a dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition. Their fellow prisoners attack them and set up a mock trial. In his defense, Cervantes offers up a play. They are drawn into the tales of Cervantes’ classic character, Don Quixote, the knight-errant who tilts at windmills and champions a harlot, whom he sees as the fair maiden Dulcinea. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m.

Sundays, November 1-23. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for seniors.

Play starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Magic Circle Theatre, 420 S. 12th St. in Montrose. For showtimes and more information, call 249-7838.

Blue Sage Center for the Arts events All events take place at the Blue Sage Center for the Arts, located at 226 Grand Ave. in Paonia. For more information on any of the following activities, call 527-7243.

• Ewald’s Quintet No. 1, 7:30 p.m.9:30 p.m., November 8. Although the French composer Jean François Bellon was writing music for brass quintets almost 40 years earlier, Victor Ewald’s compositional style popularized the form due to his deft handling of the instruments. Uncover the underexposed world of music for brass quintet. Come for the rare opportunity to experience the regal and powerful sound of five live brass players.

• Grand Vin Wine Tasting, 3 p.m.6 p.m., November 9. Savor the American Provence by spending a weekend experiencing the hidden treasures of the North Fork Valley. Eight different wineries and one distillery will congregate in the Blue Sage’s historic Curtis Hall to present you with 22 different finely crafted wines and hard ciders to taste. After the tasting, participate in a live auction where you can purchase the wines you tasted, and a few bottles from the wineries’ libraries. After the event, make a reservation at a local restau-

rant to round out the afternoon with local cuisine. Discounted lodging and meal deals are available.

• Writing for Love, Writing for Money, 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m., November 9. Conducted by best-selling author Craig Childs and freelance writer Angus Stocking, this seminar examines both sides of the writing life: how to stay inspired, and how to make a living. They will share the strategies and daily practices that have enabled them to stay passionate about writing for decades, while also paying the bills and making a good living. Space is limited. Cost is $185, and includes eight hours of intensive instruction, books and other material, lunch with science-fiction writer Paolo Bacigalupi, and an evening reception that brings together seminar participants and Western Colorado writers and artists.

Delta Senior Activities The following activities are offered at Bill Heddles Recreation Center, 530 Gunnison River Drive in Delta. To register for any of the following activities or for a full list, call 874-0923.

• Community Evening Dances Held from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month. Cost is $4 per person. Please bring a snack to share.

Montrose Senior Activities The Montrose Recreation District has the following activities scheduled for seniors 50+ in November. Register one week ahead. Events take place at the Montrose Pavilion, 1800 Pavilion Drive, or transportation departs from the Montrose Pavilion. Please arrive at each event at least 15 minutes early. For more information on any of the following activities, call 252-4884.

• Shrek, The Musical - Performance by the Theatre Project in Grand Junction, noon to 5 p.m., November 2. In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an unseemly ogre shows up to rescue a feisty princess. Throw in a donkey who won’t shut up, a bad guy with a short temper, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale

Delta/ Montrose counties 37 misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand and his name is Shrek. Cost is $30. No lunch stop on this trip.

• Fall Hike at the Colorado National Monument Area - 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., November 8. Cost is $18.

• Visit Weisbaden Hot Springs 9:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m., November 14.

Relax in the Wiesbaden’s continually flowing natural hot springs vapor cave with soaking pool and outdoor swimming pool. This is a no smoking establishment. Because of the extreme allergies of many of the guests, the Weisbaden cannot accommodate anyone who has smoked at all during the past three months. Cost is $27.

Bring your own lunch or money for lunch. ■ If you have an event or photo you would like to have appear in the Beacon, send it to: beacon@pen dantpublishing.com.

What’s your plan when you have a long-term event?

Who will care for you and how will you pay for it?

Phyllis Hoffman, CLTC Long-Term-Care Specialist phoffman@genworthltc.com

970-765-5029 Colorado Western Slope Long Term Care Insurance

38 Garfield county

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Ol’ Man Winter (finally) comes a calling...

But don’t let that alarm you. We’ll show you how you can stay warm and save money with a home energy audit. Photo of Fritz Diether.

November 6 & 7

Grand River Cheese Tasting Event Sample gourmet cheeses, wines, imported olive oils, aged balsamic vinegar, smoked salmon, prime rib and pastas. They make great gift ideas or items for your holiday table. This event is a fundraiser for Grand River’s Caring & Sharing Program, which helps support projects in and around the hospital district. The event is held in the Grand River Health Conference Center from 5 p.m.-8 p.m.

