The Smithfield Times April 2019

COMPLIMENTARY

APRIL 2019

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A Joyous Little Mermaid Delights Audiences of All Ages at Smithfield High

By Marilyn Busch From the opening notes of the The Little Mermaid’s overture to the ebullient final curtain call, Smithfield High School’s annual musical delivered a joyous and energetic two hours of theater to delighted houses the weekend of March 8-10, 2019. Under the inspired direction of SHS Choral Director Katherine Young, the student production was packed to the gills with local talent - over thirty young performers in the lead roles alone – joined by an ensemble of forty more 8th grade and high school students portraying the play’s singing sailors, sea creatures, maids and more. The addition of an adorable chorus made up of thirty-six local 3rd graders in the two larger musical numbers brought audible “oohs” and “awwws” from the crowd on their first appearance.

Based on the Disney film of the same name, the award-winning show brings to life the popular Menken/Ashman songs from the movie, along with additional musical numbers written for the Broadway show. All of the magical elements of The Little Mermaid came vibrantly to life onstage as the cast performed the beloved story of Ariel (played by senior Emma McKay, 17) the mermaid who is willing to give up her voice (and her fins) in order to pursue true

Emma McKay as Ariel. Photo: Marilyn Busch

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love with handsome Prince Eric (played with confidence by senior Liam Bannon, 17.)

The Little Mermaid marked Bannon’s first time acting in a play and singing in front of an audience. Usually busy playing football and running track with the Sentinels, Bannon says he was lucky that the show’s rehearsal and performance dates fell right in the off season for both. He admitted that it was a leap for him to be in the show. “It takes a lot to actually go out and do it – to say, all right, I am going to commit to do this,” adding with smile, “it’s fully outside of my comfort zone, so, you just have to commit.”

Standing in the way of true-love is Ariel’s father, King Triton (impressively played by heavily bearded and smoothvoiced singer Jonathan Twining, 17.) Twining did a wonderful job of playing the age of the character and commanding the stage while wielding a very impressive light-up “magical” trident.

The drama of the show soon comes courtesy of Ursula, King Triton’s sister and a sea witch who is bound and determined to take down her brother and steal his magic. Tackling the larger than life role of Ursula is Abigail Sayles 18, a senior at SHS. Decked out in a dramatic costume sporting six large octopus tentacles, Sayles commands the stage in the role, delivering dry humor and powerful singing chops as the villainess of the piece. Sayles explained to me that her “sea witch” tentacles where actually made out of large black dryer venting tubes amid layers of black and purple cloth.

Sayles is no stranger to performing on stage, however, this

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Photos: Marilyn Busch

show marked her first lead role in high school – and her first crack at playing the villain. “I was always the “good guy’,” she explained, “and this time I had to really dig deep and change my personality to fit the role of a villain.” Co-star McKay joking added “But that’s something that comes really natural to you,” Sayles continued with a laugh, saying “Getting to bring out the antagonistic side of the show was really fun.”

As the young red-haired mermaid Ariel, McKay fills the role with a graceful maturity and a wonderful, trained singing voice. Like many of her castmates, she has been performing in school musicals since middle school and admits that it has taken a lot of hard work to finally be playing the lead in the show. In addition to the cast practice held four days a week, McKay takes voice lessons by Skype from Phoebe Madden, a well-known vocal coach in Connecticut.

Emma shares the lead role of Ariel with fellow senior Jules Pereira, 17. Pereira and McKay split the performances with Pereira taking to the stage for the Sunday matinee. Pereira, a bubbly brunette with a contagious smile, was a standout in the dance ensemble the night that I saw the show and will perform in the Music Dept.’s Spring Cabaret June 7th at 6:00pm and 8:30pm in the SHS Band Room.

Amid all of the upperclassmen in the spotlight, two younger actors stand out for the sheer size of their talent - and their roles. Jayna Barrette, 15, and Emily Rawlinson 15, are both in their freshmen year - and both do fantastic jobs as comic relief. Barrette plays Flounder, Ariel’s “#1 fan” and perpetual undersea sidekick. A “giant Disney fan”, she started performing as an orphan in Stadium Theatre’s production of Annie when she was in 4th grade. “That was the most amazing thing ever,” she recalls, “I was so excited. . .I immediately just fell in love with theater and everything about it.”

Rawlinson, who plays feathered seagull Scuttle with the timing of an old-school vaudevillian, has some of the funniest lines in the play. Her big number, “Positoovity” is backed up by a chorus of tap-dancing seagulls – and it is a hoot. Barrette

April 2019

says that playing Scuttle has taught her a lot about self-confidence, “Just getting into the character has taught me a lot about myself.”

David Alexander as Ariel’s all-singing all-dancing crustacean guardian Sebastian also does a wonderful job with a demanding singing role – right down to his crab waddle way of walking and his fast-patter delivery of the show’s signature tune “Under the Sea.”

The large ensemble cast works very well together and Young’s staging makes sure that each actor is given their chance to “shine”, whether in a gaggle of catty mermaids, eye-rolling maids or seasick sailors. I would be remiss not to mention Tim Ferron, 16, whose comic turn as Chef Louis, the crazed, knife-wielding Frenchman absolutely brought down the house with his over the top delivery of the show-stopper

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“Les Poissons.”

One of the things I overheard mentioned by many attendees was how impressed they were not just with the performances, but the sets, costumes and sound quality – and I agree, all were top-notch. I was particularly taken by Paul Duhamel and Kevin Piatek‘s excellent interchangeable set construction pieces that brought the action above and below the water and back wall mural. The beautiful and inspired costume designs by Beth Grant truly lifted the production to a whole new level.

The ten-piece pit band instructed by Kelly Chartier and conducted by Young was impressive to say the least, backed by standout percussionist Christopher Hoskins and pianist Jameson Ward. Kudos also to stage managers Abby Theroux and Ashleigh Moroni on their behind the scenes production “magic” of making sure countless set pieces, costume changes and a hundred cast members all flow on and off stage seamlessly.

Local audiences have come to expect high-quality student productions from the School’s Music Department since Young started staging these large-scale musicals five years ago.

If this year’s outstanding production of The Little Mermaid is any indication, there is no doubt in my mind that next year’s will be another “must-see” event.

5

INSIDE TOWN GOVERNMENT

The Greenville Public Library

By Ron Scopelliti Driving into the parking lot of the Greenville Public Library, the torn-up pavement immediately tells you that change is on the horizon. But for library director Dorothy Swain, change has been a constant since she started as a parttime reference librarian in Greenville 30 years ago. Though the library has a collection of more than 66,000 books, it now offers much more, and keeping library patrons up to date on all the available services can be a challenge.

“There’s a lot of things they don’t know about, but we’re more than happy to explain to them when they come in here,” says Swain, who became director in 2015.

Looking at last year’s Annual Director’s report, services run the gamut from the expected books, videos, and CDs, to more unusual amenities like notary services, proctoring, and a 3-D printer/maker space. There are telescopes for loan, as well as printing, scanning, copying, and fax services, and a wide variety of online media.

The expansion of what the library provides reflects changes that Swain has seen not only in the services that patrons are looking for, but also in the way people access the library.

“The way the services are delivered now is different,” she says, with less face-to-face contact with patrons. Sometimes the interaction is strictly on the phone, or through e-mail, or through the digital collection in the Ocean State Libraries E-Zone.

“We have patrons that we probably will never even meet, because they don’t have to come in here,” Swain says.

Despite this, the number of people coming into the library is up – they just come in for different reasons.

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Dorothy Swain, Greenville Public Library Director Photo: Albert Tavakalov

says. “There’s a lot of tutoring going on after school. There are a lot of people here on computers. There are also a lot of people here doing work, either in the quiet studies or in the quiet areas of the building.”

Many people, she says, see the library alternative to an office or to working at home. The library can sometimes accommodate small groups in the work room or in the recital room downstairs, Swain notes. “They’re often very surprised that we can do that.”

“We have a lot of book clubs here,” she adds. “We have four book clubs.” The book clubs, which are all for adults, include a cookbook club, a mystery club, a “Picnic Table Book

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Club” that includes all types of fiction, and a novel group.

To better accommodate the number of people coming into the library, the parking lot is being expanded from 44 spaces to 98, and a new entrance/egress is being added on Rte. 116. Work is expected to be done by the end of summer.

“That was funded by a Champlin grant for $700,000,” Swain says.

“We lucked out with that – they were willing to pay all of it.” The project will preserve the stone wall along Rte. 44, and relocate the section of wall on Spring Street to the back of the expanded lot.

“We don’t have to preserve it – it was checked by Town Hall,” Swain says. “But we are preserving it.”

“The sequoia tree is staying also,” she adds. “We’re working around that tree for the parking lot, because it’s beloved.”

Other library upgrades will be less physical.

“We’re going to have a new website very soon,” Swain says.

“We’re going into a managed-content website.”

The library will also be building on learning programs that were tested over the last year, such as a “learning lab” tutoring

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program that matches young adults and children.

“We had a pilot program of it last year and it was pretty successful,” Swain says, “so we’re going to try and expand upon it this year.

“We’re also looking at an initiative with sensory storytimes. We’ve been doing them, but now we’re going to be doing a bit of a push.”

Sensory storytimes introduce interactive and tactile elements to storytelling, and are beneficial for children with autism and similar conditions.

“It has been very sorely needed in this community,” Swain says. “Parents come in and they’re very happy that we provide that.”

Judging the public’s needs and adapting the library’s services to meet them seems to be a recurring theme with the director.

“To me, that’s what library work is all about – us serving the patrons, on whatever level; whatever they’re looking for.

That’s always been my mantra.”

For a complete list of the Greenville Public Library’s services, visit their website at www.yourlibrary.ws.

7

A heartfelt, family-run company closes, attributes almost a century of success to its loyal customers

By Brittni Henderson After nearly 100 years, a beloved family-owned business in Rhode Island is delivering its last glass bottle of milk. Christiansen’s Dairy, the popular fine milk and dairy delivery service has spent generations perfecting its family-oriented business to be friendly, affordable, and loving.

Christian Christiansen first opened the dairy in 1910 on a small farm on Cottage Street in North Providence. Starting with horse and carriage distribution, Christiansen would provide his customers with milk and other dairy products to feed their families.

