March 2018 | Baltimore Beacon

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Designing sparkling careers

I N S I D E …

PHOTO COURTESY OF LORI GOTTLIEB

By Carol Sorgen Dr. Lori Gottlieb’s eyes started to blur and she developed double vision about 14 years ago, but numerous surgeries couldn’t help her. She realized that her life as a general surgeon was over, so she walked away from her medical career.

Still being good with her hands, she turned to crafts. For a while, because her eyes function at varying levels throughout the day, she was making pots. “But there are only so many pots you can have,” Gottlieb laughed.

“Just for fun,” she took a jewelry class at the Maryland Institute College of Art — and found her calling.

“I truly believe that art makes the world a better place, and wearable art is even better,” said Gottlieb, who is 59 and lives in Owings Mills. “It’s art that’s not hidden away [so] that only you can see. It’s art that anyone who sees you can enjoy as well.”

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Exploring Virginia’s African American heritage sites; plus, two bargain vacation spots, farther from the madding crowds page 17

Working with hands, head Jewelry-making and surgery are not dissimilar, according to Gottlieb. They both involve problem-solving, and working with your hands and your head. “At the end of the day, I see what I have accomplished,” she said.

Once Gottlieb decided to commit to life as a jewelry designer, she jumped right into exhibiting her work at high-end shows like the American Craft Show, which will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center from Feb. 23-25.

Her pieces are also sold online through her website, LoriMegDesigns.com, and on ArtfulJeweler.com and ArtfulHome.com.

She also sells them locally at Y:ART Gallery and Fine Gifts and Panache.

Calling her jewelry “organic” in nature, Gottlieb observes that the flowing lines

ARTS & STYLE Lori Gottlieb transitioned from being a surgeon to a jewelry designer after she developed a debilitating vision condition. She will be participating in the national American Craft Show at the Baltimore Convention Center Feb. 23 to 25, and also sells her work online and at two local stores.

found in her pieces are due in part to her vision problems. “Straight lines are difficult for me,” she said, adding that because she also spends a lot of time bike riding,

she sees the world in a “blur,” with textures and shadows racing by.

Gottlieb said she designs for 40- to 70See JEWELRY, page 22

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Russian crafts and Fabergé eggs at the Walters; plus, a world premiere play about Baltimore’s Cone sisters, and Young Frankenstein at Toby’s page 21

FITNESS & HEALTH k How to break a fall k Treating carpal tunnel

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Apparently, it’s up to us My column last month, about my experi- who gave no phone number or email adence with an outrageously and unneces- dress, left the following voicemail message sarily overpriced prescripon our office line as soon as tion, generated a good deal of she read the column. reader comment.

“I just read your editorial.

In case you missed it, in And what I don’t see in the artibrief: I was repeatedly encourcle is what you did about it after aged by a doctor, despite my you talked with your doctor. protests, to try out a “new” Did you call Medicare? Send a medication that combined two copy to every member of the readily available over-theMaryland delegation in Concounter drugs into a single gress? Did you contact AARP? prescribed pill. The doctor As a matter of fact, if I were you, said he would call in the pre- FROM THE I’d send a copy to “60 Minutes.” scription, and assured me I PUBLISHER “Let’s do something about By Stuart P. Rosenthal would owe no co-pay for the it! It’s a great article, but if all new drug if I decided to fill it. you do is call your doctor, it’s I took some samples home to try it out, certainly not going to stop.” and was shocked a few days later to find a I found her message striking, not bebottle of 60 pills in my mailbox, sent to me cause she seemed to feel the issue was of by a pharmacy I was not familiar with. such great importance that I should forI was even more shocked when I no- ward my story to all the powers that be. But ticed (in very fine print) that the bottle had rather because it seems to me that she may been billed to my insurance company for have missed a crucial point of my column. more than $2,000.

In case other readers may have had the I called the pharmacy and insisted they same misunderstanding, I have decided to take it back and credit my insurance compa- devote this month’s column to a clarification. ny. Then I called the head of the medical In no way did I see my experience as practice and informed him about the experi- unique, or worthy of a congressional hearing ence. He expressed amazement at the cost, or television expose. In fact, I think it’s fair to and indicated he would tell his staff to think say that “overpriced prescription drugs” is twice before prescribing it in the future. one of the most common topics discussed While a number of readers responded today. with various suggestions, questions and The White House has called it a high their own similar experiences, one caller, priority to address, Congress has held

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heavily publicized hearings in the last few months. Television and newspaper reporters highlight it frequently.

On the contrary, what was most concerning to me was the dawning awareness that — despite all this public attention and discussion of the issue — rampant overprescribing of unnecessary medications apparently continues to happen every day in doctors’ offices across the country.

This raises two questions for me. First, why are our doctors apparently unaware of the costs of new drugs (and so willing to promote the latest brand of the drug manufacturers who send reps to their offices bearing gifts)?

And second, why are we patients so cowed by our doctors, or blinded by claims of “zero co-pays,” that we accept medications that we may (or should) know, are probably unnecessary, overpriced or both?

Of course, no patient asks their doctor “are there other medications that will cost my insurance company less?” Especially if those other options may actually end up costing us more in terms of our co-pay.

You see, it turns out that the manufacturers of these overpriced combo drugs purposely absorb the co-pay of the patient’s insurance company so that consumers don’t complain, and so that doctors feel they are doing “the right thing” by saving their patients from paying anything out of pocket.

One thing doctors do know is that many of their patients never fill their prescriptions, in part because of the cost to them.

The clever trick of the drug companies in absorbing the co-pay avoids that obstacle.

And so the reason I wrote my column was to encourage as many individual consumers as I possibly could (that is, the nearly 400,000 readers of the Baltimore, Howard County and Greater Washington Beacons, as well as FiftyPlus, the paper we publish in Richmond), to be alert to these kinds of schemes, and to challenge their doctors (and pharmacies) on it.

Let’s face it: What the drug manufacturers are doing is not illegal. They work carefully within patent law to develop new combinations of drugs that they can then price however they choose.

Medicare and insurance companies can only do so much. There may well be some patients out there who truly benefit tremendously from these new drugs, so Medicare feels obliged to cover them and insurance companies follow suit. (And listen to how loudly consumers complain when Medicare hesitates to cover a new drug or treatment.)

But that doesn’t mean these drugs aren’t hugely overprescribed by doctors.

“60 Minutes” can bring moral pressure to bear, but there’s nothing they can really do to stop this other than by shaming the occasional company, lobbyist or doctor.

Congress is not going to get into the business of pricing individual medications (certainly not when so many members accept significant campaign contributions from drug manufacturers and face nearly 1,500 lobbyists from the industry).

Simply put, the problem is systemic.

The system allows it, and there’s no easy way to disallow it.

And that means the only way I know of to really put some brakes on it is from the bottom up: through actions by consumers.

By you and me.

And so I think the person who called us actually hit the nail on the head without realizing it: It’s precisely us calling our doctors that has the best chance of changing things. As she so rightly said, “Let’s do something about it!”

Please share your thoughts with us about this and other issues of importance by emailing, calling or responding via our website, www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com.

Thank you.

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail to barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com.

Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor: Thank you for your eye-opening account [regarding overpriced prescription drugs] in your February “From the Publisher” column.

There’s one aspect that doesn’t fit. My insurance company always refuses to pay for anything in any way questionable/not on their official “formulary”/cheaper alternatives available, etc. Ultimately the insurance business is all about maximizing profits.

Why would they pay $2,000 for something that is worth pennies? It doesn’t fit.

Is something else going on?

Daniel Gordon Via email

Dear Editor: I am a regular reader of The Beacon for many years. Your editorials are always my principal focus, and I am almost always delighted with your comments and observations. But this editorial [A bitter pill indeed, Feb. 2018] was in a class by itself. It is one of the best you have ever written.

I will be tracking down my medications (some of which I have taken for years), and explore how much my insurance company is paying for them. When my internist tells me to take some drugs, I do so. No other suggestions are considered.

See LETTERS TO EDITOR, page 16

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Baltimore County Senior Center and Community Services Division, (20 Centers) Baltimore, (410) 887-3424, www.baltimorecountymd.gov/ Agencies/aging/centers/index.html Baltimore County Art Guild, 410-247-0260, www.bcartsguild.org/about/history/ Community College of Baltimore County, Baltimore, 443.840.1685, www.ccbcmd.edu/Programs-andCourses/Life-Enrichment/Seniors

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Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, Baltimore, 410-230-0200, www.baltimoreculture.org Baltimore County Department of Recreation, Cockeysville, 410-887-3871, www.baltimorecountymd.gov/ Agencies/recreation Baltimore City Department of Health (14 Senior Centers), Baltimore, 410-396-7900, health.baltimorecity.gov/seniors/ senior-centers Baltimore City Recreation and Parks Senior Activities, Baltimore, 410-396-3100, bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/recreation/ senior

Baltimore City Community College, Baltimore, 410-986-5427, www.bccc.edu/Page/1800 Baltimore Watercolor Society, Baltimore, www.baltimorewatercolorsociety.org/ Corradetti Glassblowing Studio and Gallery, Baltimore, 410-243-2010, www.corradetti.com/ Roland Park Country School, Baltimore, 410-323-5500, www.rpcs.org/page/kaleidoscope Johns Hopkins University’s Odyssey Program, Baltimore, 410-516-4842, advanced.jhu.edu/academics/ non-credit-programs/odyssey/

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Towson University, Towson, 410-704-3535, www.towson.edu/ campus/business/cps/osher/ Baltimore Clayworks, 5707 Smith Ave., (410) 578-1919, www.baltimoreclayworks.org Jubilee Arts, 1947 Pennsylvania Ave., (410) 728-1199, www.arts.jubileeartsbaltimore.org Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave., (410) 669-9200, www.mica.edu Schuler School of Fine Arts, 7 E. Lafayette Ave., (410) 685-3568, www.schulerschool.com

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Health Fitness &

SAFER SUPPLEMENTS The FDA wants to crack down on homeopathic remedies that may be toxic CARPAL TUNNEL PAIN Why carpal tunnel syndrome causes wrist pain, and what to do about it A HEARTY SOUP Recipe for a comforting vegan lentil soup that’s high in protein, fiber VITAMIN CANCER FIGHTER Vitamin K2, found in vegetables and meats, may protect your prostate

Getting stronger can help prevent falls Dear Savvy Senior: pressure, back pain, depression and obesiI’ve fallen several times over the past ty. And some studies even show that it year, and my doctor has helps improve cognitive funcrecommended that I start a tion, too. strength-training program Here are some simple ways to help prevent future falls. to help you get stronger.

But at age 72, I’ve never lifted weights before and Getting started could use some help. What After you get your doctor’s can you tell me? okay, consider working with a — Looking for Help professional trainer or physiDear Looking: cal therapist for a few sesWeak leg muscles and poor sions to help you develop a SAVVY SENIOR balance are two of the biggest safe and effective routine you

By Jim Miller factors that cause older adults to can continue on your own. fall. After age 40, most people lose about one Or go to www.growingstronger.nutripercent of their muscle mass each year, tion.tufts.edu for a free program from which really adds up over time.

