Heartland Family Service Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Heartland Family Service Senior Center, 2101 S. 42nd St. for the following: • June 7, 14, & 21: Theater Arts program with Kim from WhyArts @ 10:30 a.m. • June 11, 12, & 13: Farmer’s Market coupon give-away (if any are remaining). • June 18: Father’s Day Brunch @ 10 a.m. Men are encouraged to bring their bring their family for pancakes, sausage, and other goodies. Women are also invited. • June 20: Birthday party featuring entertainment by Hillbilly Hal Cottrell from the Merrymakers. • June 26: Make a picture frame in our crafts room with Patty @ 10:30 a.m. • June 27: Trip to Fort Atkinson in Fort Calhoun. Cost is $5 with lunch on your own. The Heartland Family Service Senior Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is normally served at noon. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to attend. A nurse visits Mondays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Call 402-392-1818 to schedule an appointment. Regular activities include Tai Chi classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday @ 10:15 a.m. For meal reservations or more information, please call Karen Sides at 402-553-5300.
ENOA programs are recruiting volunteers The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, Ombudsman Advocate Program, and Senior Medicare Patrol Program are recruiting older adults to become volunteers. Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions must be age 55 or older, meet income guidelines, have a government issued identification card or a driver’s license, able to volunteer at least 15 hours a week, and must complete several background and reference checks. Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions receive a $2.65 an hour stipend, transportation and meal reimbursement, paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, and supplemental accident insurance. Foster Grandparents work with children who have special needs while Senior Companions work to keep older adults living independently. Ombudsman advocates work to ensure residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities enjoy the best possible quality of life. Ombudsman advocates, who must be age 18 or older, are enrolled through an application and screening process. These volunteers, who are not compensated monetarily for their time, must serve at least two hours a week. The Senior Medicare Patrol program helps Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect, and prevent health care fraud. These volunteers, who are enrolled through an application and screening process, are not compensated monetarily for their time, For more information, please call 402-444-6536.
AARP offering driving class AARP offers a four-hour refresher driver safety class that reviews the rules of the road and emphasizes driving strategies for persons age 50 and older. There are no exams or tests involved, and each participant receives a certificate of completion. Fees are $12 for AARP members and $14 for nonmembers. Insurance discounts may apply. Please call the numbers below to register for a class. Here’s the class schedule:
You can save thousands of wasted gallons of water by repairing those leaks in your home By Carol McNulty U. of Nebraska Cooperative Extension office
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eaks waste water. According to agricultural engineer David Shelton from the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of water leaked from U.S. homes could exceed more than one trillion gallons per year. That’s equivalent to the annual water use of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami combined. In the home, leaks can account for, on average, 11,000 gallons of water wasted each year. That’s enough to fill a backyard swimming pool. With 10 percent of homes having leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day, that’s 30,000 gallons per year. A leaky faucet that drips at a rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year. A home with high efficiency toilets could use that water to flush for six months. A showerhead leaking at 10 drips per minute wastes more than 500 gallons per year. That’s enough water to wash 60 loads of dishes in the dishwasher. If a toilet is running constantly, it could be wasting 200 gallons or more every day. Shelton says fixing easily corrected household water leaks often can save homeowners more than 10 percent on bills or water pumping costs. To help reduce these numbers, detect leaks and repair them. Shelton offers these tips: • Common types of leaks found in the home include leaking toilet flapper valves, dripping faucets, showerheads, and garden hose spigots. • Check the water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there probably is a leak. • For homes with a well and no water meter, check the system pressure gauge before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. A leak is likely if the pressure shown by the gauge had dropped or if the pump has cycled. • Place a dish in a sink below the faucet to catch any drips from a leaky faucet to determine the leakage rate. • One way to find out if there is a toilet leak is to place a couple of drops of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl after two hours without flushing, there is a leak. Be sure to flush immediately after to avoid staining the tank. • Check lawn irrigation systems each spring before use to make sure it was not damaged by frost or freezing that will cause
leaks. • Keep the home leak-free by repairing dripping faucets, toilet valves, and showerheads. In most cases, replacement parts are inexpensive and can be installed by do-ityourselfers. In addition, most repairs will pay for themselves in a short time. • The cause of a leaking toilet is most often an old, faulty toilet flapper valve. Over time, this inexpensive rubber part decays, or minerals build up on it. It’s usually best to replace the whole rubber flapper. • Leaky faucets can be repaired by checking faucet washers and gaskets for wear and replacing them if necessary. • If a garden hose leaks at its connection to the spigot, replace the nylon rubber hose washer and ensure a tight connection to the spigot. • If a faucet or toilet needs to be replaced, look for a WaterSense labeled model. WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. WaterSense labeled products must achieve independent, third party testing and certification to prove they meet EPA’s rigorous criteria for efficiency and performance.
Letters to ENOA Esther Gunderson, the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s care manager in Washington County, received the following letter from family members of two of her clients. Esther’s office is located at 1327 Washington Street in Blair. Her telephone number is 402-426-9614.
Esther: My sister and I would like to thank you for all your help for Mom and Dad. It’s hard losing them both so close together but they are in a much better place. We miss them both so much. Thanks again. We appreciate all that you did. Emile C.
Saturday, June 2 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rolling Hills Ranch 4324 N. 132nd Street To register, call 402-391-1055 Saturday, June 9 1 to 5 p.m. AARP Information Center 1941 S. 42nd St. • Suite 220 To register, call 402-398-9568
June 2012
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New Horizons
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