Atlanta Senior Life - October 2019

Get up to $1,320 every year to spend on over-the-counter health items* at Walmart.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield + Walmart means value and convenience for you. We’ve partnered with Walmart to bring you up to $1,320 every year to spend on over-the-counter health items. Plus, YOU choose how to shop!

Visit your local Walmart.

Phone in your order.

Place your order by computer.

Order from your mobile phone or tablet.

With our Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll receive an allowance up to $1,320 every year to spend on nonprescription over-the-counter drugs and health-related items like:

• Toothpaste

• Toothbrushes

• Cough Drops

• Vitamins

• Pain Relief

• Sinus medications

Stacie Miles

• Antacids

• First aid supplies

• And much more...

Let’s talk! We’ll find the plan that’s right for you.

an authorized licensed insurance agent for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Georgia

License number: 2733354

1-470-522-8815

8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 5 days a week

*Monthly, quarterly and/or annual limits apply. Please contact the plan for additional details. This policy has exclusions, limitations, and terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued. For costs and complete details of coverage, please contact your agent or the health plan. Other providers are available in our network. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an HMO D-SNP with a Medicare contract and a contract with the Georgia Medicaid program. Enrollment in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield depends on contract renewal. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Blue Cross Blue Shield Healthcare Plan of Georgia, Inc. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.

Up to $1,320 Y0114_19_35654_U_M_223 10/01/2018

By Donna Williams Lewis

Bernice Hunter and her six siblings were always ready for a game when they were kids. “We would sit down at tables with pens and paper and it would be ‘OK, name the capitals!’ and everyone would race to name the capitals,” she said. “At the dinner table sometimes we would play, “You Don’t Say,” which was a popular television show in the ‘60s. In cars, we would play find the different license plates.”

When her children came along, “I’m thinking I’m growing two great board players,” she said. “The kids hit around age 11 or 12 and didn’t want to play board games again. Still don’t want to! My kids will play board games with me as a Christmas gift,” the retired technical writer said, laughing.

But no longer must she wait for her kids to take pity on her. These days, Hunter gets her game on every Friday afternoon at the Tucker Library, where she’s the organizer of a group called Board Game Fun.

“I have a thousand errands on my mind almost every time. Most of us do,” Hunter said, during a recent Board Game Fun event. “But when you’re in here, all you’re thinking about is talking to friends, people, and playing a game.”

Dinner and a game

It can take a little digging to find them, but board game groups and events are popping up across metro Atlanta in libraries, comic book shops, game stores, bars, senior centers, recreation centers, churches and other locations.

Titan Games & Comics in Smyrna offers a Board Game Day on the last Sunday of each month.

Participants can bring their own games or play one of the store’s demo games in the free family friendly event. As many as 23 people have shown up to play, manager Mike Loewnau said.

The 30-year-old store also hosts a Dungeons & Dragons event weekly on Wednesdays. “Our goal with our open board gaming events is to foster a good and friendly environment for players of all types to enjoy the

Get your (board) game on!

hobby,” Loewnau said. “Building a community of hobbyists willing to support and bring other newer players along only serves to improve the overall general play experience.”

Across town, the Boardgames in Norcross/Peachtree Corners

Meetup group has been in full swing for about 11 years. (Meetup is an online service that helps people connect with others who have similar interests.)

This group typically draws about 25 people every Saturday to a back room at the Tavern at

Top, during a game of Terraforming Mars, Jason Brown and Steven Bush, in foreground, check their cards while Peer Stueckenschneider moves his piece on the board. Stueckenschneider won the game.

Left, Chris Zagrodny contemplates his next move during a round of Teotihvacan City of Gods. Elliot Shin, pictured in foreground, won the game.

Right, members of the Boardgames in Norcross/Peachtree Corners Meetup group bring over a hundred board games each week.

PHOTOS BY PHIL MOSIER

Medlock. Most people arrive in the evenings to grab dinner and a game, said organizer Steven Bush, a real estate consultant who’s about as close to a board game expert as the average person could get.

The events are open to anyone, including children accompanied by adults. Players can bring their own games or play one of the games already there. Bush usually takes about 50 of his own games to each event.

“I have games that are older than some of the people I’m playing with,” he said.

He believes it’s more socially acceptable for adults to play board games these days than in the past and said board games have evolved over time, with more being made for adults, particularly games that are friendly to play. “It’s not so much that you’re beating an opponent, but you’re beating the game itself,” he said.

Board game groups are good places to meet people who like the kinds of things you like in a friendly environment, he said, and this one draws a lot of computer programmers and engineers.

While some groups lean more toward social games or party games, this group plays more of what they call “chunkier” games.

then we’re your crowd,” he said. For seniors, “It’s a great way to keep being mentally active and a way to mix with other people and people of different age groups,” Bush said. “People come and just watch us sometimes.”

‘No one’s meant to be an island’

Nichelle Broughton, a nursing student at Western Governors University, joined in a recent Board Game Fun event at the Tucker Library as part of a Community Health class assignment that took her to dozens of senior events in three counties. Her topic for the course was “preventing social isolation in seniors.”

The Board Game Fun group is “priceless,” she said, “because too many seniors are at home just watching television or don’t have many family or friends that they can reach out to.”

“I think for seniors to stay active in their community, to maintain that independence and maintain as much quality of life as they can does make a difference,” Broughton said. “And this is treating mind, body and soul. No one’s meant to be an island.”

Pumped to play

Within moments of her and the other players’ arrival at the Tucker Library, Board

on the other side.

And so it began. The first card read: “The Twilight Zone” premieres on television. Wendy Hardin, one of the group’s regulars, got the year on the money.

Another card: Ray Charles first performs “Hit the Road Jack.” That one struck a chord with Hunter, who was thinking it was in the ‘60s. “That was when I really began understanding music,” she said.

On the group played, guessing dates such as when Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic Ocean and when McDonald’s was founded. “Do you remember the first time you went to McDonald’s?” Hunter asked, taking the game off track for a quick little trip down memory lane.

When the game ended the fun was far from over. The six players who’d shown up that day fanned out into two groups for Qwirkle, Rummikub, TransAmerica and other games they brought with them.