Erika Christiansen-Allard and Britt Christiansen-Seugling, daughters of current owner Jay Christiansen, say that this is very bittersweet time for their family, but know that their family’s business will remain in the hearts of customers for the rest of their lives. The dairy was a major part of their childhood, as they were often sidekicks with their father on his routes, a helping hand washing the trucks, or bringing friends to the dairy on field trips.

“It was so cool having a milkman as a dad,” shares Erika.

“It gave me a new perspective. We’ve been able to see all of the hard work he’s put in over the years, all of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into this business.”

When Jay took over at the helm, he promised his father John that he would keep the age-old practices the same.

While some may say that they’re outdated, the family says that they’re, instead, holding on to the authentic roots of this truly homegrown and traditional family business. It’s simple, old-fashioned, and has become more than just a delivery company. Although times have changed drastically from horse and carriage days, the Christiansen Family remained steadfast in their mission to stay true to what their business is all about.

For many customers, their children were raised drinking

After their Great-Great Grandfather passed away, their Great Grandfather Alfred Christiansen carried on the heritage. He purchased the property that now homes the dairy on Smith Street in North Providence. The next in line was their Grandfather John Christiansen, and finally their father Jay Christiansen.

Christiansen’s milk. Family dogs look forward to barking at the milkman through the window. The distinct silver box sits on the front steps of over 1,000 homes in Rhode Island. Four milkmen embark upon their routes each week, to ensure that customers get not only milk, but also other things like seasonal eggnog, lemonade, fruit punch, and many other food

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Jay and John Christiansen

April 2019

items. Most importantly, they deliver the same heartfelt experience that started almost a century ago.

Richard “Dickie” Leveille worked for Christiansen’s Dairy for 20 years, starting when Jay’s father John was in charge. Even after retirement, Leveille would still come to the dairy two to three times a week to spend time with the employees, help load trucks, and be around the positive environment that was always present there.

“Christiansen’s was a great place to work. It was the best job I’ve ever had.” says Levielle. “I’ve never met so many nice people in my life. Along my routes, everyone was just great! It is sad that they’re closing, but the time has come. The Christiansens and their customers are great, great people.”

At the dairy, the day started at 4:00 am for Jay Christiansen. He spent most of his days there ensuring that everything ran smoothly, but now his family is his priority.

“Our dad would do anything for anyone,” Jay’s daughters say. “Milkmen are so few and far between, and we’re proud that out father carried out the legacy for so many years. Also, if it weren’t for the customers, there would be no Christiansen’s. We are all so very thankful.”

As of March 2019, Christiansen’s Dairy is closed. Much of the equipment inside the building is original but in great condition. As the clean out process continues, equipment— including the iconic milk trucks—will be for sale. Customers can hold on to their milk bottles and milk boxes if they wish. If not, the family asks that you please recycle them accordingly.

According to a letter that was distributed to all customers, Munroe Dairy is welcoming all customers of Christiansen’s if they’d like to continue milk delivery service.

The Christiansen Family is truly grateful for your business over the years—from every corner of Rhode Island, you’ve all become a part of the family.

The Smithfield Times, Inc.

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How many know that the Easter Bunny was originally a hare?

Forgotten Folktales of Easter

By Jim Ignasher OK, by a show of hands, how many know why colored eggs, rabbits, and baby chicks, are symbolic of Easter? Or why the lily flower bows its head? And why do we give Easter baskets filled with candy? After all, isn’t Easter a religious holiday?

Perhaps you’ve never given much thought to these questions, and if you have, then you already know that a quick check of the Internet will provide you with the “facts”. Folktales however, can be far more fun, and the following have been culled from 19th century newspapers. These tales have been largely forgotten in modern times, but are worth re-telling. A case in point is one about the Easter Bunny.

Once upon a time there was a kind rabbit who was making his way through the woods when he came upon a nest filled with eggs. A wicked fox had taken the mother, and the rabbit knew the eggs would never hatch without his help. So he decided to sit on the eggs overnight to keep them warm, while he figured out what to do about them. The following morning was Easter Sunday, and the rabbit awoke to find that the eggs had hatched and nest was full of yellow chicks. The babies thought the rabbit was their mother, and the rabbit, knowing they would be helpless without his care, adopted them. And this was how a rabbit came to be affiliated with eggs at Easter.

However, another tale states that the rabbit was originally created as a bird, but Ostara, (also spelled Eostre, and Eastre), the pagan goddess of morning and spring, decided to turn the bird into a rabbit. This is why the Easter Bunny is able to lay colored eggs.

Both legends are Germanic in origin, and German immigrants are credited with introducing what we now call the Easter Bunny to America. However, not many know that the “bunny” was originally a hare. (Yes, there is a difference.)

Hares are larger than rabbits, with longer hind legs and ears.

And unlike rabbits which live in underground burrows, hares

tend to live in a nest above ground.

Over time the hare morphed into a rabbit, maybe because rabbits are cuter, hence, the Easter Bunny.

One folktale told in the form of a poem relates to colored Easter eggs, and tells of a bird living in a tree located just outside the tomb of Jesus. As the bird sat in her nest guarding her ivory-white eggs, she saw Jesus’ body being placed in the tomb and began to sing a mournful song.

The poem, which appeared in an Ohio newspaper in 1863 read in part: “All night long till the moon was up, She sat in her moss-wreathed cup.

A song of sorrow as wild and shrill, As the homeless wind when it roams the hill.

So full of tears, so loud and long, That the grief of the world seemed turned to song.”

- Author unknown The bird’s grief continued until she saw an angel come and open the tomb, and when Jesus emerged, risen from the dead, the bird broke into joyous song. Jesus took note and blessed the bird, her eggs, and the nest they rested in.

And thus the poem ends: “The eggs of that sweet bird change their hue,

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And burn with red, and gold, and blue Reminding mankind in their simple way Of the holy marvel of Easter Day.” Another Easter egg tale tells of a well-to-do woman who lived in the Middle Ages that was forced to leave her castle and live among poor peasants in Germany’s Black Forest region.

She brought with her some prized hens, and one Easter had the novel idea to color the eggs and hide them in the nearby woods for the children to find. The youths were astonished to find colored eggs where no chickens had been seen, and concluded they were hare’s eggs left by the “Osterhase”, a.k.a.

Easter Bunny.

As one might guess, the Easter basket is symbolic of a nest, and eggs are symbolic of birth, and a new beginning. There was a time when families would put their Easter meal in a basket and bring it to their local church to have it blessed. By the late 19th century chocolate eggs began to replace the real kind, and today we think of an Easter basket as something one gives a child.

Flowers also play a part in Easter symbolism, particularly the white lily. The white lily has been called the “Madonna Flower” and the “Lily of the Virgin”, for legend has it that one day Mary was on her way to the temple to pray and she stopped to pick a lily. As she continued on her way, clutching the lily to her chest, the flower turned pure white.

St. Joseph, the husband of Mary, and father to Jesus, is often represented in art to be holding a white lily.

It’s been said that the Easter lily bows its head, especially if it has a pinkish hue, and there’s a folktale that goes along with this. In the town of Jerusalem is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion. In the garden were flowers of all kinds, including the white lily, which considered itself to be the most beautiful of all. As Jesus walked past, all flowers but the proud lily bowed in reverence.

As he stopped to gaze at the lily, the flower blushed pink, and slowly bowed its head in shame.

There’s also the legend of the Easter miracle of Feldkirch, Austria. The story goes that on Easter morning in 1799, eighteen-thousand French troops appeared on the surrounding highlands in preparation of invading the town. Town leaders quickly assembled and voted to send a delegation to plea for mercy. Then a priest spoke up and urged the townspeople to trust in God, and suggested that every church bell in the town be rung. This was done, and the French interpreted the bells to mean that Austrian troops had arrived to defend the town, so they withdrew, and the town was saved.

How this legend came to be is unknown, but it was widely published in 1910. It’s an historical fact that the Battle of Feldkirch took place on March 23, 1799, and lasted throughout the day. The Austrians won, the French retreated, and the town was saved.

To all, a Happy Easter.

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SENIOR SCENE My mother is 92 years old and isn’t in the best of health.

She underwent surgery a few months back and is recuperating in a rehabilitation facility.

I frequently confer with my sister about our mom, and during a recent conversation we started chatting about a related topic – working as a direct support professional (DSP).

We agreed that job must be quite difficult, and that it takes a special person to be a DSP for elderly patients. I know other populations are served

by DSPs, and that those workers are also valuable, but the focus in this column is on seniors for obvious reasons.

Our observation is that DSPs usually treat their patients with dignity and respect. The DSPs approach their patients with a positive attitude, smiling and addressing them with sincerity. Our mom always has her favorites, and she tells us which ones are the most caring and gentle. She ensures all of them use her nickname, ‘Gigi,’ and the DSPs seem to get a kick out of that.

We deeply appreciate how the DSPs carry themselves and deliver services, especially when considering what they have to do. Tasks such as administering medication and giving a patient an extra blanket might seem unimportant to us. To the population in a rehabilitation facility, however, they are considered acute needs as the patients wonder when they are going to be well enough to return to the comfort and safety of their homes and the embrace of their loved ones.

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By Paul V. Palange What’s even more admirable to us is the often flawless execution of other duties such as assisting with patients’ personal hygiene or changing the dressing on incisions.

In addition, the DSPs seem to be good listeners, taking the concerns of patients seriously. The DSPs change what they can, alleviating discomfort or making environmental adjustments, and pass on up the ladder the complaints they cannot resolve.

All the DSPs I talked to said they love what they do, and that they want to stay in the profession even though they are underpaid and understaffed. Starting salaries for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are as low as $11 per hour and work shifts can be 10 or more hours long.

Benefits such as health insurance are inadequate, too. How can we expect people to become CNAs or caregivers under those conditions?

If the decision makers in the private sector are not going to step up and appropriately compensate caregivers for the work they do, then it’s up to legislators to pick up the ball and pass bills that will ensure direct support professionals for the elderly can earn a living wage. The elderly are a very vulnerable segment of the population that should not be at risk because of a labor crisis. The time to act is now.

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April 2019

Is Your Phone Ringing Off the Hook?

Few things can be more annoying than answering the phone while you’re in the middle of something. Unfortunately, illegal telemarketing calls have our phones ringing more than ever, costing victims of scammers millions each year.

