55 Plus of Rochester #83: September - October 2023

ADVENTURES OF TWO FRIENDS: A RIDE AROUND LAKE ONTARIO

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER DOING TAI CHI P.28 Issue 83 – September/October 2023 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

roc55.com

MEET THE ROCHESTER IMMORTALS P.44

PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF

GEORGE EASTMAN Bruce Barnes, director of George Eastman Museum P. 36

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re you looking for a healthier As it turns out, bones and muscles alternative to strengthen your are similar and different – both have the use-it-or-lose-it process. To build bones? muscles you have to do long workouts a couple times a week and In her own search to your muscles need a day or two to reverse her osteopenia, recover.

Liz Lehmann found this Bones, on the other hand, only really interesting device, require five seconds of stress and the called a bioDensity machine.

It's similar to a workout machine recovery time is a week. But the for muscles in a gym, but it's stress needed to start the bone optimized for bones. The reason the building process is multiple times a bioDensity machine is so good at person's body weight. For a 130 lb woman, it would take about 550 lbs strengthening bones is because of... of force on the leg bones to make Science of Osteogenic Loading them stronger, which is not really (osteo → bone; genic → producing) possible at a gym.

Since the 1880's, doctors have “What is unique about the known that healthy bones remodel bioDensity machine is that it isn’t themselves after a load is placed on doing anything to them,” Lehmann them, known as Wolff's Law. explained. “They’re pressing or

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55 PLUS | contents

September-October 2023 Story ideas? Information about advertising? Email editor@roc55.com or call 585-421-8109.

To subscribe to the magazine, look for the coupon on page 43.

ON THE COVER: Bruce Barnes, director of George Eastman Museum.

Photo by Chuck Wainwright

28

30

Savvy Senior 8 12 MONEY

• How the outgoing tax cuts may

Financial Health 10 affect you Dining Out 14 17 WHEELS • Writer chronicles his journey through Addyman’s Corner 63 car dealer land

• Local guys carry basketball skills to the national level

48 WORKFORCE

• A growing number of older Americans continue to work

24 VETERANS

52 HEALTH

LAST PAGE 28 EXERCISE

• Why you should consider tai chi

30 ARTS

• Arena Art Group: creating abstract art

36 COVER

Bruce Barnes: Preserving the legacy of George Eastman

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

66

44 BASKETBALL

50 RETIREMENT

• Group of veterans from Rochester takes part in the Honor Flight program

6

50

21 ADVENTURE

• Friends spend nine days and about 630 miles to circle Lake Ontario by bike

Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle, 68, discusses plans for a community center in town ‘that meets community needs’

www.roc55.com

• Retired doctor busy teaching, taking classes, traveling • It’s never too late to care for your skin

54 TUTORING

• Notre Dame Learning Center: Making a difference in the lives of inner-city kids

58 PETS

• Local counselor pens grief book • Pet cremation becomes more popular • Caring for our fur family

68 VISITS

• Stay regional yet get out of town with these nearby autumn escapes

The area’s largest consignment shop features quality brands like Stickley, Ethan Allen, Arhaus and MacKenzie-Childs... all different styles, all gently used and all reasonably priced.

savvy senior

By Jim Miller

I

Retirement Planning Tips for Single Women

t’s an unfortunate reality, but many single women — whether they’re divorced, widowed or never married — face much greater financial challenges in retirement than men.

The reasons behind this are because women tend to earn less money — about 82 cents for every dollar that men make, on average, and they have shorter working careers than men due to raising children or caring for aging parents. And less money earned usually translates into less money saved and a lower Social Security benefit when they retire.

In addition, women live an average of five years longer than men, which requires their retirement income to stretch farther for living expenses and healthcare costs. And, according to some studies, women tend to have less confidence about financial issues than men, which means they don’t always manage their money as well as they should.

Because of these issues, it’s very important that women educate themselves on financial matters and learn how to save more effectively.

Here are some tips and resources that may help.

• Start Saving Aggressively — If your employer offers a retirement plan, such as a 401K, you should contribute enough to at least capitalize on a company match, if available. And if you can swing it, contribute even more. In 2023, you can save as much as $22,500 in a 401(k), or $30,000 to those 50 and older, due to the catch-up rule.

If you don’t have a workplace plan, consider opening a Traditional or Roth IRA. Both are powerful tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts that let you contribute up to $6,500 annually, or $7,500 when you’re over 50. And if you’re self-employed, consider a SEP-IRA, SIMPLE-IRA and/or a solo 401(k), all of which can help reduce your taxable income while putting money away for retirement.

8

Also, if you have a high-deductible health insurance policy (at least $1,500 for self-only coverage or $3,000 for family coverage), you should consider opening a health savings account (HSA). This is a triple tax advantage tool that can be used to sock away funds pre-tax, which will lower your taxable income; the money in the account grows tax-free; and if you use the money for eligible medical expenses, the withdrawals are taxfree too.

• Pay Off Debts — If you have debt, you need to get it under control. If you need help with this, consider a nonprofit credit-counseling agency that provides free or low-cost advice and solutions, and can help you set up a debt management plan. To locate a credible agency in your area, use the National Foundation for Credit Counseling website at NFCC.org (800-388-2227), or the or the Financial Counseling Association of America FCAA.org (800-450-1794).

• Find Help — To help you educate yourself on financial matters like retirement planning, saving and investing, health care, annuities and more, a top resource is the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement at WiserWomen.org.

And to help you get up to speed on Social Security, visit SSA.gov/people/ women. This web page, dedicated to women, provides helpful publications like “What Every Woman Should Know,” along with links to benefit calculators and your personal Social Security account to help you figure out your future earnings at different retirement ages.

You should also consider getting a financial assessment with a fee-only financial adviser. Costs for these services will vary from around $150 to $300 per hour, but this can be very beneficial to help you set-up a retirement plan you can follow. See NAPFA.org or GarrettPlanningNetwork.com to locate an advisor in your area.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

roc55.com Editor and Publisher Wagner Dotto

Associate Editor Stefan Yablonski

Writers & Contributors Deborah J. Sergeant, John Addyman Mike Costanza, Donna Jackel Todd Etshman, Lynette Loomis Jean Sica, Jane Eggleston Columnists John Addyman, Laurie Haelen Jim Miller Advertising Anne Westcott • 585-421-8109 anneIGHsales@gmail.com Linda Covington • 585-750-7051 lindalocalnews@gmail.com Office Manager Allison Lockwood Layout & Design Angel Campos-Toro Cover Photo Chuck Wainwright

55 PLUS – A Magazine for Active Adults in Rochester is published six times a year by Local News, Inc. at PO Box 525, Victor, NY 14564, which also publishes In Good Health — Rochester's Healthcare Newspaper.

Subscription: $21 a year; $35 for two years © 2023 by 55 PLUS – A Magazine for Active Adults in Rochester.

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

How to Reach Us P.O. Box 525 Victor, NY 14564 Phone: 585-421-8109 Email: editor@roc55.com Editor@cnyhealth.com

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financial health

By Laurie Haelen

Highlights of the SECURE Act 2.0

T

he original “SECURE” Act was approved into law in 2019.

SECURE stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement.

The purpose of the act is to help prevent Americans from outliving their savings. SECURE 2.0 Act was enacted in December 2022 to finish the job by helping workers save more money for retirement and leave their savings untouched and untaxed for longer.

As is the case with most legislation, the details can be complex and overwhelming to navigate. Here's an overview of the act's changes to the complicated rules that govern tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

Although by no means a complete list, these are some of the pertinent provisions.

The 2019 SECURE Act raised the age at which retirement savers must begin taking taxable distributions from their traditional IRAs and most work-based retirement accounts to 72.

SECURE 2.0 raises that age again to 73 beginning in 2023 (for those who reach age 72 after Dec. 31, 2022) and to 75 in 2033. If the funds are not needed for retirement expenses, this enables the funds to grow tax deferred for a longer period.

Current law requires those who fail to take their full required minimum distribution (RMD) by the deadline to pay a tax of 50% of the amount not taken. The new law reduces that tax amount to 25% in 2023; the tax is further reduced to 10% if account holders take the full required amount and report the tax by the end of the second year after it was due and before the IRS demands payment.

Bringing Roth 401(k)s and similar employer plans in line with Roth IRAs, the legislation eliminates the requirement for savers to take minimum distributions from their 10

workplace Roth accounts (starting in 2024).

The amount eligible for a qualified charitable distribution from an IRA ($100,000) will be indexed for inflation starting in 2024. In addition, beginning this year, investors will be able to make a one-time charitable distribution of up to $50,000 from an IRA to a charitable remainder annuity trust, charitable remainder unitrust or charitable gift annuity.

Not all charitable organizations are able to use all possible gifts, so it is prudent to check first. The type of organization selected can also affect the tax benefits the donor receives.

Individuals who are 50 and older can make an additional catch-up contribution of $1,000 to their IRA. Starting in 2024, this amount will be indexed annually for inflation, similar to employer plan catch-up contributions (limited to $7,500 in 2023).

Also, starting in 2025, the catchup contribution for people 60 to 63 will increase to a minimum of $10,000 for 401(k)s and similar workplace plans ($5,000 for SIMPLE plans).

However, beginning in 2024, all catchup contributions for workers with incomes above $145,000 will be aftertax (Roth) contributions.

Distributions from retirement savings accounts are generally subject to ordinary income tax. In addition, distributions prior to age 59½ also may be subject to an early-withdrawal penalty of 10%, unless an exception (such as death or disability) applies.

SECURE 2.0 ushers in several new exceptions to the early-withdrawal penalty, including an emergency personal expense, terminal illness, domestic abuse, to pay long-term care insurance premiums and to recover from a federally declared disaster.

Amounts, rules, and effective dates differ for each circumstance, with some

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

exceptions effective immediately.

Beginning in 2025, the act requires most new employer-sponsored plans to automatically enroll employees with contribution levels between 3% and 10% of income and automatically increase their savings rates by 1% each year until they reach at least 10% (but not more than 15%) of income.

Workers will be able to opt out of the programs.

The new law permits employer matches to be made to Roth accounts.

Currently, employer matches must go into an employee's pre-tax (traditional) account. This provision takes effect immediately; however, it may take time for employers to amend their plans to include this feature.

Beginning in 2024, the legislation permits employers to automatically enroll non-highly compensated employees into emergency savings accounts where they can set aside up to $2,500 (or a lower amount that an employer stipulates) in a Roth-type account. Savings above this limit can go into a Roth retirement account, if the employee has one, or would not be accepted. Employers may also help workers who are making qualified student loan repayments to simultaneously save for retirement by investing matching contributions in a retirement account in their name.

When parents or grandparents contribute to a 529 college savings plan for a student, the investment earnings accumulate on a tax-deferred basis and withdrawals are tax-free if they are used for qualified education expenses.

But for withdrawals not used for qualified education expenses, earnings may be subject to taxation as ordinary income and possibly a 10% tax penalty.

Thus, when there is money left over in a 529 account that won't be used for a family member's college expenses, the owner may end up with the tax bill that would come from cashing out and

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Fortunately, starting in 2024, account beneficiaries will be able to directly roll over up to $35,000 from 529 plan accounts to Roth IRAs, provided the 529 accounts were open for at least 15 years. The rollover amounts would be subject to Roth IRA annual contribution limits ($6,500 in 2023 and indexed for inflation thereafter).

Distributions from the Roth IRA will be tax-free and penalty-free as long as the five-year holding requirement has been met, and they are taken after age 59½ (or an exception applies).

As with other investments, there are generally fees and expenses associated with participation in a 529 savings plan. There is also the risk that the investments may lose money or not perform well enough to cover college costs as anticipated. The tax implications of a 529 savings plan should be discussed with your legal or tax professionals because they can vary significantly from state to state.

These are just a few of the pertinent provisions of the SECURE Act 2.0. As always, it is a good idea to check with a financial professional when navigating through changes, versus ending up with an unexpected tax bill or another unpleasant surprise. There are many benefits to the changes in the act, but the complexity makes it imperative to proceed with caution to ensure the impact on your financial plan is as expected.

Laurie Haelen, AIF (accredited investment fiduciary), is senior vice president, manager of investment and financial planning solutions, CNB Wealth Management, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Company. She can be reached at 585-419-0670, ext. 41970 or by email at lhaelen@cnbank.com.

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money How the Outgoing Tax Cuts May Affect You

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

U

nless further legislation intervenes, a few aspects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will phase out by the end of 2025 and 2026, making tax brackets higher for most households.

According to the Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C. the Trump-era TCJA passed in 2017 lowered taxes for an estimated 65% of households. Only 6% pay more than before.

Planning can help mitigate the effects of losing those tax cuts for both households and businesses.

Until it ends, the effects of the TCJA include 27% of the lowest income households receiving a tax

break; those between $49,000 and $86,000 receiving an average tax cut of 1.4% of their after-tax income; those with incomes between $308,000 and $733,000 received a 3.4% cut; and the highest bracket of those more than $733,000 received a 2.2% break.

“Predominantly the biggest impact to low- and middle-income families will be the change to the tax brackets and the standard deduction,” said Diana Apostolova, investment consultant with Rochester Investments in Rochester. “The standard deduction will be reduced to pre-2019 tax levels adjusted for inflation. The tax brackets will be increased to their pre-2019

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tax levels.

“When that takes place, tax filers will have to use qualified itemized deductions and hopefully reduce their taxable income that way,” Apostolova said.

One issue is that not every 55plus taxpayer can generate significant itemized deductions. Many have paid off their mortgages by this point and some have downsized into a smaller home and participate in the NYS Enhanced Star program.

“They don’t pay as much in real estate taxes as younger homeowners,” Apostolova explained.

She foresees that for people with large estates, the reduction in estate tax deduction will provide “the biggest shock.”

“Because tax brackets are set to increase, proactive tax planning will make profound impact on people’s unique tax situations,” she added.

She does see some advantages of not extending the TCJA. “People will be able to deduct investment advisory fees, tax preparation fees, medical expenses,

The Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will phase out by the end of 2025 and 2026, making tax brackets higher for most households. Planning can help mitigate the effects of losing those tax cuts for both households and businesses. charitable contributions and alimony and childcare payments, to mention a few,” she said. “Also, taxable gains and dividends for taxpayers below the 25% tax bracket will be zero.”

Businesses will also feel the effects of losing aspects of the TCJA. John C. Saunders, owner of John C. Saunders CPA P.C in Rochester, believes that the biggest TCJA effects that will impact people will be expense deductions

and depreciation, along with benefits for investing capital gains into small businesses. “ T h e re ’ s a s c a l i n g b a c k o f accelerated depreciation that will be widely felt,” Saunders said. “There were some very good things that came from this Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to be stimulative to the economy.”

He views the coming repeal of these measures as particularly injurious to the business world considering the continued fallout from businesses shaken by the pandemic’s effects.

Many business owners incurred significant setbacks from lost business, skyrocketing costs and rising wages.

“There’s a lot of stuff that’s getting to critical failure level, particularly as the government seeks to take more and more control over every personal and business decision,” he said.

Discussing the upcoming changes with a tax preparer or other financial professional and how these changes relate to a particular household or business can help mitigate some of the negative effects of losing aspect of the TCJA for those impacted.

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Dining Out RESTAURANT GUIDE

By Christopher Malone

STRANGE DESIGN’S CONVENTIONAL CONCEPT Something good is brewing at Geneseo public house

R

ight off the bat, it’s hard to dislike Strange Design in Geneseo.

The brewery, describing itself as a public house, takes on many hats. Yes, brewery is obviously one of them. It also is a purveyor of comfort food, historical preservation and simply good vibes.

To go off of the Phish song Strange Design takes its name from, the band pianist Page McConnell croons, “Just relax, you’re doin’ fine.” This is what the establishment is going for.

The space evolved into Geneseo’s first brewery; the owners had no choice 14

to set a precedent.

Aside from a clean atmosphere, the exterior and interior of the former Livingston County Poor House is beautiful. Some may think the place is haunted just by the looks of things, but kudos go to its owners for keeping and caring for many of the historical aspects. And with consideration to such care, the same value should be felt by its patrons, right?

Our family felt completely welcome when we walked through the door. We, along with our two-legged and four-legged children in tow, were seated comfortably. Our baby was

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

provided a highchair and our dog was gifted water. The friendliness of the staff continued the remainder of the meal.

We kicked off the meal with a couple flights ($24), which I’m not going to go through the entire gamut of what we ordered but we enjoyed many of the styles Strange Design has crafted, especially the stout and an IPA on tap. We even walked away with a hazy IPA to go ($15 per fill, $3 per howler).

We kicked off the meal with Brussels sprouts nachos ($15), which was a huge portion starter living up

to the definition of shareable. The house-made crispy cool ranch chips were joined by crispy sprouts, banana peppers, and squash — all of which were covered by a blanket of cheddar cheese. It also comes with crumbly gorgonzola, which we asked for on the side because any member of the blue cheese family is gross and ruins food due to the overpowering nature of moldy cheese — but that’s my opinion.

So we could get our little dinosaur of a child fed before she began roaring, Strange Design was very cool with cooking up a chicken breast ($5) to go with a side portion of macaroni and cheese ($5). The chicken was very well seasoned and the mac and cheese was super cheesy and hit the spot. She ate the other food we ordered, too, and enjoyed what was placed in front of her perhaps too much.

Beer-braised corned beef was eye catching while reading the description of the Reuben sandwich ($15). Nestled between toasted slices of rye sat the savory meat, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing — the usual suspects all of which were guilty of stacking up deliciously.

The size of sandwich was just enough. The corned beef was far from dry, which made each bite even better.

When it comes to Reubens, you either like ‘em or you don’t. How this fared to others I’ve had, it’s up there in the Top 5.

The mockingbird sandwich is a good ol’ fried chicken sandwich ($15) with a little kick. The incredibly crispy chicken, not to the point where the battered and fried fowl cuts your mouth, is buttermilk battered and dipped in hot sauce. To up the ante, the chicken is joined with dill pickle spears and white barbecue sauce.

Similar to the Reuben, the sandwich packed a flavorful punch, coming across larger than it actually was. The coated chicken boasted a nice crunch giving way to white, tender meat.