Hardin said she likes this group because it exposes her to different games “without being uber competitive.”

Newcomers Broughton and Joann Daniels were introduced to the word game Bananagrams by Nancy Patterson, one of the group’s original members. Patterson, a retiree, plays

Rummikub at the Central DeKalb Senior Center and helped start Board Game Fun after connecting with Hunter in the Games section of their Nextdoor neighborhood network last winter.

“The people are very enjoyable to play with. We rarely even keep score and so it’s light-hearted,” Patterson said. “It gets me out of the house. It lifts the mood, and, of course, it uses the brain, and I think that’s very important for seniors.”

As she turned to leave, Daniels sounded sold on Board Game Fun. “Good fun, good people,” she said. “I’m looking forward to next week.”

Find some face-to-face fun

Here are some places to find old and new games played the old-school way, across a table.

■ Board Game Fun. Weekly on Fridays, 2-4 p.m. Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library, 5234 LaVista Road, Tucker 30084.

■ Boardgames in Norcross/Peachtree Corners. Games are weekly on Saturdays, 2 p.m. to midnight. Tavern At Medlock, 3230 Medlock Bridge Road, Peachtree Corners 30092. meetup.com/Boardgames-inNorcrossPeachtree.

Bush defined those as games that require a little more thought or strategy, such as Terraforming Mars and Castles of Burgundy.

“If you can quote Star Wars, Star Trek or an ‘Avengers’ movie,

Game Fun was in high gear with multiplayer action. First game du jour was Timeline—an educational guessing game with cards that depict events on one side and the dates they occurred

■ Titan Games and Comics. Monthly Board Game Day is the last Sunday of each month, noon to 6 p.m. Outside food and drink permitted. 2512 Cobb Parkway, Smyrna, Ga. 30080. titangamesandcomics.com. RSVP for a wide variety of gaming events at meetup.com/Titan-Smyrna-Gaming.

■ Meetup. Search for board game groups on this social network’s site, meetup.com. One group, Well Played, organizes board game, card game, and social game events and lists partner meetups. See meetup.com/gameswellplayed.

The Board Game Fun group at the Tucker Library plays Timeline to kick off the group’s weekly Friday gathering. Around the table, from left, are Bernice Hunter, Marcia Grady, Nancy Patterson, Joann Daniels and Nichelle Broughton.

PHOTO BY DONNA WILLIAMS LEWIS

The board game Terraforming Mars.

Life on the lake

By Joe Earle

They point first to the peace and quiet. That’s what drew them to settle on Lake Lanier, they say. They wanted a place where they could sit on a dock and watch the sun set over the expanse of water. They wanted a place where they wouldn’t have to deal with traffic jams or all-night city lights.

Peggy Snider Houghton used to leave her home in Kennesaw just about every weekend to get away to her family’s vacation home on the lake. “When I crossed that bridge [over Ga. 400], I knew I’m going [to be able soon] to watch the water,” the 60-year-old said.

Once their kids moved on, she and her husband settled at Lanier fulltime. “It’s so quiet,” she said during a recent phone conversation conducted from her car while she was stuck in Buckhead traffic. “It’s peaceful.”

John Barker also finds living on the lake to be restful. “I love the lake,” the 70-year-old retired Coca-Cola executive said. “I love

Houghton’s neighbor, rides around on her own jet ski. “Us old people do it, too,” she said.

the rural nature of it. I love the peace and enjoyment I get being here.”

Then again, he said, he also likes cutting loose on his jet ski. “I have a need for speed,” Barker said.

He’s not the only one. Karen Martin, a 68-year-old Delta Air Lines flight attendant and

“You’d be surprised at how many old people I see riding around on those things. Old people can be fun, too.” Barker and Houghton boated on Lake Sidney Lanier for many years, but only moved permanently to homes on the lake within the past decade. Martin moved in 31 years ago. They are among thousands of seniors who’ve headed to communities on or near the 38,000-acre lake northeast of Atlanta in search of places to live and, in many cases, retire.

The growth in the crowd of older adults in the area seems to be picking up speed. For instance, in Hall County, one of five counties that touch the lake, the population aged 65 and older grew by 53% from 2000 to 2010, rising from about 9% to about 11% of the total population, according to censusviewer.com. The most recent estimate from the U.S. Census, for 2018, put the population of the county aged 65 or older at about 15%.

Local residents mention the area’s hospitals and the lifestyle in and around Gainesville as part of the attraction for older adults, but some say a big part of the draw is the lake. “I think it’s the lake that gives people a reason to look at this area,” said Bev Knight of The Good Life Group Lanier, a real estate agency that specializes in lake properties. “But we’re also 30 minutes from the metro area and 30 minutes from the mountains. It’s got everything Atlanta’s got, without the traffic.”

Knight, who lives in Gainesville herself, aims her sales pitches at seniors looking for a place to resettle away from the city. “It’s a fantastic place to retire,” she said. When targeting marketing of the lake, “we start at age 50. Fifty and over is who we target and who we sell to.”

She’s even going so far as to try to divert New Yorkers headed to Florida retirement communities to Lanier by deploying ads saying the lake offers homes on the water with all the pleasures but without the hurricanes.

Kathy Seger of Re/Max

Around Atlanta, who specializes in sales in senior communities, said most of her clients are looking for the activities those communities offer active retirees. “They’re looking into the lifestyle of ‘active adults,’ they’re not necessary looking into lake living,” she said. “They’re looking for community.”

Karen Silverthorn and her husband, Brian Chapin, bought

Members of the dining club at Cresswind at Lake Lanier share a dinner together. They are, left to right, Clay Myers, Rita Petty, Brian Chapin, Ellen Vann, Richard Petty, Georgia Myatt, Tim Vann, Karen Silverthorn. SPECIAL Brian Chapin and Karen Silverthorn enjoy boating on Lake Lanier.

their home at Cresswind at Lake Lanier, a 55-and-older community boasting 1,600 homes, in 2010. They keep a boat at the community’s marina, but are involved in plenty of activities other than boating. They both take part in the ukulele band, she said, and Chapin belongs to a club that appreciates Scotch whisky.