How it Works: Scammers often leverage legal “robocall” technology unlawfully as a way to dial thousands of numbers at a time, looking for someone to pick up the phone so they can scam them out of their money or identity. A common tactic is “caller ID spoofing” which makes the call look like it’s coming from a trusted source like your bank or a neighbor.

What You Should Know: At this time, there is no way to prevent ALL unwanted telemarketing calls. But here are some tips to reduce them and hopefully, protect you from scams.

What You Should Do: • Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers, and if you answer what sounds like a potential scam, hang up immediately. If a recorded message asks you to push a button to stop receiving calls, do not do so as it is likely a trick to identify potential targets. Just hang up.

• Avoid answering any personal questions asked by a stranger on the phone, especially if you’re being asked to share account numbers, your Social Security number, or your mother’s maiden name, for example.

• If you receive a call from someone who says they represent a company or government agency, hang up and call the entity back -- either at the number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on an official website.

• Register your number on the national Do Not Call Registry at DoNotCall.gov. The Do Not Call Registry prohibits sales calls, however you still may receive political calls, charitable calls, debt collection calls, informational calls, and telephone survey calls. And, of course, scammers won’t check the registry before they call you, so be ever mindful.

When it comes to fraud, vigilance is our number one weapon.

You have the power to protect yourself and your loved ones from scams.

Please share this alert with friends and family.

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13

A baby grand gets to play another day at the Smithfield Senior Center

By Brittni Henderson About a year before his passing, H. Elton Dexter shared a very interesting surprise with his family. The highly talented musician recorded himself singing and playing piano, compiling enough tunes to fill 14 CD’s. On the anniversary of his death in March a year later, Dexter’s son Brad said that he can listen to his dad’s beautiful music in the car any time he wants and feel that he’s still with him.

The Dexter family has had music in their veins for generations. Brad and his siblings Scott and Cheryl grew up playing piano at home every single day. Brad shares that each morning before breakfast the children would spend at least an hour practicing playing on their Mason and Hamlin baby grand piano. Their grandparents were part of the North Scituate Baptist Church choir— the same choir the family is still a part of today.

At the age of 12, H. Elton started playing in an Armenian musical group based in Providence. The band had a gig at a wedding in Troy, NY, and according to family legend, the members promised the parents of young H. Elton that he would be

Elton Dexter plays a tune for his granddaughter Lauren

safe, so they granted him permission to travel with the band.

He returned home with the $5 he made from the performance.

In the 1930’s, this was pretty big chunk of change. H. Elton continued passionately playing piano for the rest of his life.

H. Elton played at numerous restaurants and directed the

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April 2019

Rosemary Hymel enjoying the new piano at the Smithfield Senior Center with Mary Cappelli, Rita Allaire, Judy Reali, Harlon Phillips and Ken Wilbur.

Photo: Albert Tavakalov

church choir. Shirley, his beloved wife of 70 years, would go to every performance. Shirley was also from a musical family.

Brad shared that his mother was such a kind and thoughtful soul, as she would always support his father. She was known for her knack in remembering birthdays and holidays, and over the span of one year sent over 1,500 greeting cards to family members and loved ones!

After the passing of their parents just about two years apart, the Dexter family knew that they would have to get rid of the piano that had garnished so many memories over their lifetimes. Each of the children already had a piano in their homes, so they were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to find a new home for their father’s.

“People don’t play pianos like they used to,” Brad shared.

“If we didn’t find a home for ours, it would end up in the bone yard.”

Luckily, after about three months of searching, the Dexters found a fantastic home for the 1902 Mason and Hamlin baby grand piano. Dot Mathurin, who is also a member at North Scituate Baptist Church, heard through the grapevine that the Dexter family was looking for a home for the piano.

“Brad’s father was an exceptional pianist, he was loved a lot!” says Mathurin. “It’s a very beautiful piano, and will be very much loved just as its owner was.”

Mathurin set up the pick up, as well as the tuning and polishing of the baby grand before it was moved to its new home at the Smithfield Senior Center. According to Mathurin, the Senior Center was in dyer need of a new piano, so it will be absolutely cherished. Brad says that his father would be overjoyed to know that its keys will continue to play under new fingertips.

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“My dad always had the phrase, ‘Keep a song in your heart,’ on his business cards,” says Brad. “Hopefully there is a post office in heaven for my mother’s cards and a tuned-up piano for my father to play while she writes them!”

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15

INSIDE THE BROWN BAG

By Peg Brown

The “Cruelest Month” …

“April is the Cruelest month…” When T.S. Eliot wrote the 1930s, “Easter Parade” was still those words at the end of the 19th century, it was clear he very popular, our small home town had never experienced the pure joy on biting off a pair of sol- never hosted an organized parade to id milk chocolate rabbit ears from a Sweenor’s Easter bunny! show off our Easter finery, but we did always walk to the town While he was metaphorically referring to the challenge that square after church to meet our neighbors. long dormant flowers faced in push Both my sister and I had hand-made ing their way into the world following straw baskets (mine was larger!), that a harsh and brutal winter (something we used each year, lined with a fresh with which we can this year clearly bed of that sticky decorative grass, always green—never in the now popular identify), the traditions that come with the celebration of Easter were not his pinks and yellows—which we placed at the foot of our beds on the night befocus. fore Easter. The candy left by the bunny Spring, rain, and the changing of was always the same. The centerpiece the seasons are associated with rebirth, was a large chocolate covered egg, filled reawakening, and renewal, all closely with dense white cream, surrounded by linked with Easter celebrations around a Milky Way cross (you cut one bar in the world that center on the religious half for the arms), yellow peeps, marshcommemoration of the rebirth of mallow cream filled eggs, solid chocoChrist. But amidst those most serious religious observances and messages late mini eggs in bright foil, and a large lies another more secular side of Eassprinkle of jelly beans. ter popularized and commercialized as Mother always unwrapped the canmany of our holy days have become. dy before putting it in our baskets, in And, just for the record, that is not order, I think to make it seem more authentically bunny-delivered. I am a political comment on my part, as I ashamed to admit my sister and I retoo, was raised with the strong spiritual components of Easter, accompanied by ceived those baskets until we left home, a healthy dose of chocolate and marshwhen Mother made sure we took that old basket with us into our new lives— mallow cream eggs.

The Easters of my youth were hardprobably breathing a sigh of relief. ly unique. While observing the rituals The first mention of an Easter “hare” Luke in his Easter finery just looking for a parade of holy week, including silence between where he undoubtedly will be the best dressed. (not bunny), appears in German liternoon and 3:00 pm on Good Friday, we ature in the late 1600s. The concept, delighted in the chance to pick out a new dress and hat, mostly thought to be transported to America by Protestant Germans wide brimmed straw with ribbons, for Sunday service. Our who settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country in the early 1700s, “Easter best” always included a dress coat, white ankle socks likened the practice to Santa Claus leaving only treats for chilwith ruffles, black patent leather shoes with ankle straps, white dren who had been judged “good” during the previous year. gloves, and a tiny corsage purchased by my father made with a The children of these families would make nests in their caps fresh carnation centered with a pink rose. or bonnets and await the “Osterhare” visit on the night before We often used our hats from previous years, but they were Easter. always adorned with new grosgrain ribbons and sprigs of fresh The symbol of the rabbit or hare is also said to have relispring flowers. Mother, I remember, always wore the same flat gious connotations, as it was thought that the rabbit could straw hat perched precariously on her fresh curls, that always reproduce without loss of virginity (a reference to Mary), and sported lilies of the valley, her favorite flower. As I look at often reproduced in large numbers. The egg, also a sign of ferthose black and white photos, I am now keenly aware that tility, has in many cultures, a significant place of respect. For while we had new togs for the occasion, Mother rarely in- example, in the Orthodox religion, one of the early traditions dulged in a new Easter outfit. Although Irving Berlin’s hit of was the complete abstention from eggs during Lent- fast-a fast

16

April 2019

broken on Easter morning with hard boiled eggs dyed red, a symbol of the blood of Christ.

But now what you’ve all been waiting for—the candy! The National Retail Federation has again released information on holiday spending by Americans and, as always, the numbers are amazing. It is estimated that 87 percent of American parents will prepare Easter baskets for their children this year.

Spending on candy will amount to at least $2.4 billion, and Americans are expected to spend over $17 billion on the food, decorations, clothing and sweets associated with the holiday.

Perhaps amazingly, that same survey says that millennials will spend more than any other age group for the holiday. Optimistic forecasters had suggested that in the current concerns over childhood obesity, Americans would spend less on chocolate. This year (2019) spending on chocolate will have increased 20 percent to a staggering $25 billion.

No discussion of Easter candy would be complete without a comment or two on those yellow peeps (now appearing in a rainbow of colors), and the ever-present jelly beans. Peeps were not mass produced until 1953, but this Easter it is estimated that over 700 million peeps will be sold, enough to encircle the earth at least twice. I also noticed in that CVS, among others, is now selling large stuffed replicas of the iconic chicken. I confess I have eaten a peep or two in my time, but I always opened the package and let them lie around for a few days so that they would be extra chewy!

And the jelly bean. Someone who obviously has too much time on his or her hands estimates that there will be 2.3 jelly beans consumed for every man, women and child on earth this year. And while Jelly Belly now makes over 50 flavors, you all know my heart still lies with the sugary spicy colored beans and the whole bags of black jelly beans that you can buy for $1.

No commentary on Easter would be complete without a mention of perhaps the most famous Easter eggs ever created—those fashioned by the jeweler Fabergé for the wives and mothers of Czars Alexander the III and Nicholas II. The first was created in 1885 as an Easter gift for the wife of Alexander III, a tradition that continued until the revolution of 1917.

It is thought that 69 eggs in all were created over that period, but only 57 are known today. If you have decided not to spend that much money on candy this year, you can purchase a Fabergé egg—the last one recently sold for a mere $9.5 million and others been known to fetch up to $28 million on a good auction day. For me, that’s a lot of bags of black jelly beans!!!

It’s been a tough winter everyone—enjoy a solid chocolate bunny or cream filled egg!

While the first official Easter Parade of record was held in Atlantic City, NJ in 1876, the origins, according to some historians, date to the mid-1800s when “well heeled” individuals strolled down 5th Avenue in their Easter finery after church.

The Smithfield Times, Inc.