The sandwiches came with sides and we opted for fries and a side salad. The hand-cut fries had the light crispiness, but were soft to bite into.

The side salad, dressing aside, was made up of fresh vegetables. There were countless crunches with each bite.

There was no room for dessert, unfortunately.

After food, taxes, tip, credit card surcharge and the extra growler of beer brought back with us, the bill came to $130.

There’s nothing to complain about

when it comes to Strange Design. On a personal note, I wanted to season Phish references into this article but feared not everyone would understand the references. But I’ll end on this note: Strange Design had me bouncing around the room.

Strange Design Public House 4570 Millennium Drive Geneseo, NY 14454 585-245-9015 Sunday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Monday: Closed Tuesday: 4-9 p.m.

Wednesday – Thursday: noon – 10 p.m.

Friday – Saturday: noon – midnight strangedesignbrewing.com facebook.com/ strangedesignbrewing instagram.com/ strangedesignpublichouse

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55 Plus - Rochester edition 7.25 x 10” 9-Feb

wheels

Writer Mike Costanza next to the car he recently bought. His 2014 Hyunday Sonata was stolen in May.

Wheels at Last!

Writer chronicles his journey through car dealer land

S

ometimes, when life gives you lemons, you make…uh, tracks.

After three thieves made off with my beloved Hyundai Sonata on May 1, I was forced to do just that — make tracks to used car dealerships.

Much as I’d sometimes like to do without a car for financial and environmental reasons, I need one in order to shop, work and travel. Plus, I was raised on Long Island, where only the terminally uncool are wheel-less. I heard someone once died of that. OK, he got hit by a truck while hitchhiking, but it still counts.

The thieves wrecked my Sonata, (see July’s 55-PLUS) so my insurance company deemed it a “write off,” sent a check for its value and covered most of the cost of renting a car for 30 days.

By Mike Costanza I carefully researched used cars to find affordable models that could give me the best value, (Consumer Reports became my bible) then looked online for ones I thought I could afford. They had to be roomy — I just can’t scrunch into a tiny car anymore.

Once I found a likely candidate, I looked up its accident record on CARFAX, which sells information on car histories online. One minor accident was OK and two minor fender benders a concern. Three accidents of any kind? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Day after day I called dealerships, winnowing the possibles from the fuhgeddaboudits before heading out into Car Dealer Land. My journey initially took me all around Monroe County, to Syracuse and its outlying

towns and as far away as Pulaski, which is 40 minutes north of that city.

Who knew Car Dealer Land was so big?

Every car I checked out was too expensive, in poor condition or had some kind of problem I couldn’t accept. A Chevy Impala I found drove well and looked pretty good, but for the half-inch of water in the bottom of its trunk. It sloshed around when I made turns. When the sales manager asked what the problem was, I couldn’t resist.

“It’s a swimming pool,” I told him.

He didn’t even smile. You’d think someone who works with people all day would have a sense of humor.

A dealer in the Syracuse suburb of Fayetteville offered a fairly good-

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

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looking Mazda that rode well, was in my price range but had the cutest, brightest little “check engine” light on, indicating the car definitely had problems.

“Oh, I didn’t see that light,” the salesman said.

The Malibu also smelled like an ashtray — a no-no for this exsmoker. After I left that dealership, the salesman called twice to try to get me to come all the way back to Fayetteville.

“I really think we got that smell out,” he said. Twice.

Then there were the salespeople who seemed incapable of hearing me.

All too often, the conversation went something like this: “What are you looking for?” the salesman asked.

“I’m looking for a Mazda 3 that’s no older than 2015 and has no more than 79,000 miles,” I said.

“We got a 2014 Jetta with 120,000, but it’s in reeeaaaally good shape,” he said.

“I’m looking for a Mazda. A Mazda 3. Under 80,000,” I said.

“Hey, we just got a 2016 Chevy in.

When would you like to take a look at it?”

I considered looking at it, but didn’t. Who knows what I’d find in the trunk?

After three weeks, I began to get desperate (the clock on the rental car was ticking) and turned my sights toward Long Island, where most of my immediate family lives. Car dealerships are all over the place down there and the selections and prices of used vehicles appeared much better than I’d found Upstate.

Hopping into my rental car, I headed down to “the island,” as we call it, to continue my search and try my relatives’ patience.

That wasn’t hard. My rental car broke down just as I arrived at my sister’s house. For much of the next two weeks, my relatives very generously ferried me from place to place to check out used cars. Their support and generosity helped keep me going as I traveled the difficult roads of Car Dealer Land.

It was a very frustrating and often maddening, journey. Some of the cars I found looked promising, only to come up short in the end. One car looked good online, only to be missing the inside of a fender.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

“You really don’t need that,” the salesman said.

Right.

A 2015 Honda Accord looked like just what I wanted, but had one problem.

“It was a write-off,” the owner said. “I fixed it.”

A wreck that had been stitched back together? Fuhgeddaboudit!

A Subaru Legacy I test-drove had just about everything I wanted, but its touchscreen didn’t work. The saleswoman and I agreed on a price, conditioned on the repair of the problem.

The next day, the saleswoman called out of the blue to tell me that instead of repairing or replacing the Subaru’s touchscreen, the dealer had decided to auction the car off. I revisited that dealer sometime later, and the car was still on the lot.

Auctioned? Right.

Perhaps the most infuriating sales tactic is one that led my brother and me to drive nearly an hour in heavy rushhour traffic to a dealership. When we arrived, the salesman told us that the advertised price of the car we’d come to look at was the “internet price.”

“You pay that after a $3,000 down payment,” he said.

The asterisk by the “internet price” should have been a give-away, but I’d missed it. From then on, I always called dealers to find out what the real price tags for their cars were. Those who skipped the “internet price” malarkey were one up in my book.

After diligently searching for weeks, I finally found a shiny Subaru Legacy with relatively low mileage.

Though the payments on the car will be hard to make, especially in my 70s, I need wheels. My newest and, I hope, last car now sits in my parking lot with a device that immobilizes its steering wheel locked in place. It’s not foolproof, but it’s always there when the car is parked.

The past few months have often been very difficult, but the experience has revealed to me how lucky I am to have loving relatives and good friends in my life. I will not forget how much they’ve done for me.

For the complete story on the theft of my Hyundai Sonata, see: https:// www.roc55.com/features/and-mycar-was-gone

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adventure

Breaking camp at sunrise at Selkirk Shores State Park on the shores of Lake Ontario.

A Ride Around Lake Ontario It took two Rochester friends nine days and about 630 miles to circle Lake Ontario by bike

By Todd Etshman

W

hat could be better than a ride along Lake Ontario with an old friend?

The answer for two avid cyclists and outdoor adventurers is nine days of riding 70 miles a day around the circumference of Lake Ontario, a journey of approximately 630 miles in total.

David Fergusson, 71, and Peter Mahler, 68, took that trip in late May– early June. They met at an outdoor adventure group, Pack, Paddle and Ski, a few years ago. The two previously biked the length of the Erie Canal but found the ride around the lake even more scenic.

“It’s hard to find someone to do a trip like this,” said Fergusson who previously rode across the country at

the age of 60 and around other great lakes by himself. One thing he likes about Mahler is the ability to pack light and be ready to go first thing in the morning. Having someone else to face challenges is practical and uplifting, Fergusson explained.

“It’s easy to be with Dave. We can talk about a hundred different things.

We’re very similar in a lot of ways,” Mahler said.

Finding someone who wants to bike that far, has the time and won’t back down from unexpected challenges isn’t easy, but Fergusson found that companion in Mahler, who has a long outdoor adventure history himself.

The journey took them on a multitude of trails in the U.S. and

Canada, past bays, canals, locks, historical sites, parks and to an odd assortment of campsites. It took planning and cooperation between the two friends and the ability to adapt to impromptu situations that don’t show up on a map like bad weather, a meandering trail or a missing ferry in addition to finding food and bathroom facilities.

Making hotel or camp site reservations isn’t something they — and a host of other outdoor adventure enthusiasts — have to do. That’s because they embrace what is known as stealth or guerilla camping.

What that means is making a quick and efficient camp for the night anyplace that looks good — from a park to the dugout on a baseball

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

21

Peter Mahler at one of historical markers on the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.

field, an outdoor theater or behind a building amidst boat storage.

You just have to respect the property and don’t leave a mess, Mahler explained.

“When we leave, no one would know we were there,” he said.

There were no confrontations from angry landowners or park rangers on the journey, but as Mahler noted, it helps that “this is just two old guys on bikes.”

It’s a practice the pair said is easier in Canada than the U.S. And it’s not always necessary. Campers are allowed to set up at Erie Canal locks for example.

The trip started well enough on the familiar Erie Canal trail until cold, rainy, windy weather hit on Day 3 at historic Selkirk Shores State Park.

But having more time to read historic markers is one of the appealing parts of the journey and War of 1812 history abounds here.

“We read every historical marker.

That’s the fun of it,” Fergusson said.

Taking time to appreciate history and scenery is what makes the journey 22

appealing. The pair enjoys the fact that they don’t have to rush by in a car anymore. They also got to stop for ice cream whenever they wanted.

Once inclement weather passed, the riders had the wind at their back for the next challenge, finding the ferry at Cape Vincent to Wolfe Island, Canada, closed.

Fortunately, a woman stopped to help them get on their way into Canada and onto the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.

Quiet scenic trails and roads through farms and orchards with lake views made for happy biking through the Canadian countryside.

Another ferry between Kingston and Cobourg operated as planned and the Canadian side was full of scenic bays, peninsulas and lilacs bigger and bushier than any you can see in Highland Park, Mahler said.

Trails aren’t always easy to follow on a map or on the trail for cyclists looking to go an extra mile or in their case, an extra few hundred miles.

In one instance, the trail led to a beach in Cobourg. Pushing their

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Peter Mahler (left) and David Fergusson on the Niagara River Trail.

bikes through the sand presented the pair with an additional upper body workout.

Heading toward Toronto the trail got better and more populated.

“Toronto was exciting with a twolane bike and walking path that leads all through the city with its own traffic lights and signs,” Mahler said.

“There are some real resort towns west of Toronto that you’d never notice if you were driving on the 401,” Fergusson noted.

Seeing giant freighters is hard to do in Rochester (there is only one, the McKeil Spirit from Hamilton) but there is no shortage of them on the Welland Canal at St. Catherine’s. The sheer size of the ship they saw was fascinating to see making its way through the locks from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie.

From there, the men walked across the Rainbow Bridge and back to the Erie Canal Trail for the ride home — and as Mahler noted, a more comfortable bed and a return to all the trappings of everyday life and the distractions of our post-COVID-19 world.

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K I T C H E N S | B A T H R O O M S D E S I G N | I N S T A L L A T I O N SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

23

veterans

The Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle brigade of veterans, ride around the Frederick Douglass – Greater Rochester International Airport in June with American flags flying.

Honor Flight: Welcome Home

By Lynette M Loomis

A

t the Frederick Douglass – Greater Rochester International Airport in June, a motorcycle procession, with American flags flying, rides through the roads. In the airport, hundreds of people gather. A group of veterans from World War II through the Vietnam War era walk proudly to the cheers of the waiting crowd. Tears flow and smiles widen. Hands are shaken. Veterans are thanked.

This is Honor Flight Rochester.

M a n y v e t e r a n s w e re n e v e r welcomed back to America. There were no local ticker-tape parades, especially for Vietnam vets. Their return home was emotionally devastating as they were scorned and even spit on.

“For many veterans, this is a long-delayed thank-you that they never received,” said Richard Stewart, president of Honor Flight Rochester.

Bob O’Brien, 76, lives in Spencerport. He served as a sergeant 24

in the United States Marine Corps and was proud of his service in the military. When he came home in 1971, he recalled, “Veterans were not treated with the respect they deserved.

However, if a group of Marines came home together, they were not harassed, probably not a good thing to do…

Now people say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ The first time it happened to me it was a nice surprise.”

America has recognized the difference between supporting a war and supporting a soldier and its veterans. The purpose of Honor Flight is to take veterans on their “Trip of a Lifetime.” It is an opportunity for vets to visit and reflect together at the memorials built in their (and that of previous wars’ veterans) honor, in Washington, D.C. Typically, Honor Flight Rochester sponsors six flights of 60 veterans, annually. Each veteran is accompanied by a guardian, a person between the

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

ages of 18 to 70, a family member (not the spouse), friend or volunteer, to ensure the safety of each veteran.

They start at 4 a.m. on Saturday, June 17, with breakfast at the airport

by Dunkin Donuts, travel to Baltimore and are motor coached to the war memorials in Washington, DC, for a full day. Then the three motorcoaches of Mission 78 return late afternoon to BWI Airport Hilton Hotel (Baltimore) for a heroes banquet. The vets arise early on Sunday morning for a huge breakfast buffet, then are shuttled to BWI Airport for their return flight to Rochester.

The return to Rochester is an emotional experience for everyone.

The Patriot Guard Riders, a motorcycle brigade of veterans, ride around the airport road with American flags flying. The veterans are met and cheered by hundreds of well-wishers comprised of Vietnam veterans of America-Chapter 20 members and

LEFT: Lee Loomis, shown here in Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1970, said that during the two days of Honor Flight, he and other veterans found much-needed camaraderie and felt appreciated for the personal, emotional, and physical sacrifices they had made, so many years ago.

RIGHT: Sister Lynette, daughter Megan, and wife Marci were on hand to welcome Lee Loomis and grandson– guardian Ben Cave as they returned from Honor Flight in spring 2023.

previous Honor Flight vets, VFW and American Legion Post members, fire department bands, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, family, friends and other well-wishers. The closing ceremony is in the International Arrivals Hall and involves a local TV media personality as emcee, county and state representatives and an interesting keynote speaker. This is the welcome veterans will never forget.

Stewart believes there can be profound meaning for the veterans and our community beyond the obvious.

Uniquely, Honor Flight Rochester provides the younger generation with the opportunity to say thank you to the older generation for their service and sacrifice. Many of the younger generation are the children of veterans and were not yet born when their fathers and grandfathers served.

Stewart said that the Rochester hub is 100% volunteer with more than 800 active participants: There is no paid staff. Legacy Senior Living at Clover Blossom and the Frederick Douglass

Greater Rochester International Airport provide meeting room space at no charge.

“It costs around at $500,000 for six missions, each carrying 60 veterans with their 60 guardians and an Honor Flight Crew of 18,” he said. “The largest costs are for transportation and accommodation. Honor Flight Rochester is in this for long haul and currently has 1,000 veterans on our fly list.”

My brother Lee Loomis, 77, now lives in Pittsford. He was drafted on Dec. 5, 1968, spent 15 months at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and arrived in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, in March 1970.

He moved around South Vietnam; Hue, Phu-Bai, Da Nang and finally “ C h i n a B e a c h , ” w h e re h e w a s assigned to the US Army Strategic Communications Facility at Da Nang (“The Da Nang Signal Company”).

After almost six months in ‘Nam, he was separated from active duty and eventually honorably discharged.

Loomis expressed his positive thoughts

on Honor Flight.

“Honor Flight was a unique, memorable and very moving experience, unlike any I’ve ever had before. It was the ‘home coming’ we had been denied, following our military service, as we each came home, alone, into an America that had begun identifying ‘The warriors, with the war they had grown to hate.’ We were frequently discriminated against and often rejected by the communities, industries, and even the veterans’ organizations that had been profiting from the protracted economic boom of the Vietnam War,” he said.

“Honor Flight provided a taste of a ‘brotherhood’ we had been missing, a warmth flowing from our families and community and a special closure to a conscious choice we had each made, long-ago, one that we might have even been doubting, for a half-century,” he added.

For Loomis, there were several touching moments. He said that the first was the opportunity that Honor Flight Rochester ’s mission

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

25

Miguel Llano (right) 23rd Infantry Division, was reunited with his friend Alberto Ortiz Baez, 1st Air-Cavalry Division, on Honor Flight Rochester – Mission 78, after a 50-year separation.

78 provided for him to share this important experience with his 18-yearold grandson, Ben Cave.

“Feeling his love and caring for me during the journey and watching as he interacted with the other veterans and their guardians was very special,” he said. “Second, was the opportunity Ben and I both had to listen, react to, and share experiences with other veterans and their guardians as we visited the US War Memorials on our trip.”

Eighteen-year-old Cave said, “The weekend I spent with my grandfather and many other veterans was a warm and thought-provoking experience.

Never before had I been able to engage with so many first-hand accounts of history. The brotherhood and camaraderie shared by those veterans is something that can never be broken and I am proud not only to have had the opportunity to speak with these heroes, but also to be related to one.

“The arrival ceremony back into the airport in Rochester was the most touching part of the weekend for me. There were a large number of people that showed up to celebrate the veterans and give them the welcome 26

home that they deserved decades ago. Being able to walk with my grandfather down the airport terminal with my family there watching is something that I will never forget.”

Loomis relayed some of the words and feelings expressed by fellow veterans during their time together.

For instance: “As we veterans get older, we mostly only remember and talk about the funny stuff that we saw and did; it wasn’t always that funny.”

Standing at the Vietnam Memorial Wall: “These are the REAL heroes of the war in ‘Nam.” On Sunday afternoon, at the Rochester Airport, homecoming parade: “Now, at last, I’m feeling like I’m finally home.”

Nancy Damore, 78, of Rochester explained her reason for volunteering in a variety of roles for Honor Flight.

“My brother is a Vietnam War veteran and I have always been taken with the TV ads for veterans’ organizations such as Wounded Warriors. I realized that their needs did not match what I had to offer. I was excited to learn from the internet about a local opportunity, Honor Flight Rochester,” she said. “I have worked in

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Nancy DaMore has been a volunteer for Honor Flight for more than 12 years. She says it is an emotional experience, each and every time.

crowd control and at the merchandise table at the airport. As a caller I worked with veterans to tell them about their upcoming trip, including the itinerary and the process for selecting a guardian. Now I am one of the people who cheer the veterans as they parade through the airport.”

Miguel Llano, 75, lives in Brighton.

He was raised in Geneva when his family moved from Puerto Rico as part of Operation Bootstrap. His father worked at the Seneca Army Depot.