Wednesday and in Grand River Café from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday. For more information, call 625-6415. Admission is free.

The Third Street Center, 520 Third St. in Carbondale, is hosting a free fall festival from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. featuring a carnival atmosphere with performances by local artists and school children, games and a chili cook-off.

Cook-off participants are encouraged to register ahead by calling 963-3221.

November 9

Creative Ventures

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Compiled by Cheryl Currier

Fall festival & chili cook-off

From gold and coal to uranium, mines still provide a source of revenue today.

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November 8

Local Lore

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November 2013

Carbondale Center for the Arts and Humanities (CCAH), the North Fork Creative Coalition and the Blue Sage Center for the Arts are joining forces to host Creative Ventures, a two-part series of affordable workshops for artists seeking professional development in marketing their art. The first workshop will be at the Third Street Center, 520 Third St. in Carbondale, from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The second weekend will take place in the spring. The workshop is free for members of CCAH and $20 for nonmembers. To register or for more information, call 963-1680 or visit www.carbondalearts.com.

November 16

Diabetes Health Fair Grand River Health’s Diabetes Health Fair is from 7 a.m.-10 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Church (Seventh and Birch) in Rifle. This health fair is designed

for those who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with diabetes. For a low cost, participants can receive lab work such as A1C, lipid panel and urine micro-albumin. There will also be many free health screenings including foot assessments, meter checks, blood pressure checks, finger stick glucose and information on diabetes prevention, such as nutrition and exercise. Flu shots will be available for $15. For details, call 625-6200.

November 19

Healthy Holiday Goodies Looking for ways to spice up your holiday treat this year and keep yourself and loved ones on a healthy track? Nutritionist Heather Pratt presents alternative flours for baking and healthy sweetener options. Learn how to upgrade tried and true family recipes, and how to make some delicious and healthy treats. All the treats made in class are gluten-free and dairy-free. The class will be held at the Colorado Mountain College campus in Glenwood Springs from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Register by November 15. Register online at www.colorado mtn.edu or call 945-7486 for more information. Cost is $36.

November 21

Symphony in the Valley concert The Symphony in the Valley is teaming up with the Glenwood Springs Branch Library to celebrate America’s music. The symphony will be closing out the America’s Music program series by performing compositions from various American composers.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served after the concert. For details, call the Glenwood Springs Branch Library at 845-5958.

November 23

AARP Driver Safety Class High Country RSVP is hosting a driver safety class directed to people 50 years and older at the Grand Valley Recreation Center in Battlement Mesa from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Cost is $12 for AARP members and $15 for nonmembers. To register, call 384-8747. ■

November 2013

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Garfield county 39

Garfield County Beacon Bits Compiled by Cheryl Currier

Art After Hours

Pinochle Club in Parachute

Art After Hours is an evening workshop program sponsored by the Bookcliff Arts Center that meets from 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. every first and third Monday at the Stone House Gallery, 1100 E. 16th St. in Rifle. Cost is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers, which includes all materials. Call Betsy Blackard at 379-3842 to reserve a spot. Upcoming programs are:

The Pinochle Club meets at 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday at the Valley Senior Center, 540 N. Parachute Ave. This is a great opportunity to play the game, socialize and share snacks. Instructors are happy to teach those who want to learn the game or help others improve their skills. Call Cheryl at 285-9755 for more information or drop in any Tuesday.

Help with Medicare Open Enrollment Medicare Open Enrollment is the time to compare your current plan with all your options for 2014. By carefully comparing, you may find better coverage, higher quality or lower cost. December 7 is the deadline. This is the one time of year you can make changes to your health and prescription drug plans for the next year. Receive free, personalized health insurance counseling by calling High Country RSVP at 384-8744.

A trained volunteer will help you navigate your options.

Second Act Singers Michelle Baker is forming a singing group of seniors called Second Act Singers. The group meets at 6 p.m.

Thursdays at Baker’s home, 45 Poppy Court in Parachute. Call Baker at 989-4978 if you are interested in joining the group. You can bring your favorite music to sing. Second Act Singers will be looking for performance opportunities in Garfield County.

International Gift Festival The Glenwood Mennonite Church, 2306 Blake Ave. is hosting the Ten Thousand Villages 25th annual International Gift Festival from November 1-9 (except for Sunday). This free event showcases fair trade handicrafts you may purchase from artisans around the world. Stop by the church from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday. Call 945-5245 for more information or visit www.glenwood mennonite.org.