In 2012, Silverthorn started a Cresswind dinner club called Adventures In Dining that meets four times a year and claims 90 members. She was familiar with neighborhood dining clubs through similar ones she’d helped organize when she lived in Marietta and in Ontario, Canada.

Cresswind dining club gettogethers employ an average of six to eight host houses for each dinner, she said. Members, who pay $40 to $65 per couple for the meal, gather in groups of eight, with the hosts providing the table setting and the guests preparing appetizers, entrees and desserts from recipes provided by the club. The club sends a box of wines matched to the courses to each host home, she said. “It takes a lot of work,” she said. But she thinks it’s worth it in order to get to know her neighbors. “The food really is secondary — it really is — to getting people together over a nice table,” she said. “Food brings people together. My hope is to make neighbors into friends.”

And fine dining is just one way she and her neighbors can participate in the life of their community. Cresswind has spawned more than 100 clubs, assistant manager Kitti Kleinedler said, that organize activities ranging from pickleball to physical fitness, from card games to arts and crafts, from quilting to staging plays. “There’s something for everybody here,” Kleinedler said.

The rush of people that brought all those clubs brings other changes to the area, too. Restaurants in Gainesville, for instance, offer greater variety than they used to, several

Continued on page 8

We call it home.

“I’ve been involved with the community since 1960 and I was on the very first board here at Saint Anne’s Terrace. It’s a beautiful part of town and the best part about living here is the wonderful family atmosphere in which everyone gets along.”

Continued from page 7

residents noted. Silverthorn said she and her husband like to crank up the boat and head to dinner at a marina, where a restaurant offers lake views. “We really came [here] for the location, for being on the lake,” she said.

Longtime residents see other changes coming, too. “One downside is Gainesville is starting to look like Gwinnett County,” long-time resident Martin said. “There’re traffic

It’s raining!!!…

It’s pouring!!!

The roof’s leaking!!!!….

It’s raining!!!… It’s pouring!!! The roof’s leaking!!!!….

and GBC’s helping us finance all the repairs with a doggone great loan!!! WOOF WOOF!!!

• Friendly, Experienced Loan Officers!

• Great Rates!

• Rapid, In-House Underwriting!

• Wide Variety of Loan Options!

• Fast, Accurate Processing!

• Timely Closings!

and GBC’s helping us finance all the repairs with a doggone great loan!!! WOOF WOOF!!!

• Dog Treats, Too!

• Friendly, Experienced Loan Officers!

• Great Rates!

jams. Nothing like Atlanta, but it’s built up. Too much stuff in too small an area. That’s the only negative I can think of: it’s growing too much; it’s too popular.”

Still, she loves the place.

“It’s very nice in the evening to go out on the dock … and see all the jet skis,” she said with a laugh. “Lake living is great. … Being on the water, you can’t beat it.”

North Georgia Lake Communities

There are many neighborhoods in the north metro Atlanta area that offer the best of lake living, and a few of them are designed just for people 55 years and older. Here is a sampling.

55+ NEIGHBORHOODS

Cresswind at Lake Lanier kolterhomes.com/new-homes/ georgia-active-adult-cresswind-atlake-lanier, 770-532-4926

Soleil Laurel Canyon, Lake Allatoona soleillaurelcanyon.com

678-880-3071

OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS ON THE LAKES

Chestatee, Lake Lanier chestatee.net, 770-235-6907

Harbour Point, Lake Lanier harbourpointhomes.com

770-235-6097

Marina Bay, Lake Lanier marinabayonlanier.com

770-235-6907

Village at Waterside, Lake Allatoona Villageatwaterside.com

770-548-8052

Arbor at Bridgemill, Canton, near Lake Allatoona arborcompany.com/locations/ georgia/canton-bridgemill

770-629-8737

Country Gardens Lanier, Cumming, near Lake Lanier ssmgrp.com/communities/ georgia/country-gardens-lanier

770-889-7889

Manor Lake Bridgemill, Canton, near Lake Allatoona manorlakebr.com, 678-990-5055

Smoky Springs, Gainesville, near Lake Lanier holidaytouch.com/our communities/smoky-springs 844-487-2251

Village at Deaton Creek, Hoschton, near Lake Lanier villageatdeatoncreek.net

• Rapid, In-House Underwriting!

• Wide Variety of Loan Options!

• Fast, Accurate Processing!

Call GBC Mortgage Lending for all of your lending needs, be it a new purchase, refinance, home improvement, debt consolidation, second home purchase, etc…we’ll find a way to help you through life’s unexpected events!

• Timely Closings!

• Dog Treats, Too!

SELECTED RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES NEAR THE LAKES

Windsong Manor, Dallas, near Lake Allatoona lorenconstruction.com/reserve 770-676-2900

Call GBC Mortgage Lending for all of your lending needs, be it a new purchase, refinance, home improvement, debt consolidation, second home purchase, etc…we’ll find a way to help you through life’s unexpected events!

Atlanta, GA 30339 | (770) 226-8800 | www.geobanking.com

MORTGAGE LENDING 6190 Powers Ferry Rd, Suite 150 | Atlanta, GA 30339 | (770) 226-8800 | www.geobanking.com

Lanier Village Estates, Gainesville, near Lake Lanier actsretirement.org/communities/ georgia/lanier-village-estatesgainesville, 770-532-4926

MARGY MANCHESTER Resident since 2006

A Boating History

In the 1960s, sometime around his 50th birthday, my dad bought a boat. A halfcentury later, I still don’t know why. We were not boating people.

But I was a teenager and a speedy little boat with a big outboard motor and a pair of water skis seemed like a great idea to me. After all, the families of many of our friends in the South Carolina Upstate were buying boats in those days so they could take them out onto Lake Hartwell in futile attempts to beat the summer heat.

My family made a discovery during our boating years. No matter how much we enjoyed our time on the water, we didn’t mix well with boats. We had a hard time keeping them afloat.