Tufts University in Boston and the Centers But study after study has shown that it’s for Disease Control and Prevention. never too late to rebuild muscle through Also see www.go4life.nia.nih.gov, a restrength training. Regular resistance or source created by the National Institute on strength training can help you build mus- Aging, that offers a free exercise guide cle strength, increase your bone density that provides illustrated examples of exerand improve your balance, coordination cises you can do at home to strengthen and stamina, and will help prevent falls. your body. You can order a free copy onIt can also help reduce the signs and line or by calling 1-800-222-2225. symptoms of many chronic conditions, To improve your strength, you have to such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood keep stressing your muscles, so you’ll

need to exercise at least two or three days a week for 30 to 45 minutes, and increase resistance and the number of repetitions over time.

But be sure you give your muscles a day off between workouts. It makes the muscle stronger and more able to resist future injury.

Inexpensive equipment If you work out at home, you’ll probably need to invest in some equipment.

While some strength training can be done using your own body weight (like pushups, sit-ups and leg squats), there are many great tools for strength training, including hand weights, ankle weights, medicine balls, and resistance bands or rubber tubing.

You can find all these products at sporting goods stores, or online at Amazon.com for around $10 or less. Cans of soup, water bottles or plastic milk containers filled with water or sand can also be used (like small hand weights) for resistance.

Take a class If you don’t like exercising alone, con-

sider joining a gym. Or call your local senior or recreation center to see if they offer any strength training exercise classes.

You should also check out SilverSneakers (www.silversneakers.com, 888-423-4632) and Silver&Fit (www.silverandfit.com, 877-4274788) — fitness programs offered in thousands of fitness centers, gyms and YMCAs throughout the U.S. with special classes designed for older adults. These programs are available for free to those who have certain Medicare supplemental policies or Medicare Advantage plans.

Some other good fall-prevention exercises that can help you get stronger include aerobic activities like walking, cycling or water aerobics.

And to improve your balance there’s tai chi, along with a number of simple balance exercises that you can do anytime — like standing on one foot for 30 seconds, then switching to the other foot, and walking heel-to-toe across the room.

Send your questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Ways to reduce fall risk and injuries It can happen to anyone at any time.

One minute you’re on your feet; the next you’re on the ground. Falls are the leading cause of all non-fatal injuries, and the most common reason for visits to the emergency room.

One in five falls results in a significant injury, such as head trauma or broken wrists, hips, legs or ankles. Falls are also the second leading cause of injury-related deaths behind motor vehicle accidents.

“We often associate falls with children or the elderly, but in fact 50- to 60-year olds experience more falls than older individuals,” said Dr. Allison Averill director of neurorehabilitation, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation (www.kessler-rehab.com).

“And while falling at some point in time is inevitable, there are ways to protect yourself from serious injury by cre-

ating a safer environment in and around your home, and also by learning how to fall,” Averill said.

To reduce fall risk: Eliminate clutter. Keep pathways clear by moving furniture or removing throw rugs, toys and other obstacles in the home, as well as tools, hoses and other items outdoors.

Focus on safety. Make sure rooms are well lit, and use handrails on stairways and grab bars in the bath or shower.

Outdoors, pay attention to the pavement or other surfaces and weather conditions. Even at the market or the mall, watch the flooring, displays and other potential hazards.

Build your balance. Developing core strength and flexibility through ex-

ercise and/or physical therapy, along with training like tai chi, may help improve balance.

Check your eyes and your meds. Poor eyesight, certain medications, and even your diet — as well as the effects of arthritis, MS, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke and other medical conditions — can affect balance and coordination and lead to falls. See a physician if you experience any difficulties.

If you start to fall: Understanding the science of falling is critical. Studies have shown that it’s not whether you slip on a wet or icy surface, trip over a rug or a crack in the sidewalk, or fall down a flight of stairs, but rather what you do in those brief seconds before you reach the ground: Protect your head. Falls are the #1

cause of traumatic brain injury in the United States, accounting for nearly half of these injuries. To help minimize the risk, try to tuck your head toward your chest if falling backward, and turn your head to the side if falling forward.

Reach and relax. Although it’s natural to tense up, try to stay loose and reach with your arms bent to help cushion your fall.

Butt first. Falls are the second leading cause of spinal cord injuries. To help distribute the impact of a fall, try to land on the fleshier parts of your body and roll with the fall.

For more information, visit www.kesslerrehab.com. Kessler Institute is one of seven federally-designated model systems in the nation for the treatment and research of both traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

FDA proposes crackdown on homeopathy

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ning to finalize the plan.

Consumer advocates said the FDA plan makes sense for products that are mostly harmless, but can be dangerous if manufacturers stray from traditional ingredients, dosing and manufacturing.

The FDA hasn’t updated its regulations for homeopathic medicine since 1988, when it essentially exempted the industry from basic production standards that are mandatory for traditional drugs, like listing ingredients on product labels.

Hundreds of homeopathic remedies today are sold alongside over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol and aspirin at pharmacies across the U.S. The National Institutes of Health has said there’s little evidence that homeopathic medicine is effective for treating any specific condition.

— AP

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Homeopathic products are treated similarly to dietary supplements, in that the FDA does not review their safety or effectiveness before they are sold. But unlike supplements, homeopathic medicines can state that they are intended for specific medical symptoms and conditions, similar to drugs.

A handful of products in recent years have been subject to major safety problems, usually involving potentially toxic ingredients.

In 2016, the FDA warned consumers about the risks of teething tablets marketed by Hyland’s Homeopathic after they were tied to seizures and deaths in infants and children. FDA testing later confirmed the products contained high levels of belladonna, also called nightshade, a poisonous herb that has long been used at low

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dosages in homeopathic medicine. The products were recalled last April.

In 2009, the FDA ordered Zicam to stop marketing three products that contained zinc gluconate after more than 100 users reported losing their sense of smell.

Other dangerous ingredients used in homeopathy products include nux vomica, which contains strychnine. Regulators have issued five warning letters this year to companies selling products with nightshade or nux vomica.

The FDA said its proposal also targets products that claim to treat serious diseases like cancer, or are administered via unconventional routes such as injection or eye drops.

Regulators can issue warning letters, seize products or pursue criminal action against companies that disregard federal guidelines.

The agency will take comments on its proposal until mid-March before begin-

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not supported by modern science. Most remedies contain heavily diluted drugs or toxins, as well as vitamins and minerals.

“People may be putting their trust and money in therapies that bring little or no benefit in combating their ailments, or worse — in products that may cause serious and even irreparable harm,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said.

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By Matthew Perrone U.S. health officials plan to crack down on a growing number of unproven alternative remedies, focusing on products containing dangerous ingredients that have occasionally been linked to serious injury and death.

The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a new proposal for regulating homeopathic medicines that have long been on the fringe of mainstream medicine.

The agency plans to target products that pose the biggest safety risks, including those marketed for children or for serious diseases.

But under the government’s framework, the vast majority of low-risk products would remain on the market. Popular homeopathic brands include Zicam Allergy Relief and Cold-Eeze.

Once a niche market, homeopathy products have grown into a $3 billion industry, according to FDA figures. [The underlying principle of homeopathy is that “like cures like,” that is, that a disease can be cured by a substance that produces similar symptoms in healthy people.]

Long regarded by scientists as a form of modern-day snake oil, homeopathic products are treated as drugs under law, but

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Health Shorts Blood test helps predict recurrent breast cancer A blood test five years after breast cancer treatment helped identify some women who were more likely to relapse — long before a lump or other signs appeared — a preliminary study found.

It was the largest experiment so far to use these tests, called liquid biopsies, for breast cancer. Results suggest they someday may help reveal which women need longer preventive therapy and which ones can be spared it.

“It could be providing an early warning sign” for some women that cancer is returning, said Dr. Joseph Sparano of Monte-

fiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York, who led the study.

On the other hand, “if you had a negative test, there was a 98 percent chance you would not have a recurrence in the next two years,” and perhaps could skip further treatment, he said.

The test — CellSearch, sold by Menarini-Silicon Biosystems — looks for stray cancer cells in the blood.

Breast cancer survivors may be tempted to rush out and get it, but doctors say it’s too soon for that. Although it’s been used for about a decade to monitor certain patients with advanced cancer during treatment, its value for helping to predict breast cancer relapse risk is not well established, and insurers won’t pay the $600 to $900 tab.

The study involved 547 women in longterm follow-up from an earlier cancer drug study. Two-thirds of them had cancers fueled by estrogen, and in most cases it had spread to lymph nodes but not more widely.

All had surgery and chemotherapy fol-

MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

lowed by hormone-blocking medicines for five years. Guidelines now recommend considering hormone blockers for up to 10 years, but they have side effects and their benefit beyond five years is fairly small. So finding a way to tell who really needs that would be a big help.

Women in the study had a CellSearch test five years on average after their cancer was found and treated.

Among those with estrogen-fueled disease, 5 percent had cancer cells in the blood test, and they turned out to have a 22-fold higher risk of recurrence within roughly two years compared to women whose blood test was negative.

About 65 percent of women with hormone-positive disease and a positive blood test did not have a new breast cancer within two years.

The blood test seemed to do a good job of identifying which of these hormone-positive patients were at low risk of recurrence, suggesting that women who test

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negative may be able to forgo an additional five years of hormone-blocking medicines.

The test did not predict recurrence risk in the rest of the women in the study, whose tumors were not fueled by estrogen. They have a lower risk of recurrence after five years to start with.

— AP

New diabetic drug helps with weight loss U.S. regulators recently approved a new diabetes drug that reduces blood sugar levels and also helps people lose significant weight.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its once-a-week shot for people with Type 2 diabetes. The drug, Ozempic, also known as semaglutide, works by stimulating the body’s own insulin production and reducing appetite.

In one big company-funded study, Ozempic, on average, reduced long-term blood sugar levels at least 2 1/2 times as much as a popular daily diabetes pill, Merck & Co.’s Januvia. It also helped study participants lose two to three times as much weight as those in the comparison group.

Over 56 weeks, patients who got a lower dose of Ozempic lost an average of 9.5 pounds, while those who got a higher dose lost 13.5 pounds. The patients who took Januvia lost an average of 4 pounds.

Novo Nordisk, a leader in diabetes care, has also been testing the drug separately for weight loss alone.

The new drug comes in injector pens, and costs about the same as similar weekly drugs: $676 for a four- to six-week supply without insurance. Novo Nordisk already sells a similar once-a-day shot, Victoza.

Ozempic will compete with other popular once-a-week drugs in the same class, including Eli Lilly and Co.’s Trulicity and AstraZeneca PLC’s Bydureon, which don’t produce as much weight loss.

— AP

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STROKE WELLNESS CLUB

Meet other stroke survivors at the monthly Stroke Wellness Club on the

For nearly 50 years, MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital has provided comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation for patients recovering from stroke, amputation, spinal cord injury and complex medical conditions. In partnership with MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, our team focuses on each patient’s capabilities rather than disabilities, so he or she can become as independent as possible, adding life to years®. To learn more, visit MedStarGoodSam.org/PatientRehab or call 855-546-1864.

first Wednesday of every month. The free group offers patients a chance to share their challenges and success stories in a supportive environment, with opportunities for activities, lectures and fun. Meetings will take place Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at the conference room at Northwest Hospital, 5401 Old Ct. Rd. For more information, call (410) 601-9355.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

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Be a happy camper with your grandchild

By Alexis Bentz If you attended a camp as a child or teenager, you might remember the meaningful experiences you enjoyed, or the long-lasting friendships you forged. You may also yearn to go back to those days of s’mores, singalongs and summer sun.