Llano was drafted when he was 19 and served 32 years in the Army. He was a radio operator in Vietnam and served 1.5 tours. (He extended his Vietnam tour so his brother would not have to go). He also served as a master sergeant in Desert Storm. In addition to the Bronze Star for Valor, he was awarded 13 other commendations.

“I had a wonderful surprise during Honor Flight. Another vet heard my name on the speaker in the dining room,” he said. It was his childhood friend Alberto Ortiz Baez who he hadn’t seen in more than 50 years. “We had been friends years ago in Geneva and lost touch. To see him on the Honor Flight was a shock — a

Group of veterans from Rochester took part in the Honor Flight program in June and visited Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

wonderful one.

“My 43-year-old son, Miguel, was my guardian. It was great to spend time with him and talk about things I had never shared with him when he was younger. He said it was amazing how we saw men that his father had never met and yet there was an immediate bond because of their shared experience. When I first came home decades ago, it was like the parting of the Red Sea. People

walked away from us. Other guys had it worse. When we arrived home this time, we were cheered and thanked.

He said, ‘Dad, write a book for your grandchildren. You have seen and done so much.’”

His granddaughter Amaya said, “I knew about the Vietnam War, but my papi never talked about it. Being there for him now was very important to me.”

Funding for Honor Flight

THE TIME AND PLACE FOR A

Welcome Change

comes from individual donations, testamentary bequests, corporations, grants, employer matches, military organizations (Vietnam Veterans of America-Chapter 20, American Legion Posts, VFW Posts), clubs and organizations, fire departments, schools, churches, scouts and service clubs. n To learn about how you may volunteer, or to make a donation, visit https://honorflightrochester.org

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SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

27

exercise

Why You Should Consider Tai Chi

By Jean Sica

H

alf of all Americans suffer from one or more chronic conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, COPD and arthritis.

People are living longer, but what of the quality? And the costs?

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that health care costs for treatments of chronic disease accounts for more than 7% of all health care costs. There is a dearth of information about improving our health through proper exercise and nutrition. We are also advised to reduce our stress, adopt a pet, take long walks, and more.

And then there are more than 100 million people worldwide, including millions of Americans, who have found the ancient martial art of tai chi to be an invaluable addition to their healthy habits.

Tai chi chuan — literally translated as “supreme ultimate fist” — has been around for 3,000 years but is relatively new in the United States. Since its arrival here in the 1950s, it’s become almost as popular as yoga.

Tai chi consists of a series of upright movements performed in a slow continuous sequence. The discipline is based on the idea that in softness there is strength, of using the 28

breath, pointed attention and balanced groundedness; hence tai chi is often referred to as a “moving meditation.”

There are five leading styles: chen, yang, wu-hauo, wu and sun. Each style has its own unique characteristics of movements.

Several movements in a series are called a form. Some forms have as few as five movements, others more than 100. Some styles move more slowly than others. And some styles are more athletic than others. This myriad tai chi styles to choose from means there is a style for just about anyone.

Tai chi’s gentle, low-impact movements are generally safe and adaptable for people of all ages and physical abilities and has been clinically shown to be especially beneficial for older adults who are recovering from injury, dealing with disease or want to stay as active and healthy as long as possible.

• Tai chi may be just as effective as weight loss and lowered sodium intake for individuals concerned with lowering blood pressure. In addition, according to the American Heart Association, it was found that “… patients with coronary heart disease [in] a six-month tai chi program improved PA, weight, and quality

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

of life compared with a three-month intervention.”

• Tai chi is clinically proven to be effective as rehabilitation for people with cardiopulmonary conditions and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

According to Harvard Medical School, the movements safely and gradually strengthen the heart and major muscle groups. The deep breathing exercises enhance oxygen uptake, which can ease breathlessness.

• It can significantly reduce chronic pain for conditions like fibromyalgia and can improve neurological function for people with Parkinson’s disease.

A study published in 2013 in the National Library of Medicine showed that tai chi, “…when implemented as a complementary exercise regimen, can be therapeutically beneficial to people with neurodegenerative conditions.”

• It’s beneficial as physical therapy and pain management for osteoarthritis, encouraging joints to become more flexible. According to the Osteoarthritis Foundation International, practicing Tai Chi relieve discomfort in people affected by arthritis, osteoarthritis or any other pathology that causes joint pain.

And the practice can also delay the appearance of these in healthy people.

• Tai chi has been clinically proven to help cancer survivors. A 2004 study at the Wilmot Cancer Center in Rochester reported that women who practiced tai chi showed significant improvements in self-esteem and quality of life when compared with the women in the psychosocial support group. In addition, the deep breathing and the tiny unconscious muscular contractions of tai chi activate the lymphatic system to help your body eliminate toxins and waste.

• Regular tai chi practice can increase your energy. The slow, deep, regular breathing and movements combine to oxygenate your muscles and deep tissues. Strength and balance are enhanced resulting in stronger muscles and bones resulting in more energy and better weight-control.

• Tai chi improves balance and increases proprioception, which is the ability to sense the position of one's body in space. Fear of falling can make you more likely to fall.

Some studies have found that tai chi training helps reduce that fear. In published guidelines for tai chi, the CDC explained that “tai chi addresses gait problems by teaching ‘correct’ movement of lower limbs.”

• Tai chi has been shown to help those who suffer from mood disorders and low self-esteem. “Accumulating evidence suggests that tai chi, a popular mind–body intervention that originated as a martial art, can significantly regulate emotion and relieve the symptoms of mood disorders,” according to Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2019.

How do you find a good tai chi program? How do you choose the right one for you? What makes a good tai chi instructor? A guiding principle is summed up by the Portland [Oregon] Tai Chi Academy: “A good tai chi teacher should not only teach you the right moves but also inspire you to prepare your mind and body to realize your true potential.”

Flower Show and Sale!

September 16 & 17 Saturday, Sept. 16: 1–5pm Sunday, Sept. 17: 9–11am Flower arrangements will be available for $7 and can be made to order.

Rochester Dahlia Society Bristol’s Garden Center, 7454 NY-96, Victor, NY • www.rochesterdahlias.org

The Eastman School of Music BRINGS OVER 800 CONCERTS A YEAR TO

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Free concerts by students

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Music making and classes for all ages

For For more more information, information, visit visit esm.rochester.edu esm.rochester.edu

Jean Sica is a certified personal trainer and tai chi instructor offering concierge group and private strength. She can be contacted at jsicafitness@gmail. com. For more information, visit kokorofitness.org.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

29

arts

The Arena Art Group Invites You to Show Them Your Stuff

Over 60 artists work in a wide variety of media to create abstract art — and they want to invite new artists to join in

By John Addyman

W

hat a blessing to be able to enjoy works created by local artists at the height of their game. And what an added blessing to partner with them as they challenge the limits of their own skills and pound through convention to offer things we’ve never seen before.

That’s part of the charge of the Arena Art Group, a collection of 60 artists who produce and explore ways of communicating visual images that make you ponder and react to.

It’s abstract, expressionistic art that requires a connection.

You can look at what the Arena Art Group does at its show at the 30

Geisel Gallery in the Legacy Tower at 1 Bausch & Lomb Place in Rochester from Aug. 30 to Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. The show is free.

When you linger on the shapes and colors and whimsy and projections, remember the first rule of garage sales: “if you like it, don’t walk away from it.”

The artwork on display requires a little work. Some you’re going to love and be in awe of from the get-go; other pieces will require a second or third visit or moment of reflection to understand what the artist is saying to you.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Margery Pearl-Gurnett, 69, from Pittsford, and Chili resident Dan Scally, 68, will have some of their works on view. They’re a sample of what the Arena Art Group, founded in 1951, offers in hosting this community of artists in the wider area, but also what’s available to art lovers here and, frankly, around the world.

Pearl-Gurnett had an eye for color that started in the cradle.

“One of my early memories is being in a crib in my house. I had a box of crayons and a pale green crayon fell out onto the floor,” she said. “I remember reaching out between the bars of the crib and I couldn’t get it.

Dan Scally's "Adrift," a digital collage.

I remember my parents were eating in the kitchen. I was yelling and screaming because I needed that color, it couldn’t be any other color — color and visual things have always been my first language.”

“I always knew I was an artist,” she added. “There was not even a question.”

When she was 12 and living in New York City, her parents entered one of her artworks in an art show — for adults.

“On awards night, they called my name. I had my hair done. I had my hot pink dress mini-skirt. They asked me, ‘Are you accepting this award for your mother?’ I said ‘No, I’m accepting this for myself.’ I got a $150 check. I was in he New York Times.”

She graduated from CarnegieMellon University as a ceramics major.

Her parents asked her what she was going to do with her new BFA degree.

“I’m going to make some pottery, I told them. That went over well,” she said. “They told me I had to make a living and sent me to dental school (the Magna School of Dental Laboratory Technology) to make porcelain restorations, capped crowns and bridges.”

Pearl-Gurnett liked the work.

“I made a lot of money and socked it all away to go to graduate school,” she explained.

After three years of study, she had a master’s degree from the School for American Craftsmen at Rochester

Dan Scally's "2020 Vision" on canvas.

"Secrets of the Deep" by Margery Pearl-Gurnett.

Institute of Technology, majoring in glass.

“I was a glassblower,” she said. “One of the first solo women glassblowers.”

She set up shop in downtown Rochester.

“I made a lot of perfume bottles, vases, dishes, plates — I probably made 10,000 perfume bottles over 15 years,” she said.

She attended two wholesale trade shows a year, each one allowing her to book enough business to keep her kiln lit for half a year. She was busy.

“Then the economy changed.

People weren’t buying handmade items as much. The focus on my work changed when people from Delta Airlines came into my booth and they saw some tables I was doing, which I had sandblasted and painted.

I started getting work from architects and interior designers through Delta Airlines. I did a lot of glasswork for the Delta Crown rooms in all the airports around the country and some in Canada and the Caribbean,” she said.

“Some of those jobs paid better for the big projects than making all these little perfume bottles. I really liked blowing glass, but the bigger stuff was much better monetarily. I was still getting my vision out into the world in public places.”

She got married. Her work changed. She spent years concentrating on mosaics. Then her artistic technology changed again.

“I started doing the pieces I work on now, figuring out how to make pieces come together without actually firing them and putting them in a kiln,” she explained. “What I’m using now is glass, paper, found objects and I imbed them into resins, in layers. It has a glass-like feel to it, and there’s some glass in it.”

She has a bright, friendly hightech studio, Pearl Glassworks Ltd. in Fairport.

Dan Scally: ‘Doing better’ “My best subject in ChurchvilleChili High School was art,” said Dan Scally, whose workshop is close to his home. “I got a partial scholarship to RIT and got my BFA in 3D design. I ended up getting a job right away as a model maker. I did prototype work in plastics at Faro Industries, for Kodak and Xerox. If they had 3D printers back then, that would have been my job.”

He picked up some extra skills at night by earning a certificate in model-making at Genesee Community College.

“I pretty much had it made. I was getting paid pretty well, but I thought I could do better,” he said.

“Doing better” meant starting an electronics business, Pacer Electronics, with his brother and two others. After a time, the company split up, the brothers went separate ways, “and I started working at Kodak in the digital print business. I’m not talking desktop

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printers, I’m talking printers the size of a minivan,” he added.

He was one of the select 40 people developing this new business.

“I did all the trade shows and traveled the world. I met with customers, helped sell this milliondollar piece of equipment. It was a good ride. I spent time in all the demo centers around the world,” he said. “It was kind of cool. Customers would come in, I’d be all dressed up, the CEO of the company would come in, bring his high-level guys in, and I would have to talk them into buying, answering any of their questions. I was the demo guy — I actually taught people how to demo the equipment.

Then I retired, after 25 years. I kind of had three careers.”

The digital print division at Kodak had given Scally access to the latest software programs and a very wonderful printer for output.

Life changed in 1998 when he was in a serious car accident.

“I saw the priest twice,” he remembered softly. “I had to learn to walk again. I was on my back for six months. I told my wife to go out and buy me some paint brushes; otherwise I’m going to go crazy here. I literally was on my back when I started painting. I came full circle to get back into the art thing again. I was like, ‘I can do this. I can still do this.’

“Then, I started creating more. Just toward the end of my days at Kodak I was getting fairly serious at it,

Margery Pearl-Gurnett's perfume vials launched her career.

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Dan Scally and Margery Pearl-Gurnett in Pearl-Gurnett's gallery, playing with new techniques. Both are artist-members of the Arena Art Group.

painting canvases and showing my art around town, entering shows here and there. I used to sell my work at the Tapas Restaurant, I knew the bartender there. He said, ‘Yeah, bring it in, we’ll hang it here, we’ll hang it there.’ I started doing this and I enjoyed it and I could sell the work.”

Scally joined the Chili Art Group and helped set up art shows and promoted new members. Still active, he managed an art show at Roberts Wesleyan University this spring.

Then came the epiphany.

“I went to the Arena Art Group show in 2011. I walked in, saw what was being exhibited, and I said to myself, ‘This is me.

This is the kind of art I want to make. This is not realistic; it’s not like taking pictures.

These people are working from their emotions and they’re experimenting with different materials, and they’re riding the edge. This is terrific. I’ve got to join this group.’

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

I submitted the required artwork and application and was approved to join the group,” he said.

He said he likes “being in a group of people that I can learn from.

Everybody I talked to in the early days when I joined Arena, something rubbed off on me. ‘That’s great. That’s brilliant. I like what you’re doing’ — that’s what I heard. I just felt so part of the whole. That’s what I liked, being involved with a group. It’s such an incredible learning experience.”

Scally has had his work at the Van Der Plas Gallery in New York City (“home to artists willing to explore unconventional modes of creativity”) and Pier 92/94.

Looking for new talent Pearl-Gurnett heard about Arena from Jean Geisel, an archivist for Bausch & Lomb who hosted art shows in the factory on Goodman Street. The quarterly art shows allowed artists to submit about 15 pieces of their work — after a two-and-a-half-year wait.

You could graduate from there to the Geisel Gallery, which is now in the Legacy Tower downtown. When PearlGurnett made it to Geisel Gallery, she brought 50 pieces of her work.

When she was taking down her artwork after her show, PearlGurnett had a talk with Geisel, who recommended she join the Arena Art Group.

“Because of the respect I have

for Jean, I looked into it,” said PearlGurnett. “She is very friendly to the artists in our community and even in her own galley she would hang things and never take a commission.”

Scally had a show at Geisel and is famous for getting a phone call from the building inspector.

“He told me I had to take one piece down because of all the rubber bugs I had on it. They were coming around the corner right into the picture frame.

I thought it was funny, but the building inspector didn’t.”

“Somebody freaked out,” PearlGurnett remembered.

“Art isn’t always pretty,” Scally added.

The 60-some artists who form the Arena Art Group are always looking for new talent. The membership process requires a submission of artwork (which can be done through flash drives, CDs or website), an application, and a review by the eightmember steering committee, which Scally and Pearl-Gurnett serve on. If the committee thinks the applicant is deserving, the application goes out to all members, who vote on the final say.

And there are definite benefits in joining.

“We’re a group that is mainly involved in showing artwork,” said Pearl-Gurnett. “We have also been

Margery Pearl-Gurnett's decorative wall at the Jacksonville, Florida, Delta Airlines Crown Room.

a social group. We did a picnic in the park last year and we’ll have a dinner this year — most of that gets paid through our $70 dues per year.

Important for our member artists, they don’t have to pay anything to show their work with us.”

“A lot of the people in Arena were once art educators,” Scally added. “[Member] Jim Thomas was my 3D design teacher at RIT. I took a class from him in the summer, ‘modern industrial plastics.’ I immediately got

a job because I took that course they could have cared less what I did in fine arts.”

The fact that Arena doesn’t demand a fee for its shows is an important feature, Pearl-Gurnett and Scally agreed.

“Nowadays in the gallery world it’s pay-to-play,” Scally said. “You want to show your work at a gallery?

Well, you can rent the gallery for $4,000 a month. Then if you sell anything, they get 25%. It’s scary out there.”

Pearl-Gurnett said Arena “is an older group of people. One of our concerns is that we’re looking for younger people who will take our places when we become elders. The average age of people in the group is probably 60-plus.”

To c o n t a c t t h e A r e n a A r t Group, start at the website (www. arenaartgroup.org) or go on Facebook or Instagram to see the latest goingson.

Free Exhibit Arena Art Group is sponsoring a show at the Geisel Gallery in the Legacy Tower at 1 Bausch & Lomb Place in Rochester from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, Aug. 30 to Oct. 27. The show is free. For more information, visit www.arenaartgroup. org

Arena Art Group works on display at the Little Theatre in Rochester (photo by Cheryl Amati Martin).

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

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or years, older adults took a baby aspirin a day to help ward off a first-time heart attack or stroke. Now yet another study is showing the risks are not worth it for most.

S p e c i f i c a l l y, researchers found the risk of brain bleeding while using lowdose aspirin outweighed any potential benefit against stroke for relatively healthy older adults — that is, those with no history of heart disease or stroke.

In fact, among more than 19,000 older adults in the study, those who took daily low-dose aspirin for several years showed no reduction in their risk of an ischemic stroke (the kind caused by a blood clot).

They did, however, have a 38% higher risk of bleeding in the brain, compared to study patients given placebo pills for comparison.

Experts said the findings align with the latest recommendations on low-dose aspirin: Most people with no history of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack or stroke, should skip it.

“What’s b ecoming clearer and clearer is that aspirin, for primary prevention, is not indicated for most people,” said Anum Saeed, a cardiologist who was not involved in the study.

“Primary prevention” refers to prevention of first-time strokes or heart attacks.

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Bruce Barnes with actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster.

He gave the actress a tour of the museum during her stay in Rochester to receive the George Eastman Award. The picture was taken on May 25. Photo provided.

cover

PRESERVING THE LEGACY OF

GEORGE EASTMAN Director Bruce Barnes has overseen the growth of George Eastman Museum’s collection, increased its focus on contemporary photographers and overseen various physical changes to the building

By Mike Costanza

A

fter a long and successful career in business, Bruce Barnes was ready for a change.

“Some men run off with a 24-year-old and some people buy a fast car,” the 61-year-old said. “I decided not to do either of those things.”