That first boat Dad brought home was about 14 feet long, made of wood and could easily tow skiers. There was only one problem: we had nowhere to store it and its shiny new trailer. There wasn’t space to park it in front of our house and it wouldn’t fit in our steep driveway without the risk of an unexpected downhill dash into the woods.

So, my father cut a deal to board our boat in the carport at my uncle’s house. In return, my uncle and our teenaged cousins could use the boat when they wanted. That meant that just about every time we went boating, my teenaged cousins came along.

The first time we went out on a small local lake for a test run, things went swimmingly. We had a fine day: beer was consumed by the adults, the teenagers managed to avoid breaking any bones and everybody got a nice bright sunburn.

But things quickly took a turn. A few Saturdays later, when we hauled boat and trailer back to the lake, we got our first taste of boating trouble.

these days

end of a much larger boat. I have a vivid memory of my cousins and brother diving from our boat as my father and I wrestled over the steering wheel, each of us thinking we could somehow convince our boat not to hit the much fancier one it was aiming for. We failed. The bigger boat – a beautiful wooden Chris-Craft in my memory – sustained no noticeable damage. Our boat sank.

Joe Earle is editor-at-large and has lived in metro Atlanta for over 30 years. He can be reached at joeearle@ reporternewspapers.net

Everything worked fine at first. We launched the craft from the trailer and everyone walked out a long floating dock and climbed aboard. Dad was driving, or whatever you call it when you’re at the steering wheel of a boat. I was in the front passenger’s seat. My cousins and brother were arrayed in seats behind us.

When Dad gave the engine some gas, instead of heading toward open water, the boat veered toward the wooden dock, which we managed to hit as we picked up speed. We cut a nice gash into the side of the boat.

That was disconcerting, but when we examined the hole, we determined that it was well above the waterline, so we figured no real harm had been done. After spending hours towing the boat to the lake and getting it into the water, we weren’t about to give up that easily, so we decided to go ahead and ski and have repairs made later.

This time, when Dad gave the engine some gas, our little boat took off in a hurry. And it veered again – this time, right into the back

So we got another boat.

Boat Number Two was a step up. It was longer than our first boat by a foot or two. It was made from Fiberglas. It came with a bigger outboard engine. And it had fins, like a ’56 or ’57 Chevy. It was built to move at high speed across the water.

We teenagers loved it, of course. We went skiing every chance we could. We took to the lake on Saturdays, Sundays, any weekday we could take off school or, in the summers, work. We now were old enough (say 16 or 17) that our parents trusted us to take the boat out without adult supervision.

That worked fine until one hot afternoon when, after a long day of skiing, we loaded the boat onto the trailer for the hot, tiresome drive back to my cousins’ house. There were four of us and we had made loading and unloading the boat a four-boy job. One of us backed the car to position the trailer in the water and on the loading ramp. Another cranked the metal cable that pulled the boat from the water onto to the trail. The other two tied the boat down, attaching the straps that held boat to trailer.

On this Saturday, someone forgot to tie the boat down. That was no problem until we hit the highway back to town. As we turned from a side road onto the highway, the boat slipped off its trailer. Both boat and trailer remained attached to our car, so as the car moved up to highway speed, boat and trailer bounced along behind.

When we realized what was happening and stopped to examine the boat, we saw the fiberglass bottom had been scraped away. What had been the boat’s watertight hull was now little more than a collection of holes. We could look straight through them to the

My family boating when I was a teen. That’s me skiing while my Uncle Harvey takes the wheel of one of the boats we owned.

asphalt below.

So we got another boat.

Our third boat was even fancier than the second. It was again longer by a foot or two, wider by a foot or two and had a sunken seating area molded into the bow so passengers could ride there a get a better view. It came with an even bigger outboard engine than the others and was designed for skiing. We teenagers thought it was the classiest thing we’d ever seen. We skied all over Lake Hartwell in that boat.

But, as they say, all things must pass. So, too, did our boat. And like our second boat, the third boat met its maker on land. We were driving through the Clemson University campus when we noticed a boat passing us on the right.

“That looks just like our boat,” I said.

Everyone looked over.

“It is our boat,” someone replied.

“And it’s moving faster than we are,” I said.

It was passing us on the right. In other words, while we were on the road, it was not. The trailer had somehow become detached from the car and had rolled onto the shoulder of the road. Now it was speeding along by itself. As we slowed to watch, it passed us, heading rapidly towards a small, cinder-block box the university had built for use as temporary housing.

All I could think was that at the speed our boat was moving, it would take out that little house and all inside. Luckily, at the last second, it hit a bump and was diverted back onto the road so that it was now racing along in front of us. Now we just had to worry about it hitting other cars. After a couple of minutes, it rolled through a stop sign, somehow dodging traffic as it went, and smashed head-on into a telephone pole.

So we got another boat.

By then, my cousins and I were moving on to summer jobs and distant colleges that kept us too busy or too far from home to use the boat very often. It was left to gather dust in my uncle’s carport. Eventually, one of my cousins sold it.

Our boating days were done.

No doubt about it, CBD is a hot commodity.

The compound shows up more and more in products sold at pharmacies and health-food stores and in a variety of forms. CBD shops are popping up along streets, in malls and online. It’s touted as a way to cure, or at least help with, everything from pain or depression to high blood pressure and acne.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of companies that have come out of the woodwork—in the last six months, even the last year—with all kinds of CBD products,” said Little Five Points pharmacist Ira Katz.

“You can find everything from tinctures to gummies to topical balms and roll-ons. It’s all over the board,” he said, adding that he’s “worried about what we don’t know,” when it comes to CBD.

What is CBD?

Health journalists, researchers and pharmacists admit confusion about its efficacy and misunderstood name, making today’s CBD conversations livelier than ever. According to the National Library of Medicine, CBD’s ‘real’ (or generic) name is cannabidiol. It is a member of the anticonvulsant drug class—one

of many chemicals found in the Cannabis sativa plant.

CBD is an essential component of medical marijuana, but only when it’s above 0.3% in potency. Although industrial hemp and marijuana are both varieties of cannabis, they have been bred for different uses and can be distinguished by their chemical and genetic compositions. The addictive part of marijuana is a different chemical compound called THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, according experts.