The good news? Just because you are no longer a kid doesn’t mean you can’t go to camp.

There has been a recent increase in the number of opportunities for grandparents and their grandchildren to bond at “grandcamps.” Not only will this allow you to once again partake in the fun of a summer camp experience, but it can also allow you to develop stronger relationships with your grandchildren.

Camps are an ideal way for children or teens to experience independence for the first time. Grandcamps are no exception, because many don’t allow parents to come — only grandchildren and their grandparents.

Grandcamps are a great way to introduce a child to the idea of going to sleep-away camp in the future. They won’t be completely on their own because their grandparents will be there, so they will have the comfort of a familiar face. Still, they will be away from their parents and exposed to what camp is all about.

They will also get to truly be themselves, and won’t have to worry about the pressure to “fit in” that they might experience at home. At a camp, they can let loose and have a great time.

Camps can be just as beneficial for the grandparents. Going to camp enables them to get a vacation, relax and revisit some of their old passions. If you’ve ever traveled with your grandchildren before and enjoyed yourself, think of camping as another experience to spend some vacation time with your grandkids.

The summer before last, I went on a vacation with my grandparents to Alaska. We enjoyed some camp-like activities together, including hiking, photography and nature walks. This experience not only allowed me to experience the beauty of America’s largest state, but it brought me a lot closer to my grandparents.

A camp can be just as powerful. Both teens and grandparents will be able to spend some meaningful time together, and bond over fun and interesting camp activities. Camp will also give both generations the opportunity to make new friends of both ages.

How will you find a camp that sounds right for both you and your grandchild?

Fortunately, there are plenty of options to choose from, each with unique activities and focuses.

For nature and sports lovers, Sierra Club’s Just for Grandparents and Grandkids — which gives campers opportunities to hike, skate, swim and more — could be the perfect fit.

For a historical experience, a stay at Historical Virginia camp could be a blast.

Campers can actually weave baskets and cook over an open hearth while enjoying colonial music.

More of an artsy type? At Sagamore Summer Camp’s “Grand Camp,” attendees can create crafts, barn dance, and participate in music programs and talent shows.

Some universities — including the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University and Winona State University in Minnesota — offer a slightly different type of grandcamp, in which campers can stay in university housing and take classes together.

If you are a person of faith, some church camps offer grandparent-grandchild experiences. And they tend to be less expen-

sive than some other camps.

Doing a search online for “grandparent grandchild camps” can help you to find the perfect option for yourself and your grandchildren.

Don’t have grandkids? You can still enjoy a “homemade” camp experience by camping out in your backyard with a friend or other young family member, and planning some fun activities: perhaps roasting marshmallows, bird-watching, star-gazing and telling ghost stories.

Regardless, enjoy the opportunity that a grandcamp, official or homemade, gives you to get closer with a special member of the younger generation.

Some of the many websites where you can search for grandparent/grandchild camps include: www.grandparents.com, www.roadscholar.org, www.stratfordhall.org, and www.grandcamps.org, a ministry of a Christian grandparenting organization.

Alexis Bentz is a 10th grade student in Rockville, Md.

BEACON BITS

Ongoing

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM LEADERS WANTED The Bethel Christian Academy is seeking volunteers to assist with

after school programs that begin at 2:45 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. The programs focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, math and the arts). Hours and dates are flexible. The academy is located at 8455 Savage-Guilford Rd. in Savage.

For more information, visit www.bethelchristianacademy.com.

Lunch and Learn Classes Bring a friend…make new ones!

Swing into spring with these one-day classes, then dine together to make your day delightful and delicious!

CCBC Owings Mills World War II: The Rescue of Europe’s Wealth – April 30 Baltimore Enters the Industrial Age – May 15 CCBC Hunt Valley Claude Monet’s Home in Giverny – May 4 The Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson – May 18

For more information on these and other Senior Program classes, call 443-840-4700 or visit ccbcmd.edu/seniors

8

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

When carpal tunnel pain requires surgery Dear Mayo Clinic: I have carpal tunnel syndrome that used to bother me only at night. Wearing a splint helped, but now my symptoms are noticeable throughout the day as well.

Does this mean surgery is inevitable, or are there other things I can do to help lessen the tingling and numbness it’s causing?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pressure on the median nerve that’s in the

front of your wrist. Treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome usually starts with splinting, self-care measures and, if needed, a corticosteroid injection. If that provides only temporary relief, then surgery may be recommended.

The carpal tunnel is a small passageway on the palm side of your wrist. Nine tendons and the median nerve travel through the carpal tunnel. Those tendons are like ropes that control the movement of your fingers.

The median nerve serves as a pathway

for the sensations you feel in your palm, thumb, index finger, middle finger and outer border of your ring finger. It also sends the nerve signals that move muscles around the base of your thumb.

Carpal tunnel syndrome happens when the space in the carpal tunnel becomes smaller, or the tendons in the tunnel thicken, placing pressure on the median nerve.

In its early stages, symptoms may include tingling or numbness in your thumb, index finger, middle finger and outer border of your ring finger.

A wrist splint typically is the first step in carpal tunnel treatment. A splint can be particularly helpful for people whose symptoms bother them at night. Wearing a splint during the night can keep the wrist from bending while you sleep. That can relieve the nerve pressure and eliminate nighttime discomfort.

When symptoms persist during waking hours, wearing a splint during the day can be useful. You also may be able to ease daytime symptoms by taking frequent breaks from repetitive activities. Throughout the day, take time to rotate your wrists, and stretch your palms and fingers.

Taking a pain reliever, such as ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin, may help lessen the inflammation of carpal tunnel syndrome.

If those steps aren’t enough, then a corticosteroid injection into the carpal tunnel may reduce tingling and numbness. Corticosteroids lower inflammation and swelling within the carpal tunnel, which can relieve pressure on the median nerve.

Surgical options For those with severe symptoms, or whose symptoms come back after an injection, surgery may be an appropriate option. The goal of carpal tunnel surgery is

to relieve pressure on your median nerve by cutting a ligament, called the transverse carpal ligament, pressing on the nerve.

Traditionally, surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome has been performed as an open surgery in which a surgeon makes a small incision in the palm of the hand over the carpal tunnel and then releases the ligament.

Alternatively, this procedure can be performed via endoscopic surgery. With that approach, the surgeon uses a telescope-like device with a small camera attached to it, called an endoscope, to see inside the carpal tunnel.

The surgeon cuts the ligament through one or two small incisions in the hand or wrist.

Ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel release is another alternative treatment in which a surgeon or a qualified physician uses ultrasound images to guide an instrument into the carpal tunnel through a small incision in the forearm, and then cut the ligament.

As the techniques for ultrasound carpal tunnel release continue to evolve, the procedures may be able to be performed in a doctor’s office under local anesthesia.

Treat sooner rather than later Effectively treating carpal tunnel syndrome as promptly as possible is important.

The longer the median nerve remains compressed, the more damaged it can become.

If the nerve is compressed for too long, it may not recover even once the pressure is relieved. Eventually, that could lead to permanent weakness and lack of coordination in your fingers and thumb.

— Jay Smith, M.D., Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

E-mail questions to MayoClinicQ&A@ mayo.edu. © 2017 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

9

Comforting lentil soup doesn’t need meat

By Melissa D’Arabian Rich bean soups are classic winter comfort food. They are filling, healthy and inexpensive, making them a worthy addition to the menu rotation.

The downside to dried bean cookery is the time it takes to soak and then cook beans.

Canned beans are a reasonable substitute, although they cost more than three times the price of their dried, bagged counterparts.

An easy, money-saving solution is lentils, which you can find easily at any grocery store, next to the dried beans. Brown lentils — the type you’ll most likely find in inexpensive bags next to the rice — don’t require any soaking (although a good rinse is recommended), and are cooked to tender perfection in about a half hour.

Don’t let the cheap price fool you: the everyday brown lentil is a nutrition powerhouse. One serving has over 8 grams of filling fiber, 9 grams of protein, and a nice array of vitamins and minerals, including over half the daily requirement of folate and nearly 20 percent of our daily iron.

Lentils themselves have an earthy, mild flavor, so they easily take on the flavors of other ingredients. Today’s recipe for Smoky Lentil Soup is all plant-based, which means it’s truly jam-packed with health-boosting foods, but it’s also full of flavor. It gets its smokiness from smoked paprika instead of the traditional ham bone, and little bit of cumin.

Finely chopped mushrooms add meaty depth of flavor, and I use small cubes of butternut squash instead of classic carrots for just a touch of sweetness. A bonus: the en-

tire dish cost about $10 to make, and you’ll probably have leftovers. Meatless Monday fans, this may be your new favorite dish.

Smoky (Vegan) Lentil Soup Servings: 8 Start to finish: 45 minutes, including cook time 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups chopped) 1 stalk celery, chopped (about 1/2 cup chopped) 4 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped (about 1 cup chopped) 1 1/4 cup cubed butternut squash (1/2inch cube) (or substitute chopped carrot) 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 teaspoon chili powder 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning (or dried oregano) 3 cups vegetable stock 2-3 cups water 1/2 pound dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked through (about 1 1/4 cup) 1 bay leaf 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or wine vinegar) 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, if needed In a large heavy-bottomed soup pot or Dutch oven, soften the onion, celery and mushrooms in the olive oil over medium heat, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the squash, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder and Italian herbs and

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cook for another five minutes, stirring frequently. Onion should be quite soft now.

Add the stock, 2 cups of the water, the lentils and bay leaf, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce heat, cover partially with a lid, and let simmer until lentils and squash are tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. If the mixture gets too thick, add up to another cup of water.

Once soup is cooked, remove 1 to 2 cups of the soup to a blender and very carefully blend on low until somewhat smooth. Pour

the thickened, blended soup back into the pot and stir. Stir in vinegar and taste for salt.

Add the salt only if needed.

Chef’s note: green lentils may also be used, but add about 10 minutes of cooking time.

Nutrition information per serving: 155 calories; 22 calories from fat; 3 g. fat (0 g. saturated; 0 g. trans fats); 0 mg. cholesterol; 328 mg. sodium; 27 g. carbohydrate; 7 g. fiber; 4 g. sugar; 8 g. protein.

— AP

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That’s why the MedStar House Call Program delivers primary care directly to the homes of those in need. We offer: • Medical house calls by doctors and nurse practitioners, with 24/7 phone access • In-home diagnostic tests and treatments • Coordination of all medical and social services • Delivery of medications and equipment • Coordination of hospital and specialist care We serve elders (age 65 and older) who struggle to get to the doctor’s office. If you or a loved one needs our house call services, call 443-262-0330 today, or visit MedStarHealth.org/ElderCare.

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

K2 may prevent, and fight, prostate cancer Couples have plans, but after the C word markable nutrient can have wondrous canis dropped, those plans change to unite a cer fighting and preventative properties for couple in the medical process. all kinds of cancers. You might After skin cancer, prostate have thought I mean vitamin C cancer is the most widespread or D3, but you’d be wrong. It’s cancer among men, affecting actually vitamin K2. one in seven every single Vitamin K2 is proving to be year. Prostate cancer is also a marvelous ally in the war on the third-leading cause of canprostate cancer. In fact, K2 cer death, after lung and coland vitamin D3 work harmoorectal cancer, according to niously together for a wide the American Cancer Society. range of diseases.