17

amily

THFIELD I SM

F

Fun Day

Deerfield Park Tuesday, April 16 10am - 2pm

Demonstrations from Local Businesses and Organizations Food Trucks • Bwana Iguana • Touch-a-Truck • Sparky The Kid Bus • Big Ryan Tall Tales • Balloon Magician Face Painting • Celebrations DJ • and Much More!

Mojo is a 7 year old purebred Chow who was rescued from the south. He has many dogs he loves to play with but unfortunately the other dog in the home does not get along with him. He is house trained and walks well on a leash.

Like a typical Chow, he likes to sleep at the foot of the bed near his humans. He loves his “people” but also loves his space. He would do best in a home with “Chow Savvy” people and no small children.

Sarge is a sweet, loyal 4 year old boy and has lived in the same home his whole life. His human recently had a baby and Sarge has become overly protective of the baby, causing issues in the home.

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April 2019

Little Shop of Horrors at Trinity Repertory Theater

By Joe Siegel “Little Shop of Horrors”, the zany horror comedy about an unlucky florist and his man-eating plant, will be presented at Trinity Repertory Company from April 11 through May 12. The musical is based on the 1960 low budget film, “The Little Shop of Horrors.”

Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman (“Beauty and the Beast” “Aladdin”) wrote the score, which includes the title song, “Skid Row (Downtown)”, “Somewhere That’s Green”, and “Suddenly, Seymour”.

“Little Shop of Horrors” debuted Off-Off-Broadway in 1982 before moving to the Orpheum Theatre Off-Broadway, where it enjoyed a successful five year run. The musical was made into a 1986 feature film starring Rick Moranis as Seymour and Steve Martin as the Dentist.

Tyler Dobrowsky (“A Midsummer’s Night Dream”) directs Jude Sandy (“Othello”) as Seymour, a meek and lonely assistant at a floral shop who happens upon a strange plant, which he affectionately names “Audrey II” after his crush at the shop.

Rebecca Gibel (“Ragtime”) plays Seymour’s fiancee’ Audrey.

The cast also includes Janice Duclos, Timothy Crowe, Taavon Gamble, Carla Martinez, Olivia Miller, Elexis Morton, Kedren Spencer, Stephen Thorne (“Macbeth”) as the Dentist and Rachael Warren as the voice of “Audrey II.” “The music is irresistible,” said Dobrowsky. “I can feel it in my bones. There is just something unbelievably beautiful and wonderful about the music in the show.”

Dobrowsky was a fan of the show and developed a real affection for the story and characters.

“In a lot of ways, it was my introduction to musical theater,” Dobrowsky noted. “There was something I loved about the irony and the little bit of the almost serious camp of it.

The performers are all taking it very seriously but there is a kind of ironic distance to it that I think both a young person and then as a semi-adult today I really respond to in a lot of ways.”

Dobrowsky also enjoyed the chance to work with the cast of actors, some of whom he has previously directed.

“I think they’re really fun, I think they’re inventive, and

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they’re all good musical theater actors too,” Dobrowsky said.

Fans of “Little Shop of Horrors” are in for some surprises, Dobrowsky noted.

For one example, the setting for the story will be Providence so there will be lots of Rhode Island references in the dialogue.

The choice of Warren as the voice of the plant is also unique. In the past, a male actor has performed the character.

“I think it’s going to give us a lot of fun opportunities,” Dobrowsky said.

“On some level, it’s a very simple story. (“Little Shop of Horrors”) is almost like a morality play. You have Everyman and then you have Death comes and talks to Everyman. There is a simple and straightforward way of telling the story that I think actually resonates in a very profound way with how we tell stories.”

Dobrowsky believes there is a classic ‘good versus evil’ theme at the heart of the story: “It is about a guileless innocent man who gets seduced by the Devil to do bad things.

(Seymour) achieves success and gets the girl of his dreams and gets famous but all of that comes at a cost.”

Little Shop of Horrors runs April 11 through May 12. Trinity Rep. Phone number: (401) 351-4242, 201 Washington St, Providence. For more information, visit: https://www.trinityrep.com/ show/little-shop-of-horrors/ or email boxoffice@trinityrep.com

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19

Local Doctor Treating Hearing Loss Espouses Link with Memory Loss

By Paul Lonardo “We listen with our ears and we hear with our brains,” is something that Dr. Mary Kay Uchmanowicz likes to say, and with good reason. Dr. Mary Kay is an audiologist with nearly forty years of experiences and is the owner of Twin River Hearing Health, Inc. a private audiology and hearing aid dispensing practice located at 151 Douglas Pike in Smithfield, where she has been since 2001 after relocating her business from Providence.

There is an obvious connection between our ears and our brain, as what we hear passes through our ears and goes to the brain where the sounds are processed into words that have meaning to us. What many people may not be aware that the same part of the brain involved in our hearing is also responsible for memory, and that there may be a link between hearing loss and memory loss.

“Research suggests that when people experience age-related hearing loss, that area of their brain shrinks,” Dr. Mary Kay says, “and as a result, other areas of their brain used for higher-level de-

20

Dr. Mary Kay Uchmanowicz

cisions are then activated for hearing sounds. The speculation is that the strain of decoding sounds over the years may overwhelm the brain of people with age-related hearing loss leaving them vulnerable to dementia.”

In her practice, Dr. Mary Kay sees that the early sings of dementia and Alzheimer’s and the early signs of mild hearing loss are almost identical. “A person with hearing loss does not hear a family member’s response in a conversation, or they answer a question incorrectly,” she says. “In dementia, a family member will have to repeat themselves in a conversation because the person is not following what they’re saying.”

Dr. Mary Kay denotes the increase of social isolation and depression that is seen in both hearing loss and early dementia. “In hearing loss, a person’s auditory processes slow down to the point that they can’t keep up with conversation and interact. In more severe hearing loss, people stop going to the movies and engaging in other social activities, which is what you see in dementia also.”

April 2019

In her practice, people who come in to see her for hearing loss but what they are experiencing are early signs of dementia. She similarly sees just the opposite, where she sees someone who is believed to be suffering from dementia but what they really have a problem with is hearing loss.

The statistics are really alarming, Dr. Mary Kay points out.

“We know that in 2018, an estimated 5.7 million Americans were suffering with Alzheimer’s. They say that every 65 seconds someone develops it.”

She cautions that this does not suggest that hearing loss causes dementia, only that there is a link. “The risk of dementia increases with untreated hearing loss,” Dr. Mary Kay says. “With mild hearing loss, you have two times the likelihood of developing dementia. With a moderate loss, you are three times as likely to develop dementia. And with severe loss of hearing, the probability of developing dementia jumps to five times compared to someone with no hearing loss.”

The trend of increased Dementia and Alzheimer’s cases is expected to continue, with prognosticators estimating that by 2050, one in thirty people will have dementia.

While there is no cure to this insidious disease, there are things that can be done to slow the progression and diminish it effects.

Dr. Mary Kay recommends that everyone over the age of 60 should have their hearing checked. And if any hearing loss is detected, hearing aids should be used.

“Studies have shown in treating hearing loss, hearing aids slow down the effects of patients with dementia,” she says. “It works because, reduced hearing stimulation, particularly high frequencies, is associated with changed brain structures and reduce gray matter, and then when you activate the hearing with the new brain technology in today’s hearing aids, the benefit of the increased hearing stimulation helps to maintain the plasticity of the brain.”

Getting your hearing checked as part of overall health is the right thing to do, even without the risk of dementia. In general, hearing loss is the third most chronic health condition that affects older adults, and one in three people older the age of 60 suffer from age-related hearing loss, about 36 million in the country, which means about 90,000 in Rhode Island. And only a third of all these people are using hearing aids, Dr. Mary Kay points out.

In addition to the traditional expertise of an audiologist, Dr. Mary Kay specializes in tinnitus management and industrial audiology. She is also certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is a fellow of the American Academy of Audiology.

The Twin Rivers Hearing Health office uses the most advanced clinical equipment available in order to analyze all types of hearing problems, with extensive expertise in state-of-the-art hearing aid technology like programmable and digital processing instruments.

For more information visit https://www.twinrivershearing.com/ about or call Twin River Hearing Health at 401-349-0456

The Smithfield Times, Inc.

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IMHO

By Ron Scopelliti

Papers, please.

I have no identity. At least not in the modern, up-to-date, federally-certified sense. I ran into this sudden identity crisis when I got my driver’s license renewal form, and it offered me the chance to make my license a “REAL ID” federal identification card. Just after that, Walter “Bud” Craddock from the state DMV started periodically showing up in my Facebook feed to explain the ins, outs, and what-have-yous of the REAL ID. My identity crisis came when I realized that I probably don’t have all the paperwork needed to obtain a REAL ID. I lost my birth certificate and my Social Security card years ago, and my passport’s expired, so it’s probably going to be a major hassle getting all that stuff lined up. And it looks like I might not even need a REAL ID, if I get my passport renewed. But there are a couple of things that still bother me about the REAL ID. First off, why is the name in all caps? Don’t the feds realize how rude that is? From the earliest days of Internet bulletin boards, there’s been a constant rule trying to maintain civility on the web: Don’t type in all caps. It’s always been interpreted as “yelling,” and has been responsible for starting numerous “flame wars.” In the old days, inadvertently hitting your caps lock key was enough to get you all sorts of grief from BBS users. Did our government not read the FAQ? Then again, maybe it’s a conscious choice. Maybe using the typography of internet bullies is the government exerting their authority as the ultimate “moderators.” Maybe it’s their way of telling us, in the parlance of the early Internet, “You’ve been pwned!”

Then again, I might be reading too much into it because of my recent Netflix viewing. I’ve been watching a lot of Cold

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War-era movies, and the thought of a federal ID really brings to mind visions of Checkpoint Charlie in the once-divided city of Berlin.

My latest viewing was “The Third Man,” with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. It’s set in post-war Vienna when the city was divided into sectors like Berlin, and people are always being asked for their papers. As a child of the Cold War, I grew up with that image of ominous-looking guys in leather trench coats manning checkpoints and asking people for their papers, eying them with suspicion, and reluctantly letting them through. But you never knew what was really waiting for them on the other side of the checkpoint.