“What many people don’t realize,” say several University of Washington (UW) researchers in a recent opinion article, “is that a CBD concentration of higher than 0.3% is labeled as cannabis”— [and] “those that produce less than that are labeled as hemp.”

Benefits of CBD

There are a lot of claims about what CBD can do for people. The main benefit is pain relief. Marijuana has been used for to relieve pain for centuries, and CBD is the component responsible for its pain-relieving effects. It’s known to help reduce

anxiety and depression and to alleviate high blood pressure and cancer-related symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting.

CBD has also been studied in the treatment of neurological orders, like epilepsy, and mental disorders, including schizophrenia, as well as substance abuse. There are some indications that it can prevent diabetes and the spread of cancerous tumors, and even reduce acne.

This all sounds great, but there’s no question that more research is needed to substantiate all these claims.

The advice “buyer beware,” can

be heard from credible medical and pharmaceutical experts around Georgia. Magazines, newspapers and all types of media are promoting CBD products with little or no data revealing their ingredients. At the same time, increased questions about CBD products abound. Concerns focus on three items: Is it safe? Is it addictive? Is it legal?

Is CBD safe?

Does CBD mix well with other pills or ointments? This is especially important for older

Continued on page 14

Top, CBD stand in an Atlanta metro mall, August 2019

Left, pharmacist Ira Katz

(BOTH PHOTOS BY TGA COMMUNICATIONS LLC)

adults, who may be taking certain prescribed medications.

The best advice is to ask your primary care provider before adding anything to the mix of medications you may be taking. Check with your pharmacist, too. At the moment, it looks like the “Wild, Wild West” out there.

Keep in mind that while CBD is considered to be safe, and is generally well tolerated by most people, there are some side effects. Study subjects have experienced diarrhea, fatigue and changes in their weight and appetites.

It can also interact with other medications, so…again…be sure to talk with your physician before using CBD oil.

Is CBD addictive?

CBD is not “known” to be addictive, said Dr. Peter Ginspoon, a Harvard Health Blog contributing editor. “While CBD is a component of marijuana (one

of hundreds), by itself it does not cause a ‘high’.”

According to a 2018 World Health Organization Critical Review Report, “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential.”

But, it’s likely not a cure-all either, according to many U.S. experts. “Public education on the topic has been absent to date (along with) the safety of the CBD products people are buying,” state the UW researchers in their ‘op’ article.

The main thing to remember is CBD and TCH are chemically NOT the same thing.

Is CBD legal?

First of all, is hemp legal? Short answer is “yes,” in Georgia, “sort of” or maybe? But, don’t plan on growing it in your back yard. Only growers licensed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) are permitted to grow and process hemp in Georgia.

Period.

The GDA is working on how licensing will take place. As of this writing, no licenses have been issued. In a 2019 Public Broadcasting interview with “On Second Thought,” Allen Peake, former Georgia State Representative, who pioneered much of the legislation regarding hemp and CBD, was asked about this newer hemp legislation.

“The fact that now that hemp oil or CBD oil is now a potential food additive ... scares me a little bit, because you don’t know exactly what you’re getting,” Peake said.

Peake cautioned older folks to “make sure you know what’s in that product [before purchasing it]. Be very careful.”

In testing CBD compounds, many products were found to not contain the levels of CBD they claimed to contain, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Over the past several years, FDA

has issued several warning letters to firms that market unapproved new drugs that allegedly contain CBD ... It is important to note that the FDA does not approve these products for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of any disease.

Consumers should beware.

Talk to your pharmacist

Katz explained that there are many companies on the internet— hundreds, maybe thousands—that are offering CBD, with not much (or any) regulations. “I’m leery of that,” he said. “These companies are manufacturing products without any regulation or control. I recognized the value of CBD early on, but it should be from a qualified company that does the assays, the testing and one that’s regulated.”

He emphasized that people should talk to their pharmacists. “There are some companies doing a great job,” Katz said. “Those are the companies to seek out.”

Book Nooks

Book storage is often an issue in the home, especially if you live in a small space. Our friends at Candler Park-based Balance Design (balancedesignatlanta.com) have some unique and stylish solutions for housing your precious collection. If your reading materials are getting out of control, the Balance Design team suggests making the storage solution part of the presentation.

Space Saving ►

We wouldn’t ordinarily tell you to keep your books on a staircase, but there’s no danger of tripping over them in this design that uses the protruding edges as shelves. This staircase/bookshelf is clean, modern, space saving, and honestly pretty genius.

Non-Linear

Then again, maybe you like a little non-linear fun! This mandala bookcase is part storage solution, part full wall art, and all awesome. You can try your DIY skills and build some to fit your space.

The Library Chair

It’s a lounge chair, it’s a bookcase, it’s the perfect all-inclusive reading nook! Don’t let the small footprint fool you—this guy packs 27 square feet of storage space (plus a hidden compartment). It’s available on Etsy from Alexander Love Designs for $2,950.

Selecting a ‘New’ iPhone

Apple just came out with a new line of iPhones that will… Wait, Apple is always coming out with new iPhones, adding lots of new features at a heftier price. This time, the Cupertino colossus is competing on price, but for many seniors, the introduction of new phones can represent an ideal opportunity to upgrade their current iPhones at a (relatively) bargain price by choosing an earlier model.

We always hate to compare technology to cars, but those of us of a certain age can remember how new car models— with mostly design and sheet metal changes—came out every September. The result was a clearance of last year’s models. Many buyers considered last year’s models to be great values.

Gene Rubel

That concept hasn’t changed much with iPhones. Without a doubt, each new line of phones brings a slew of new features, but unless you’re a power user or getting someone else to pay for the phone, you can upgrade significantly with an old iPhone X—and get an even better value with an iPhone 8.

features, such as cameras, storage and battery life, and the phone will be new enough to handle the inevitable upgrades of Apple iOS operating system.

In our opinion, the value of iPhone 7 and iPhone 6 models will drop lower than their prices because their cameras, storage and battery life will be even more inadequate.