The good news today is DEAR Higher levels of K2 and some significant strides are PHARMACIST higher intake of K2 are associbeing made in the prevention By Suzy Cohen ated with lower prostate canof prostate cancer, as well as cer risk, and vitamin K2 defithe treatment of advanced prostate cancer. ciency status has been found in most men In fact, we have now learned that one re- with aggressive prostate cancers.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 26+

MAKE THAT YOUR LAST CIGARETTE

Quit smoking classes will start at the North Point Library on Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 and run through April 2. The North Point Library is located at 1716 Merritt Blvd. in Dundalk. Free nicotine patches, gum and lozenges are part of the program. Sign up by calling Greta Brand at (410) 399-2001. The class is funded by the Baltimore Dept. of Health Cigarette Restitution Fund.

Researchers for the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) have found that increasing one’s intake of vitamin K2 may lower the risk of getting prostate cancer dramatically — by up to 35 percent. With a one in seven risk of developing prostate cancer within their lifetime, this is an encouraging discovery!

But because we’re talking about a vitamin, I’m sure you won’t see commercials about it. And K2 is not something you even have to buy — it’s commonly found in foods that most of us already enjoy, such as salads, green vegetables, some meat and cheese.

There are also supplements that are sold without prescription at health food stores. However, I encourage you to ask your physician if these are right for you, as K2 can interfere with blood-thinning medications.

For people on the healing process with cancer, their number one goal is to stop the spread of cancer to other organs and tissues, termed metastasis. When prostate cancer is caught early on, before it has

spread to many other organs, the interventions are more useful.

Vitamin K2 has been proven to have neuroprotective effects on the brain, to shuttle calcium out of the arteries and to the bones (where it hardens and strengthens them), help wounds and bones heal faster, improve the skin and — now hear this — reverse wrinkles as well!

Vitamin K2 is found in foods such as dairy products, meat, and dark leafy greens like salads, Swiss chard, spinach and other greens.

It is also found in very high concentration in a popular Asian fermented soy dish called natto. Other foods high in vitamin K2 include ground beef, liver, chicken, as well as cheese, egg yolks and butter.

This information is opinion only. It is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition. Consult with your doctor before using any new drug or supplement.

Suzy Cohen is a registered pharmacist and the author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist and Real Solutions from Head to Toe. To contact her, visit www.SuzyCohen.com.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 23

MEDICATION SAFETY

The Seven Oaks Senior Center will host the Maryland Poison Center to discuss medication safety on Friday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m.

The event is free, but registration is required. The center is located at 9210 Seven Courts Dr. For more information or to register, call (410) 887-5192.

Mar. 2

FREE BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS

The University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center is offering patients a free body composition analysis to evaluate people’s unique body makeup and associated health risks. Appointments are open throughout the day on Friday, March 2. To register, call the center at (410) 3371000. The medical center is located at 7601 Osler Dr. in Towson.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Health Studies Page

11

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Care for hip fracture patients with dementia

By Carol Sorgen Since 1983, researchers in the Division of Gerontology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, have been gathering data on more than 2,000 hip fracture patients with the goal of identifying promising ways to improve their recovery.

The University of Maryland and the National Institute on Aging are currently recruiting participants for a pilot study that will evaluate a home-based program designed to coach and mentor caregivers as they assist individuals who have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia and who have fractured a hip. The aim is to help the patient perform everyday activities and engage in more physical activity.

Educating caregivers Prior research conducted by Baltimore Hip Studies of long-term care residents with dementia has shown that it is possible to improve their function, increase physical activity, and improve behavioral symptoms.

In these previous studies, researchers effectively coached and mentored caregivers using a care practice called Function Focused Care for the Cognitively Impaired.

This method focuses on having caregivers

teach, cue, model and assist cognitively impaired individuals to perform functional tasks and engage in physical activity, while minimizing behavioral symptoms.

The current study will assess whether a version of this function focused care, called Hip Care at Home, can help patients with dementia who are recovering at home with an informal or family caregiver. All participants in the study will get the same help at home.

The Hip Care at Home study includes an initial evaluation of the patient, caregiver and home setting by an interdisciplinary care team that includes a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and a coach (nurse or nurse’s aide) trained in the function focused care approach.

The coach will then make weekly visits to work with the primary informal, unpaid caregiver (friend or family member) to integrate the recommended environmental, behavioral and physical therapies into the home setting.

Coaching for better outcomes Caregivers will be encouraged to have the patient participate in his or her own activities of daily living, and incorporate func-

BEACON BITS

Mar. 17+

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO DIG BIG

The Park Heights Community Health Alliance, Inc. is looking for volunteers to help with its annual Big Dig events to prepare gardens for the new growing season. The organization is mainly looking for volunteers for Saturday, March 17, and Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to noon. The Big Dig will take place at 4151 Park Heights Ave. For more information, contact Michelle at (410) 542-8190.

tional activities into daily routines.

An intervention coach will discuss carerelated challenges with the caregiver to identify dependency problems, motivate the caregiver to help foster independence in the care recipient, and provide guidance in addressing behavioral symptoms associated with cognitive limitation that may occur during caregiving.

A coach will visit each caregiver and hip fracture participant in their home for a one- to two-hour session once a week for eight weeks.

Prospective participants should be 65 or older at the time of the hip fracture; have had a pre-fracture diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia; had surgical repair for the hip fracture; completed usual rehabilitation; and have an unpaid, informal caregiver who provides at least weekly assistance with daily living activities.

For more information, or to see if you qualify for the study, call Lynn M. Lewis at (410) 706-5144 or email llewis@som.umaryland.edu.

BEACON BITS

Mar. 15+

DIABETES SUPPORT GROUP

Join the monthly no-cost LifeBridge Health Diabetes Support Group led by Sinai and Northwest Hospital professionals. The group meets the third Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at the Weinberg Park Heights JCC, at 5700 Park Heights Ave. For more information, contact Georgette Gaston at (410) 601-5639.

Ongoing

GIVE TOURS ON THE PROJECT LIBERTY SHIP

Volunteers are needed to give tours aboard Liberty Ship John W. Brown and direct visitors. People are needed for two- to four-hour shifts on Wednesdays and/or Saturdays. The ship is located at 2020 S. Clinton St. For more information, visit www.ssjohnbrown.org.

12

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Facing violence and guilt in relationships Dear Solutions: He says he loves her and promised I’m ver y concerned about my that it won’t happen again. She asked granddaughter, who is conme if she should believe sidering marr ying her him. Please help me anboyfriend. She is confiding swer her. in me and asked me, “Can — Aggravated someone love you and still Dear Aggravated: hit you at the same time?”

Tell her to look in the mirShe says she knows her ror and believe her face! Tell boyfriend loves her and her that violence is not about wants to marry her, but love. It’s about control. He when he gets very angry he wants her to do what he wants lashes out at her physically. her to do no matter what, and They’re making wedding SOLUTIONS he doesn’t know how to hanplans, but she says that last By Helen Oxenberg, dle anger. week he punched her in the MSW, ACSW He needs to get a lot of proface, and she still has the fessional help before she can bruise. even consider marrying him. Tell her to

We specialize in short-term rehabilitation and long-term relationships.

remember this: The first time you get hit, you’re a victim. The next time, you’re a volunteer.

Dear Solutions: I’ve been seeing a man, and although I like him, I don’t feel as connected to him as he seems to be to me.

One of his children and one of mine live in California, and I haven’t seen my son for many months.

Now my boyfriend has offered to take me to California for a birthday celebration at his daughter’s house and wants to come with me to visit my son and his family. I will spend time at his daughter’s house, but I want time alone with my son, who’s going through a divorce, and with my little granddaughter.

My friend always wants to spend as much time as possible with me, so I don’t know what to say to him about not coming with me to visit my son. I feel guilty doing this because he’s paying for the whole trip.

How do I tell him, and what do I do

with the guilt?

— Ellen Dear Ellen: Put the guilt in an envelope and give it to a friend to hold for you until you get back from the trip. Your boyfriend is doing this for both of you. He wants you to share the birthday with him at his daughter’s house, so it’s his choice to pay for the trip.

Be clear before you go. Accept this gift graciously, but tell him that you hope he’ll understand your need for time alone with your son since you haven’t seen him in a long time. This will also give him time alone with his daughter, which she probably wants.

So there’s something in it for both of you. And if you miss the guilt, you can pick it up from your friend on the way back from the airport. Enjoy! © Helen Oxenberg, 2018. Questions to be considered for this column may be sent to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915. You may also email the author at helox72@comcast.net. To inquire about reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

BEACON BITS Mary came to ManorCare Health Service – Woodbridge Valley debilitated from an infection. Mary couldn’t even get out of bed!

She told us ‘Ididn’t didn’tknow know what to expect. I’ve never been hospitalized.’

“Everyone was so wonderful. I’m glad I came here.”

- Mary

After our rehab team worked with Mary, she was up on her own two feet, managing all of her own needs and, in no time, was discharged and back to her regular routine.

As an added bonus, ManorCare’s exercise regimen jump-started a weight loss which helped her to resolve her diabetes. Mary says, “Thanks to ManorCare, I feel great!”

For more information, please call the location nearest you or visit www.manorcare.com: Dulaney

Ruxton

410.828.6500

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Roland Park

Towson

410.662.8606

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410.402.1200

Mar. 29

VIETNAM VETS CELEBRATION

On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam.

Forty-five years later, Hospice of the Chesapeake will hold its 4th annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration. The event will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 29 at Baltimore BWI Hilton Hotel, 1739 W. Nursery Rd., Linthicum. The event starts with hors d’oeuvres and beverages, and there will be a time to visit with representatives from agencies and organizations dedicated to assisting veterans. The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will feature remarks from state Sen. John Astle, who served as a Naval Aviator flying helicopters in Vietnam. Also speaking is retired Army Sgt. Major Rodwell L. Forbes, who will share his experience with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with other speakers. Tickets are free for Vietnam veterans and one guest. Community members and two additional guests for each veteran may attend at $30 per person. To obtain tickets, visit bit.ly/VietnamVetEvent.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

13

Say you saw it in the Beacon

GIVING AWAY THE STORE Think twice when offered a store credit card, which can cause your credit score to drop in several ways

Money Law &

SHOPPING ONLINE Pros and cons of buying products online, frequently urged via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram ads and posts ENCORE CAREERS Tips for transitioning to a new career — from volunteering to evaluating what inspires you

Simplify finances — for you and your heirs

By Liz Weston Simplifying and organizing our financial lives can make things easier for us while we’re alive and for our survivors when we’re not.

This task becomes more urgent as we age. Our financial decision-making abilities generally peak around age 53, researchers have found, while rates of cognitive decline and dementia start to climb at age 60.

Over time, we tend to become more vulnerable to fraud, scams, unethical advisers and bad judgment, said financial literacy expert Lewis Mandell, author of What to Do When I Get Stupid. Cleaning up our finances early can help protect us.

Some steps to take:

Consolidate financial accounts

Automate payments

Fewer accounts are easier to monitor for suspicious transactions and overlapping investments, plus you may save money on account fees.

Your employer may allow you to transfer old 401(k) and IRA accounts into its plan, or you can consolidate them into one IRA. For simplicity, consider swapping individual stocks and bonds for professionally managed mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (but check with a tax pro before you sell any investments held outside retirement funds).

Consider moving scattered bank accounts under one roof, but keep in mind that FDIC insurance is generally limited to $250,000 per depositor per institution.