Instead, Barnes decided to express his love for museums and the arts by devoting his great energy to a good cause. Oct.1, 2012, he became the Ron and Donna Fielding director of the George Eastman House, now known as the George Eastman Museum.

The nonprofit is a leading museum of photography, the cinema and the technologies that have made them possible and continue to do so.

Since he took the George Eastman Museum’s helm, Barnes has helped add rare finds to its collections, improved its capacity to safely store photos and overseen extensive renovations of its physical structure. Not bad for someone who lacks what some might call the right background for the job.

“I’m not a photography person, historically,” Barnes said. “I’m much more of a contemporary art person.”

Barnes was born in Inglewood, California, and raised in Cortlandt, a town in Westchester County. After acquiring a Bachelor of Arts and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, he turned away from academics to work in New York City, where he held executive positions at such firms as the Ziff Communications Company and the Reservoir Capital Group, and served as the CEO of

the Rochester-based online learning company Element K. While heading Element K he regularly traveled to Rochester, where he got to know the George Eastman Museum.

It was in New York City that Barnes met Joseph Cunningham, a Ph.D. student in philosophy. The two grew close, and eventually married.

Among other interests, they share a love of art museums — they’ve visited more than 200 of them in the U.S. alone — and of collecting art.

“I’m a very serious collector of American decorative art and design from the period around 1900,” Barnes said, with a grin. “My husband collects works by contemporary, obsessivecompulsive artists.”

Those shared interests led the pair to collaborate on two books on specific forms of art. Cunningham wrote, and Barnes edited, "The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs." The award-winning book, which was published in 2008, is a comprehensive examination of the works of Rohlfs, a Buffalo-based turnof-the-century furniture maker who was one of the most creative furniture designers of that period.

Cunningham and Barnes also joined two other authors to write "The Jewelry and Metalwork of Marie Zimmerman." The 2011 volume depicts the life and work of Zimmerman, a creator of remarkable early 20th century metalworks.

In addition to engaging in such pursuits, Barnes and his husband have sought to foster interest in the

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Interior of George Eastman Museum. Photos provided.

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55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

art forms they value through the Leeds Art Foundation. The nonprofit, which Barnes founded and Cunningham heads, collaborates with U.S. museums to generate the appreciation and understanding of circa-1900 American decorative art and design.

Though such pursuits were rewarding, Barnes eventually felt the urge to give his energy and skills to an art museum. When Anthony Bannon, the George Eastman Museum’s longtime director, decided to retire, Barnes expressed interest in the position.

Kevin Gavagan, a longtime member and former chairman of the museum’s board of trustees, was on the committee that searched for Bannon’s replacement. Barnes’ lack of a background with museums or the arts made him stand out from the other applicants for the job.

“He was an economist; he had worked at running a company; he had a Wall Street background, but he also had a very deep, clear, personal affinity for the arts,” Gavagan said. “This was a strange set of backgrounds, impressive but not necessarily out of central casting for museum director.”

After extensive discussions with Barnes, the committee made its pick for the directorship.

“He kind of came away as not just intriguing, but over time, compelling,” Gavagan said of Barnes. “So, we gave it to him.”

Barnes moved to Rochester to take up his new position, and set out to expand the George Eastman Museum’s collections. Though it had world-class agglomerations of photos, films and photographic and cinematographic technologies, he did not think it was reaching its full potential.

“The institution was clearly not doing as much as, at least in my view, it should be doing with respect to contemporary art photography,” Barnes said.

To remedy that, Barnes has striven to add to the museum’s holdings the works of contemporary artists who use photography as their medium.

“One of the key things was to make sure that the institution was keeping up with what was considered important that was being made today,” he said.

As part of that effort, Barnes and Paolo Cherchi Usai, who was then the George Eastman Museum’s

Bruce Barnes on the grounds of George Eatman Museum in Rochester on July 18.

Photo by Chuck Wainwright.

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senior curator of the moving image department, sought to convince wellknown South African artist William Kentridge to donate his works to the museum. In 2015, Kentridge presented the masters for all of his films, videos and digital works to the institution.

“He reached the conclusion that the museum was going to be better at preserving the works than any other institution,” Barnes said.

Usai, who is now the museum’s senior curator-at-large and makes his home in Milan, Italy, called the acquisition a “curatorial coup,” and praised Barnes’ for his part in it.

“The acquisition of the complete moving image works by William Kentridge was a highlight of our collaboration,” he said.

Though overseas, Usai continues to work with Barnes on projects of this kind.

“It is like working with three people at once: a museum administrator, a fellow curator, an inquisitive manager 40

with a flair for detail and razorsharp logic, under the skin of a suave conversationalist,” he said.

Cunningham and Barnes also cosponsored an exhibition of some of the works of internationally recognized photographer Judy Glickman Lauder, whose subjects include the Holocaust.

“Resistance and Rescue: Denmark and the Holocaust” presents the pictures and stories of Danes who helped thousands of Jews and their relatives escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II. The photos depict common people who showed uncommon courage.

“We’re talking about a group of people who put their lives at risk to save people who were different from them,” Barnes said. “Ninety-five percent of the Jewish population in Denmark was boatlifted to Sweden.”

Altogether, about 7,200 Jews and 700 of their relatives made it safely to neutral Sweden in 1943. Barnes believes the exhibition’s message

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

about helping others is particularly important today.

“We’ve had this tremendous increase in hate crimes,” he said. “Now is the time where we all need to remind people that they need to be morally courageous.”

While adding to the museum’s collections, Barnes has also sought to safeguard the items it has.

“Two of the collections we have are two of the most challenging things to care for, from an environmental perspective,” he said. “Film is more demanding than basically anything else and photographs are more demanding than other works on paper.”

Unfortunately, when Barnes came on board, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems of the museum’s photo and technology vaults weren’t completely up to the task of preserving the items they stored.

“There was too much variation in humidity, the principal problem, and

they couldn’t maintain temperatures as needed,” Barnes said.

To remedy the problem, in 2018 the museum undertook a $1.2 million project to replace the storage areas’ HVAC systems. Both vaults can now maintain the optimal conditions for preserving the photographs, negatives and technological devices they store.

While attending to the needs of the George Eastman Museum’s collections, Barnes has also overseen extensive renovations of its premises. Gavagan has worked with him on a number of infrastructure projects, including the almost $1.7 million renovation of the long colonnade that joins George Eastman’s original mansion and the 1989 addition to the museum.

“The colonnade was in very rough shape,” Gavagan said. “It was actually designed by George Eastman.”

The renovation project included the replacement of the colonnade’s roof, support structure and floor, the installation of a new climate control

system and the erection of a wall of specially treated glass that can stand up to the weather. The wall also provides a great view of the adjoining Schuyler C. Townson Terrace Garden.

Barnes was involved every step of the way.

“Bruce was very effective not only in helping to raise the money to make it happen, but the overall management of the project,” Gavagan said. “He’s very detail-oriented.”

Gavagan helped secure a $1 million donation for the project from the late Bruce B. Bates, a longtime museum trustee, The Bruce B. Bates Colonnade opened to the public in 2020.

Gavagan also worked with Barnes on another major construction project, that to relocate the museum’s entrance and give the building a new visitors’ center. Museum patrons first walked through the doors of the $5.75 million Thomas Tischer Visitors’ Center in October of 2020. The center is named after Thomas Tischer, a longtime

supporter of the museum who was the largest donor to the project.

Gavagan has continued to work with Barnes on museum projects since then and considers him a good friend.

“He’s working hard, he puts in very long hours, and he’s just a very dedicated, enthusiastic, pleasant guy to work with,” Gavagan said. “I’ve enjoyed it immensely.”

During Barnes’ time as the George Eastman Museum’s director, the nonprofit has invested more than $5 million in the restoration of its mansion and gardens. He recognizes that that work is not finished.

“I expect that over the next five to 10 years, we’ll invest that much again,” Barnes said.

Though he has a home in Rochester, Barnes spends many weekends with his husband in New York City. Even after almost 11 years on the job, he still looks forward to coming to work.

“What we’re doing is deeply satisfying,” he said.

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Photos provided by George Eastman Museum.

George Eastman and inventor Thomas Edison. Circa 1928.

Young George Eastman in an undated photo.

Portrait of George Eastman.

Undated photo.

THROUGH THE LENS OF HISTORY

By Mike Costanza

1905 Entrepreneur and photography pioneer George Eastman completes construction of his mansion on Rochester ’s East Avenue. The three-story building sat on an 8.5acre tract that eventually came to include formal gardens, working farmland, greenhouses, stables, pastures and barns.

1948 The University of Rochester donates the mansion and its surrounding property to the museum.

42

1932

1947

Eastman dies, leaving his 35,000-square-foot home and the property surrounding it to the University of Rochester.

The New York State Board of Regents charters George Eastman House, Inc. as an independent nonprofit educational institution.

The nonprofit was specifically created as a museum of photography and its associated pursuits and a memorial to George Eastman.

1949 George Eastman House opens.

Among all American museums, only two had a photography department and only two that had a film department. The museum had both.

1989

1990

The museum completes the construction of an addition that greatly increases its overall size. The 73,000-square-foot addition includes exhibition galleries, climate-controlled vaults and laboratories for the conservation of photos and the preservation of films.

The museum completes a restoration of the mansion’s most important rooms.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

For more information on the museum and all it has to offer, go to: www.eastman.org

1951 The 500-seat Dryden Theater opens, and begins screening films for the public.

2015 George Eastman House changes its name to “George Eastman Museum.”

Currently, the George Eastman Museum has an annual operating budget of about $9.4 million and employs 83 full-time and 27 part-time employees. About 125 volunteers help make the place function.

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43

basketball

Fast-break pass from Garry Bonnemere to Cecil McClary against the defense from George Klemann and Dennis Turner.

Meet the Immortals Local guys carry basketball skills to the national level

By John Addyman

H

e’s still shooting.

“You’ve got to take shots to make shots,” said Dana Wolcott, who, at age 75, has earned the right to be thought of as a basketball sage.

But unlike most sages, he’s still on the court, playing the game.

Wo l c o t t a n d a g r o u p o f Rochester septuagenarians are a team good enough to compete at the National Senior Games Association championships that were held in July in Pittsburgh. Some 11,576 similar athletes joined Wolcott in going for the gold in 20 sports. In the basketball division alone, 116 teams from all over America hustled half-courts in threeon-three contests to claim a title and bragging rights.

Rochester’s team, which Wolcott captains, finished fourth in the 75+ age 44

class, against 12 other teams.

The youngest NSGA teams competed in the 50+ age class. The oldest athletes were burning the court in the 85+ age class.

And the name of the Rochester team?

“The Immortals.”

Some of the other teams in the national finals were The Old Gold, Remaining Few, Rhode Kill, Code Blue and the Albany Fossils.

In the Immortals’ class, the Iowa Westerndorf Bucketmakers took home the gold medal, beating Hoops for Life from Illinois in the championship game. The Immortals lost a close contest to the Massachusetts Black Bears in the bronze medal game.

Garry Bonnemere, 76, is an Immortal who has been part of the Rochester basketball scene for more

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

than 20 years. Raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, he played basketball at Hiram Scott College in Nebraska and graduated with a degree in sociology, which led to a career in fuel-oil sales at Cities Service, then electrical products sales for 3M. He’s coached girls’ jayvee basketball at Irondequoit and boys’ jayvee at School of the Arts.

“A Rochester basketball league started around 2000,” he said. “It was an over-50 league. I was looking for a place to play and saw an article about the league in a newspaper: they were looking for players.”

Wolcott explained that the league started with six teams, eight or nine guys on each team. Games were at the DePaul Rec Center on Buffalo Road, with a season that went October to March. Those were good times.

Rochester assembled two all-star

Dana Wolcott.

teams in 2003 and tried to qualify for the NSGA national tournament, which meant winning in the New York state tournament held at Cortland State. The all-star team, named “The Lions,” qualified for the national championships in Hampton Roads, Virginia. With 20 teams in their 65+ class, they finished fifth that June, the Rusty Pistols from Texas winning the crown.

In 2017, Rochester sent a team of allstars called “Billy’s Barnstormers” and placed second at the championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Code Blue from Alabama won the event.

Wolcott said there’s a measure of satisfaction when it comes to state and national competition. “You get to beat up guys from other states whom you don’t know. They get so disappointed when we win.”

“And when you compete, you’re challenged,” added Bonnemere. “You will more than likely, especially in basketball, run into people who are better than you. You try to at least stay close to improve your game. But you know what? You get better as you age.

“I still work out. I play on Sundays with a bunch of younger guys. It’s all I

Gerry Bonnemere.

can do to keep up with them, but that’s OK. Competing against younger guys earns a measure of self-satisfaction and integrity. They ask, ‘How old are you?’

And I tell them. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, right…’”

Wolcott, who is a lead innovation coach at RIT after 38 years at Kodak, has had a similar experience.

“A couple of years ago I played in a league at RIT. One of my students, a kid who was 6-foot-8 and could dunk, asked me to play. And we came in second place. I played almost the whole time in every game. I just had to make sure I started downcourt to the basket ahead of everyone else,” he said.

Bonnemere also admits the reality.

“The game has changed. When I was in high school, there was no three-point line. The skill level of the players today is off the charts totally. There are some moves that I can’t do today. The spring in the legs is gone,” he said.

The two men also have military backgrounds. Wolcott was in the Marine Reserves and the Army Reserves; Bonnemere retired from the Army National Guard as a major, after 25 years of service.

Aging has been kind to both men, and to the guys who joined them on the court for their Thursday practice at the Sports Garden in Henrietta, a perfect venue.

What has kept them young?

“Staying active,” said Bonnemere q u i c k l y, a d d i n g a m e a s u re o f determination. “To show that even though I’m older, I can still do active, competitive things. That’s my drive.

Sometimes it’s difficult because of my age, but put me on a basketball court and it’s play to win. I’ve matured in the fact that losing, particularly in pick-up games, doesn’t bother me as much as it did. I still want to win. Coaches along the way instilled in me the attitude to try hard and do your best — that’s all you can do is do your best. If you do your best, then you can rest.”

“Working with students every day” keeps Wolcott young, he said.

“That’s amazing when they ask me to go play basketball with them. One young lady asked me to go skydiving with her. And others have asked me to do other things with them. You’ve got to stay young. If you want to work on any new ideas with these students, you have to keep up with what all the new

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MAIN: Rochester Immortals' Cecil McClary drives for the basket while Dennis Turner trails the play.

INSET: Fourth place at the National Senior Games Association championships.

From left: Garry Bonnemere, Larry Guttmacher, Dana Wolcott, Cecil McClary and Jon O’Connor.

technology is; you’ve got to be on top of the AI [artificial intelligence] stuff.

There are some crazy things going on.

You have to be on top of that because everyone is going to know everything about you all of the time.”

Bonnemere said younger players tend to wrongly judge the value of an older, experienced player.

“The young folks would laugh at us. They would think, ‘What’s with these guys?’ They don’t understand, they have no clue. They think the world revolves around them, that they are it; particularly if you’re playing basketball,” he said. “I played Sunday two-on-two with a young guy, never saw him before. We played a game of 11 and I think I took three shots the entire game. He would get the ball, do his one-on-one moves, and I’m standing like this, waiting for a pass.

It really pissed me off. I didn’t say anything. He didn’t understand the concept of teamwork. If you’re open, if you’re there, give me the ball.

46

I’ve got my clippings from when I was in high school and college," Bonnemere added. "I can read them a thousand times. I just want to be able to win and contribute.

“There’s something that’s been on my mind of late: when do I stop? Will I know when to stop? There’s going to be a time when I can’t get my arm up, when I can only jump so high off the floor…my intent is to play until the wheels come off.”

“I should hope so,” agreed Wolcott.

He noted some of the players expected at the practice, which was just starting — Cecil McClary, a construction company owner who has a pronounced rainbow shot; Lawrence Guttmacher, a professor of psychiatry at RIT; Jon O’Connor, a former Kodak manager — and others.

The door is open for more guys to join the Immortals and perhaps restart a league.

“This focuses you on a goal, to get out there and be active,” he said. “If

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

someone is interested, they can show up on a Thursday night at the Sports Garden at 5 p.m. We would like to resurrect the league and have five or six teams. We need a commissioner to organize it. Steve Edgerton was the commissioner who set up over50 basketball in Rochester. We need someone like him. He would set up our trips. He knew everybody. We had a lot of fun playing up in Maine and having a lobster dinner on the beach.”

Practice began this Thursday night. Instead of playing three-onthree in a half-court game, as they would in the NSGA competition, the Immortals went whole-court, five-onfive. The pace was brisk. There were blocked shots, fast breaks, and in-yourface defense. Everybody was active.

Everybody got their hands on the ball.

Once again, here were young guys cruising a basketball court with their buddies in the evening. Yesterday wasn’t so far away…for the Immortals.

Loneliness Harms Health

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

L

oneliness is not good for your health.

In fact, the US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy’s recent report “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” states that it “is far more than just a bad feeling — it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.”

The general surgeon goes on to add: “The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity. And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces and civic organizations, where performance, productivity and engagement are diminished.”

Ann E. Cunningham, executive director of Oasis Rochester, agrees.

“The physical and health implications of loneliness are huge,” she said. “At a state level, the governor has put together a task force on aging and that’s an area that’s being looked

at: to reduce social isolation and increase our connections with each other.

“Coming out of the pandemic, we know the impact on our students was huge and the impact on older adults has been monumental. We’re seeing it here. I’ve seen people who’ve aged so much more quickly during the pandemic because they didn’t have that contact with others like they did.

It’s a huge issue right now that many of us in the aging profession working with older adults we’re trying to tackle.”

Although delivery services helped people stay supplied and fed during the pandemic, it also isolated them.

And since then, many of these services have become more routine, promoting continued isolation. These newer supports differ from some that were popular pre-COVID-19. For example, Meals on Wheels provides a point of connection for older adults, as delivery drivers take a moment to chat and get to know the recipients. That’s not part of the job of food delivery drivers for Grubhub or Instacart to make those connections.

Area organizations have stepped up to help older adults combat loneliness. Oasis Rochester is one longstanding example.