To help you better understand the differences, let’s review the various lines, starting with a brief look at the iPhone 11 and working back from there.

iPhone 11

the Digital Device Doctor, cures digital anxiety for seniors and home/home-office users. A graduate of Harvard Business School, “Doctor Gene” spent more than 30 years in international business. He can be reached at generubel@gmail.com.

Prices start at $699 for the iPhone 11, but you can get one of the three iPhone models cheaper if you have a trade-in, and Apple has plans for monthly payments. All phones feature faster processors, multiple cameras with more editing capabilities, more charging options and multi-angle face ID. The last feature is a biometric that can eliminate the need to enter a numeric code to unlock the phone. The iPhone 11 Pro models have outstanding cameras that could replace pointand-shoot models for many.

looking for advanced features. They’re still looking for good performance with a lot of basic tasks, such as talking (remember, it’s still a phone), email and texting, internet browsing and tying into a GPS capability to drive somewhere. You don’t need an iPhone 11 to do that well.

iPhone X

In many cases, you don’t even need an iPhone X (10) to do all of those functions well. But if you have an iPhone 8 and want to upgrade, there are models that make it worth your while without going overboard on price.

The iPhone XR gets a lot of rave reviews for its value. It has the same battery life as the more expensive iPhone XS and XS Max, which had been retailing for more than $1,000, and its Smart HDR camera takes good pictures. It comes in a variety of colors to appeal to your fashion sense. For those of you who want to get technical, it shares the same internal specs as its more expensive siblings: Apple’s fast A12 Bionic chipset and a 12MP dual-lens camera with a single lens on back. Translation: You’ll take good pictures and videos of your grandkids.

technology.

iPhone 8

For our money—and yours— this is the best iPhone value. The technology inside the 8 and 8 Plus is only two years old, which is recent enough to ensure (in all likelihood) that it will support upgrades to Apple’s iOS operating system for the next several years. That’s important by itself because those upgrades include security fixes as well as performance improvements.

The difference between the 8 and 8 Plus is size. Many seniors may find the 8 easier to hold, use and carry. For all of you with previous iPhone models, you’ll still find familiar operational factors such as the home button and fingerprint readers to unlock your phone. If you’re upgrading from an older iPhone, you’ll like features such as wireless charging and fast charging and a camera that works really well without all the bells and whistles of newer models.

With the release of the iPhone 11, you can expect prices to drop, and that will really raise the value of the iPhone 8.

iPhone 7 and 6

Their prices will drop the minute the iPhone 11s hit the market, and that will increase

We’re not making light of these advances in any way. It’s just that in our

The only drawback for some is that is a large-screen mobile phone. While the larger screen is easier to read and gives you a better display of videos, it may be too big for your hand. If that’s the case, consider the iPhone X.

The iPhone X is not cheap, but it has a brilliant screen with good technology inside, and you may find it easier to hold and use. You will need to get used to using Face ID, which takes advantage of a camera/software combination that can map your face.

With the iPhone X series, Apple eliminated the home button and the jack for a headset or charger, so be prepared to adapt to those aspects of Apple’s

You can still find them, most likely as refurbished phones, and the price will be exceptionally low. But in our opinion, the value is lower than the price. The iPhone 6 debuted in 2015, and that does make it ancient by mobile phone standards. It doesn’t have anywhere near the same internal technology as an iPhone 8, and the iPhone 7 isn’t far behind. Even if you have an iPhone 5, we recommend leaping all the way to an iPhone 8, if not an iPhone X. Your investment will last a lot longer by doing that.

iPhone alternatives

iPhones remain popular among many seniors and their families, and that can help

family members help parents and grandparents with all kinds of usage issues that crop up. It can also help tie them together with various features.

Apple fans generally like the security that comes with the company’s proprietary software, but they pay a premium for it. Android-based phones use Google’s operating system, which is more open for developers to add features, and the wider selection of brands and models typically results in lower prices for the same features—or more of them.

Full disclosure: I have Google Pixel phones, which use the Android system, and I like them a lot. But Apple has built a good mobile phone market share because its products work well.

Buying

your phone

While all the phone service carriers and every retailer on Earth is ready to sell you an

iPhone or another brand, we recommend going to an Apple Store to buy your phone. (We make the same recommendation for other manufacturers with stores; we don’t recommend going to a phone carrier’s store.)

The problem with buying a phone from a carrier is that the carriers have phones customized to their networks, and that limits the phone’s capabilities. In the U.S., for example, Verizon, Sprint and US Cellular use CDMA technology to provide cellular service. AT&T and T-Mobile –and most of the world, for that matter – use another technology, GSM.

What it means for you is that if you buy a phone from Verizon, it’s likely to have only CDMA capability. If you switch carriers, you’ll need to buy a new phone. But if you buy your phone from the Apple store, your phone will be able to work with either technology. That will make it

easier for you to change carriers, and it may give you more options when traveling abroad.

You have two more options in making your final selection.

The first is to decide if you want a new or refurbished phone. Refurbished phones may have a physical blemish or two, but they carry the same warranty as a new one with a lower price. You can find them online or in a store, which brings us to the second option: buying it online or in a store.

If personal assistance is important, buying in a store is a no-brainer. You can ask if a specific phone is compatible with your carrier, and you can make sure you get the right case for your phone. Store personnel can also help you back up your data and move it to your new phone—though you can always go to an Apple Store for help. Just make sure your data is backed up to your iCloud or iTunes

account before you give up your old phone. If you don’t need the handholding, you can find better deals and more choices of phones online.

Some other points to keep in mind when buying a new phone:

■ Bring correct ID.

■ Make sure you’re an authorized user with your carrier.

■ Know your carrier account information.

■ Back up your iPhone to iCloud—yes, it’s important enough to repeat.

■ Know your Apple ID and password.

The last two points are specific to Apple, but similar requirements may apply to any phone you buy—especially having your phone backed up. It allows you to migrate all of your contacts, photos and other data to your new phone.