If we get started with all this allcaps federal ID business, is that the road we’ll be heading down in America? What it’s going to look like when I try to cross the Newport Bridge? Will there be a stern woman who looks like Lotte Lenya in “From Russia with Love” requesting my papers, comparing my photo to my face, and asking me if I have any clam cakes or overpriced sweatshirts to declare? Will she attack me with a poisoned knife in the toe of her shoe if I’m caught smuggling out a ceramic replica of the Breakers?

The last time I had that sort of “dystopian America” vision was when I covered the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. It was the first political convention after the 9/11 attacks, and the security was a bit extreme. After a sixmonth process to get press credentials, I traveled to an unrecognizable version of Boston where the Southeast Expressway was closed to traffic, and the streets and subways were patrolled by police and military equipped with body armor and assault rifles.

Getting onto the convention grounds required me to navigate a maze of barricades culminating in a checkpoint where I had to present my credentials, then point my camera at the ground and take a picture to prove it wasn’t a gun or bomb, issued from Q along with an exploding can of deodorant and a missile launching cigarette.

But I respected the need for security back then as I do now, so I’ll eventually give in and get my REAL ID. The thing is, the whole business of paperwork and birth certificates seems hopelessly out of date. Why not go all the way and plant a chip in my arm? At least it will be harder to lose than my birth certificate was.

April 2019

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23

CROSSWORD PUZZLE CLUES ACROSS 1. Defense Department 4. Diminutive hoopster Webb 8. Cools 10. Chili con __ 11. Quantitative fact 12. Enliven 13. A woman of refinement 15. Where royalty live 16. Beverage made of oatmeal

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17. Replaced 18. UK’s largest city 21. Obamacare 22. When you expect to get there 23. Deutschland 24. Consumed 25. Paddle 26. A way to consume 27. “Walter White” 34. The opera has one

35. Honk 36. Disorganization 37. Secret political clique 38. Recounted again 39. Converts to leather 40. Consisting of a single element or component 41. Therefore 42. Clownish 43. The habitat of wild animals

CLUES DOWN 1. Dreary 2. Book page size 3. Become less lively 4. Grassy plain 5. Attached a figure to 6. Hungry 7. NY-based dept. store 9. Pedestal 10. Single-celled animal 12. National capital 14. China’s chairman 15. Al Bundy’s wife 17. Acid in all living cells 19. Told 20. Displays heartbeat 23. Softly 24. Swiss river 25. Small chapel 26. Electronic countermeasures 27. Asian nation 28. Neither 29. Peacock network 30. List of candidates 31. Medieval garment 32. Type of juice 33. “Coach” actor 34. Puerto Rican dance music La __ 36. Texas politician Ted

April 2019

Sudoku

Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes.

To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box.

Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box.

You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.

The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

Smithfield Departmaent of Public Works & Smithfield Conservation Commission present

Emelia Spliid welcomes her new baby brother, Ryker.

Join us for Smithfield’s annual Community Clean Up! We provide the supplies. You provide time and community pride!

Deerfield Park - Sign-in at the Concession Pavilion Saturday, April 27, 2019 - 9 a.m. - Noon (rain or shine) Supplies will be distributed and clean-up locations throughout Town will be assigned. Groups, community organizations and businesses are encouraged to participate.

Children under the age of 18 need to have an adult chaperone present to participate.

For more information email recycle@smithfieldri.com or call Smithfield DPW Recycling at (401) 233-1034 x105

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Julia Cavanagh and Sadie DeMaggio help with the Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive for the Food Pantry.

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PAYNE’S PICKS MOVIES RELEASE — Pet Sematary – April 5th - If you’re a fan of Stephen King, you may already be aware that a new adaptation of his 1983 horror novel “Pet Sematary” hits theaters this month. I remember several intense discussions between my co-workers when the latest adaptation of his novel “It” was released back in 2017. Because King’s work is so popular, there’s already debate about a controversial plot change made in Pet Sematary. In fact, Jason Clarke, who plays the father in the film, spoke to the website Flickering Myth about the change: “The reward will come. People who are upset will hopefully see the benefit of it.

But a lot of people didn’t have an issue. Stephen King didn’t have an issue with it.” I won’t give away the specific plot change (which really doesn’t mean anything if you haven’t read the book, like me!), but the premise of the movie is that a family moves to a new area where an eerie pet cemetery resides in the woods behind their house and brings people and animals back from the dead.

By Sarah Payne when I bought tickets to the re-release of A Star is Born, only to find out that the projector in the theater was broken.

Greta had just started, so I snuck in completely ignorant to the plot. Chloë Grace Moretz plays a young, naïve girl living with her best friend in New York City. She finds a purse on the subway belonging to Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an older woman she quickly befriends when she returns the purse to her. Greta turns out to be a “stage one clinger,” as they say, and not completely truthful about her personal history.

Huppert – a petite woman at five feet three inches – is absurdly terrifying as Greta. There’s certainly a comedic element to the film, too. But my main takeaway is you should never be nice to strangers, especially in New York City!

HBO REVIEW —

Greta - This was another film I actually saw “by accident” last month

True Detective – Season 3 - I’m disappointed to report that HBO has failed, yet again, to capture the magic of the first season of True Detective. I didn’t even give season two a chance because I heard how terrible it was, even with stars like Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. But last month I figured I would give season three a chance since we just signed up for HBO and I saw that Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are executive producers. Mahershala Ali plays a detective on a missing children case that spans decades – literally. The gratuitous use of time shifting in this season will make your head spin. Scene to scene, in a matter of minutes, it shifts from him as a senile old man (which is just depressing), back to a youthful 30-year-old, and then back to somewhere in between. It’s not artistic; it’s unnecessary. Rather than focusing on the crime and the mystery, most of the focus this season is on the relationship with his wife. It’s utterly boring and uneventful and Ali’s character is humorless. I don’t think he cracked a smile or a laugh the entire season.

I watched eight one-hour episodes, waiting for an a-ha moment. It never came. So I’d like to formally ask for eight hours of my life back from HBO, and warn you not to waste your time with this one.

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MOVIE REVIEW — Cold Pursuit - When it comes to on-screen violence, I can only handle a certain type. Torture or anything with children – I’m not a fan. But a few dozen deaths by gunshot or stabbing? I’ll take it – especially if it’s at the hands of a bereaved father seeking revenge and justice for the wrongful death of his son. I’ll never tire of seeing Liam Neeson take men half his age on screen. And Cold Pursuit really allows him to play up that character. Is it a little improbable that a snow plow driver be such a heartless killer without any formal training? Perhaps – but it’s certainly fun to watch. His nemesis, a drug lord named Viking (Tom Bateman) is also a delight, as he balances his criminal duties with being a father to his precocious son Ryan. There’s not much below the surface and body count in Cold Pursuit. In fact, I’m just now remembering that Neeson’s character has a wife, played by Laura Dern, who disappears without much explanation after the first 15 minutes.

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April 2019

Spring Forward, Don’t Fall Back on Tax Planning

By Kate Zimmerman Spring is known best for a few things; winter giving way to warm weather, losing an hour of sleep to daylight savings time and gathering up your W-2 or 1099’s to give to your accountant or enter into a popular tax prep website to see if you get a tax return or have to mail out a check on Tax Day. Many of us have no idea what is in store for us, but instead cross our fingers and hope it’s better than last year. What many of us don’t always do well is actually plan out how to be smart about taxes BEFORE the next New Year’s Eve comes around. So whether you are retired, currently saving to hopefully retire someday or just got your first job- here are some things you need to know when it comes to tax planning.

It’s April! That means that the IRS has given you procrastinators one last chance to save money in your IRA for last year until the 15th. Pretty nice, huh? Maybe you got a bonus in January, or didn’t spend as much as you thought you would for Christmas. Either way, your future self will thank you for taking some extra money and putting it aside for later while saving paying taxes on it now. Are you a business owner? Look into whether opening a SEP IRA, SIMPLE or a 401k will help you save some dough.

Even though the birds are chirping and flowers blooming, we haven’t quite forgotten how the stock market on Christmas Eve (well, most of fall actually) gave us coal in our “stock”ings.

If you held on and didn’t sell, you are a smart cookie. But what if you are over 70 ½ and needed to take your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) by the end of the year, not the best time to want to sell anything. Make a plan with your financial planner on how you will take those funds out of your IRA without waiting until the last second. You just might be forced to sell when the market is not favorable and not taking that distribution on time can cost you a penalty of 50%. Knowing how much you have to take and where it will come from, can save you a headache.

Putting money into your retirement plan at work is fantastic. Not only will you have those funds for your golden years but there are other benefits as well. For instance, this is good to make your W-2 look even smaller at both tax time (pre-tax contributions) and when filing your FAFSA for all of you college parents out there. Even better if you are maxing out your contributions for the year- Remember though that if you get a bonus and hit your maximum contribution early, that you might be losing out on your full match from your employer.

Try planning to ensure you spread your contributions throughout the year and all paychecks to get the most from your benefits.

If you are a high income earning family, there are special concerns that you should know. Long term capital gains and

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qualifying dividends can be taxed as high as 20% if your taxable income is over a certain amount. Does your advisor know where you stand before making those trades in your investment accounts? If you need to factor in for Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), planning ahead can help you avoid getting hurt in years forward. With certain legislative changes, how you plan for taxes may look very different than years past. Standard deductions and itemization rules have changed, which means potentially big difference in your annual tax experience if you are doing things the same as always. Talk with a tax planner to see what steps you can take to not get stuck with an unexpected tax bill.

No matter what stage of life you are in, financial planning ahead of time can save you money, stress and headaches.

Kate Zimmerman is a financial planner and President of RockPoint Wealth Management. She lives right here in Smithfield with her husband Greg and 4 children while helping people manage their financial lives for over 15 years. ___________________________________ Cambridge does not provide tax advice. The information presented here is not specific to any individual’s personal circumstances. To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances.

These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable — we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser. RockPoint Wealth Management and Cambridge are not affiliated.

Appendix: Contribution Limits: Traditional & Roth IRA 2018 $5,500 ($6,500 age 50 and older). 2019 $6,000 ($7,000 age 50 and older). Talk to your tax preparer to see if you qualify for a Roth IRA. SEP IRA (up to 25% of eligible compensation, up to) 2018 limit of $55,000 2019 $56,000. SIMPLE IRA 2018 $12,500. 2019 $13,000 401k & 403b. 2018 $18,500 ($24,500 age 50 and older) 2019 $19,000 ($25,000 50 and older) RMD (required minimum distribution) based on IRS tables and prior December 31st balance.