“We bring people together around a shared love for a certain topic, like history, crafts, music, dance or exercise,” Cunningham said. “It serves two purposes. It’s not only about lifelong learning but a quest for connections with each other.”

Despite this, Cunningham said

that some older adults still do not want to risk mingling because of COVID-19.

To meet their needs and the needs of those who no longer drive, Oasis offers online classes which at least allow participants to interact virtually.

Bryan Guzski, doctor of physical therapy, nutrition coach and owner of Motive Physical Therapy in Rochester, has also linked loneliness with physical inactivity, especially for older adults whose muscle strength and physical endurance deplete at a more rapid rate than younger people.

“The more socially isolated someone is, the less everyday activity that person will have,” he said. “The pandemic clearly demonstrated this.

With the cancellation of community events, group exercise classes, and closing of fitness centers, dramatic drops in daily activity coexisted with feelings of social isolation and loneliness.”

Even worse is that it’s typically even tougher for older adults to regain physical strength and vitality once it’s lost compared with younger adults.

Guzski recommends seeking programs that offer both movement and camaraderie.

“Group exercise classes at fitness centers or community centers, as well as programs like Silver Sneakers, are incredibly beneficial as they promote social interaction and physical activity, a win-win,” Guzski said.

Local YMCA chapters, fitness classes at a gym, neighborhood walking groups, dance classes, bowling leagues or other group-oriented clubs can also help.

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47

workforce

Work: The Second Chapter

A growing number of older Americans continue to work

R

etirement is the long-awaited reward after years of work.

While the average age of retirement in the U.S. is 63, a growing number of older Americans continue to work either by choice or necessity.

Currently, 38.4% of the American workforce is 55 or older, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2030, 9.5% of the labor force is expected to be 65 plus; the number of workers 75 and older is projected to increase from 8.9% in 2020 to 11.7% by the end of this decade.

The transition is already underway. Many older workers are shifting gradually into retirement, transitioning from “demanding, fulltime work into less stressful, part-time work,” according to The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a large, national representative sampling of more than 20,000 Americans over the age of 50.

The study, conducted by the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan and funded mostly by the National Institute on Aging, is updated every two years. Information collected includes income, work, pension plans, 48

By Donna Jackel

health insurance, disability and health care costs.

Matt Taylor, chief executive officer of AP Professionals, a local placement firm, has observed that clients 55 and older tend to choose contract work over permanent positions.

“They also like variety in work tasks and workplaces,” Taylor said.

“They don’t want the same level of responsibility they previously had, but still want to contribute.”

Retirees often segue into a job that allows them to use the skills they performed during their career, according to Amanda Sonnega, Ph.D., a research scientist for the Health and Retirement Study. “Most workers don’t pursue a career change after 55 — it’s not worth the investment. A small fraction chooses self employment.”

Little data has been amassed regarding what types of work older Americans perform, Sonnega said.

“It’s hard to make predictions,” she said. “Everyone is stumped as to how things are going. And the late baby boomers — those born between 1959 and 1965 — are just starting to retire.”

But some patterns are emerging.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

The most commons jobs for men 62 and older, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are delivery workers and truck drivers, janitors and building cleaners, farmers and ranchers, post-secondary teachers and lawyers. Women in this demographic are most often employed as teachers, administrative assistants, health care aides, registered nurses and child care workers.

While some post-retirees return to work for the mental stimulation, a segment of the population cannot afford to stop working.

“It’s most worrisome for the late baby boomers because their retirement portfolios were hit hard by the great recession and haven’t rebounded,” said Sonnega.

The money crunch is more dire for those who were unable to save for retirement and find themselves depending on Social Security as their only source of income, which was designed to supplement earned income.

“Many jobs no longer provide pensions [so] older people have to work longer,” said Ann Marie Cook, president and CEO of Lifespan of

More 80-Plussers on the Job Census figures shows influx of octogenarians in the workforce

Y Ann Marie Cook, president and CEO of Lifespan of Greater Rochester.

Amanda Sonnega, Ph.D., a research scientist for the Health and Retirement Study.

Greater Rochester, a nonprofit that provides many services for older adults and caregivers. “It’s sheer economics.”

Nearly a quarter into the 21st century, older workers are still encountering ageism and limited job options. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act forbids age discrimination against people who are 40 or older, yet in a 2022 survey of 2,945 people 50 and older conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons, 91% said age discrimination is common in the workplace.

“The current workforce shortage wouldn’t exist if society wasn’t biased against older workers,” said Cook.

“People are being passed up for training, passed up for opportunities.

Older workers want meaningful jobs.

They don’t want reinvent themselves— they want to use the knowledge they’ve gathered and continue to contribute.”

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

oung enough to be costar Harrison Ford’s granddaughter, actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 38, provided most of the hard-hitting physical action — along with her stunt doubles — in the summer action flick “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

Still, spry co-star Ford, 80 at the time of filming, held his own and didn’t lag behind with a walker or IV pole as derided in memes about the film.

The action star’s fifth installment in the franchise depicting the fedorawearing professor–archaeologist mirrors real life.

More octogenarians are skipping retirement compared with the sameaged cohort of just a decade ago.

In June, the U.S. Census Bureau said that 18% more 80-plussers — about 650,000 — continue to work compared with 10 years before. Of those, 50% are full-time, perhaps not at their lifelong career, but working a paid job, nonetheless.

Furthermore, the bureau estimates that among those aged 75-plus, working paid jobs will increase from 8.9% in 2020 to 11.7% by 2030 as the rate among every other age group decreases. And it’s not just because the wobbly economy and rising inflation requires older adults to work (although that represents one factor).

The age of the baby boomer generation is one reason. Just as with every other life milestone, the advancement of huge boomer population will swell the number of 80-plus-aged adults in the workforce.

Current day labor shortages have also drawn many octogenarians to eschew retirement. The workplace needs more hands. Why not continue to call on those with decades of experience and a track record of reliability?

Ann E. Cunningham, executive

director of Oasis Rochester, believes that the high rate of working 80-plussers is reflected locally.

“We’re seeing more people who are in need of that income,” she said.

“Of course, our older adults want to remain active and vital and have skills they want to share with others. But there are lots of reasons why people need to remain in the workforce. The stock market crash hit a lot of people as far as their savings. Maybe they didn’t save as much. In a lot of ways, people want to remain active and they can do that through working.”

For many in this age group, additional training may be needed to stay relevant in the job market.

Cunningham said that learning to set up email, store electronic files or use Excel spreadsheets is a commonplace need. More recently, it’s been learning to use Teams and Zoom, as the pandemic required remote meetings.

“At Oasis Rochester, we offer oneon-one tutoring, where we can help update those skills,” Cunningham said. “We have some online portals which are training sessions that people can go through on their own. There are other agencies helping with that digital inclusion and update of their skills.”

Although some older adults at Oasis want to improve their electronic communication to keep up with family members via texting, Zoom and social media, Cunningham said that many want to level up their skills to continue in the workforce, whether in their original field or working an entrylevel job that simply gets them out of the house for a few hours a week.

Almost every type of employment requires tech savvy of some sort.

For older adults who take an entrylevel job it’s typically more about maintaining a sense of productivity, staying connecting and continuing to feel purposeful in life than earning money, so entry-level pay is fine.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

49

retirement

Gynecologist Victor Poleshuckin one of his many trips abroad. He stands next to an Asmat villager in New Guinea.

Fulfilling Dreams and Discovering Passions in Retirement Retired doctor busy teaching, taking classes, traveling

By Jane Eggleston

G

ynecologist Victor Poleshuck is making the most of his retirement and enjoying it all.

“Retirement has been wonderful,” he said. “I’ve been able to indulge so many interests, which I had no time for when I was in practice.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, Poleshuck graduated from Dartmouth College, and then attended medical school at The University of California at Irvine. An internship at Strong Memorial Hospital brought him to Rochester.

At that time, the Vietnam war was raging. They needed doctors, so 50

he enlisted in the Air Force and was fortunate to be stationed in Greece for his two-year commitment.

Returning to Rochester in 1970, he did his residency in OB-GYN at Strong, and then practiced at Joseph C. Wilson Center for five years before opening his own practice in 1979. His practice was successful, growing to 11 doctors before he retired in 2006.

“The very first educational thing I did after retiring was to take a course in constitutional law at the UR with Thomas Jackson who, at the time, was the president of the UR,” he said. “Then I joined Osher Lifelong

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Learning Institute at RIT, known as ‘The Athenaeum’ until 2009 — and haven’t looked back!”

Osher is a member-led organization of over 50 people who enjoy learning.

“Osher has been a place to indulge my thirst for learning and to teach subjects I love,” he said. “It’s really true that you never know something as well as when you teach it. My love of music has only grown as I co-taught a four-semester course in the history of western music and then taught many composer-specific courses.

Most recently I taught a course on Shostakovich [fall 2022] with 63 people taking it! Can you imagine? — 63 people wanting to take a course on Shostakovich!”

To date, he has led more than 65 courses. In addition to the music courses, which usually include an Eastman School of Music chamber music group coming to perform — a much-anticipated event — his courses have covered medical issues, travel and topics such as “The Meaning of Life,” “Science and Religion,” “Hamlet” and ”Richard III.” His medical courses are always

popular, including “Medical Ethics,” “Up Yours” [what medical scopes see], “Medical School” and “The Right to be Well-Born.”

In addition to taking and leading courses at Osher, he was also a member of the course offerings committee for many years, reviewing and approving courses to be offered. Also, he has presented several talks on various travel adventures as part of Osher’s travel special interest group.

An avid lover of music and supporter of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Poleshuck is a member of the board of directors, where his efforts are specifically focused on community education. He enjoys attending as many concerts and Eastman School recitals as he can.

Another passion of his is travel and he has shared his experiences with Osher members through his courses.

Although he and wife, Joyce, traveled during his work years, once retired, they have tried to take three trips a year.

“How do we choose where to go and what to see? Most of the time we go somewhere we’ve never been,” he explained. “We tend to alternate trip types; if our last big trip was adventure travel, our next trip will be cultural or historic. A favorite plan is to pick a culture we know little about, study it and then visit it. We’ve done this with cultures as diverse as Mayan (Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, southern Mexico), Tlingit (Alaska), ancient Egyptian, Nabatean (Jordan), Buddhist (Nepal, Burma aka Myanmar), Inca (Peru, Bolivia), Arawak (West Indies), Khmer (Cambodia), Asmat (New Guinea), and Maori (New Zealand). Travel has made me an educated citizen of our country and a better citizen of the world. Travel has made me more aware of our country’s place in the larger world order and has informed me about how our behavior is seen in other parts of the world.”

In addition to all of this, he’s found time to work as the vice president of finance for Temple Sinai and interview medical school candidates for the UR. And, of course, his family, which means so much to him. His wife, who, died in February, was a partner in his travels and was a member at Osher.

They have two daughters and five grandchildren and have been fortunate that they all live in the area.

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51

health

‘Never Too Late’ to Care for Skin

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

I

Sarah Rizzo, licensed esthetician and owner of Sarah Rizzo Skin in Rochester.

“You don’t look at a healthy runner and say their skin looks terrible,” Rizzo says.

“People who are active and have a good diet look better.”

52

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

f you don’t like what you’re seeing in the mirror, you can still improve your aging skin’s appearance.

“At any age, it’s never too late to improve,” said Sarah Rizzo, licensed esthetician and owner of Sarah Rizzo Skin in Rochester.

By age 55, changes in the body have begun to affect the skin in noticeable ways.

“With women, there’s hormonal changes that affect suppleness and plumpness in the skin,” Rizzo said.

“The cell renewal process slows as well.”

Since the skin turns over more slowly, it’s helpful to stimulate it through exfoliation. Facials, peels, m i c ro d e r m a b r a s i o n a n d l a s e r treatments can help. These modalities break down the skin’s top layer, the epidermis, and reduce the appearance of discoloration and fine lines as the skin renews itself. It appears less dull.

“You’re helping let your skin breathe and function,” Rizzo said.

“After exfoliation, at-home products are better absorbed into the skin.”

She advises receiving regular facials — at least once per month — noting that these treatments include facial massage, which also helps promote healthier looking skin.

“We have over 60 muscles in the face alone,” Rizzo said. “You’re creating firmness and tone through blood flow and oxygenating the skin.”

At home, using products with vitamin C as an antioxidant and skin brightener can improve skin’s appearance.

Although prevention is key to reducing the signs of aging in skin, Rizzo said that wearing sunscreen is still important.

“Wear SPF 30-plus,” she said.

“I’m also a big proponent of mineral sunscreen, as it’s a physical block.”

Avoiding exposure to sunlight

With women, there’s hormonal changes that affect suppleness and plumpness in the skin. The cell renewal process slows as well.” between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and wearing a hat and sunglasses can also help prevent further damage.

It’s also vital to feed the skin with a diet rich in nutrients such as the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, olive oil, fatty fish, nuts and seeds. Rizzo also cautioned to limit alcohol.

“I have clients who come in for a facial and want the most expensive facial, but we also talk about you as a person and their daily routine at home,” Rizzo said. “Many say when they wake up the first thing and have a cup of coffee. If you don’t get water to jumpstart your body from within, it won’t work. Look at a plant that hasn’t been watered in days: it shrivels. Drink that water before coffee.”

Staying fit and active can also promote healthier looking skin.

“You don’t look at a healthy runner and say their skin looks terrible,” Rizzo said. “People who are active and have a good diet look better. You need to get enough sleep as well.”

In addition, properly cleansing the skin at home also promotes healthier appearance. One widespread mistake is going to bed without washing with a mild cleanser, suited to the skin type.

“Someone who had oily, acne prone skin in their 20s may stay with the same routine,” Rizzo said. “As we age, we dry out and your skin might feel normal. If you had normal skin, it can be really dry. We have to compensate and use a thicker cream.”

Some people expect to see immediate results. However, Rizzo said that like working out in the gym, it can take some time to see skin look better as a person integrates positive lifestyle changes and skin care routines.

“We’re all going to age,” Rizzo said. “You can’t expect someone in their 50s and 60s to look like they’re in their 20s. Have realistic expectations.

Let’s age gracefully.”

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53

tutoring

Notre Dame Learning Center staff members are, from left, board of trustees bember Joseyye Battisti, Executive Director Sister Evelyn Breslin (seated), Business Manager Tina Fay and Program Manager Laura Canne.

Notre Dame Learning Center Has a Ministry to Tutor Inner-city Kids

Founded in Rochester in 2004, the learning center has helped over 1,500 inner city students so far. Nuns running the program are inviting people to become tutors at the program “They really love to come up here,”

she said.

O

thers around the table nodded.

They’d all seen it. “ We k n o w t h a t t h e relationship between the student and our tutor is really important, that the child feels like they have one specific person paying attention to them,” Evelyn Breslin said. “I think that’s what really attracts students to come up.”

Breslin, 77, a nun in the School Sisters of Notre Dame order, was 54

By John Addyman sitting in a brightly lit room on the third floor of the Charles Settlement House in Rochester. There wasn’t a single light on in that room. The glow was coming from her.

She was talking about the Notre Dame Learning Center, which she heads — an after-school tutoring program that Lorraine Antczak, 92, a sister nun, founded in 2004.

All around were desks used for tutoring and bookcases full of brightly colored books.

Kids from grades one through

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

nine come once or twice a week to link up with their own tutor, someone who focuses entirely on that child, helping with reading, English or math.

And unraveling mysteries, exploring wonders, playing games, doing drills, learning new words and expressing themselves.

“It’s not an easy thing for kids to do; after a day in school, to want to do more school,” explained Laura Canne, the program director. “The kids who are not in our program who are downstairs always beg to come up

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Ja'miiyah and her tutor, Marcia (right).

here because they really like what we have, that one-on-one attention from someone who’s committed to them for that hour every week.”

Those downstairs kids participate in an after-school program hosted by the Settlement House that includes dinner, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on school days. About 10 students come upstairs to the Learning Center for tutoring.

Another 20 or so kids walk to the Settlement House or are brought by relatives to join their tutors.

Sister Evelyn described the tutors as the heart of the program. NDLC is looking for more. The 30 kids served now could become a larger group if more tutors signed on for a couple of hours a week.

Tutors include former teachers, grandparents and a group of college kids from SUNY Geneseo.

Canne hopes to see students from St. John Fisher, Nazareth and perhaps Roberts Wesleyan join the group.

The college tutors work online with students at the center. High school students at Bishop Kearney High School help tutor a satellite NDLC

For more information, please call: call 585-254-5110 | email: admin@ndlcenter.org program there.

“Our students are typically not at grade level,” Sister Evelyn said. “They may be in eighth grade, but they’re not able to do eighth grade work. Some of our students bring in their homework and that’s where the tutors can tell where they are in their classes. Not only does the child get help with the homework, but tutors can see where they are academically.”

She said NDLC does as much as it can to connect tutors and school teachers “so our tutors know if their kids are doing graphing or multiplication or whatever. Our kids are not great reporters when they’re in first and second grade about what it is they’re doing in school.

“We had one student who was talking to his college-age tutor and he was asking her all kinds of questions: ‘Do you sleep there? Do you sleep in the classroom?’ He had no concept of what college was. He decided he wasn’t going to go to college because you had to sleep there.”

Notre Dame Learning Center believes that many inner-city kids do

poorly academically because of a lack of the life experiences many other children take for granted. So, the center took kids on a Riverie boat cruise and made it to a Red Wings baseball game.

“The kids saw egrets on the boat tour and were fascinated by those big white birds,” Canne pointed out.

“On one of the trips we made last summer, we took 25 kids and four tutors on a bus tour of historic Rochester, and ended up at Bill Gray’s,” added Sister Evelyn.

“We’re looking to boost their reading skills by giving them the background information other kids would have,” said Canne.

Sister Evelyn arrived in Rochester in 1968, a year after taking her vows.

“I taught downtown at St. Joseph’s Business School, I taught all the business subjects, including data processing, which I didn’t know in heaven’s name what it was all about, while I was studying at Nazareth,” she said. “I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Nazareth.

Then I went to Bishop Kearney as a teacher and finally as administrator

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

55

Addie and her tutor Keith.

— 22 years there. In the next years, I was at School of the Holy Childhood, a school for children with intellectual disabilities, serving with the executive director. I’ve been here at NDLC for 10 years.” said.