Memory lapses can lead to missed payments, late fees and credit score damage, which can in turn drive up the cost of borrowing and insurance.

You can set up regular recurring payments in your bank’s bill payment system, have other bills charged to a credit card, and set up an automatic payment so the card balance is paid in full each month.

Head off bounced-transaction fees with true overdraft protection, which taps a line of credit or a savings account to pay overlimit transactions.

Clanahan in Jacksonville, Fla., recommends her older clients keep just two credit cards: one for everyday purchases and another for automatic bill payments.

But note: Closing accounts can hurt credit scores, so wait until you’re reasonably sure you won’t need to apply for a loan before you start dramatically pruning.

Set up a watchdog Identify someone you want making decisions for you if you’re incapacitated. Use software or a lawyer to create two durable powers of attorney — one for finances, one for healthcare. You don’t have to

Prune credit cards

See FINANCES, page 14

Certified financial planner Carolyn Mc-

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Our chair’s recline technology allows you to pause the chair in an infinite number of positions, including the Trendelenburg position and the zero gravity position where your body experiences a minimum of internal and external stresses. You’ll love the other benefits, too: It helps with correct spinal alignment, promotes back pressure This lift chair relief, and encourages better posture puts you safely to prevent back and muscle pain. on your feet!

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Store card could torpedo your credit score

By Bev O’Shea When a sales clerk cheerfully asks, “Would you like to save 20 percent on your purchases today by opening a card with us?” you may think you’re getting a bargain.

But the reality sounds a lot less cheery: “Would you be interested in a low-limit card that could damage your credit standing?”

Credit expert John Ulzheimer warns that opening a new store card could hurt your credit score by: • Having an outsize impact on your credit usage, which is a big factor in credit scores • Causing an inquiry on your credit • Reducing the average age of your credit accounts

Lower limit, higher usage The credit limits on retail cards that you use only at one store or chain are typically about 10 percent of those on comparable general-use credit cards, Ulzheimer said.

Let’s say you open a store card to get 20 percent off a $250 purchase. After the discount, your balance is $200. A few days

Finances From page 13 name the same person in both, but do name backups in case your original choice

later, you spend $150 more. You’re still well below the card’s $1,000 limit — but your balance is 35 percent of your credit limit.

How much of your credit limit you use has a major influence on your credit scores. The only thing that matters more is paying on time.

Credit experts advise staying below 30 percent of the limit on any card. Consumers with the very best scores typically use less than 10 percent.

To keep your usage low, credit card expert and author Beverly Harzog suggests paying your bill before the issuer reports the balance to the credit bureaus. Call the customer service number on the card to find out when that is. Or get in the habit of making online payments as soon as you purchase something. That way, your charges never stack up.

A retail card doesn’t just affect your scores by spiking your credit usage. “When you apply for a new card, the card issuer is going to want to pull one of your credit reports,” Ulzheimer said. That helps the iscan’t serve.

Consider naming someone younger, because someone your age or older could become impaired at the same time you do, said Carolyn Rosenblatt, an elder-law attor-

BEACON BITS

Mar. 20+

FREE BUSINESS LECTURE SERIES

The Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University will present a three-day series of lectures and panel discussions on “Building a Better World Through Business” at its main campus, 4501 Charles St., Baltimore. Keynote speaker is Casey Gerald, co-founder and former CEO of MBAs Across America, who will speak on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the McManus Theatre. The lectures are free and open to the public. For more information and to register, visit www.loyola.edu/sellinger or call (410) 617-5067.

suer assess whether to approve your application, but it can cause a small, temporary dip in your score. “That’s problematic — I wouldn’t call it catastrophic,” he said.

The bigger problem comes if you’re approved. That new account causes the average age of your credit cards to decrease.

Credit age is a minor factor in scores, but every point counts.

The worst decision of all might be to apply for card after card as you shop to snare multiple discounts. Each application can ding your score, and each new approval drops your overall age of accounts.

purchase, not just the initial one.

“In the grand scheme of things, 20 percent off your purchases, one day ever, isn’t that big of a deal. Even if you spent $1,000 — which I doubt most people will do — that’s a $200 discount,” Ulzheimer said. “Really, you didn’t save $200, you spent $800.”

And if you carry a balance instead of paying in full, interest will eat into that discount.

Avoid snap decisions

On top of potentially hurting your credit scores, retail cards have usability issues.

They’re often good only at one store or retail chain, usually have high interest rates, and typically have less robust security alerts than traditional cards.

You might be better off using an existing credit card, especially if you have a rewards card that offers cash back on every

If you shop at a particular place often enough, it might be worth opening a store card to access ongoing discounts, presales and insider benefits. But resist deciding that in the checkout line.

And if you already have a store card?

Don’t close it — that also would hurt your average age of accounts.

Better to use it lightly and pay on time.

Both actions have a positive effect on your credit scores.

And make the most of any exclusive deals the card offers.

— NerdWallet via AP

ney in San Rafael, Calif., who runs AgingParents.com. Grant online access to your accounts, or at least talk about where your trusted person can find the information she’ll need, Rosenblatt recommends.

Also create “in case of emergency” files that your trusted person or heirs will need.

These might include: • Your will or living trust • Medical directives, powers of attorney, living wills • Birth, death and marriage certificates • Military records • Social Security cards • Car titles, property deeds and other ownership documents • Insurance policies

• A list of your financial accounts • Contact information for your attorney, tax pro, financial adviser and insurance agent • Photocopies of passports, driver’s licenses and credit cards A safe deposit box is not the best repository, because your trusted person may need access to its contents outside bank hours.

A fireproof safe bolted to a floor in your home, or at minimum a locked file cabinet, may be better, as long as you share the combination or key (or its location) with your trusted person.

Scanning paperwork and keeping an encrypted copy in the cloud could help you or someone else recreate your financial life if the originals are lost or destroyed. — AP

Limited usability, limited services

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

15

Pros and cons of buying products online

By Anya Kamenetz Have you ever thought about buying a pair of pants online without trying them in real life? Or a pair of glasses? Or even a mattress?

While using Facebook or Instagram, listening to podcasts or just browsing the web, you may have come across ads from brands like Betabrand, Warby Parker, Casper or Harry’s.

These companies represent a growing niche in the retail marketplace: direct to consumer. They bypass traditional retail channels and sell their own products themselves using social media.

These brands tend to have cachet, particularly with younger people. Nearly half of millennials, in one survey, said they were influenced by social media in their purchases, compared to 19 percent of all other age groups.

There are potential benefits to shopping this way. But there can be drawbacks, too.

Benefits • Price. Direct-to-consumer brands pitch that they can offer higher quality at lower prices by cutting out the middleman.

Warby Parker pioneered this area by offering all of its eyeglasses for a single uniform price of $95. That can compare to hundreds of dollars at traditional retail.

• Quality. As companies with a limited range of products, these brands are squarely

associated with the products they sell. This compares favorably with buying at Amazon or a big box store, where the actual maker is somewhere far down a global supply chain.

Some of these companies promise better manufacturing practices or other socially responsible approaches to business.

Also, since they are direct to consumer, some of these companies can be more nimble with offering a variety of updated options, in response to consumer demand.

Betabrand, an online apparel brand, for example, has a “crowdfunding” model.

New styles are introduced and get made only if enough people pledge to buy them.

• Service: In order to get you to buy things online you might otherwise not, these companies often try to offer highly responsive customer service. This can include free try-ons, free samples, free shipping and returns, and customer loyalty programs.

At the same time, some people like to shop and make decisions on a purchase without having to interact with sometimespushy salespeople.

But that’s not all there is to shopping on social media...

These companies may offer trial periods and money-back guarantees, but they do that in full knowledge of a home truth of consumer psychology. That is, once the product gets into your home, it is most likely to stay there.

• Marketing. Just because there are no sweaty salespeople breathing down your neck when you shop online for, say, mattresses, that doesn’t mean there is no unwanted marketing associated with these brands.

A recent investigative report in Fast Company, a business magazine, showed that various online mattress companies offered both incentives and threats to bloggers who represented themselves as independent reviewers of mattresses. Some of these bloggers may have been earning millions of dollars.

The bottom line is to take anything you read online about a product with a grain of salt, even a supposedly “independent” review.

• Locked-in. For savvy consumers, one more drawback of many online direct-to-con-

sumer retailers is the subscription model.

A mattress is likely to be a once-in-along-while purchase. But other companies specialize in products you’ll buy again and again: glasses (Warby Parker) or contacts (Hubble); razors (Harry’s) or feminine products (Lola).

And a whole other category of direct-toconsumer, web-focused retailers is turning just about any product category into a subscription, usually in the form of a monthly box: cosmetics, snacks, pet treats, clothing, you name it.

Here’s the issue: We all get exhausted making decisions month in and month out.

These companies rely on getting your credit card information once and then sending you products — whether or not you want them or need them. This can wreak havoc on your budget, even if it’s fun when you open the mail. © 2018 Anya Kamenetz. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Drawbacks • Try-ons. A major reason that people don’t like to shop for glasses, clothes or mattresses online is, of course, that they want to try these things on in person. And this can be a big drawback to online shopping.

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Ongoing

TAX AIDE COUNSELING

Volunteer Tax Aide counselors are available to assist older adults with the preparation of federal and state income tax returns through April 15 at senior centers throughout Baltimore County. To find out when volunteers will be in your area, visit https://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/aging/financial/taxaide.html.

Feb. 23

HOW TO GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER

The Pikesville Senior Center will welcome Hazel Mason of Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance for the second part of the series, “How to Get Your Home in Order,” on Friday, Feb. 23, at 1 p.m. The free session will give advice on planning final expenses and obligations. The center is located at 1301 Reisterstown Rd. For more information, call (410) 887-1245.

Frank, Frank & Scherr, LLC

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

How to make your encore career count

By Sandra Block Marci Alboher is vice president of Encore.org, a nonprofit that encourages baby boomers to use their skills and experience to help their communities. She’s the author of The Encore Career Handbook: How

to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life.

Here is an excerpt of a conversation with her from Kiplinger’s: Kiplinger: Are there particular fields that lend themselves to an en-

BEACON BITS

Feb. 22

ADDITIONS TO INSURANCE

The Woodlawn Senior Center is hosting a free discussion on insurance and why additions to policies can be beneficial. The event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 12:45 p.m. at the center, 2120 Gwynn Oak Ave. For more information, call (410) 887-6887.

Feb. 28

BASICS OF ANNUITIES

Lia McGrit, from TransAmerica, will visit the Parkville Senior Center to discuss annuities and how they can become a part of retirement strategies at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28. The event is free. The center is located at 8601 Harford Rd. For more information, call (410) 887-5338.

core career?

Alboher: There are jobs and roles that benefit from the kinds of qualities that age provides. For example, having gone through an illness yourself or having served as a caregiver can make you more qualified for positions such as wellness coach, healthcare navigator, or a wide variety of roles in the health and wellness area.

Roles that involve guiding young people are natural fits for people with experience.

For example, Pushy Moms was founded by a group of women who had helped their own kids get into college, and wanted to do that for other young people.

Grandmas2Go offers “grandmas” to new parents who want to learn good parenting skills.

Should you look for an encore career in your field of expertise?

I’ve seen it go both ways. Many people

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leverage 30 to 40 years of experience to do something they can do only because of what they did in a prior career, such as a social worker who goes into policy work or education reform.