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Smithfield’s JonRobert Tartaglione Has Become Top ‘Influence Strategist’

By Paul Lonardo JonRobert Tartaglione, referred to as ‘Tat’ by all those close to him, knows people - quite literally. Trained as a psychologist and behavioral scientist, Tat serves as an advisor and strategist for some of the nation’s most powerful companies to help them better understand how people think, choose, and behave. More specifically, he helps his clients leverage insights from domains such as social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral economics to design more successful influence strategies.

Tartaglione was born and raised in Smithfield, graduating from Gallagher Middle School and Smithfield High School before going off to college. He received his undergraduate degree from American University in Washington, D.C. before earning his first Master’s degree in Social Cognition at University College London, and a second Master’s from the University of Chicago, where he studied Political Psychology and Behavioral Economics.

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With such an impressive educational background and academic success everywhere he went, you would think that Tartaglione knew exactly what direction he wanted to take in his career once he got out of school. However, having so many interests, it was not as easy as all that.

“When I graduated from college with my undergrad degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” Tartaglione says.

Human behavior and cognition was something that always fascinated Tartaglione. He wanted to better understand why people make the choices they do, why they hold the opinions they do, and act and behave in the way that they do.

“I suddenly found the motivation to want to learn,” Tartaglione says, “and that’s when I started reading. I became a voracious reader, consuming any book I could find on psychology and neuroscience.”

With both his Master’s degrees being in some form of psychology, Tartaglione looked for ways to apply what he learned, and he figured out that there were a lot of different opportunities, in a variety of different organizations, where he could apply psychology to help these different organizations to be more successful.

Tartaglione says, “I discovered that I had a passion for teaching people how to use these different psychological techniques, tactics and behavioral science methods in order to improve their business in a variety of different ways.”

Organizations will typically contact Tartaglione, and what he does for them depends on the type of organization.

“I teach restaurants, for example, how to structure their menus to influence customer choice,” Tartaglione says. “I teach them how they should layout their menus, change the colors and the fonts in order to maximize the chances that

April 2019

their customers choose certain dishes. I work with trial lawyers to help them understand how jurors make decisions, and what attorneys can do to better position their arguments to win the jury over.”

One arena has really opened up for Tartaglione in recent years has been politics. He works with political campaigns, teaching them about message framing and how to structure their message in order to gain the greatest possible following.

He also talks about things like voter turn-out strategy, how to get people to actually come out and vote.

“Whether it’s political behavior or consumer behavior,” Tartaglione says, “whatever it may be, I’ll come in and give a briefing on what the literature says and what they can do to maximize their chances of achieving whatever objective they’re going for.”

Tartaglione refers to himself as an ‘influence strategist,’ so basically any organization that is looking to influence attitudes, decisions or behaviors of clients, or employees, or any group really, he can come in and show them how to optimize their chances of getting that done.

Tartaglione is only 29-years old, but he is well sought-after due to his experience and growing expertise in so many fields.

He is based in Chicago now, but travels around the country extensively, and in May he will be coming back to Rhode Island as part of the 2019 SMPC Northeast Regional Conference, hosted at the Marriott in Providence, May 1-3.

“That conference is for marketing professionals,” Tartaglione says. “It’s a gathering of the region’s top A/E/C marketing, business development, and firm leaders so that they may learn from experts about the latest trends and best practices to maximize the success of their organizations. And I will be speaking about how they can use psychology and behavioral sciences to more effectively market to people.”

Tartaglione will be speaking during the closing keynote on May 3rd at 1:00 PM. For more information on Tat and how he partners with organizations visit https://influence51.com/ He also co-authored a book, “Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing us Apart.”

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COMMUNITY EVENTS Smithfield Family Fun Day - Deerfield Park, Tuesday, April 16 from 10am – 2pm. Pony Rides, Touch-a-Truck, Rock Climbing Wall, Face Painting, Music, Raffles and more!!!

— The Assembly Theatre Company of RI on 26 East Avenue, Harrisville, proudly presents the following productions: Samuel French’s Comedy “Norman Is That You?”.. “A funny play about values, love and human behavior” to be held Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 at 7pm, Sunday, April 7 at 2pm and 7pm; Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at 7pm, and Sunday April 14 at 2pm. G. Cole Productions (youth theatre) “Adventures in Story Book Land”, Friday, April 6 at 7pm, Saturday, April 27 at 2pm. Ages 5 and under free; Ages 6-12: $12.00; Adults: $15.00. The Magic of Lon Cerel “Magic Palooza”, Sunday, April 28 at 12:30pm. Ages 5 and under: free; Ages 6-12 $10.00, Adults: $15.00. Tickets available at the door, Smarttix.com or by calling 401-568-9015.

— Audubon Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, Smithfield, April 5, 2019; 6:00 – 9:00 pm. Join Audubon for an evening dedicated to the mysterious American Woodcock. Begin at Powder Mill Ledges for a soup and salad supper and an introduction to this bird and its exuberant mating flights.

Then venture outdoors, either at Powder Mill or the nearby Newman Wildlife Refuge to view and listen for the mating flights and songs. Wear sturdy shoes, dress warmly and bring a bright flashlight. Program will be postponed in the event of rain or otherwise poor viewing conditions. Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, 12 Sanderson Road, Smithfield, RI; Fee: $25/member; $30/non-member. Ages: 9+. Register online through the events calendar at www.asri.org Audubon Camouflaged Egg Hunt April 13, 2019; Check-in 9:30 am, Egg Hunt 10:00 – 11:00 am. Audubon offers a fun alternative to the same old Easter Egg Hunt! Children, ages 3 to 10, hunt for brown eggs in a natural setting and quickly learn how well the eggs camouflage. Prizes are awarded to all children, with grand prizes given to the finders of the “golden eggs.” Please bring a basket. Check-in will begin at 9:30 am.

The Egg Hunt will start promptly at 10:00 am and is held rain or shine. Advance registration is required. Program Fee: $5/ member child; $7/non-member child. Ages: 3-10. Register online through the events calendar at www.asri.org. The Egg Hunt will be held at all 4 locations: Audubon Nature Center and Aquarium, 1401 Hope Street, Bristol, Powder Mill Ledges, 12 Sanderson Road, Smithfield, Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge, 99 Pardon Joslin Road, Exeter, and Caratunk Wildlife Refuge, 301 Brown Avenue, Seekonk.

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SHS MULTIPLE CLASS REUNION - The Smithfield High School Class of 79 is hosting a multiple class reunion to celebrate their 40th year as graduates from Smithfield High!

Classes of 69, 70, 72, 76, 77, 78, 80 & 81 have joined the party. Join our facebook group: SHS Class of 79’s Ultimate Multiple Class Reunion or email: Bette Cotter at JetteBean@ gmail.com to learn more. Saturday, July 6, 2019 from 3pm to 10pm at Matunuck Community Association, 619 Matunuck Beach Road, Wakefield, RI 02879. Steve Smith and the Nakeds will entertain and it will be a BYO BBQ/Picnic theme. $25 per person, checks payable to SHS Multi-class Reunion 2019, Bette Cotter, PO Box 17324, Smithfield, RI 02917. Must sell 250 tickets - 500 maximum.

— Collage artist and former Greenville resident, Beverly Silva, will be exhibiting her recent book art at the Greenville Public Library, 573 Putnam Pike, from April 1 through May 31, 2019. The exhibit will include collages created with images and text from vintage fairy tale books, as well as mixed media collages made from deconstructed books. Using all original materials, she saves these timeworn treasures from the recycling bin, giving them new life as contemporary abstract art. Bev is an elected artist member of Art League Rhode Island, and a member of the Attleboro Arts Museum, Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Wickford Art Association, and Warwick Center for the Arts. She exhibits her work in group and open juried shows throughout the area.

— Smithfield Lions Club will be at the Greenville Manor on Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 10:00 am to hand out one (1) package of food items provided by the St. Philips’ Church/ St. Vincent DePaul Food Bank, Putnam Pike, Greenville, R.I. Each apartment unit will get one package which will contain Breakfast and Lunch items. Any resident who cannot visit the community room that day to receive their package can have it delivered to their unit. Please contact Claire Fortin and let her know if you are unable to visit the community room to pickup your package that day and she will make arrangements.

Our Lions Club members would be glad to help if you are unable to come to the community room that day.

— The Ponagansett Education Foundation is holding its 3rd Annual Golf Tournament on June 2, 2019 at the Foster Country Club. To register visit: tinyurl.com/pefgolf2019 or call Tara Warner at 589-1321.

April 2019

Herci Marsden’s State Ballet

By Paul Palange If budget constraints have kept you away from the theater, then you might want to take advantage of a pay what you can event at the historic Park Theatre in Cranston.

At 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on March 29, Herci Marsden’s State Ballet of Rhode Island will present a trilogy of ballet, music and art at the theater located at 848 Park Ave. According to Marsden, artistic director of the ballet troupe, the show will feature three unique one-act ballets, all of which are Southern New England premieres.

They are “Walpurgis Night” from Charles Gounod’s opera “Faust,” which was premiered in Rhode Island back in 1962.

In that repertoire favorite, a celebration takes place on the eve of spring with gods, goddesses and satyrs dancing an all- of night ritual creating an evening of frenzy.

The second premiere is “A Tale of Twelve Dancing Princesses.” It is a funny story ballet that Marsden states resident

choreographers hope will make the audience chuckle while admiring an array of sparkling colorful costuming.

The final premiere, according to Marsden, is “The Colors of Love & Light.” The production, which is inspired by the paintings of contemporary artist Paul M. Cote, is a fusion layering of dance, music and art.

The show is 90 minutes, and parking is free and convenient, according to Marsden. The suggested price per seat is $10, and reservations can be made by calling (401) 334-2560.

Sponsors are Twin River Casino, Rhode Island PBS, Asia Grille, the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and Cardi’s Furniture and Mattresses.

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50 YEARS AGO

By Jim Ignasher

April 1969 USMC Corporal Steven Oliver of Greenville came home after serving 13 months in Vietnam. The occasion of his homecoming was all the more joyous as he met his little brother Antone for the very first time, who was born while Steven was away.

Edmond B. Lynch, Jr., of Greenville, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and would be serving with the Chemical Corps.

was sent to New York to compete with finalists from other states.