• November 4 - Silk flower arranging • November 18 - Creating a faux finish in plaster of Paris with a fall flair

Tech Shoppers Advice Looking for the perfect tech gift for the special someone, but not quite sure where to start? Stop by the Garfield Libraries in November to receive information about the latest gadgets and tips on what to look for in technology. A handout will be prepared and personal one-on-one consultation with our technology trainer will be given on a first come, first served basis.

• November 16 - Visit the Parachute Branch from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or the Rifle Branch from 2 p.m.4:30 p.m.

• November 23 - Visit the New Castle Library from 10 a.m.12:30 p.m. or the Silt Branch Library from 2 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

SIGN UP @ KREXTV.COM 5:00 & 6:00 PM WIN $50

10:00 PM WIN $100

NOV 4TH - 22ND IT’S YOUR CHOICE. CHOOSE THE BEST.

Helping Hands for Seniors High Country RSVP offers help for seniors and disabled individuals with small household repairs and maintenance. Handyman volunteers help seniors continue to live independently by helping them with simple yard work, minor plumbing and electrical repairs, light bulb and smoke detector battery replacement, basic computer help, minor carpentry, installation of grab bars and other projects. Call 384-87476 if you need some help. ■

24 7

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FIRE

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ASBESTOS

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R E S P O N S E

40 classifieds

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queStionS? Call Lisa M-TH, 9a.m.-4p.m., 970 243-8829 www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Real Estate for Sale Hickory Crest 55+ Community In Columbia, MD. 1 bedroom, den, 1.5 bath, wood floors. Close to Lorian/Hospital. $320,000. LongnandFoster Realtors. 410-730-9573/ 410-730-3456. Ann Detraglia.

For Sale Four spaces available in Garden of Devotion at Memorial Gardens. All for $4,000 and half of transfer fee. 756-0211 or 260-1039.

Piano & Organ Beeman Piano – Lowery Organ. With 125 pcs sheet music. Both in very good condition. Both for $750. Call 625-3493.

Home Services Professional Flooring Installer Insured and bonded. You purchase the tile, laminate, hardwood or vinyl and I provide everything else.

Special discounts. Call Bill for a free estimate. 245-3344.

Antiques, Appraisals, Estate Sales With over 30 years in the antique, appraisal and estate sale business, Great American Estate Sales is the valley’s leader in appraisals and estate liquidation. Settling an estate, moving into a smaller home or just simplifying your lifestyle? Great American Estate Sales can provide a worry-free and quick solution. Free consultation. 216-8236.

Reliable Estate Sales Are you in the midst of a stressful relocation or passing of a loved one?

Let us handle the burden of personal property liquidation from start to finish. Contact Mark Bluhm at 2602327, cash4@bresnan.net or www. reliableestatesales.net.

SCENE CLEARLY, LLC Window cleaners specializing in making your day a little brighter!

Grand Junction area. Call Frank Cordova at 242-1264.

Accessibility Services Grab bars. Walk in tubs/showers.

Licensed plumber/handyman.

“Serving Western Colorado since 1989.” Free estimates. Compare and save! 985-1403.

November 2013

Home Care Personal Care Provider Do you need a helping hand? Light meals, laundry, shopping, doctor’s appointments. $15/hour. References and background check available.

Grand Junction area. 201-4849. Kay. Routt County Native with 30 years experience in Home Health and Hospice nursing seeks to continue care for her “own” in the Grand Valley. Vikki 464-2021.

Home Care Provider Private Loving Personal Care.

Medication reminders, appointments and outings. Light cleaning and laundry. Excellent cook. CNA licensed, 20 years of experience.

Excellent references 628-4494 Carol.

Need help with your elderly loved ones?

21 years experience. Cooking, cleaning, meals, errands, and doctor’s appointments. References and background check available. Grand Junction area. 434-2049 Janet.

Home Care Provider 24 years experience. Personal care, cooking, light house cleaning, errands, doctor appointments.

References and background check available. Mesa County. Jackie 778-2597.

PASCO/SW, INC.

Skilled and unskilled homemaking and/or personal care. Skilled nursing, specialize in wound care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, CNA, social work, pre-op, post-op services. PASCO/SW carriers certification for Mi, children’s hospice and Tbi waivers.

Please call for courtesy evaluation of your home care needs.