“We are a tutoring center here.

The reason we were even set up is that when many Catholic schools in the city closed, our sisters said, ‘What type of an imprint can our [religious] community leave in Rochester, since we’ve been here since the early 1800s?’

We, in Rochester, sent a proposal to our provincial government of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and said we’d like to open a tutoring center in Rochester. We had sent a survey to the schools and parishes, asking what should we do? It came back, ‘Stay in education.’ That’s why we opened the Notre Dame Learning Center,” she added. “It’s called a ‘sponsored ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.’ We have 13 sponsored ministries across our Atlantic Midwest Province, which covers New England, Chicago, Canada, New York state, Boston. We are an international community. We’re all over the world.

There are fewer sisters in Europe than here.”

She said she has about 4,000 fellow sisters worldwide, but the order is aging.

Funding the center, moving forward The learning center has a $100,000 56

TyShawn and his tutor, Warren.

budget, principally paying salaries and rent. Sister Evelyn confessed her salary makes her “basically a volunteer.”

If all you need is love to give kids a better start in life, the center’s love comes from the proceeds of a yearly golf tournament, a yearly appeal that’s mailed to 1,000 people, yearly “Thanks for Giving” calendar that comes out in November and features chances for raffle prizes.

The sisters of Breslin’s order are also sponsors; no funding assistance comes from the Diocese of Rochester.

Donations include school supplies and backpacks, which Sister Evelyn was assembling in July.

Every day coming to work, the evidence of the need for the learning center is all around the folks who come there to serve kids. Canne said the future is waiting for more help.

“We’re only limited by the number of tutors we have. We don’t have to recruit students at this point. We would love to have to recruit students.

But we need to get more tutors and then we would go to open houses at the schools (where parents learn about services available) and recruit more students,” she said.

Sister Evelyn said the door is wide open for tutors to sign up and help.

“We’re looking for people who love children,” she said. “Our tutors don’t have to have a college degree, but they do make a commitment that they’re here every week, at least once a week. If someone is interested, call us at 585-254-5110, we’ll set up an

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

appointment and bring them in, very often when the kids are here in the afternoon, to talk to them and get their commitment.”

There’s an application form to complete. Prospective tutors must complete the Diocese of Rochester background check and an online program about maintaining a safe environment for children.

“It’s an important thing to us that kids feel safe here —that they’re accepted and cared about,” Canne said. “That’s the feeling I got when I first came here; that the kids feel safe.

I am amazed how well-behaved our kids are here. They love being here.

They’re full of energy and questions and talking. They love being here.”

Sister Evelyn can unroll a tapestry of stories about the success of the program — the kids who have gone on to college scholarships, to studies in Europe and those who have found success in work and life.

She has seen, over and again, the outcome of equal doses of love and faith.

How to Help To find out how you can help in the mission of Notre Dame Learning Center, call 585-254-5110 or visit: www.ndlcenter.org.

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57

grieving LEFT: Anne Marie Farage-Smith holds her dog, Jazzy.

RIGHT: Cover of the new book that will be available in 2024.

Losing a Pet: Local Counselor Pens Grief Book Book offers tips on how to cope with the loss of a pet

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

L

osing a pet feels in many ways like losing a member of the family.

Noticing the mental distress such a loss causes, Rochesterian and licensed mental health counselor Anne Marie Farage-Smith, started a weekly 58

virtual pet loss support group at the therapy practice she owns, Counseling Connections, in Rochester. She also wrote a book on the topic.

“This loss is enormous, and the impact is huge,” said Farage-Smith, 75 “We need to value and appreciate

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

the relationship with pets. We wake up to them; we end our day with them.

They add routine to our life, which is a good thing.

“It’s understandable that it’s a huge adjustment when we lose them.

It’s a unique relationship. Those routines bring a sense of order and purpose to your lifestyle. There are secondary losses that go along with that, like the loss of that sense of order and the loss of the relationship.”

Farage-Smith’s book, “Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss: An Animal Lover's Guide to Grief,” will be in print in June 2024.

Farage-Smith’s first career was in education. At age 57, she returned to college, attending St. John Fisher in 2007 to earn a second master’s degree.

She found the atmosphere at St. John Fisher very welcoming and even had a few classmates around her age.

Farage-Smith began working as LARGEST INVENTORY OF TOP QUALITY WIGS IN WESTERN NEW YORK! a therapist in 2009. She had always wanted to work in mental health and when she left teaching, “a desire to have a mental health career bubbled up again. I loved teaching; it was great.

But I wanted to do something else that had interested me for so many years. I love to learn; I’m a lifelong learner so it was an easy decision.”

One of the biggest surprises of her second career was the need for destigmatizing mental health treatment.

She compares mental health to physical Human Hair Blends health. Seeking professional help for either should bear no stigma.

As for her book, that effort stems A+ Rating from her love for animals and that the loss of a pet is brushed aside.

“Some say ‘You can get another dog’ or ‘Get another cat,’” she said.

Grasta's helps individuals with Chemotherapy, Radiation, “But every relationship with each pet Psoriasis, Alopecia, Diabetes, Menopause, Childbirth, Lupus, is unique. That’s a good thing. I felt it “Sharon was so kind & understanding and she had lots of hairpieces to choose from. & Burn Victims, andaway COVID 19sherelated Hair was a loss that is also disenfranchised She knew exactly what Trichotillomania I needed. I loved her right because showed me what was good on me & the ones not good on me.

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Loss. Sharon Grasta provides Professional, Confidential me... Sharon loves her customers and it shows in how wonderful This is despite one-third of &with Personal Consultations, Fitting & Wig Care. I strongly she treats them: like family.” - Mrs Ann M. Colarertalo American households owning at least believe privacy for my clients is #1 priority. one dog and one-fourth having at least one cat, plus other pets.

High quality wigs & hair pieces in a variety of styles & blends “Pets are very important to us as and toppers are available. they make our life richer in meaning, among so many things,” Farage-Smith I specialize in professional, personal, anddential confidential We specialize in professional, personal, and confi service.service. added.

We enjoy making clients feel beautiful from the inside out.out.

I enjoy making clients feel beautiful from the inside The book discusses the human– animal bond, why it’s important and why it hurts so much when death severs the bond and the types of grief triggered with the loss of a pet. It also 409 Parma Center Rd. (Rte. 18), Hilton Just minutes from Greece Ridge Mall! offers strategies for working through 409 Parma Center Rd. (Rt. Sharon 18), Hilton M. Grasta (Russo) - owner & operator grastasbeautyandwigstudio.com the grieving process, including ideas Just minutes from Greece Ridge Mall! for fostering comfort through honoring deceased pets.

Grastasbeautyandwigstudio.com strict safety policies are in effect and apply to EVERYONE. We cover our styling chair in disposable vinyl. I also wear protective coverings. There is “If you feel you might have MASKS ARE STILL REQUIRED. Due to Covid-19, no way an operator could be three feet apart from a client while working, which is why the client and I are covered. You will receive foot coverings, vinyl gloves, and a sheer vinyl cape which you complicated grief and you want to will wear out to your car and discard at your convenience.

Temperature will be taken(Russo) at the door. No wigs are touched bare hands. ONLY THE CLIENT PERMITTED INSIDE! Sharon M. Grasta – byowner & ISoperator talk with a counselor, the book talks ONLY - ABSOLUTELY NO WALK-INS. FOR PLEASE REVIEW ALL INFORMATION ON OURMUST SITE CALL PRIOR TOAPPOINTMENT. CALLING about how to find one,” Farage-Smith BY APPOINTMENT said. “It ends with embracing change CALL 585-392-7823  NO TEXTING OR EMAILS and hope and new routines so you can NO PICTURES TAKEN - ONLY FACETIME carry on. People ask, ‘When is a new time to get a new pet?’ It talks about MASKS ARE STILL REQUIRED DUE TO COVID-19, STRICT SAFETY POLICIES ARE IN this. But even if you don’t get a new EFFECT AND APPLY TO EVERYONE. WE COVER OUR STYLING CHAIR IN DISPOSABLE pet right away, there are still ways to VINYL. I ALSO WEAR PROTECTIVE COVERINGS. THERE IS NO WAY AN OPERATOR COULD interact with animals by volunteering BE THREE FEET APART FROM A CLIENT WHILE WORKING, WHICH IS WHY THE CLIENT like taking dogs for walks at shelters AND I ARE COVERED. YOU WILL RECEIVE FOOT COVERINGS, VINYL GLOVES AND A like Lollipop Farm or Verona Street.

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59

pets

Pet Cremation Gets More Popular

Cost to cremate a pet ranges from $110 and $340; individual burial in the cemetery in a casket is $850 for a small pet up to $1,400 for a large one

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

F

or many people, pets are part of the family. Saying goodbye to a little friend is never easy.

But finding a way to honor and memorialize a pet’s life helps make their passing a bit less difficult to bear.

“Sometimes, we’re the only people who want to hear the story,” said Polly Hanna, owner of Rush Inter Pet, Inc. in Rush. “We ask what happened because we care.”

The business operates a welltended pet cemetery with options including a headstone and casket or a general burial place. Either of these provides an option for people who either lack land or the ability to bury a pet or anticipate moving. Cremation is also a choice.

“People want to keep the ashes with them,” Hanna said. “This is a society that moves around a lot. This way, they can take the ashes with them.”

60

She added that when the pet owner dies, they can have their pet’s ashes buried with them.

Some clients view cemeteries as a waste of land and want their pets cremated to save space. But overall, “they definitely want to know what happens to their pet when they die,” Hanna said.

Her business cares for the remains of cats and dogs, but has also handled lizards, turtles, iguanas and birds.

Andrea Dunadee Harris, vice president at Pet Passages in Rochester, also said that the transient nature of the population explains the shift toward pet cremation.

“I lived in a townhouse,” she recalled. “When my first dog died, I didn’t have the option to bury him.”

Seeking an option for her deceased dog led her to Pet Passages where she met Mike Harris, the company founder whom she married two years later.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

“If someone knows their pet is going to pass, they can give us a call,” Harris said. “We fill out forms. It mirrors the human funeral side. If someone in your family planning for their death, they can make arrangements prior to that time so it’s a little easier for the rest of the family.”

Pet owners can bring their deceased animal to Pet Passages or a company representative can pick up the remains either from the client’s home or from the vet’s office. They all receive a nose print and paw print and have the option to receive a claw paw impression and fur clipping.

Clients can also have their pet euthanized at Pet Passages through a traveling vet.

“Most pets aren’t comfortable going to the vet’s office,” Harris said.

“You don’t want their last minutes and memories under stress. We offer a peaceful place to do that here if they choose. People should know that they have a choice as to who they use for their cremation services. A vet’s office is usually associated with a facility but that doesn’t mean that’s who you have to use.”

Pet Passages charges between $110 and $340 for cremation and an urn, depending upon the animal’s weight.

At Rush Inter Pet, individual burial in the cemetery in a casket is $850 for a small pet up to $1,400 for a large one. Cremation cost ranges between $150 and $250.

business

Karen Shraeder is the owner of Barks & Bubbles Grooming Salon in Honeoye Fall. She holds her dog, Petey, a purebred French bulldog puppy that comes with her to work every day.

Caring for Our Fur Family

Owner of pet groomer store entering 26th year in business

T

he U.S. Department of Labor re p o r t s t h a t o n e i n f i v e businesses fail in their first year and 50% fail within five years.

But not this entrepreneur.

Karen Shraeder, owner of Barks & Bubbles Grooming Salon in Honeoye Fall, celebrated her 25th anniversary in 2022 and she is going strong.

Her interest in grooming began as she petted and combed her first pet, a cat named Fluffy.

Shraeder said that being only 10 she didn’t have much imagination, hence the name Fluffy. The pet menagerie grew over the years to include a horse, a domestic as well as a wild duck, gerbils, mice, rabbits an Amazon parrot, budgies, skunks,

By Lynette M Loomis raccoons, turtles and lizards.

In her 20s, Shraeder had a Westie named Ashley, who required regular brushing and clipping, which she did herself. Her knowledge of how to effectively keep Ashley looking wonderful was enhanced by two breeders.

“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a groomer back then,” she explained.

When Ashley died, Shraeder realized that not only did she miss having fun with Ashley, but also missed grooming her. She wondered if she could learn to groom other breeds.

She researched the business.

“The internet was not as we know it today; 10 seconds and you have

hundreds of pieces of information.

It was more the old-fashioned way of researching it, reading books and articles and talking to people,” she said.

She was excited to learn that there was school near her home.

“I went to take a tour of the school and I was hooked. I was fascinated watching these women groom dogs.

I was in school from September until spring,” she said. “It was recommended that graduates do an internship. I was too excited to start my own and bring my dog to work with me, so I bypassed that step. I am happiest when my dog is with me. I spent the entire summer of 1997 looking for a suitable location for a grooming salon where I live,

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

61

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55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Honeoye Falls.”

Shraeder has raised three puppies at Barks & Bubbles.

D o g g ro o m e r s , p e t o w n e r s and veterinarians combine their understanding of an animal to help pets live their best life. As a groomer, Shraeder tends to see animals more frequently than a veterinarian, perhaps every three to eight weeks. Whether it’s a new puppy or an adult dog, she does an evaluation at the first visit. She checks their coat and temperament.

“As far as working with frightened dogs, I work with them on a case-bycase basis. Some puppies are anxious in the beginning just because they lack grooming experience. Some older dogs are frightened because of lack of grooming experience, or occasionally a bad experience getting groomed elsewhere,” she explained.

She has been known to sit with a frightened dog for half an hour before beginning any type of grooming so she can ease their fears.

“With a lot of patience, fearful dogs almost always come around and are a joy to groom. For safety’s sake, dogs that are aggressive with me or my groomers I refer to a trainer,” she said. “No dog groomer should ever try to diagnose a medical problem. We are not veterinarians and that is not our job. I frequently refer my customers to their veterinarian for evaluation of some physical change I noticed. Since we do see our clients on a very regular basis, we often spot physical changes at an early stage.”

Shraeder has one dog, four cats and two deer mice that she rescued at 9 days old, and a reef aquarium. In her spare time she is an advanced, certified scuba diver through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. She loves flowers and gardening, cooking and baking. If she has time, she enjoys crafts.

A very-timing consuming joy for her is her new puppy, Petey Pup. “I am involved in attending dog obedience classes with Petey.

Eventually I will have Petey tested by Therapy Dog International so he can become a TDI dog. That requires a lot of time and commitment so that’ll be a few years down the road. Then we will be able to visit nursing homes and probably hospitals,” she said. “My goal is to be able to have him do therapy dog work at Golisano Children’s Hospital.”

addyman’s corner

By John Addyman Email: john.addyman@yahoo.com

Not All Trips to the Supermarket Are Boring

M

y son and I made a quick stop at our local supermarket.

I zipped in and out with a bottle of soy sauce and a big plastic jar of mayonnaise.

When we jumped back into the car, I put the mayonnaise between my legs and parked the soy sauce next to me on the seat and started the car. It’s a sports car, and doesn’t have a lot of room.

“You’re not going to drive through town with a jar of mayonnaise between your legs, are you?” my son asked. His name is Mike. He’s 41.

“Sure I am. Why?” “Isn’t that against the law?” Mike asked.

“Of course not,” I said.

“But you don’t see people driving around with jars of mayonnaise between their legs,” he said.

Pause.

“Do you?” he pressed.

“Of course you do,” I told him as we pulled out of the supermarket parking lot. “Look out there at the other cars. I bet lots of those drivers are either going home with a jar of mayonnaise between their legs or wishing they had remembered to buy mayonnaise.”

Mike was looking at the cars going by and considering.

“I don’t think anyone out here is driving with a jar of mayonnaise between their legs,” he said. “Except you. I’m sure I’m right.”

“Nah,” I told him. “The chance of someone else out here with a jar of mayonnaise between his or her legs is a lot higher than what’s going on in this car right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean there are very, very few people driving out here right now who have BOTH a jar of mayonnaise between their legs and a bottle of soy sauce next to them on the seat.”

“Dad…,” Mike was thinking that this was either a game I was playing with him or that it had finally happened — that his old man had finally lost his marbles.

In point of fact, I knew that’s exactly what he was thinking because A) he’s been my son for a long time and B) he was catching a glimpse of the back of my shirt to see if marbles were rolling out of my ears.

At this point I should point out that I was driving a car with a six-speed manual transmission, shifting as we merrily went along and the jar was moving around pretty tightly in my crotch. The bottle of soy sauce was happily settled where it was.

Oh, and Mike and I had put the top down, something that brought a new concern to my son.

“Dad, people can see us,” he said.

“So?” “Well, they can look down into the car and see that you’ve got a jar of mayonnaise between your legs.”

“You don’t think they can see the soy sauce, right?”

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

63

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64

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

“Dad, maybe if they could see the soy sauce this all might make some sense, but no, I don’t think they can see the soy sauce.”

“Should I move the soy sauce to the other side of the seat?” I asked.

Mike made a sudden move and grabbed the soy sauce bottle.

“I’ll take care of this,” he said.

“Aren’t you concerned that people driving by will look down in the car and see that you’re carrying a bottle of soy sauce and wonder what you plan to do with it?” I asked.

Mike was thinking.

Then he put the soy sauce bottle on his lap between his legs.

I looked down at that scene. It was not good.

“Mike,” I advised, “having the top of a bottle of soy sauce stick out from your lap is a lot worse than having a jar of mayonnaise between your legs, know what I mean?”

He looked at me. He looked at the neck of the soy sauce bottle sticking up out of his lap.

“If we get stopped by a state trooper, what are you going to tell him about that bottle? I think the state trooper would ask you, ‘Son, you got a thing for bottles of soy sauce?’”

Mike grabbed the bottle and put it back next to me.

“You'd better take it, Dad,” he said.

“What do you think a state trooper would say to me if we get stopped?”

I asked Mike.

“I think he’d ask you how long you’d been away from the home,” Mike said. “And did you really have a license to drive?”

“On the other hand,” I argued reasonably, “I think he’d thank me for reminding him that his wife asked him to bring home some mayonnaise when he’s done work. And we might have a pleasant discussion about our favorite mayonnaise.”