I’ve also seen people who are burned out and ready to focus on something different. They go back to school, get new training, and revisit an earlier passion they had put aside to take a more practical path.

Where should people who are interested in an encore career start?

The most important thing you can do is volunteer. It’s the surest path to trying out something you think you’re interested in.

Encore.org’s Generation to Generation campaign is a great place to start.

Our Opportunity Finder, powered by VolunteerMatch.org, identifies roles with youth-serving organizations that are seeking experienced talent.

AARP also has a website for volunteer opportunities, Create the Good, www.createthegood.org.

What about people who want jobs that pay?

Volunteering will help you test out your ideas, learn about issues that matter to you, and build a network that will help you find other opportunities and even jobs.

LinkedIn is the best resource to stay in touch with your network, to find opportunities and to keep up with any field that interests you. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Letters to editor

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From page 2

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Your comments add substance to my own concerns over accepting any “wonderful savings” on supposedly great deals that I encounter.

I enjoyed your superb editorial, encourage you to continue, and will continue to be a devoted follower.

Louis P. Solomon Via email Dear Editor: Thank you for editorial last month, “A bitter pill.” I found it most interesting and informative, and I applaud your courage. I shared a link to your article with many of my friends.

Harriet Gordon Silver Spring, Md.

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CAN YOU FIX CARS?

The Youth Opportunity Community Center is looking for volunteer auto mechanics instructors with flexible hours. Training takes place at 1510 W. Lafayette Ave. For more information, visit http://moed.baltimorecity.gov/youthservices/programs.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Travel

17

Leisure &

Visit Lima, Peru instead of Barcelona for a bargain vacation without the crowds. See story on page 19.

Explore Virginia’s African American sites

PHOTO BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

tention. At one time, tourists visiting Washington’s Mount Vernon, Madison’s Montpelier or Jefferson’s Monticello never heard a word about the slaves whose labor enabled these plantations to function.

Fortunately, that is no longer the case.

At Montpelier, for example, there is a new exhibition, “The Mere Distinction of Colour,” designed “to pay homage to those in the enslaved community.”

“All of the different nuances of African American life to which society attributed so little is now being brought to the surface,” said Ronald Chase, President of the Gum Springs Museum in Fairfax County.

Gum Springs, a historic black community a few miles from Mt. Vernon, was founded by West Ford, a Mount Vernon slave freed in 1805. The Gum Springs Museum’s collection honors notables of this almost 200-year community.

Speaking of Mt. Vernon, George Washington first expressed his desire to no longer own slaves in a 1778 entry in his diary, and called for their release in his will (to occur after the death of his wife, Martha). But she decided to release the many slaves who worked at Mt. Vernon two years after his death.

The “Lives Bound Together” exhibit at Mount Vernon Estate presents the first president’s dilemma and other perspectives on slave life. The exhibit remains open through this September.

A 14-by-16-foot slave cabin made of roughhewn logs and mud dramatizes the contrast of slave living conditions with their owners’ elegant lifestyle, as do slaves’ unmarked graves near the Washingtons’ imposing tomb.

A memorial created “Sir” James Thornhill stands beside the mural he painted of

by Howard University Harriet Tubman in Richmond, Va. His many murals focus on architectural students African Americans, both well-known and ones who have not honors those in unbeen in the public eye.

PHOTO BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

By Glenda C. Booth Perhaps surprisingly, “Virginia is home to the longest continuous experience of African American culture and life in the United States,” the state’s tourism agency touts. It is a journey of highs and lows, tragedies and triumphs.

In a state that promotes its early devotion to democracy and human dignity through numerous Colonial and Revolutionary War sites, the landscape is riddled with examples of slavery, the Confederacy and racial discrimination.

Today, African American history and culture are told not only through the occasional monument, but also through food, music, literature, politics, business and little-known spots.

Much of the history of Virginia’s African Americans was never written. Most slaves were illiterate; many lacked last names.

Wooden grave markers and cabin homes rotted long ago.

The good news is that remaining African American sites are getting more and more at-

An annual ceremony honors George Washington’s slaves buried in unmarked graves at Mt. Vernon, his estate. A memorial was added to the cemetery in 1983.

marked graves who served in bondage to the Father of Freedom.

In Northern Virginia Alexandria has a proud African American history — as well as one not so proud — conveyed in more than two dozen sites, including these: The Alexandria Black History Museum chronicles the successes and ordeals of local African Americans from 1749 to the present.

Alfred Street Baptist Church, dating from 1803, is the oldest black Baptist church in the Washington, D.C., region.

At 1315 Duke St., Isaac Franklin and John Armfield ran one of the country’s largest, slave-selling enterprises in the 19th century, including a slave pen for thousands awaiting sale. Today called Freedom House, it is a small civil rights museum and office.

The eight-acre African American Heritage Park is next to a 19th century African American cemetery. Nearby, are statues of Emily and Mary Edmondson, two women who fled slavery in 1848 on a ship, the Pearl.

They were imprisoned and eventually freed.

Members of the U.S. Colored Troops staged one of the first organized civil rights actions in 1864 when patients at L’Ouverture Hospital petitioned for their comrades to be buried in Alexandria’s National Cemetery.

During the Civil War, people of African descent who fled the Confederacy and

were protected by Union forces occupying Alexandria were called “contrabands.”

Over 20,000 contrabands, many destitute, came to or passed through Alexandria.

Freedman’s Cemetery honors these refugees at a spot where 1,800 graves were once covered by a gas station and an office building and encroached upon by a railroad, brickyard and highways, including the Beltway.

The city razed all the structures and identified grave sites by analyzing subtle soil color differences. The most prominent feature is the Place of Remembrance, designed by Alexandria architect C.J. Howard, and featuring a Mario Chiodo sculpture depicting grief that leaps off the former gas station pad.

And in more modern times, Samuel Tucker led one of the country’s first anti-segregation sit-ins at the Alexandria library in 1939.

The four million annual visitors to Arlington Cemetery probably don’t realize that Arlington House, built by slaves, was the plantation home of our first president’s grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. Later, a Custis cousin, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, lived there.

After the Civil War, Union troops decided to surround the mansion with a cemetery to ensure the family would never return. Now known as Arlington Cemetery, it rests in fields where 200 slaves toiled.

See VIRGINIA SITES, page 18

18

Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Virginia sites From page 17 To learn more about African American history in Alexandria and other parts of northern Virginia, see www.alexblackhistory.org. Consider taking a 90-minute walking of Alexandria’s black history with Manusmission Tours. See www.manumissiontours.com.

In Richmond, Va. Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, is full of symbols of Virginia’s schizophrenic history.

Glistening white on a hill is the state Capitol, the iconic, Greek-temple-like building designed by Thomas Jefferson — slave owner and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Nearby looms a 60-foot equestrian statue of General George Washington, the slave owner who led the colonies’ revolt against tyranny.

Nearby is an 18-figure, granite and bronze memorial honoring the African Americans who led a 1950s protest of inferior, segregated schools in Farmville, Va. The Capitol sits a few hundred feet from the elegant, 19th century mansion where the state’s governors reside while in power. The home has seen some big changes over the years.

In 1954, Gov. Thomas Stanley vowed to use every legal means to resist the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Educa-

tion decision, which found that separate educational systems for blacks and whites are unequal and unconstitutional.

Sixteen years later, Governor Linwood Holton escorted his daughter from the mansion to the predominantly black public high school nearby. And from 1990 to 1994, the nation’s first black governor — Douglas Wilder, a grandson of slaves — lived there.

The Reconciliation Statue memorializes the slave trade, a few blocks from the area known as Shockoe Bottom — Richmond’s 19th century commercial heart and the country’s second largest slave trading center. Authorities hanged rebelling slaves there in 1800, including their leader, a blacksmith known as “General Gabriel.”

In 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Shockoe Bottom as one of the 11 most endangered places in the U.S. because of a controversial plan to raze buildings to construct a minor league baseball stadium, hotel and other buildings on the historic site.

The Trust helped stop the construction of the stadium. Now plans are underway to build an interpretative center that remembers Shockoe Bottom‘s dark past.

A 17-stop Slave Trail walk, starting at Manchester Docks across the river from Shockoe Bottom, tracks slave marketing routes.

Not all of Richmond’s African American sites represent the city’s scarred past. Artist James Thornhill’s boldly colored murals in historic Jackson Ward illuminate African

MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Americans both well-known and little-known.

In this section of Richmond, the “birthplace of Black Capitalism,” Maggie Walker’s home is a story of empowerment. Daughter of a former slave, she became the first African American woman bank president.

When, from post-Civil War to the 1930s, white establishments refused to serve blacks, she created services for her people — a bank, department store, insurance company, newspaper, a Girl Scout troop.

At the Black History Museum and Cultural Center — situated in a former armory, school and gym for “coloreds” — a touch-screen exhibit chronicles slavery from Egypt to the present, including slaves’ resistance, the Jim Crow era, and the struggle for equal rights.

One standout story is that of Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who in 1849 “mailed” himself to Philadelphia abolitionists in a wooden crate — a 27-hour journey via wagon, railroad, steamboat and ferry.

Down the block is a statue of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, a local and accomplished tap dancer, known for tapping up and down stairs in a complex rhythmic pattern. He became the country’s most highly-paid African American entertainer in the early 20th century.

After heated controversy, in 1996 a statue of tennis great Arthur Ashe joined the towering statues of five Confederate leaders on Monument Avenue, a boulevard that once symbolized what some called “Southern glory.” Despite recent controversy over Confederate monuments throughout the South, these statues are still standing. Surrounded by children, Ashe holds a tennis racket in one hand and a book in the other.

The following websites provide further information about black history sites in the Richmond area: www.virginia.org (see Historic Sites), www.visitrichmondva.com (see Civil War and Black History Museum entries), and the Elegba Folklore Society at http://efsinc.org/tours.

In Hampton, Va. A historic marker at ironically-named Point Comfort recognizes the spot where the first Africans, “20 and odd” from Angola, disembarked from the White Lion in Virginia in 1619. A Hampton History Museum room replicates the ship’s galley, where slaves were crammed and transported, and showcases 17th century shackles.

Other exhibits at the museum relate the story of Cesar Tarrant, a slave who won his freedom by steering a ship for the Virginia Navy in a two-hour battle in 1777. Another panel explains that African Americans were once integral to the area’s seafood industry.

Under Union occupation, Fort Monroe, built in part with slave labor, offered refuge to runaways. The fort imprisoned Confederate President Jefferson Davis from 1865 to 1867. From his cell’s bed, he had to look at a Union flag, still there today.

An exhibit titled “When the Computer Wore a Skirt,” at NASA’s Langley Visitor Center in Hampton, celebrates the African American women made famous by the recent movie Hidden Figures. Three of the five lived in Hampton, and did some of the math basic to generations of aircraft and manned spacecraft. Another panel honors the World War II Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first African American fliers.

Hampton University opened in 1868 with two teachers and 15 newly emancipated black students. It was founded by Gen. Samuel Armstrong, who was sent by the American Missionary Association to educate blacks. Besides Booker T. Washington, who walked to Hampton from West Virginia, and other notables, the university educated Native Americans from 65 tribes in the late 1800s.

The university’s museum is the oldest African American museum in the U.S., and the only museum in the South open to See VIRGINIA SITES, page 19

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Leisure & Travel

19

Try bargain vacations for smaller crowds

By Miriam Cross Hordes of tourists swarming the world’s most popular destinations can make travel unpleasant. For example, Barcelona and Venice are so crowded that disgruntled residents have staged protests over the influx of visitors.