Serving: Archuleta, Delta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, San Miguel Cortez (970)565-6833; Durango (970) 247-1211; Montrose (970) 240-1771; Toll Free (877) 685-6833

www.pascosw.com

Assisted Living Monument Assisted Living, 8 bed assisted living home, located at 2194 McKinley Drive in the Redlands, is currently accepting a resident in our lovely home. Please call Valerie at 618-0636 or 241-6562.

November 2013

Classes Elephant Mountain Peaceful Pistol University™ offers Pure Beginner Gun Class, Custom Marriage Pistol Course & the DPRDefensive Pistol Refresher (CCP). Suzanne@realstreamline. com. 270-3203. Growing in the Honorable Discipline of Protective Preparedness©

Miscellaneous Services Dedra’s Hair and Nails On Wheels Licensed Cosmetologist offering: perms, cuts, shampoo sets, color, pedicures, manicures. Tuesday through Saturday afternoons by appointment only. Servicing from Palisade to Fruita. 200-9799 Dedra.

Pheasant Hunting Pheasant Hunting on 1,200 Private Acres 18 miles from Grand Junction.

Brokenspokeranch.com. 241-3949.

Computer Lady – In-home PC Repair Services Friendly, affordable, easy to understand. Computer not-soliterate my specialty! Cleanups, virus removal, setups, upgrades, instruction, wireless and more. Call Mindy at 255-1216 or 261-3120.

Pet Sitting Services My Pet Nanny Loving care for your precious pets when you are away. New customers receive the first visit free! 623-9902.

Mary Jo Johnson, owner.

Gold and silver jewelry. Pocket/ hunting knives, antique firearms, fishing gear, toys, BB guns, old Colorado bottles, old motorcycles, radios and amp, railroad, military, mining items. www.cash4oldstuff. net. Mark 260-2327.

senior living in a park like setting

Auto Donations DONATE A CAR - HELP CHILDREN FIGHTING DIABETES. Fast, Free Towing. Call 7 days/week. Non-runners OK. Tax Deductible. Call Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 1-800578-0408 Auto Donations/Autos Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help those in need! Your vehicle donation will help US Troops and support our Veterans!

100% tax deductible Fast Free pickup! 1-800-263-4713

nellie Bechtel senior apartments 245-1712 • 3032 North 15th Street

Janitorial Individual teams, husband and wives, retirees, seniors. Evenings and weekends. Call 255-0525 M-F 9 a.m.5 p.m. Grand Junction residents only please.

writers needed The Beacon Senior newspaper is looking for writers in Mesa, Delta, Montrose and Garfield counties. Please send your cover letter and resume to beacon@pendantpublishing.com.

AIRLINES ARE HIRING - Train for hands on Aviation Career. FAA approved program. Financial aid for qualified students - Job placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 888-686-1704 Call Empire Today® to schedule a FREE in-home estimate on Carpeting & Flooring. Call Today! 1-800-902-7236 CASH FOR CARS: All Cars/Trucks Wanted. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Any Make/Model. Call For Instant Offer: 1-800-864-5960

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Help Wanted

BUYING BOOKS Nonfiction, history, nature, westerns, religion, antique, reference, etc. Also buying stamp collections. Call Frank at 241-7778. Will pick up.

CASH Paid for old Stuff Wind up men’s wrist/pocket watches.

Adoption PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Talk with caring adoption expert. Choose from families Nationwide. LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions 866413-6296 Void In Illinois/New Mexico/Indiana

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Classifieds 41

National Classifieds  November 2013

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BUYING COINS AND CURRENCY U.S. Silver Dollars, 90% Silver, Eagles, Krugerrands, Maple Leafs, Gold and Silver Bars, Proof Sets, Mint Sets, Currency, Collections, Hoards, Accumulations of any size. Call 242-5374.

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42 Kudos & kvetch

kudos \ ku·dos  “I wanted to encourage my fellow citizens to vote in the school board election. The school board election is one of the least popular elections, which it shouldn’t be when you consider the size of their budget and their purpose of molding young minds. Please vote!” - Meredith W., Grand Junction  “I enjoy your paper. I can’t go a month without reading the jokes in your Laughing Matters section.”