“Nothing about soy sauce?”

“Soy sauce is soy sauce. I’m sure the trooper would agree.”

“Would you get a ticket?”

“Nah,” I said. “We might exchange recipes.”

We drove along quietly, getting closer to home.

“I don’t ever want to do this again, Dad.” Mike said when we pulled into the driveway.

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65

classics

Dave Brye and his red 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne. The Irondequoit resident bought it about three years ago.

When Age Really Matters Classic cars show their stuff in Webster

B

ob Larry’s eyes gleamed as he talked about his treasured 1954 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe.

“I like the ride, the look, the sexy lines of this thing,” the 74-yearold said.

Larry was just one of the many classic car owners who showed their prized machines during Damascus Shrine Cruise Night on July 28. The weekly event has been held each Friday at the Damascus Shrine Center in Webster since June 16, weather permitting. Profits from the shows go to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Lines of cars filled much of the Damascus Shrine Center’s grounds that balmy evening. Beautifully restored pickup trucks that first hit the road in the 1920s sat with their hoods up, their antique engines for all to see.

Muscle cars from the 1960s cruised the grounds, their huge engines growling.

A customized Cadillac hearse that would have been welcome in a Halloween parade sat off to one side, its colorful lights blinking.

Even in that exotic collection, Dave Brye’s gleaming red 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne stood out. Brye bought it about three years ago.

66

By Mike Costanza “I decided that this would be a nice classic car because it’s one that’s not real popular,” the 66-year-old Irondequoit resident said.

Though he has always loved classic cars, the retired factory worker also had financial reasons for wanting to buy a vintage machine.

“I wanted to have something for retirement, something in the sport of classic cars,” Brye said.

Brye discovered the 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne with the huge 409-cubic-inch engine for sale in Webster and thought it attractive as an investment. Unlike many cars from that time, the vehicle did not need any work.

“I wanted an older car all complete, so I didn’t have to do anything but be the caretaker of the car,” he said.

The Chevy’s Ferrari red paint job was also a big plus.

“That’s one of the things that sold me,” Brye said. “I said to my wife ‘OK, I really want that car.’”

Though sold on the car, Brye put off making an offer for it, hoping to get the owner to drop his price.

“Two days later, I called him up and said ‘I want that car, what would you take?’” Brye said. “He was asking

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

36 ($36,000). He took 29 ($29,000). I did very well.”

Since then, Brye has only had to keep his investment washed, waxed and in good repair. He’s done most of the work himself.

Though he’s a grandfather, he’s learned what his Chevy’s powerful engine and four-speed manual transmission can do on the road.

“It gets up and moves,” Brye said.

Gerald Westfall seems to like cars that “move.” His first vehicle, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro that he bought in 1971, came with a powerful 396-cubicinch engine. His second car was also a Chevy.

“I bought a 1974 Nova and built it up and raced it at an NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) strip and on the street,” the 69-year-old said. “Then I got rid of it, because I got in the service and I got married.”

Westfall served first in the Marine Corps and then in the US Army, putting in a total of 26 years for his country before returning to civilian life. He then worked as a security officer for the Greece Central School District until he retired in 2018. Then he bought himself another car, this one

Gerald Westfall and his blue 1965 Nova SS.

Bob Larry’next to his treasured 1954 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe.

a classic.

The gleaming blue 1965 Nova SS came with a high-performance 350-cubic-inch GM ZZ4 engine, an automatic transmission with overdrive and a special rear end, all of which were custom-installed sometime after it left the factory.

“When it’s in overdrive, you can cruise the highway at 60 at 1,800 RPMs (engine revolutions per minute),” Westfall said.

In short, the car can move.

Westfall has put a lot of additional work into his Nova SS. “I did a lot of stuff on the engine,” he said. “I redid the whole interior. The trunk has been redone.”

Bending down, Westfall pointed out some of his handiwork on the trim at the bottoms of his car’s fenders and doors.

“I put the black strip with the red pinstriping here with the little Chevy bowtie,” he said, referring to Chevrolet’s distinctive logo.

Westfall displays his Nova at two or three classic car shows a week during the season. Preparing for a show can take a lot of work — just shining the stainless-steel trim takes three hours — but the time spent can be well worth it. On July 30, his Nova SS took a “Top 40” award at the Spencerport Canal Days Car Show.

Modern automobiles, with their plastic dashboards and light metal bodies, lack something in Larry’s eyes.

“I like classic cars,” he said. “I like the heavy metal. No plastic in the car.”

With its huge, gleaming grill, thick steel bodywork, metal dashboard and straight-eight engine, (modern eightcylinder engines are V-8s) Larry’s two-tone Pontiac Chieftain fits the bill. When the West Henrietta resident acquired the car about five years ago, part of its attraction was its three-speed manual transmission.

“Three-speed on the (steering) column,” he said. “‘Three on a tree’ they call it.”

The car needed a bit of work, so the retired heavy equipment operator rolled up his sleeves.

“I took and did all the mechanics on it,” he said.

Larry also took steps to bring the rest of the Pontiac back to its original condition. He had the car’s interior restored and the clock in its dash repaired.

“I sent it to four different places,” Larry said. “The last place knew what it was doing. It keeps perfect time.”

Larry had the Pontiac’s exterior paint buffed out until it shone as it did when it left the factory. He also removed the car’s trim, had it re-chromed at a Syracuse shop and reinstalled it. Finally, he replaced the vintage machine’s distinctive chrome hood ornament.

“I wanted the lighted ornament of a chieftain,” Larry said.

Larry found the part on the

Internet, bought it for $350, cleaned it up and installed it. Switch on the Pontiac’s parking or headlights and the ornament gives out a distinctive orange light.

Larry needed a lot of what are called “new old stock” parts to get his Pontiac in its current shape. The parts, which were made for the car decades ago but never sold, were difficult to come by. He had to look all over for the stainless-steel door guards that are mounted on the edges of the Pontiac’s four doors.

“The fella who sold them to me said I got the last set in the United States,” Larry said.

Shriners International, the Damascus Shrine Center ’s parent organization, has built and supports hospitals and outpatient clinics in the US, Canada and Mexico that provide medical care for children regardless of their families’ ability to pay. Steve Michener, the 62-year-old leader or “potentate” of the Damascus Shrine Center, said the profits from its weekly car shows will help support two hospitals.

“The hospitals we support are in Erie, Pennsylvania and Springfield Massachusetts,” he said. n The Damascus Shrine Center is scheduled to hold its last Cruise Night on Sept. 8. For more information about the event, go to: https://damascusshriners.org

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

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visits

FALL GETAWAYS Stay regional yet get out of town with these nearby autumn escapes

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

E

njoy the crisp autumn air of harvest time with a long weekend within a couple hours’ drive of Rochester. It still feels like a getaway without the time and expense of traveling for days.

Plus, Upstate has plenty of venues with incredible views and autumn experiences.

Ellicottville is known for its ski resort. However, before the snow flies, visitors can enjoy the mountain vistas for their foliage as well. Stay at The Inn at Holiday Valley (www.holidayvalley. com), where luxury rooms include a fireplace and jetted tub. The on-site 68

Sky Flyer Mountain Coaster and Sky High Aerial Adventure Park offer exciting ways to leaf peep among the treetops. Or for a more laid back fall experience, check out the hiking trails and birding opportunities at Allegany State Park (parks.ny.gov) in Salamanca and peruse the wares and activities at Pumpkinville Farm (https://pumpkinville.com) in Great Valley. During October, the Ellicottville Fall Festival includes a huge artisan craft show. Shoppers should also check out the mom-and-pop shops on Washington and Monroe streets.

Known for its gorges, Ithaca’s

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

foliage-flanked waterfalls feel meant for autumnal hiking, including Robert H. Treman State Park, Taughannock Falls State Park, Buttermilk Falls State Park and Watkins Glen State Park (all at parks.ny.gov). The Cayuga Lakefront Inn (www.lakefrontinn. com) provides lodgers with sweeping bucolic views boasting plenty of fall color. The rooms have a private balcony, hot tub and a sumptuous ambiance that blends Mediterranean with Tuscany influences. If 1880s décor is more to your taste, stay at the William Henry Miller Inn (https://millerinn.com) and enjoy a

Taughannock Falls State Park in Trumansburg, near Ithaca.

oto courtesy of atkins Glen. Ph Fall foliage in W Commerce. ea Chamber of Watkins Glen Ar

whirlpool tub in the room, proximity to restaurants, shops, Ithaca Falls and Cascadilla Falls (www.visitithaca. com). Indian Creek Farm (https:// indiancreekithaca.com) offers U-pick apples and pumpkins, doughnuts, freshly pressed juice and more on its 40 acres. In your trip is Sept. 29 - Oct. 1, enjoy Ithaca’s Apple Harvest Festival (www.downtownithaca.com/appleharvest-festival) downtown, with apple goodies, live entertainment, vendors, and food trucks.

Lewiston’s Niagara Crossing Hotel and Spa (www. niagaracrossinghotelandspa.com)

provides spectacular views of the Niagara River, along with suites equipped with a soaking tub and for a chilly evening, a fireplace. To get back to nature, enjoy hiking at Artpark (www.artpark.net) or Old Fort Niagara (www.oldfortniagara.org) in Youngstown, which offers Lantern and Lore Tours each Friday evening in October. Becker Farms (www. beckerfarms.com) in Gasport offers you-pick apples and pumpkins, along with a farm store, vineyard tours and its own beer and cider. You can also stay onsite in cabins or at the luxe 1830s brick farmhouse. Of course, Niagara

Falls (www.niagarafallsstatepark.com) is a must-do when in the area; but in fall, the stunning foliage framing the world-renowned wonder adds a special touch. Experience Cave of the Winds, Aquarium of Niagara, Maid of the Mist, Niagara Scenic Trolley, Niagara Gorge Trails and Schoellkopf Elevator, and Niagara Falls Observation Tower.

To experience the best sites of the region, the Discover Niagara Shuttle (https://www.discoverniagarashuttle. com) offers a tour from “the Falls to the Fort” and other routes so you can relax to enjoy the foliage and stop where you want to explore.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55 PLUS

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hat better way to buy the season’s bounty than to pick your own apples on a local farm? The area abounds with farms that provide U-pick opportunities.

Some also offer activities for children, gift shops and markets with regional goods.

Webster • Bauman's Farm Market & Cider Mill also offers The Scary Pumpkin Room, hay maze and other fun for the grandkids.

Pick up a jug of fresh farm cider to take home.

1340 Five Mile Line Road 585-671-2820 facebook.com/BaumansFarmNY • Schutt's Apple Mill grows 16 varieties and offers a farm store, including its own hard cider. Check the website for special events all season long.

1063 Plank Road 585-872-2924 https://schuttsapplemill.com

70

Brockport

Penfield

Fisher Farms grows with organic practices but is not certified organic.

467 Euler Road 585-690-8269 www.facebook.com/Fishersfruit)

Wickham Farms offers a concession stand, farm market with local goods, corn maze games and activities for the grandkids, mini golf, and farm animal petting zoo. Plan to spend the day.

1821 Fairport Nine Mile Point Road 585-377-3276 www.wickhamfarms.com)

Spencerport Robb Farms uses integrated pest management practices to minimize pesticide application to its 19 varieties of apples. Pick up freshly pressed cider and fry cake style doughnuts made onsite.

800 Gallup Road 585-352-0814 www.robbfarms.com)

Rochester Whittier Fruit Farm (219 Whittier Road.

585-594-9054. www.whittierfruitfarm. com) sells snacks and provides a picnic area. Take a wagon ride to the orchard to pick from among 32 varieties of apples.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Macedon Long Acre Farms is also a good place to take the grandchildren picking for the day, with a huge children’s play area, corn maze, gift shop and farm market store. Wood-fired pizza, grilled items, ice cream and doughnuts are available on-site. Don’t miss taking home homemade fudge. Check the website for “Grandparent tickets.” The farm’s on-site winery, JC Wine Cellars, offers wine tasting and local beer and hard cider for sale.

1342 Eddy Road 315-986-4202 www.longacrefarms.com)

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Newark The Apple Shed offers a gift shop, fresh fudge and doughnuts, snacks and sandwiches, a picnic area, goats and a few other farm animals. Bring along the grandkids to enjoy the playground.

Guests of any age can try the apple cannon, explore the haunted barn or take a hayride to the orchard. The Apple Shed charges no admission, but some activities have a nominal fee. The Old Goat Cidery in the farm market serves a variety of hard ciders on tap.

3391 Fairville Maple Ridge Road 315-331-6294 www.theappleshed.com) Keep in mind that working farms may have uneven ground, wet conditions, and no public restroom facilities. Wear suitable footwear, clothing and sunscreen. Respect the rules of the orchard as they’re in place for your safety and to protect the trees and farm equipment. Check the farm’s social media page or call before heading out, as weather and other factors can affect U-pick activities.

Some farms accept cash only. Farms with many activities often charge admission. If you just want apples, go to a farm with fewer activities.

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Sex Is Good: Many in Their 70s and 80s Still Hard at It

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PR Professional Happy in New Role as Business Owner

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For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Ballroom Dance Floors in the Region Getting Really Crowded

‘Seven Lessons I Learned from My Grandparents’

DR. BRAD BERK

Paralyzing accident hasn’t stopped former URMC CEO from taking on new challenges

Priceless Does it Pay to Take Social Security Early?

How to Calculate Your Retirement Number

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Remembering when it was considered the ‘devil’s advocate’

Issue 42 November / December 2016

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Going the Distance Rochester-area runners — like Deborah DeMott — take on huge challenges despite age REVERSE MORTGAGE

Rock ‘n’ Roll

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The remarkable journey of Rev. Mary Ramerman from California to Rochester, where she has made her mark as a pastor

Miss USA 1979

10 Fun Things to do for FREE in the Big Apple

Issue 41 September / October 2016

Breaking the Church’s Glass Ceiling Mary Therese Friel, a beauty queen and business woman, is Flower City’s model of success

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How Long Do You Want to Live? To Age 80? 90? 100?

Man to Walk 500 Miles in Europe to Raise Funds for Nonprofit

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Political Correctness

Local experts weigh in on the pros and cons of reverse mortgages

BOOMERS’ NEW TOY

Have We Gone Too Far?

Sales of personal drones soar, in part thanks to baby boomers

7

IRAs vs. 401(k), Which Is the Best Choice?

Deciding What to Do in Retirement

RIT President Bill Destler on His Decision to Retire

When the Kids Are Gone: Single Mom Finds a Creative Solution

Geriatrician Diane Kane transcends her role as caretaker of the elderly at St. Ann’s Community. She is about to celebrate 30 years with the organization

11

Tips to Prevent Break-ins

Internet Family

537 incidents of breaking and entering in Rochester in just five months. Find out how you can protect your home

Long-distance family relationship not easy for a Penfield mother

How to Get ‘Senior Discounts’ on Just About Everything

55

Buffet at del Lago Resort & Casino. We review the new restaurant

Savvy Senior: How to Locate Lost Life Insurance

Strong Museum of Play CEO Talks Retirement

First Novel at 73

Book focuses on a psychopathic killer who is terrorizing the streets of Rochester

Three local explorers uncover sunken treasures on Lake Ontario

Almeta Whitis

Gone are the shoulder-length dreadlocks but the energy and the passion to connect with people through storytelling and the arts remain the same for this Rochester larger-than-life artist

Time for Christmas Decorating. Having grandkids’ help? Priceless

Couple benefits from 40 years of plant-based cuisine, culture

Johnny Matt Band continues tradition of big band music

Leaving at the Top

Should you consider getting a job coach?

Many boomers are going that route Getting married later in life? Talk over finances

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Gray Divorce?

In general, figures are down, but rate among boomers skyrocketing

Dr. Nina Schor is leaving her position as pediatrician-in-chief of Golisano Children’s Hospital.

She talks about her decadeslong career

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Aging: What it Means to Age Gracefully

New York Ranks Among Worst States for Retirement

55

Airbnb: Locals making big bucks by renting their own homes. See how they do it

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Can a Debt Collector Take My Social Security Benefits?

‘My Cosmetic Eye Surgery Experience’ Square Dancing: Fun for Singles, Couples

Issue 51 • May / June 2018 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

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Charities: Is the Agency You’re Donating to Legitimate?

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How Ted Barnett, a medical doctor in Rochester, has become one of the strongest advocates for a plant-based diet.

Evangelist for Science

Taste of Italy

PS: He shares some of his favorite recipes

INSIDE: Book honors the ‘Holley Boys’ who lost their lives in Vietnam War. It also helps a community recover from the loss

+

The incredible Bruce Rychwalski: At 69, he just ran his 300th marathon Bit by the Travel Bug: Meet Caroline Povero, 65, of Victor

SHOPPING

10

Rochester sculptor still going full steam at age 77

Adam Frank, a University of Rochester astrophysics professor, preaches the virtues of exploring The Great Unknown

Film aficionado Tony Mangione brings Italian films to Rochester community

Top Picks for Valentine’s Day

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Cuddling up with your partner on the couch in front of the TV won’t cut it this time

n Williamson resident reaches national prominence in track and field n How two longtime friends got together to start a business in Fairport

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A Touch of Diversity

You worked hard all your life to make money: Will your descendants know how to spend it?

Tips to get ahead on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and beyond

55 Issue 56 • March / April 2019 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

INHERITANCE

‘Bread Man’ of Brockport gives away nearly 100,000 loaves of bread

Seven Ways to Slow Down Cognitive Aging

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KINDNESS

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DNA Testing: ‘We Just Found Out We Have a New Sister’

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Jim Terwilliger: What’s Up with Medicare Part B Premiums?

Fairport Husband-Wife Team Cares for 400+ Antique Clocks ‘

DR. VEGGIE

Issue 44 March / April 2017

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

One Neighborhood (19th Ward in Rochester), Five Friends, 60 years

Scotch Whisky : Two Aficionados Talk About Their Passion

ail blazers: 0-somethings take n challenge of ppalachian Trail

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Issue 43 January / February 2017

Meet the Real Santa.