Governments looking for ways to reduce the crowds in Barcelona and Dubrovnik are considering limiting hotel construction or capping the number of cruise ships that unleash swells of day-trippers.

If your heart is set on viewing Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower or skiing at a chic Colorado resort, the crush of people with the same idea may not deter you. But if you prize a less-crowded experience, consider these alternatives to popular va-

Virginia sites From page 18 African Americans until at least the 1920s. It is the first institution to establish a collection of African American art, started in 1894.

The Emancipation Oak looms near the university’s entrance. Here, in 1863, locals gathered to hear the first Southern reading of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Under its branches, Mary Peake illegally started a school for children of former slaves.

Today, designated by the National Geographic Society as one of the 10 great trees of the world, it sports a canopy over 100 feet in diameter and a trunk at least six feet across. It is a true symbol of survival.

More information on Hampton is available at www.visithampton.com.

In Roanoke, Va. Slave-holding plantations were not as prevalent in southwest Virginia as in other parts of the state, but the history of discrimination, struggle and survival is here too.

Roanoke’s Harrison Museum of AfricanAmerican Culture (www.harrisonmuseum.com) documents how, during segregation, local blacks proudly created their own schools, stores, doctors’ offices and hospitals, especially in the historic Gainsborough neighborhood.

cation spots around the world.

One way to avoid the crowds is to travel during the off-season. But scheduling time off from work or school, and risking rainy and cold weather, aren’t for everyone. So we chose places that are less packed all year round and offer good value even in peak season. Here are two suggestions.

Snowbasin, Utah instead of Vail Colorado has a slew of ski resorts that draw plenty of season pass holders and other visitors, thanks to a variety of terrain, high-quality facilities and plentiful lodging. To spend more time on the slopes and less time shivering in line for the lift, venture further afield.

The facilities at Snowbasin, an hour’s Today, a statue of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. stands tall. A mosaic at the City Market honors African American railroad workers.

Thirty miles away is the Booker T. Washington National Monument, a National Park Service site and formerly the Burroughs tobacco plantation, where Washington was born and freed.

A reconstructed cabin with a dirt floor gives visitors a glimpse of slave life. Here Washington ached for an education, later writing, “to get into a school house and study in this way would be about the same as getting into paradise.”

Park rangers conduct educational programs, and offer 19th-century recipes for neckbones and gravy and Confederate cornbread. Learn more at www.nps.gov/bowa.

Reflecting on his youth, Booker T. Washington offered, “One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.” Perhaps Virginia is gradually getting out of that ditch.

At the same time, in the words of civil rights leader and Georgia Congressman John Lewis, “There’s still a great deal of pain that needs to be healed.”

Learn more about these and many other sites that commemorate black history in Virginia at www.virginia.org/blackhistoryattractions.

drive from the Salt Lake City airport, were revamped for the 2002 Winter Olympics (the resort hosted the downhill, Super G and combined races). But its location is just remote enough to put off the masses.

Trails are suitable for all levels of skiing across more than 3,000 acres, and the terrain is varied, too. “Snowbasin has bits of Utah all in one place, from the rolling mountains of Park City to the steep, rugged terrain of Cottonwood Canyons,” said Evan Reece, CEO of Liftopia, an online seller of lift tickets.

An excursion to the nearby ski resort of Powder Mountain can be tacked on to the same trip. Facilities there are not as fancy as Snowbasin’s, but it has more than 8,464 skiable acres — more than any other resort in the U.S.

You’ll also pay less to schuss down the slopes. A lift ticket for a Saturday in February at Vail recently cost $164 online. For the same date, you could buy a lift ticket for $89 at Snowbasin or $79 at Powder Mountain.

There are condos and rentals near both mountains. But in nearby Ogden, you’ll have your pick of accommodations and apres-ski activities, including indoor skydiving, rock climbing and stand-up comedy.

Public buses connect both Snowbasin and Powder Mountain with several stops in Ogden ($7.20 for a 24-hour pass). The bus ride takes about 45 minutes each way.

See BARGAIN VACATIONS, page 20

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From page 19

Lima, Peru instead of Barcelona Fans of architect Antoni Gaudi may settle for nothing less than a trip to Barcelona, where his sculptural buildings and towering Sagrada Familia Church enliven the city.

Barcelona also features dozens of museums, Catalan cooking, a thriving nightlife and sandy beaches.

But you will be far from alone: The city hosts more than 30 million visitors each year.

If you simply want to spend a few days reveling in art, architecture and cuisine in a lively city, head south to Lima, Peru, instead.

(You’ll also avoid the Catalonia turmoil in Barcelona.)

The old colonial town of Lima comes to life in its historic center, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can tour the catacombs at the San Francisco Church and

Convent for $3, or watch the changing of the guard outside Government Palace, the former residence of Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish explorer and founder of Lima.

Or explore Huaca Pucllana, 1,500-year-old ruins that rise up in the upscale Miraflores district. On the artsy side, pre-Columbian objects and textiles are on display at the Lima Art Museum and the Larco Museum.

We found flights from the Washington area in May in the $500s, or in the $600s later in the summer (which is Lima’s mild winter).

Four-star hotels averaged $138 a night in the summer of 2017, compared with $233 in Barcelona, according to rates from Expedia. Rooms at Hotel Dazzler, in the Miraflores district, recently started at a discounted rate of $132 per night for July 2018 if booked online 60 days in advance. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

PHOTO BY SKREIDZELEU

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Lima, Peru’s central square is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is currently summer in this Southern Hemisphere City.

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Feb. 28

Feb. 22

BASEBALL & BLACK HISTORY

HONORING AFRICAN ANCESTORS

Join Dr. Raymond Doswell, vice president of curatorial services at

Join Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project repre-

the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, as he introduces African

sentatives along with Lou Fields from the Baltimore National

American history through the lens of baseball — from the end of the Civil War

Council on Tourism, to discuss their work commemorating the lives of the nearly

through the beginning of the civil rights movement. The event is hosted by the

12 million Africans who were victims of the transatlantic human trade in

Seven Oaks Senior Center, located at 9210 Seven Courts Dr., and will take place

Maryland and other states. The event is free and will take place on Thursday,

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

Say you saw it in the Beacon

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21

Arts &

A play about Baltimore’s artcollecting Cone sisters has its world premiere. See review on page 23.

Spotlight on Russian crafts, Fabergé eggs nasty, the arts flourished, thanks in large part to the patronage of the royal family.

Exquisite miniature worlds

Fabergé's Gatchina Palace Egg, decorated with gold, silver, diamonds, crystals and seed pearls, is one of two ornate eggs on display at the Walters Art Museum together with other examples of Russian crafts. Tsar Nicholas II presented the egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901.

pale green, with a lattice of diamonds decorated with opaque enameled light and dark pink roses and emerald green leaves.

The egg originally contained a diamond necklace and an ivory miniature portrait of the young boy framed in diamonds (the See FABERGÉ, page 22

THE WALTERS ART MUSEUM

In 1885, the House of Fabergé created the first of 50 increasingly intricate jeweled and enameled Imperial Easter eggs for the Russian Imperial Family. Forty-three of the eggs survive.

Ten eggs were produced from 1885 to 1893, during the reign of Emperor Alexander III; 40 more were created during the rule of his son, Nicholas II, two each year, one for his mother, the second for his wife.

The series began when Emperor Alexander III commissioned an Easter egg from Fabergé as an Easter present for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. Initially planned

by Fabergé to contain a diamond ring, the actual finished version, following specific instructions of the Emperor, included a ruby pendant of great value.

The Walters exhibition features the Gatchina Palace Egg and the Rose Trellis Egg. Tsar Nicholas II presented the Gatchina Palace Egg to his mother, the dowager empress Marie Fedorovna, on Easter 1901.

When the egg is opened, it reveals a minia-

ture gold replica of the palace at Gatchina, which served as the winter residence for Tsar Nicholas’s parents.

The egg is made of gold, opalescent white enamel, opaque red, yellow and green enamel, diamonds and pearls.

Following the Russian Revolution, the egg was bought in 1920 by art dealer Alexander Polovtsov in Paris, and in 1930 was purchased by Henry Walters, and first exhibited at the Walters Museum in 1936.

That was not Walters’ first experience with Fabergé however; he had been one of the first Americans to shop at the newly opened Fabergé store in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1900.

The Rose Trellis Egg was presented to Tsar Nicholas’s wife in 1907 to commemorate the birth of their son three years earlier. The egg is enameled in a transparent

PHOTO COURTESY OF

By Carol Sorgen Chalk it up to my Russian heritage, but I’ve long been fascinated by Russian crafts, and by Fabergé eggs, in particular. So the current exhibition at the Walters Art Museum, “Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition: An Empire’s Legacy,” was right up my alley. But you don’t have to have a Russian grandmother to appreciate this exquisite display.

Fabergé eggs are renowned for their beauty and complexity. They were designed by Peter Carl Fabergé, jeweler and goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court, and were fabricated by his team of craftsmen. (Fabergé was founded in St. Petersburg in 1842, and didn’t open a Paris location until 1924.)

The Walters exhibition includes two of these eggs, as well as more than 70 objects that are representative of the technical sophistication and artistry of Russian crafts — including gold and silver drinking vessels, intricate enamels, carved stones, breathtaking jewelry and 14th century icons.

The exhibition places the objects in both an historical and artistic context. During the three centuries of Russia’s Romanov dy-

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Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Jewelry From page 1 year-old independent, confident women who like to make a statement with their style. Her pieces are made from oxidized silver and gold, with natural surface stones such as druzes — tiny quartz crystals that form within or on the surface of other stones.

“The stones tell me what the design will be,” said Gottlieb. Her collections reflect the various themes the materials lead her to create, such as the Astro Collection — inspired by the beautiful crystals in the astrophyllite stone — and the Desert Rose Collection — inspired by desert rose, a variety of the mineral gypsum.

Gottlieb will be among more than 650 artists showcasing their work at the American Craft Show, along with fellow Baltimorean, good friend and jewelry designer Shana Kroiz.

Crafting wearable art Unlike Gottlieb, Kroiz never deviated from her path as an artist. The Baltimore

Fabergé From page 21 necklace and portrait are now lost). The Rose Trellis Egg was also purchased by Alexander Polovtsov and subsequently sold to Henry Walters. In total, Walters ac-

native, who is 50 and lives in Mount Washington, attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, New York’s Parsons School of Design (from which she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in metals), and Towson University, where she earned an MFA. She is the previous founder and director of the MICA Jewelry Center, and was the director of the 92nd Street Y’s Jewelry Center in New York City. Now, she also teaches at the Baltimore Jewelry Center.

Kroiz said she loves the technical aspect of making jewelry as well as the ability to wear what you’ve made. Known for her colorful enamel work, Kroiz describes her jewelry as “sensuous,” echoing the human figure. She is also inspired by aquatic themes.

Kroiz acknowledges that selling jewelry these days is not without its challenges.

“The craft circuit is changing, as artists are aging or retiring,” she explained. And the rise of Internet sales requires artists like Kroiz and Gottlieb to be experts not only in their craft, but in such skills as social media and blogging.

quired at least 80 Russian objets d’art from Polovtsov.