The Active Shooter

Throw-Out-the-RuleBook

Sometimes we have to talk about unpleasant things

Dr. DaShanne Stokes, an expert on American politics, culture and civil rights, once said “Thoughts and prayers won’t stop a speeding bullet.” Isn’t it crazy that we have to plan for this? But it seems we do. The number of people caught in mass shootings in public places in our country appears to be rising.

There are countless theories as to what goes through the mind of someone willing to shoot mass numbers of innocent people he does not know. For you, why the shooter stalks and then shoots innocent victims is not important. NOT being one of those innocent victims is.

This year has been an overemphasis of that point. I’ve had my fill of so-called experts and pundits, offering mindless lip service rather than constructive and productive information.

STAY SAFE

but since they cannot see, they don’t know where they are going and die from smoke inhalation.

He went on to say that in 1980, while staying at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas, the hotel caught fire. Faulty wiring caused a fire that spread quickly to other parts of the hotel. Thick smoke quickly filled the hallways. He saw the fire advancing but when he opened his door, he saw nothing but smoke. He knew that unless he moved quickly, he would die.

Steve Rose is a retired Sandy Springs Police Captain, veteran Fulton County police officer and freelance writer. He is the author the book

“Why Do My Mystic Journeys Always Lead to the Waffle House?”

Three things that I know about active-shooter incidents. One, if you have prepared in any way, your chances of surviving increases. Two, if you remain stationary, you will die. And three, panic will freeze you and you will die.

Prepare. I met a firefighter who told me an interesting story. He said that when he traveled and checked into a hotel, he paced his steps from his room to the nearest exit, counting each step, knowing that in a fire, the thick smoke blinds and disorients the victim searching for an exit. They crawl around

He recalled the direction and stepcount to the exit. He wet a towel that he wrapped around his nose and mouth, and then proceeded to move quickly along the hallway, feeling his way along the wall while he counted steps. Even though he was unable to tell the difference between doors, he stayed with the step count until he reached the magic number. He felt the door. It was not hot, so he opened it to discover the stairs.

He moved down the stairway and eventually to safety. Eightyfive people were not so lucky and died in that fire, many trapped in their rooms. His point was simple. Have a doomsday plan.

To survive something, what would you do? Survival is the bottom line of going home or not. That’s why you should think of nothing but creating your action to survive. No rules— none!

Panic will kill you. You need to force it back by concentrating

on what you need to do to survive.

Look at the options available. Are there windows and if so, are they locked or unlocked? How high up are you? Second floor? If you jump, you may break an ankle or leg. If you have the choice of injuring yourself or being shot, I would say most of you would soon be airborne.

If you’re trapped, with no

other escape available, fighting may be the only option. First, do what you can do to barricade the door, even pushing against it as a last resort. If that fails, think through the urge to panic and fight.

Surviving is a powerful motivation, sidelining your panic if you recognize the threat at hand. Listen for gunshots. Are they coming closer or fading?

If they are fading, then it is time to make a break for it. If not, do you have a chance to surprise the shooter? Can you position yourself alongside the closed door to surprise and jump

the shooter?

Remember the Gun Goober who likes everyone to know he has a gun? He just may be the guy who stops the threat or perhaps the one who gets it first because the shooter saw him and his gun. Too bad for him, but you can only play the cards you are dealt, so if that card means you have seconds to move away from the threat, then fight the urge to panic and freeze, and start moving until you have no other choice. Then you fight.

Do you have a weapon with you? This might be a good time to use it to stop the threat. If you have no weapon, then remember:

create movement. Moving targets are hard to hit.

Do yourself a favor when you go out to dinner or a movie. Did you look to find the exits? and did you think “what if?”

Remember to react and do your best to move away from the threat.

The good news? Chances are that you’ll never have to experience such a horrific event, but in the back of your mind, in a particular environment, large store, movie, public gathering, festivals, etc., it would be a good idea if you took a mental note of how you would clear a dangerous area.

Fun Is in Fashion

On August 24, a Crazy Fashion Show was presented at Decatur Christian Towers. Lorraine Rice, president of the Resident Council, and Barbara Johnson, chairperson of the Social Committee, hosted the event and music was provided by Charles Williams. Throughout the show, outrageously dressed models strutted along the catwalk to songs that matched their outfits.

Photos by Asep Mawardi

Cobb Resident Celebrates 100 Years

The Solana East Cobb recently hosted the 100th birthday celebration of Jane Marquis, one of the first residents at the new East Cobb senior living community. The grand celebration included out-of-town family, close friends, fellow residents and the Solana Team.

Jane was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. on August 27, 1919, and moved to Atlanta in 1963 when her husband, Jack Marquis, was transferred here for his job with Gulf Oil. When China opened its borders to travel under the Nixon Administration, Jane and Jack traveled there.

Jane’s interests over the years have been church, bridge, extensive travel...and golf. She boasts of the time Arnold Palmer stepped on her hand accidently at a golf tournament. The Solana team made sure that Arnold Palmers, the iced tea/lemonade drink, were served at her birthday celebration. Jane credits her longevity to her daily routine of regularly exercising down and up from the floor.

Jane Marquis (seated) celebrated her 100-year birthday with her daughter, Betsy Wade, and son, Jeff Marquis.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SOLANA EAST COBB

►Out & about

The Arts

An Evening of Words and Wine Friday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m. Enjoy an evening with renowned journalist, wine expert and author Kevin Begos as he discusses his travels along the original wine routes. Guests are invited to try a complimentary glass of wine and tour the grounds and art gallery. R. Alexander Fine Art, 5650 Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Corners 30092.

than 75 novels. A Georgia native and winner of the coveted Edgar Award, he returns to Gwinnett to talk about his newest book “Skin Game.” Silent auction and beverage bar sponsored by the Gwinnett County Public Library Friends of the Library. Norcross Cultural Arts & Community Center, 10 College Street, Norcross 30071.

drawings to record nearly all facets of daily life—their travels, commissioned illustrations, portraits of loved ones, or studies of a passerby on the street. “Fine Lines” celebrates a recent gift to the High of 50 late 19th-century drawings from Atlanta collector Paul Stein that will be on view at the Museum for the first time. General admission tickets are $14.50, free for members and children under 6 years of age. High Art Museum, 1280

and Explore Gwinnett. StillFire Brewing, 343 Buford Highway, Suwanee 30024.