- Randy N., Grand Junction

 “I enjoy the BEACON very much and your senior fairs are so helpful to us seniors.” - A grateful reader  “Your recent BeaconFest Senior Fair at the Montrose Pavilion was the best I have ever attended. I attended with a group of friends and we spent most of the day there listening to music, visiting with vendors and having lunch. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

- Linda R., Montrose

kvetch \ kfech  “No new taxes. I beg fellow seniors to get out and vote against the increase in our taxes.” - Donald K., Grand Junction  “I haven’t listened to local radio in a while and now I see why. I set my radio to scan the other day and I could swear there were at least 27 channels with nothing but commercials on. No thank you. I’m going back to satellite.”

- Jack M., Grand Junction

Kevin: Well, I do agree that the local radio dial is quite full, but in defense of my fellow media, it’s those advertisers that keep the radio free and satellite radio certainly isn’t free.  “I have a real problem when our local dollars go to pay for people from Oregon to provide mental health treatment services here. We have the professionals and facilities in place to keep those dollars local. So, why not?” - Anonymous Wanna pitch a fit? Give a shout out? Write us at Beacon@PendantPublishing.com.

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

November 2013

Vets: a case study for medical marijuana

By Wendy Zaharko, MD

W

ith so many U.S. veterans returning home from war, there is a well-established need for more effective treatments for combat disorder, better known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite tremendous anecdotal evidence supporting cannabis to treat PTSD in veterans, the federal government continues to blow smoke on credible academic research.

Support for medical cannabis continues to grow across the country.

U.S. citizens have consistently supported legislative efforts to legalize its medical use. So it seems logical that academic, government and private medical researchers would be conducting controlled clinical trials to pinpoint the efficacy of cannabis against a variety of diseases and conditions, as well as identify the best strains, dosages and administration methods for each condition.

That’s not happening. Draconian drug enforcement laws have thrown down the gauntlet against credible marijuana research, stopping medical progress in its tracks. Two federal laws prevent qualified institutions from furthering our knowledge on the effective and best uses of cannabis as medicine.

The first is the Substance Control Act of 1970, which was passed under President Richard Nixon and sought to control the possession, sales, manufacture, importation and distribution of narcotics through a classification system, called a “Schedule,” with five separate numerical categories. The drugs are supposed to be classified based on potential for abuse and accepted medical uses in the U.S. Schedule I narcotics are supposed to represent the most addictive substances with no accepted medical uses and that pose a danger when administered without medical supervision. Drugs like heroin, LSD, GHB and ecstasy are all Schedule I narcotics.

So is cannabis.

The federal government actually classifies cannabis equally as danger-

ous as heroin to patients who use it without medical supervision. If that isn’t outrageous enough, it’s even more disturbing when you consider that cocaine, opium, PCP and even meth only rank as Schedule II status, indicating that they are somehow less dangerous and more medically beneficial than cannabis.

The second policy impeding medical cannabis research is that only one facility in the country, the Marijuana Project at the University of Mississippi, is allowed under law to grow cannabis for research purposes, and they can supply it only to a handful of researchers who are approved to conduct cannabis research.

Never mind that almost nobody gets approved, or that the strains produced at the country’s only legal pot farm are known to be sub-optimal. Every institution that’s applied to legally grow cannabis for medical research has been denied, and nearly every academic who tries to get federally approved to conduct research with the stash grown in Mississippi has been denied.

Rick Dobin, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in Santa Cruz, California, wants to change that. Along with University of Arizona Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Sue Sisley, Dobin developed a protocol to study the effects of cannabis on 50 veterans with PTSD as a result of combat duty and who have not responded to currently available treatments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration even approved the protocol, provided they could legally acquire the plant for their research.

Dobin tried applying to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for approval to buy marijuana from Ole Miss but was denied. Meanwhile, U.S. combat veterans with PTSD continue to suffer in silence as politics impedes medical progress.

Undeterred, Dobin and Sisley submitted their protocol to the University of Arizona’s Internal Review Board. Even if approved, they still have no way to legally obtain cannabis to conduct

their study.

As a country doctor who certifies medical marijuana patients here in the Rockies, I can attest that our veterans already have proven that this remarkable plant works to relieve the anxiety, depression, night terrors and insomnia from combat disorder.

In the course of my medical marijuana practice, I’ve treated over 700 veterans of World War II, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. These incredible warriors come to me suffering from painful shrapnel wounds, Gulf War Syndrome, Agent Orange illness, phantom pains from amputations and PTSD. They bring me their Medals of Honor, Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars.