— One local contractor was offering to install aluminum siding on homes (Up to 1,000 square feet.) for only $449.

—

SP/4 John L. Fournier, and SP/4 Raymond A, Mimande, both of Smithfield, were among 75 recent graduates of the Rhode Island Army National Guard NCO School.

Airman Michael A. Costa of Esmond completed basic Air Force recruit training school and was assigned to aircraft maintenance.

Army Specialist Angela K. Panzarella of Esmond was promoted to SP/4 and was serving with the Signal Corps at Ft. Sherridan, Illinois.

Airman 1/c Richard M. Johnson of Greenville was serving with the U. S. Air Force in Thailand.

— Four students from St, Aloysius Home on Austin Avenue received awards for their entries in a ceramics art contest. The winners were Joseph Chartier, Sheilagh Feely, Robert Dumas, and Leo Belmore.

— Kathy Marzilli, an 8th grade student from Greenville, won a gold key and blue ribbon for her artistic rendering of “A Still Life Done in Chalk” which was entered in the 5th Annual Scholastic Art Exhibit. The exhibit included 16 art categories, as well as 13 photography classifications. Kathy’s entry

The Ford Maverick, a “sub-compact” family vehicle was introduced in April of 1969 to compete with the Volkswagen Beetle, the Chevrolet Vega, and the AMC Gremlin. OK, by a show of hands, how many recall driving one of those?

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April 2019

— On April 17 a fashion show and penny social was held at Anna McCabe School to raise funds for a class field trip. Door prizes and free gifts were offered.

The St. Philips Rosary Guild also held its annual Spring Bridge Fashion Show featuring clothing from The Family Store in Greenville. The event was chaired by Mrs. Edwin Leszczyk, and co-chaired by Mrs. Richard Snow. Other committee members included: Mrs. John Higgins, Mrs. Joseph Cullen, Mrs. Peter Mancini, Mrs. Edith Scully, Mrs. George Hebert, Mrs. Francis Beaudry, Mrs. John Kaminski, Mrs. William Walker, Mrs. Roland L’Abbee, Mrs. Gerald Cahoone, Mrs. Thomas Iemma, Mrs. John Grenga, Mrs. Edward Thomas, Mrs. John Driscoll, Mrs. Richard Conti, Mrs. Robert Reall, and Mrs. Joseph Hickey.

— On April 19 the St. Peter’s School on Austin Avenue held an auction and cake sale on the grounds of the St. Aloysius Home. The event was administered by Sister Mary Alexis RSM, Mrs. Michael Hession, and Mrs. George Chasse.

— It was also on April 19 that “The Soundmen”, a comedic-musical group performed at the Smithfield High School. The

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men were advertised as bringing “a unique brand of comedy and rhythm capable of breaking a lease or starting a riot.”

— The first concept model of what would one day be the Space Shuttle was unveiled by NASA engineers. The model was made of paper and balsa wood.

— One local drug store was giving away three Polaroid Land Cameras in a free raffle. No purchase was necessary. For those too young to recall, such cameras offered “instant photographs” in only 60 seconds.

— A “swing-a-long” benefit was held at the Smithfield Boys Club. Young volunteer organizers included Thomas J. Connor, Jr., John Pascone, John Peloquin, Thomas Peloquin, Maria Pascone, Sheila Peloquin, Cheryl Pechie, Elinor Peloquin, Maribeth Coleman, Francis Finn, William Connell, Nicholas Simone, and Kevin Bell.

— For those who recall sitting in traffic jams on Rt. 44 in Centerdale, construction was begun for the Centerdale Bypass which was set to be completed in November of 1969 with the hopes of relieving traffic problems.

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33

TECH REVIEW

By Ron Scopelliti

VNC Connect remote access software Have you ever been out somewhere and wished you could access a document or web link on your home computer? Or maybe you’d like to help a friend deal with software issues by accessing his or her desktop remotely. While there are a number of options in remote access software, the one I chose to explore was VNC Connect, by RealVNC. One of my primary reasons for looking into VNC Connect is that I wanted to use it on a Raspberry Pi computer that I’ve been experimenting with, and VNC Connect software comes pre-installed with the standard Raspberry Pi setup package.

Getting the software up and running requires you to sign up for a RealVNC account, and in my case, I signed on for a free “Home” plan, which is for non-commercial use only. RealVNC also offers professional plans with more features and access options starting at $40 per year. The Home plan allows up to 3 users to connect to up to 5 computers.

While security was an initial concern, my research left me satisfied with RealVNC’s safety record. All remote control sessions are encrypted, and authenticated. Passwords are required for signing into your account and your remote control sessions, and multi-factor authentication is available.

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As for privacy, RealVNC is very clear about what information they collect, and what they do to protect users’ privacy. While many privacy policies are presented as a long, hard-to-read PDF, RealVNC presents theirs as a very readable and comprehensive web page.

Getting started with VNC Connect requires a few steps.

Once you have an account set up, there are two components: VNC Server has to be installed on the computer you’d like to control, while VNC Viewer has to be installed on the device you’d like to run it from.

In my case, after enabling the pre-installed VNC Server software on my Raspberry Pi, I installed VNC Viewer on a Linux-based laptop PC. I then decided to download the VNC Viewer app to my iPhone. I also installed VNC Server on a Windows 10 desktop PC. So far all of the Viewer/Server combos have functioned acceptably, but where VNC Connect has really shined is with my Raspberry Pi. Because the single-card computers are often used for Internet of Things and physical computing projects, it can be inconvenient to keep them connected to a monitor,

April 2019

mouse, and keyboard. VNC Connect frees you from that, and lets you run the Raspberry Pi from a remote computer, just as if you were running it directly.

The version of VNC Server that comes with the Raspberry Pi also has some features that are unavailable to Home account users on other platforms. It allows file transfer, chat, and printing from the Raspberry Pi – features that are usually available only to Professional or Enterprise accounts. While there are other ways to transfer files and chat between computers once they’re connected, the built-in features of VNC Connect are particularly handy, especially if your Raspberry Pi isn’t hooked to peripherals like a printer or scanner.

So far I’ve found the software easy to use and effective, whether using it via Wi-Fi in my house, or over 4G on my iPhone. While playing Windows Solitaire over a remote connection was a little choppy, I’ve been more than happy with the more typical tasks I’ve performed with the software.

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35

STARGAZING

By David Huestis, Historian, Skyscrapers, Inc.

Astronomical Events Determine Easter Observance In simpler times our forefathers paid close attention to the clockwork motion of the heavens. One didn’t have to observe the sky for too long a period of time to notice the cyclic phases of the Moon, or the changing position of the Sun relative to the horizon over the course of a year. Nature provided a precise clock and calendar that could be used to determine when to celebrate special events.

It should therefore not be surprising that many religions observances would likewise be established in accordance with those same astronomical circumstances. Christians, for instance, observe Easter every year, but the date for the celebration changes. Since we can barely even remember birthdays and anniversaries that always occur on the same date, it’s time for me to enlighten you with the facts of how the date for Easter is determined.

Easter can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. Why this range? The story began many moons ago when the Christian Church first developed. Since this holy day was determined in conjunction with Passover, Easter often fell on a weekday. However, in 352 CE the Council of Nicaea declared that it should always fall on a Sunday. They determined that

Easter would fall on the first Sunday after the Full Moon on or next after the vernal equinox (spring—March 19, 20 or 21). However, if the Full Moon occurred on a Sunday, Easter is celebrated on the following Sunday. This scenario happened in 2001.

When I looked up the date for Easter 2019 (April 21) I immediately realized something was not right. When one has followed the motion of the heavens for as long as I have you can anticipate when and where events will happen. Being well aware of the “formula” for determining the date for Easter, I initially expected it would fall on Sunday, March 24.

Why? This year the vernal equinox was on Wednesday, March 20, at 5:58 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). The Full Moon on or after that date occurred on the same day at 9:43pm EDT. Therefore, I calculated that Easter would be observed on the following Sunday, March 24, almost as early as it can be celebrated.

So why was my reasoning incorrect? Because of the fact that the vernal equinox date does vary, the Easter date depends on the “ecclesiastical approximation of March 21 for the vernal

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equinox” according to https://www.timeanddate.com. This stipulation holds true even if the vernal equinox falls on the 19th or 20th of March.

Considering this additional qualification using March 21 as the date for the vernal equinox, the next Full Moon after March 21 will be on April 19 this year. Therefore, Easter will be celebrated on Sunday, April 21. It is always a great day when you learn something new!

April Observing Opportunities

April is a fairly quiet month for most casual stargazers. Jupiter and Saturn are still early morning objects in a pre-dawn sky.

Venus is still prominent but very low above the eastern horizon as the month begins. On the 11th you may spot Mercury about five degrees to the lower left of Venus. Mercury will only be about seven degrees above the horizon at 6:00 a.m. You’ll need an unobstructed view to the east to observe these two planets to best advantage. Venus’ brilliance will guide you to this sky location.

Just after sunset on April 13 you’ll find a waxing gibbous Moon within two degrees of M44, the Beehive Cluster of stars, in the constellation of Cancer. This conjunction of celestial bodies will look great with binoculars.

In addition, on the night of April 22-23, you should scan the skies for members of the April Lyrids meteor shower. The Lyrids are the oldest known shooting star display, having been observed by Chinese astronomers on March 16, 687 BCE. Being an old display, the number of meteors populating the stream of particles has greatly diminished. While some astronomers predict a rate of 15 meteors per hour under dark sky conditions, ten per hour is more likely.

However, a bright waning gibbous moon (full on the 19th) will reduce the peak number down to ten or less shooting stars per hour. The Lyrids are swift and bright meteors which disintegrate after hitting our atmosphere at a moderate speed of 29.8 miles per second. They often produce luminous trains of dust that can be observed for several seconds.

The Lyrids appear to radiate outward from an area of sky on the Lyra-Hercules border near the bright star Vega, which will be about 45 degrees (halfway between the horizon and zenith) above the eastern horizon at midnight and well placed for observing. I let my eyes roam the heavens while facing this general direction. Remember, even though you can trace back the dust train left by a Lyrid meteor back to its radiant point, members of this shower can appear anywhere in the sky.

And finally, on that same morning a beautiful sight will greet your eyes. Two and a half degrees to the lower left of the Moon will be bright Jupiter. Try using a camera with a telephoto lens, a pair of binoculars, or even a small telescope using low power to enhance your view of this beautiful sky scene.