Learn Something

Tree Care Workshop

Iconic Ladies of Jazz & Soul featuring Myrna Clayton▲ Saturday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m.

“America’s Songbird” Myrna Clayton will take you back to the days of Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole in her performance honoring the “Iconic Ladies of Jazz and Soul.” Myrna’s uplifting performances earned her the role of 2018 Cultural Ambassador, representing American music abroad for the United States Department of State. Tickets are $25 for seniors, students and military members, $30 for adults. The Roswell Cultural Arts Center, 950 Forrest Street, Roswell 30075. For more, go to RoswellCAC.com or call 770-594-6232.

Meet the Author: Stuart Woods▼

Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings Runs Oct. 19, 2019 through Feb. 2, 2020. For more than 40 years, Sally Mann has made experimental, elegiac and hauntingly beautiful photographs that explore the overarching themes of existence: memory, desire, death, the bonds of family and nature’s indifference to human endeavor. The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. General admission tickets are $14.50, free for members and children under 6 years of age. High Art Museum, 1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta 30309. Visit high.org or call 404733-4400 for details.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die: The World as You Have Never Seen It Before Thursday, Oct. 24, 7 p.m. When Patricia Schultz published the original “1,000 Places to See Before You Die,” she created a new kind of travel book. At this event, she takes everyone on a visual journey of the best the world has to offer, including tributaries of mist curling over the Great Wall, elephants grazing on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater and masked whirling dancers at a festival in Bhutan. Tickets are $10. Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Avenue, Atlanta 30309. Find details and more events at atlantahistorycenter.com.

Peachtree Street, Atlanta 30309. For more info, go to high.org or call 404-733-4400.

An Evening of Books, Beer & Bluegrass ▼

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6:30 p.m. Join Gwinnett County Extension Agent Timothy Daly to learn about trees in trouble and how to go about seeking help from arborists and tree care companies. Presented by Gwinnett County Public Library and UGA Extension Gwinnett. Five Forks Branch, 2780 Five Forks Trickum Road, Lawrenceville 30044. Register at gwinnettpl.org/ calendar.

Groundbreaking Design: Where Beauty and Sustainability Meet

Tuesday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. Woods is the bestselling author of more

Fine Lines: American Works on Paper Runs Oct. 26, 2019 through March 22, 2020. In the 19thcentury American artists, used

Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m. Enjoy an evening at Gwinnett’s newest brewery, StillFire Brewing. The first 100 guests will enjoy one free beer, a live performance by bluegrass band Lost Horizon and a book talk with Ron Smith and Mary O. Boyle, who will discuss their novel “Prohibition in Atlanta: Temperance, Tiger Kings & White Lightning.” Presented by Gwinnett County Public Library

Wednesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. In partnership with The Garden Conservancy, Deborah Nevins gives the Cherokee Garden Library’s fall lecture at Atlanta History Center. The presentation features the work of her New York-based landscape design firm, Deborah Nevins & Associates, and includes examples of the firm’s push to go beyond solely creating beauty in its commitment to sustainability. The illustrated presentation

will be followed by a reception. Tickets are $25, and reservations are recommended. Tickets are $25. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta 30305. For information, call 404-814-4150 or visit atlantahistorycenter. com.

A Prologue to the Book Festival of the MJCCA: Jamie Bernstein

Saturday, Oct. 26, 8

p.m. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA) welcomes Jamie Bernstein, daughter of the acclaimed composer Leonard Bernstein, as she presents her book, “Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein.” Leonard Bernstein, chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic, was the life of every party. To his eldest daughter, he was the man in the scratchy brown bathrobe who smelled of cigarettes and the insomniac whose 4 a.m. composing breaks involved spooning baby food. Ticket prices are $18 for members, $25 for the community. MJCCA, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody 30338. Call the MJCCA Box Office at 678-812-4002 or visit atlantajcc. org/bookfestival for tickets and further info.

2019 Fall/Winter Series of Monthly Classics Film Club

Sundays, Oct. 27 & Dec. 15, 1-3 p.m. Ever wanted to know what goes into the films you watch?

Join the MJCCA’s Active Mature Adults’ (ages 60+) monthly Classics Film Club and connect with fellow movie buffs to watch classic comedies and discuss the techniques and themes that went into making them. The 2019 Fall/Winter Series includes “A Night at the Opera” (Oct. 27) and “His Girl Friday” (Dec. 15). “This season, we’re diving into the world of classic comedies from the early days of cinema,” said Earl Finley, MJCCA’s Active Mature Adults Director. “Each of these films left a lasting impression on the generations of comedians that followed.” For information, contact Earl Finley at earl.finley@atlantajcc.org or

678-812-4070, or register at the door.

Festivals

8th Annual Harvest on the Hooch Taste Fest ▲ Sunday, Oct. 13, 1-5 p.m. Treat yourself to farm-to-table food from local top chefs, sample drinks from local craft breweries and participate in outdoor activities for the whole family. Tickets are $50 for prepurchased, $65 day-of, $15 for kids, free for ages 10 and under. Chattahoochee Nature Center, 9135 Willeo Road, Roswell, 30075. Visit chattnaturecenter.org for details and tickets.

Taste of Atlanta

Friday-Sunday, Oct. 18-20. The award-winning food, craft beer, wine and cocktail event returns to the Historic Fourth Ward Park. More than 100 restaurants offer two or three tastes from their menus, available for purchase with Taste Points. Other highlights include professional chef presentations, cooking classes and a best bartender competition. Go to tasteofatlanta. com for specifics on the location, schedule, ticket options and more.

Brookhaven Arts Festival

Saturday & Sunday, Oct 19 & 20; Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. More than 120 talented visual artists display their works, local vendors offer tasty foods and beverages and live music plays throughout the festival. On Sunday, a classic car show will be presented 1-4 p.m. Admission and parking are free. The festival is on Apple Valley Road, behind the BrookhavenOglethorpe MARTA station, 4047 Peachtree Road. Find out more at BrookhavenArtsFestival.com.