One brave Iraq vet, who lost both legs to an IED, showed me a photo of when he was a strapping 6-foot-2-inch Marine with legs. When I expressed my gratitude to a Vietnam veteran for his service to our country, he fell into my arms and wept, telling me no one had ever thanked him before.

These soldiers line up bottles of antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, sleeping pills, narcotics and other prescription medications, and they say, “Doctor, when I use marijuana, I don’t need these pills.”

One veteran who survived a helicopter crash in Vietnam told me, “Pot makes the war go away. It helps me to relax and to sleep. It even decreases my pain and my flashbacks.”

Meanwhile, we lose one veteran to suicide each day and numerous others overdose from a combination of pharmaceutical medications used in a futile attempt to decrease their PTSD and traumas of war. These valiant soldiers have unknowingly and unwittingly become subjects in the only research available that substantiates how one of nature’s oldest and kindest medicine heals their horrors of war. It is time we the people, the medical community and our government, listen to our veterans’ research.

Wendy Zaharko, MD, lives in Aspen. Doug Allen contributed to this story, as it was originally published by the Aspen Daily News Online. ■

November 2013

www.BeaconSeniorNews.com

Serving families in the Grand Valley for over 100 years.

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The Independence I want and the Support I need.

Visit Hilltop’s independent and assisted living communities today and discover a world of gracious living, personalized care and unsurpassed amenities.

Now Renting Studio, 1 and 2 Bedroom Apartments n Luxurious apartments featuring great views & spacious floorplans

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The Commons (970) 243-3333 625 27 1/2 Road

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L O C A L LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D B Y H I L LT O P - M A K I N G A D I F F E R E N C E F O R P E O P L E O F A L L A G E S

43

Services can make living with chronic disease easier Palliative care focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients with chronic health conditions.

A patient’s palliative care team may include: palliative-trained physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, nutritionists, or counselors.

Palliative Care Services at St. Mary’s Hospital is a collaborative program of St. Mary’s Hospital and HopeWest.

W

e’d all rather be home than in the hospital. Imagine being hospitalized repeatedly for the same condition.

That can happen to people with serious, chronic conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease, or kidney failure. Palliative Care Services at St. Mary’s provide an extra layer of support to help those with a serious illness live more comfortably, independently, and avoid frequent hospitalizations.

If a hospitalized St. Mary’s patient is identified as someone who could benefit from additional help, their doctor may consult the Palliative Care team to assess their situation. Depending on the patient and family’s needs, their team may include trained palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, nutritionists, or counselors.

Upcoming Events Weight Loss Surgery Seminar Learn how weight loss surgery works and

who qualifies at a free seminar presented by the staff of St. Mary’s Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Center. Call 970-298-6400 to register.

GRAND JUNCTION, St. Mary’s Life Center Wed., Nov. 6, 5:30–7:00 pm Wed., Nov. 20, Noon–1:30 pm RIFLE, Grand River Hospital Thurs., Nov. 21, 5:30–7:00 pm

Cancer Support Groups St. Mary’s Regional Cancer Center offers many programs for people living with cancer and those who love them. You do not need to be a patient of St. Mary’s to attend. For more information, call 970-298-7500 or visit our website www.stmarygj.org/patient-familysupport. Below is a partial list.

• Art Exploration Class • Breast Friends Breast Cancer Support Group • Yoga for Life • Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Support Group

Palliative care helps those with a serious illness live more comfortably and independently.

Visit our website at www.stmarygj.org for information about our services, campus maps, and driving directions.

“We’re here for life.”

970-298-CARE (2273) 2635 N. 7th Street • P. O. Box 1628 Grand Junction, CO 81502-1628 An Affiliate of SCL Health System

Palliative care doesn’t replace a patient’s medical care. Some patients may learn how to better control their pain or learn more about their illness and treatment options. Others get connected with community programs that help with transportation or household chores. Palliative care is a very individualized service, and the team can help provide physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical assistance.

• Living Well After Treatment • MACHO (Men Against Cancer Helping Others)

Stroke Support Group Stroke recovery education, relaxation, therapies, and discussions for those recovering from stroke and their loves ones.

Call 970-298-1929 for more information.

Third Friday of each month, 1:00-2:30 pm Grand Mesa Room in the Life Center NEXT MEETING— Friday, November 15, 1:00–2:30 pm “Avoiding Holiday Stress” presented by Kelly Arnold, RN, St. Mary’s Stroke Program coordinator.

No meeting in December. Happy Holidays!