He Lives in Fair Haven

Tips to Get Ready for Retirement

55

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Health Tips and Advice for Travelers

10

We interviewed people who say what they are doing with their spare time

Steps to Financial Fitness in the New Year

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Taking Care of the Elderly

Now that You Have the Time...

Annette and Carmelo Ramos bring Latinx culture, community outreach to Rochester area

Robin De Wind

INSIDE

Second act: Former news anchor enjoying life as an entrepreneur

Rebecca Proctor: Creative force behind Mackenzie-Childs

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INSIDE Roberts Wesleyan College professor David Basinger enters 40th year of teaching.

— has taught more than 10,000 students

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Bruce Frassinelli: Coronavirus: Will Life Ever Be the Same?

55

Learn From the Pros How to Make Your Own Wine

55

Canandaigua folk chanteuse Maria Gillard captures spirit of being human

Award-winning TV anchor reflects on more than three decades in front of TV cameras.

“Every day is different, and I learn something every single day,” she says.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

n SISTERS’ REUNION Monroe County sisters reunite after being raised by different adoptive families

Ginny Ryan

ESSENTIAL VOLUNTEERS

with flair

72

Assemblyman Harry Bronson on working to legalize pot

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A army of volunteers at Foodlink — including Noreen Bischoping Crouse of Penfield (left) and Matt Smith of Victor — has worked nonstop to provide food to those in need during the coronavirus pandemic

Newlywed couple drops everything to sail the world

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Local Black Artists Respond to Racial Injustice

Jim Terwilliger Pumping Money Into Roth IRAs: Now More Important than Ever

Pandemic has pushed millions of older workers into involuntary retirement

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55 PLUS Issue 68 • March / April 2021 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

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Pastor of Spiritus Christi Church has been in the news because of a recent wave of protests in Rochester. She says she wants to be a ‘bridge’ to build ‘a better city and a better group of human beings’

n Early Retirement?

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Rev. Myra Brown

Common Ground leader is on a mission to bring quality health care to underserved in Finger Lakes region

n Once in a Lifetime

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Inside Nancy Dubner: A Life of Path Paving for Women

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Wade Norwood

Folk Music Lifetime pen pals reflect on lost art of letter writing

n Cannabis

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n RELATIONSHIP

Bargains abound for those willing to travel

Issue 64 • July-August 2020 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Issue 63 • May-June 2020 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Old, young music lovers still attracted to vinyl

n Traveling

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n VINYL RECORDS

Trump, 74, vs. Biden, 77 Is age a problem?

SAVVY SENIOR: IS SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME TAXABLE?

VALENTINE’S DAY: FINDING LOVE LATER IN LIFE

Should You Consider a Reverse Mortgage Now?

Financial Help for Retirees Affected by COVID-19

n Presidential Elections

‘

n GARAGE SALE Your guide to a successful garage sale: Everything you need to know to get rid of unwanted stuff

n WINTER BIRDS

Jazz Singer Nancy Kelly

How to make birds feel at home around your place

n FINANCES What’s new for 2021 • Financial resolutions • Estate planning: What to expect from the Biden Administration

Slated to be inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame this year, singer talks about music, local roots, COVID-19 and the urge to perform

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n SECOND ACT Former accountant has a blast as a beekeeper

n HOME BUYING How to avoid a costly mistake and find your perfect home

n HOT TIPS 9 retirement savings mistakes to avoid

BSIDIZE

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Issue 80

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ON BIKING STEASSTARTED JUST GO

External Drive, Cloud: What’s the Best Way to Store Photos?

55

Kendall Lawn Chair Ladies: You‘ve Got to Meet Them!

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the and hit oups ets on ur helm veral biking gr Put yo e list se road. W ter P. 28 Issue 34 es July / August 2015 in Roch For Active Adults

Good Food

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that can Where to Put mis takes Security Your Money: • 11 Social a for tune P. 12 sale P. 53 Your Retirement cos t you cessful garage P. 55 suc chester or Your—Kids’ Ro in • Key to a to do r grows Fund? l things chesteCollege Ro in • Five coo adults of older • Number t in NYS P.24 Square Dancing the fas tes Anyone?

More Baby Boomers Joining the AYSParty

Talented executive chefs, some trained internationally, are cooking at local independent living facilities

Behind the Scenes

In her element as leader of Rochester Area Community Foundation, her goal is to make the region a better place

Forget eBay. Ontario resident is making a bundle on Etsy

Savvy Senior: ‘Can I Inherit My Parents’ Debt?’

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The Best New Restaurant in the Country? It’s Right Here in Geneva

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Issue 45 May / June 2017

Is 55 the New 40?

Local boomers redefining what it means to grow older

Homegrown Humanitarian

How Gary Mervis, an underpriviledged kid who grew up in Rochester, turned personal tragedy into a nonprofit that has benefited more 50,000 people from 22 states and 35 countries

RoCo 6X6 2017

8

Questions to Maggie Brooks

Writing A Book?

You Need to Meet Mary Dougherty

Meet Pat Peters The Consummate Volunteer

Americans’ has been promoting hockey for three decades

WXXI CEO Norm Silverstein has shaped public broadcasting in the Rochester region for two decades. He talks about career, challenges

Find & Claim Your Family’s Unclaimed Money

Where to Downsize in Rochester? We Spoke with Experts

Social Security Options for Divorced Spouses

Savvy Senior: Social Security Advice for Soon-To-Be Retirees

Financial Help for Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

55

How to Sell Your Home in the Winter

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Simpler Life

Great Loopers

Couple leaves everything behind to live a in a tiny home in rural Yates County

6,000-mile waterway trip challenges even the most grizzled of travelers

Don Alhart

TV personality talks about his new Guinness World Records award

Pittsford resident making a difference in the lives of refugees

‘Nana’

Retirement

Joe Flaherty, founder of Rochester’s Writers & Books group, adjusting to a new life as retiree

Financial planner Jim Terwilliger offers 10 steps to take if you are the beneficiary of a financial windfall

‘

Bike Ride

Dr. Bill Valenti Rochester physician, a pioneer in the battle against HIV/AIDS, shares in a new book his fight to treat AIDS patients in the early days

Friends bike around Lake Huron: 960 miles in 23 days

Second Act

Brockport mayor enjoying politics — after teaching more than 30 years

Traveling Solo

Solo Senior Travelers makes journeys a group effort

Alone & Content Gwenn Voelckers, founder of ‘Live Alone and Thrive’ workshops, talks about her new book and reveals her secrets to happiness

Power Couple

Fairport Climber Talks About Mt. Everest’s Tragic Month

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Lauren Dixon and Mike Schwabl celebrating 30 years in business, 28 years of marriage. They share their story

You’ve Made It: Welcome to Age 66!

Big question now: Should you apply for full retirement with the Social Security ot wait? See ‘Financial Health’ column inside

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Savvy Senior: How You Can Stop Frustrating Robocalls

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For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Dr. Nancy ‘Nana’ Bennett: A major force putting public health initiatives into action in Rochester region

You Just Inherited $1 Million. Now What?

Patrick Fisher: Head of Us TOO Reinvents Life After Cancer

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Susan Suben: 20 Questions to Ask Your Parents

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Finances: Avoiding the 10 Money Pits of Retirement

Have Enough Money for Retirement? Think Again

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Finances: Jim Terwilliger On What’s New in 2020

Buffalo Soldiers: All About African-American Military Histo

Does the term ‘senior’ bother you? How about ‘elderly’?

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Couple Getting Ready to Go RVing Full Time

At 61, Fairport woman still belly dancing

EFFECTIVE MEDIA FOR REACHING THE PLUS PLUS PLUS THE MOST PLUS 55-PLUS MARKET IN ROCHESTER Bonsai Master Ann LAKES AND THE FINGER WANTS YOU COMMUNITY Marie

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How to pick a financial planner

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Jim Terwilliger: Lots of Changes in the New Tax Reform Law

Rochester-area Adventurers Take on Route 66

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Why Women Fall Short on Retirement Funds

Inside: Meet Sergeant Darlene Roger The oldest woman in the Rochester Polic Department shares her journe

Issue 49 January / February 2018

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Helping Refugees

Issue 50 • March / April 2018

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For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

10 Signs You Need to Dump Your Financial Adviser

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Art center presents annual event featuring thousands of small pieces of artwork

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Food Review: Rheinblick German Restaurant in Canandaigua

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Mom’s ‘Medical’ Cures

Don StevenS

Faison worke a Now sem Christmas years as i-retired, don41 of time a nurse Budget: Don’t sheBreak spends worki . ngthe a great The ‘Voice asBank a clown deal of . P22 the Rochester

20 YEARS WITH WXXI

Number of kids for whom Judy and Wayne Holly have provided foster care

Issue 37 January / February 2016

John Addyman: Key To Marital Bliss? Not What You Think…

Issue 46 July / August 2017

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

She’s celebrating her 10th anniversary directing the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester as New York state recognizes the centennial of women’s suffrage

45 and counting...

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John Addyman: ‘My Grandchildren Are Ruining My Sex Life’

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VapoRub, castor oil, Carter’s Little Liver pills were always on the menu of cure-all medicines

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Meet a Resolutions for 2016.

Clown.

A Weigh al On In e Lillian Four ExpertsRe

Meet all three candidates who want to succeed Maggie Brooks

John Parkhurst, the leader at Rochester Broadway Theatre League, has been a powerful force behind the arts and entertainment in Rochester. He talks about his love for music, career and the lineup for the new season at the Auditorium

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Why you need to share financial information with your family.

Experts weigh in

Thousands in Upstate getting ready to head to warmer places.

We interview one of them

Elections

JENNIFER LEONARD

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Need Help from the IRS? Good Luck free Jim Terwilliger: Congress Closes Social Security ‘Loopholes’

The Family Meeting

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Skaneateles’ Doug’s Fish Fry Has Some of the Best Fish in Upstate

at East55 Hill PLUS

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Issue 35 September / October 2015

in the Rochester Area

Work in Retirement: How it Affects Your SS Benefits

L iving T ogether

Highland Geriatrician: 10 Tips to Live a Longer, Healthier Life

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Savvy Senior: How to Choose the Best Place to Retire

Learn More About Social Security’s ‘Viagra Benefit’ for Kids

Issue 61 • January-February 2020 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Issue 62 • March-April 2020 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Holiday Gifts for the Grandkids

The Green Party Activist 17 Tips to Spruce Up Your Backyard

Things You Need to Consider Before You Retire

President of Lifespan: More than two decades helping older adults and caregivers take on the challenges and opportunities of a longer life

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Members of Finger Lakes Photography Guild in Canandaigua take the time to find the perfect angle

Moving Away in Retirement?

Things You Need to Consider

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Inside: Is love in the air or are you just being catfished?

PHOTOGRAPHY

5 Clever Ways to Supplement Your Retirement Income

free Common Scam Goes Like This: ‘Hi Grandma … ’

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Making a Difference

Highly driven attorney, supporter of the arts, women’s rights advocate: Sharon Stiller talks about what keeps her going

MUSIC

The New Horizons Clarinet Choir gathers people from all walks of life who form a bond around playing the clarinet

Meet the Oasis Tappers. Local Dancers Love to Entertain

Savvy Senior: How to Get Free Legal Assistance

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The SECURE Act: What You Need to Know

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Rochester Corvette Club: 62 years, 700 members and counting!

Issue 70 • July / August 2021 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

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Santa is Coming What it takes to play the Jolly Old Elf P.46

THE 55 PLUS GUIDE TO AN ACTIVE SUMMER! A day trip with the grandkids, fly fishing, grown-up glamping, the top local amusement parks, and more!

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Issue 71 • September/October 2021 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

Issue 72 – November / December 2021

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MONEY: DON’T LET FEAR GUIDE YOUR INVESTMENT STRATEGY

Issue 75 • May / June 2022 • roc55.com

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WHEN SOCIAL SECURITY RUNS OUT: WHAT IT WILL LOOK IN 2035

ESSAY: REFUSING TO LET THE ‘OLD LADY’ IN P. 22

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Former D&C columnist Carol Ritter talks about turning 80

CAN YOU PASS A CIVICS TEST? P. 24

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JIM TERWILLIGER: BEWARE OF THE UPCOMING ‘TAX TORPEDO’ 90 AND LOOKING FOR FINANCIAL RESOLUTIONS A NEW MAN P. 18 TO MAKE IN 2022 P. 14

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IN CHARGE OF YOUR DESTINY: 19 SELF-EMPLOYMENT IDEAS

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A French chef’s journey from Marseilles to Rochester

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FINANCIAL, LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF REMARRYING LATER IN LIFE

Great Day Trips to Enjoy this Summer

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SAVVY SENIOR: HOW MUCH MONEY WILL I NEED TO RETIRE?

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From corporate consultant to community activist: Suzanne Mayer is known for two things — fighting to improve Rochester neighborhoods and getting things done

Over 50? Watch Out! You May Be the First to Be Fired

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Cook

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Rochester had the fastest growth in older adults of any city, increasing 36 percent between 2007 and 2017

ACTIVIST

HEAD OF THE SENECA PARK ZOO SAYS A VISIT TO THE ZOO SHOULD BE FUN, TRANSFORMATIONAL

Henrietta resident Bill Valavanis is a world-renowned expert and grower of bonsai trees. He often travels the globe to share his passion

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INSIDE

The Graying of Monroe County

TO HAVE FUN

Increase Home Heat Efficiency & Save Big Bucks

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Alex White, 55, has twice run for mayor. He says his political aspirations are not yet quenched

Meet the Couple Behind Lazy Acre Alpacas

Pamela Reed Sanchez

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Issue 76 – July / August 2022 For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

roc55.com Issue 73 – January / February 2022

For Active Adults in the Rochester Area

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Passion for Endurance

STRESS RELIEF on a leash

Leaf Peeping Close to Home

Triathletes, including Mike McDermott, 58, of Rochester, talk about the challenge and passion involved in the sport

RocDog is a new organization in Rochester started by Susan and her husband Paul Anthony.

It trains canines to work as therapy dogs. With the couple is their dog, Joshua.

THE KEEPER OF KEYS

INSIDE: What Do Most People of a ‘Certain Age’ Wish to Be Called? Elderly? Senior Citizen?

Ethan Fogg, president of the Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce, has a unique passion: Collecting keys, locks and related material — he has amassed a collection of more than 26,000 items so far.

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Tim Schramm lives (and plays) in a renovated church in Palmyra

More boomers are going for their first tattoo

Making it through the night with Chuck McCoy on Legends Radio

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ROCHESTER’S LESLIE C. ING A COMEBACK YOUNGBLOODSEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023 – 55MAK PLUS 73

the voice inside Rochester author Leslie C. Youngblood draws on her own past to breathe life into two highly acclaimed children books.

She talks about her writing, new projects, her life and career.

P. 26

Fearless Women For some members of the 261 Fearless Club, it’s about letting everything go in pursuit of friendships formed through running, walking.

It’s paying off big time. P. 32

found stores are thriving. What they’ve Vinyl is back, and three local record new aficionados alike. P. 34 is a devoted audience of old and

A PLACE FOR GOOD COFFEE P. 2 THE PICKLEBALL CRAZE HITS ROCHESTER P. 3 SISTERS CREATE STAINED-G LASS ART P. 24 NEW WEBSTER GROUP IS SAVING THE TREES P. 48

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By Mike Costanza It is a three-quarter-mile trail that runs through one of the largest, I think the largest, wetland areas so close to downtown Rochester. It’s a multimodal, ADA-compliant trail designed for pedestrians but also for bicycles. I walk on the Brickyard Trail every day. It really gets you away from the hustle and bustle of a fairly dense residential community.

Q. What challenges does the town face right now?

A. One of the things I’ve heard loud and clear is that this community would like to see us develop a community center that meets community needs.

Bill Moehle, 68

Town supervisor works to make Brighton more diverse, sustainable. He discusses plans for a new community center Q. What brings you into the office every day?

A. Coming to work every day gives me a chance to make Brighton better for all of us. I also work with great dedicated people, and that is a real joy. I’m also very fortunate to be able to walk to work every day.

Q. What are your priorities for Brighton?

A. I focus on sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion. Those are really very important policy drivers.

Q. How has Brighton sought to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive during your time in office?

A. We are the first town to have a diversity, equity and inclusion plan, what we call our IDEA Plan. Based on that plan, we made a decision to hire a chief diversity officer, Miriam Moore.

She brings so much to the table in her own personal experience working in the diversity field. We’ve also engaged with other communities. We’ve done a whole raft of things in that area.

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Q. What has Brighton done to make its operations more ecologically sustainable?

A . We h a v e a v o l u n t e e r sustainability oversight committee, people who in many cases make this their professional work. We’re developing our climate action plan.

We’ve received a variety of grants over the years, all intended to reduce carbon emissions and make not only town government but the community as a whole more sustainable.

Q. Why did you go into public service after leaving your law practice?

A. Both of my parents held local nonpartisan elected office in the Detroit area. I saw how important community service and public service was in their lives and the difference they made in a community.

Q. Of your accomplishments as supervisor, which one makes you most proud?

A. The Brickyard Trail, I have to say, exceeded my wildest expectations.

55 PLUS – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2023

Q. Where is the town in the process of creating a community center?

A. We have a consultant who we retained to do a study. There are a few different approaches that we could take. We could buy an existing property and develop it. We could partner with an existing community organization, like the JCC [the Lewis S. Wolk JCC of Greater Rochester] for example, or we could build a new community center facility on town-owned land. Our consultant is reviewing those options in the context of a lot of community input.

Q. What do you do for fun?

A. I walk, I play golf. This weekend was kind of special. There are a lot of Brighton’s in the world, but we all descend from Brighton on the south shore of England. Brighton has a soccer club, the Brighton and Hove Albion (Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club) in the Premier League, the highest soccer league in England and the world. I’m not as big a soccer fan as I am, say, baseball or football but I’ve really been taken by Brighton.

They were recently playing as part of the Premier League’s American tour.

I drove down to New Jersy to watch Brighton play Newcastle in a soccer match. The stadium was sold out.

Photo: Bill Moehle spent 33 years as a lawyer in private practice, the last 19 of them as the head of his own firm, the Law Office of William W. Moehle.

In addition to serving as Brighton town supervisor, he is currently president of the New York State Association of Towns.

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