Keep your eyes to the skies!

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NAVIGATING HEALTHCARE

By Diane L. Marolla, LICSW

Why Every Consumer Should Care About The Medical Claims Payment Process My career in the managed care industry (or as most consumers know it, the health insurance industry) was by accident. I began working in the industry in 2002 after I became a Clinical Social Worker. I remained employed by the health insurance industry up until 2017. Simply stated, I certainly learned the good, the bad, and the ugly about how the industry works. I am grateful for all my experiences as my knowledge now allows me to help healthcare facilities, practitioners, and consumers understand that there are absolutely no guarantees that an office visit, a prescription, or a procedure will be covered and paid for by health insurance. Getting a medical, dental, or behavioral health claim paid is a complicated process of billing and coding. At the end of the day, if a claim does not get paid, guess who gets stuck with the bill…….. you. This is why unpaid medical bills remain the number one reason why Americans are filing for bankruptcy.

Since leaving the health insurance industry, I have been knee deep in helping resolve claims issues for primarily non-profit healthcare entities, and small healthcare practices in Rhode Island. What I have witnessed is hundreds of thou-

sands of medical, dental, and behavioral health claims being rejected for payment for a garden variety of reasons. Ultimately, if a healthcare facility or a doctor’s office can’t get a claim paid for by a health insurance company, they have to bill a patient for the services. If that bill goes unpaid by a patient, it then goes to a collection agency. If they are unable to collect the money from either the health insurance company or the patient, the charge has to be written off as bad debt. We all pay for this broken system.

Because I have been so close to claims payment issues over the past two years, I wanted to research the facts about this topic. According to healthline.com “up to 80% of hospital bills have errors.” Why should you, as a consumer care about this? Because, if you don’t pay attention to bills you are either receiving from a hospital or your doctor, they could contain errors.

Other reasons that your health insurance company may be denying a medical, dental, or behavioral health claim could also be for the following reasons:

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• Insurance companies have what is called “timely filing” requirements. That means, your health care provider has to submit a claim within so many days of when the service is rendered. The typical time frame is 90 days from the date of services. It can be, however, less.

• The service rendered to you may not be a covered service.

You always need to check your policy to ensure it is a covered service. In addition to that, I always encourage consumers to call their insurance company and ask them. If you do, be sure to document the date and time that you called and who you spoke with. All insurance companies record calls, so should they deny a claim, you can appeal the decision stating that you spoke with a representative who said the service would be covered.

• Many services require an authorization from the insurance company. This means that either you or your health care provider have to contact them to get the service approved by them. If you think, however, that even if an authorization is obtained that the health insurance company has to pay, you are wrong. An authorization never ensures payment of a claim. They still can deny the claim.

• Many services have to meet what is called “medical necessity” requirements. This means, that the insurance companies have certain criteria they use that says you truly need the service or the procedure. If you think your doctor actually makes that decision, think again, because they do not.

• The health care provider or facility may not have a contract with your health insurance company. This is something you should always check ahead of time before a service is rendered to you.

• Your health insurance erroneously denies payment for the claim.

Even if a health insurance company pays in full, it still is not a guarantee for you. Why? Because health insurance companies do what is called “recoupments” which mean they actually will take back money that they paid to a healthcare provider. They can do this for a multitude of reasons. Recently, with one of my clients, I saw a claim that was paid to them recouped from a service they rendered four years ago. The claim had to be challenged by the healthcare provider, only to learn that the health insurance company took back the claim in error. The provider had to dedicate time and resources to prove that the money was taken back in error.

When I do get phone calls or emails from consumers about claims that deny, I always tell them that they should challenge it. First, call your healthcare provider and find out why. Make sure it was not a billing error on their end. After you call them, call your insurance company. Be sure to use the appeal process through your health insurance company to challenge the claim that wasn’t paid. Also, utilize the services of the RI Healthcare Commissioner’s office. They have staff that will assist you with challenging your health insurance company.

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BEA’S BUZZ

By Bea Lanzi

Summer Learning The weather is getting a bit warmer and most of us are starting to think about the great, fun things we’ll be doing this summer. From time at the beach, to backyard cookouts and smores by the firepit, there’s certainly plenty to do when the weather is warm and the days are long.

Yes, summer is certainly glorious. Every day just feels a little more perfect when filled with sunny days and breezy nights.

With the extended sunlight, there’s also more time to do the things we love. When days are longer, there just seems to be more enthusiasm and more energy to do more things.

So, with all this enthusiasm and energy, it’s also a great time to schedule in some learning and gain useful skills. Summer is a great time to try something new, learn some new skills, gain some knowledge. And, if you’re a college student,

it’s a perfect time to think about an internship.

An internship is an educational experience that provides an opportunity to learn and grow, an opportunity to meet educational goals and learning objectives. It’s also a great way to learn about yourself and what really inspires you. When I entered college, I started as a communications major. My dream was to work in radio. So, I was beyond excited when I secured an internship with a local radio station.

I prepared for days. I carefully selected professional clothes, a scholarly looking notebook and thought about all the wonderful things I would learn. I still remember the excitement I felt when I walked into the station for my first day.

My excitement was short lived as I realized the work was

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April 2019

not what I really wanted to do. It was good work, but just not what I wanted to do. I was heartbroken, what would I possibly do? I was involved in student government and a friend casually suggested that maybe I would like to get involved in public service. I thought about it and pursued an internship in policy and communications. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

But, after only a few short weeks I realized that I really enjoyed what I was doing. I was learning a lot and enjoying it at the same time. The experience prompted me to add political science as a second major to my studies. I graduated as a double major and earned an MA in Political Communication in graduate school. I ran for public office a few months later and started a twenty year tenure serving in the RI State Legislature.

That’s the thing about internships- sometimes you learn about yourself while you’re learning other important skills. Internships help develop and foster concrete, transferable skills.

You’ll build upon the ideas and theories learned in the classroom in a professional environment. For example, you might gain computer skills, research and policy analysis skills, writing and so many other talents along with industry protocols and procedures. You’ll also have the opportunity to improve upon those important soft skills including problem solving, collaboration, adaptability, self-motivation and communication.

I am so very lucky that today I work with interns and I see first-hand how an internship offers the opportunity to learn in a professional work place. Interns are immersed in the working environment and can observe and participate in the actual day to day experience and gain a true appreciation of the requirements and job responsibilities. Because of this, internships provide valuable experience and real world accomplishment that can be added to a resume. Some internships will provide the opportunity to create projects that can add to a portfolio of achievements. Other internships may also allow for earning college credit.

Of course, if you’re not in college, there are still other ways to schedule in learning this summer. I’m looking through online catalogues and plan to take up a class. There are so many different topics, from new cooking methods to photography to history and many, many more. The options are endless and so interesting. I’m looking forward to tackling a new subject and learning something new. I’m excited about making my dinner conversation captivating when I can share my new found knowledge with loved ones.

Yes, I definitely think learning can be a year round and life long, enjoyable, enriching experience. So, whether you’re interested in a summer internship or a class on a subject that has always intrigued you, I say go for it! After the summer months have ended, you’ll not only have a tan, but an array of newly learned skills. And, I bet there’ll still be plenty of time to enjoy those smores by the firepit.

The Smithfield Times, Inc.

GREENVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Poetry Contest - In honor of National Poetry Month -

SUBMISSIONS ACCEPTED: April 1st – 13th 2019 POETRY RECEPTION: Saturday, April 27th at 1:00 pm

Poets of all ages are invited to submit one original poem for consideration, along with a completed contest entry form.

Poets may use any poetic form. There is no minimum length, but poems may not be longer than one typed page. One winning poem will be selected from each age group: children, young adults, and adults. Visit the Greenville Public Library website at www.yourlibrary.ws to access the submission form.

The Woodland Whispers committee members will be selecting the winning poems. All poets will be invited to a poetry reading and reception on Saturday, April 27 at 1:00 pm at the Library.

Poets do not need to attend the reading and reception to win.

Contact: Cassie Patterson greenvilleasstdirector@gmail.com 573 Putnam Pike, Greenville • 401-949-3630 ext 117

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Obituaries Peter R. Scorpio, Jr. March 2, 2019

www.thequinnfuneralhome.com

543 Putnam Pike Smithfield, RI 02828 401.232.9600 • www.smithfieldtimesri.net John J. Tassoni, Jr., Publisher john@jtsentinelgroup.com

Jane Ann (Scuncio) Rudis February 26, 2019

Ann Marie Donahue, Executive Editor amdonahue@smithfieldtimesri.net

www.boyleandsonfuneralhome.com

Kerryn Azevedo, Creative Director kerryn@cox.net

Therese J. McCool March 13, 2019

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— ADVERTISING AND SALES Camilla Spliid - cspliid@smithfieldtimesri.net Michael D’Abate - mdabate@smithfieldtimesri.net Grace Genereaux - grace@smithfieldtimesri.net —

TOWN OF SMITHFIELD THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING

VOTER INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH RI GENERAL LAW ON 30-DAY REQUIREMENT, THE FINAL DAY FOR UNREGISTERED VOTERS TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE (VOTE) AT THE ANNUAL SMITHFIELD FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING IS WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2019 IN THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE, TOWN HALL, 64 FARNUM PIKE, SMITHFIELD, RI, 02917.

THE FINANCIAL TOWN MEETING IS THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2019 AT 7:00 P.M. AT THE SMITHFIELD HIGH SCHOOL, 90 PLEASANT VIEW AVENUE. REGISTRATIONS ARE RECEIVED DAILY FROM 8:30 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M. AT THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM

BY VISITING WWW.SEC.STATE.RI.US/ELECTIONS AND MAIL THE COMPLETED FORM TO THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE (address above).

For the Smithfield Canvassing Board: Carol A. Aquilante, CMC, Town Clerk

42

WRITERS Harry Anderson Peg Brown Kelsie Crough Michael D’Abate Brittni Henderson Robert Houghtaling David Huestis Jim Ignasher Bea Lanzi Paul Lonardo Diane L. Marolla Paul Palange Sarah Payne Ron Scopelliti — Albert Tavakalov, Photographer — The Smithfield Times, Inc. does not assume any financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements that have received final approval or are submitted camera ready.

April 2019

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