The Walters exhibition is drawn from the Museum’s collection of Russian decorative arts and historical documents, and includes a letter from Catherine the Great to the King of Prussia, Frederick William

MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

“Expectations are higher,” said Kroiz.

“Customers want us to provide the same services they would find in a store, from packaging to marketing to photography.

“You have to wear a lot of hats these days,” Kroiz continued. “I live my life as an artist, but I also have a smooth machine to present myself and keep the business end going.”

Interestingly, Kroiz notes that most of her clientele comes from Florida, where women tend to “dress up” more and wear “bolder” pieces of jewelry.

But Kroiz has no intention of leaving Baltimore even though there are other cities, like New York or Los Angeles, where fashion is more a part of everyday life. “I have a beautiful lifestyle here,” she said.

Locally, Kroiz is represented at Rebecca Myers Design, online at ArtfulJeweler.com and ArtfulHome.com, in galleries in New York and Maine, and on her own website, ShanaKroizJewelry.com.

Attending the craft show Though they both live in the area, Kroiz

III, in 1786; a haunting portrait and diamond necklace of the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, all of whom were killed during the Revolution; and carved stone animals, inspired by miniature Japanese netsuke, that are representative of Russia’s long craft tradition of working with hardstones sourced in the Ural Mountains.

Digital eggs

Apartments now available for those wanting to enjoy life and all it has to offer!

Running concurrently with “Fabergé and the Russian Crafts Tradition,” is “After Fabergé,” an exhibition of five digital prints by artist Jonathan Monaghan.

His large-scale digital prints of the eggs combine the fine detail of the original masterworks with elements of contemporary culture. The gold, enamel and diamonds, for example, are replaced with the furnishings and technological gadgets familiar to visitors today.

“I place every detail, and determine the

and Gottlieb are happy they will be connecting at the American Craft Show.

“There’s a whole ‘show family’ that we look forward to seeing every year, including each other,” said Gottleib. “We all go out to dinner together, and we commiserate or rejoice together, depending on how the day has gone.”

The American Craft Show will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center, One West Street, on Friday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 25, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

On-site admission is $16 for a one-day pass, and $36 for a three-day pass. Advance tickets cost $14 for a one-day pass, and $34 for a three-day pass. On Friday night after 5 p.m., tickets for the rest of that evening can be purchased for $5 on site.

Guests can purchase passes online at www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore. Such tickets may be printed and brought to the door. You can visit Lori Gottlieb at Booth 416 and Shana Kroiz at Booth 312.

surface texture and the lighting, only instead of using gold and inlay, I am using pixels,” said Monaghan. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Monaghan was a semifinalist for the 2016 Sondheim Prize, has had work screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and has been featured in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Village Voice.

Monaghan recalled his first visit to the Walters Art Museum. “After I arrived at the University of Maryland for graduate school, the first place I went to was the Walters. I saw the Fabergé eggs and I was blown away by the level of craft and detail; they take on an almost otherworldly presence,” Monaghan said.

Both exhibitions run through June 24.

Admission to the museum is free. The Walters Art Museum is located at 600 N. Charles St., north of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. For general museum information, call (410) 547-9000 or visit www.thewalters.org.

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23

World premiere focuses on Cone sisters The museum’s Cone Wing houses more than 3,000 works by Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin and others, whose total value today has been estimated at $1 billion. There are 500 works by Matisse alone — the largest museum collection of the Post-Impressionist master’s artistic output anywhere.

Stein, Matisse and more Along with the sisters, we meet on stage their great friends: sister and brother Gertrude and Leo Stein; Henri Matisse, who was their artistic soul brother; Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude’s longest lasting love, and Matisse’s “Blue Nude” painting, which comes alive in a frame on the wall.

A lot of the play involves the word play (and love play) between Etta and Gertrude, whose flirtations may, or may not, have gotten down to bodily passion.

A snippet of their conversation: Gertrude: “Language cannot capture truth. What we experience in the subconscious mind doesn’t occur in words.”

Etta: “Well, I can’t say what I’m feeling.”

Gertrude: “If you say it, it already isn’t.

Words can only say what that was or almost is.”

Get it? Got it? Good.

Director Joseph W. Ritsch moves the characters, as well as the dialogue and non-action action, along at a professional pace, so there are no really dull moments in this heavily dialogued play.

Nuanced performances Etta, the seemingly submissive but inwardly fierce and longer-lasting driving force behind the sisters’ collection, is the play’s protagonist. You sense in Grace See CONE SISTERS, page 25

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By Robert Friedman What’s it all about — art, literature, love, life?

Those are questions the play All She Must Possess attempts to explore to varying degrees in Baltimore playwright Susan McCully’s meta-theater premiere, being presented

by Rep Stage at Howard Community College.

The 80-minute, one-act play doesn’t just break the “fourth wall,” it tears it down completely. Here, “the Writer” and her characters talk about lots of metaphysical things, not least how to present on stage the ultimate nature of art and people in the “modern age” dawning at the turn of the 20th Century.

They discuss, for example, whether expressionism and Cubism, the traditionbreaking art movements of the time, should be presented using the typical theatrical realism, or rather via an impressionistic method more in keeping with the theme?

The play-within-the-philosophy-of-theplay involves the Cone sisters of Baltimore, Etta (1870-1949) and Claribel (18641929), daughters of German-Jewish immigrants who settled in Baltimore in the 1870s, and whose family’s textile business made them part of a thriving Jewish community in the city at the time.

The two spinster sisters lived most of their wealthy lives in Baltimore, while going on many trips to Europe (Paris in particular), in their extensive efforts to collect modern art. They were able to afford the trips thanks to their annual inherited income of $2,400 each — considerable spending money back then.

The experts of the time considered the “degenerate” works of art purchased by the sisters to be worthless. But they now make up the world-renowned modern French collection at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Valerie Leonard (right) portrays Gertrude Stein and Grace Bauer plays Etta Cone in a world premiere play about the Cone sisters, whose vast collection of modern art now fills a wing of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Leonard also plays the role of Etta’s sister Claribel in the play, All She Must Possess.

24

Arts & Style | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

It’s alive! Young Frankenstein at Toby’s

As with any Toby’s show, the cast makes excellent use of the small theater-in-theround experience. Shankle really nails the quirky, high energy of Frederick Frankenstein’s character, and the role is a showcase for his vocal ability and impressive range. His first number, “The Brain,” features goofy Mel Brooks lyrics with a Gilbert and Sullivan-esque flair.

But the best male performance of the night was by David James, who plays Frankenstein’s hilarious hunchbacked henchman, Igor. He gets all the best oneliners, and is especially funny when he meets Frederick for the first time with the show stopping number “Together Again.”

The first act also introduces us to three strong leading ladies. Elizabeth, played with much-needed over-the-top drama and sass

by Alicia Osborn, is Frederick’s tease of a fiancé, and she makes it known with the number “Don’t Touch Me.” She does a complete 180 by Act Two with “Deep Love,” which offers an even better showcase of her big vo-

brings to life is played by Christopher Kabara, given some extra height with a little

See FRANKENSTEIN, page 25

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Cast of characters

cals (and hair!).

The second lady we meet is the absolute gem Tringali as Louisa Frankenstein’s innuendoloving assistant Inga. She’s a bright light, from her big notes to her impressive yodeling skills in “Roll in the Hay.” Soon after meeting Inga, Dr. Frankenstein is introduced to his housekeeper, the intimidating Frau Blücher (cue the spooked In the campy musical Young Frankenstein, now at horses!), who was once inti- Toby’s, Jeffrey Shankle’s young Dr. Frankenstein, his mate with Frankenstein’s henchman Igor (David James) and assistant Inga (Louisa Trinfalli) try to convince the townsfolk that the monster grandfather. We find this they created is actually a “man about town” in the numout in the smash number ber “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Christopher Kabara, as the “He Vas My Boyfriend,” monster, looms behind, goofy grin and dance moves during which actress Tess ever present.

Rohan had the audience clutching their sides with laughter. It’s one of help from some platform shoes. Without giving too much away, suffice it to say the monthe best numbers in the first act. ster ultimately proves to the villagers that Eventually the villagers, led by Inspector he’s no longer a menace and should be acKemp (an under-utilized but very good David Bosley-Reynolds), catch onto the funny busi- cepted, and we’re treated to some hilarious ness happening in the Frankenstein castle dance moves during “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

The show moves quickly, barely stopand are understandably concerned. ping for breath, and it’s completely campy The menacing monster that the doctor

ts o N rac nt Co

B Bu igg tt er on s

ther’s gruesome history in the past.

He’s called to the old town to settle his grandfather’s estate, and while there is successfully tempted to “Join the Family Business” by the spirit of Victor in a phenomenal number by actor Justin Calhoun.

PHOTO BY JERI TIDWELL PHOTOGRAPHY

By Rebekah Alcalde Prepare for some wild, thoroughly irreverent fun at Toby’s Dinner Theatre with the current show Young Frankenstein, the musical based on Mel Brooks’ hit cult/comedy film from 1974. The musical version was created much more recently, in 2007, but it’s definitely true to the original movie — not surprising since the music and lyrics are also by Brooks himself.

Coming on the heels of Toby’s traditional, family-friendly holiday show, Miracle on 34th Street, Young Frankenstein is decidedly not kid-friendly. So to enjoy this boisterous, suggestive and hilarious musical, leave the grandkids at home.

In case you’re not familiar with the film, Young Frankenstein is an affectionate parody of the classic 1931 horror film Frankenstein and of the horror genre in general.

The musical version opens in Transylvania, where the townsfolk rejoice at the funeral of Dr. Victor von Frankenstein, the famed mad scientist who haunted the town by making a monster from the remains of deceased people.

Unfortunately for them, there’s one Frankenstein left alive — a Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (played wonderfully by funnyman Jeffrey Shankle). He’s a lecturing professor at a top New York medical school who wants to leave his grandfa-

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Cone sisters From page 23 Bauer’s performance Etta’s true grit behind her outward reticence.

Valerie Leonard plays both Claribel Cone — the elder, outwardly surer, somewhat snooty and snotty elder sister — and Gertrude Stein. Leonard is an actress and a half in both roles.

The statuesque Leonard may seem an odd choice to play the much shorter, more rotund Stein, judging from portraits and pictures. But in theatrically expressionist terms, Leonard captures Stein.

Keri Eastridge is just right as The Writer,

Frankenstein From page 24 and entertaining.

Show details Young Frankenstein continues through Sunday, March 11 at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, located at 5900 Symphony Woods Rd. in Columbia, Md. The show runs seven days a week with evening and matinee performances. Doors open at 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, for dinner prior to the evening performances, which begin at 8 p.m.

On Sunday evenings, doors open at 5 p.m. for dinner, followed by the performance at 7 p.m. For the Wednesday and Sunday matinees, doors open for brunch at 10:30 a.m., with shows beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Reservations are required. Ticket prices range from $45.50 (for children under 12) to $64, depending on the performance.

by turns cowed then insistent, as she interacts with her characters, who constantly argue with her about who and what they are (and aren’t) and will or won’t be for her when the curtain goes up on the curtain-less stage.

Nigel Reed, the one male actor in the cast, does his Frenchified best to portray a nice-guy Matisse and to convey brother Leo Stein’s take on beauty and art.

The not-so-sweet Alice B. Toklas is performed with fine faux innocence by Teresa Castracane, who also gets to speak as Matisse’s originally controversial “Blue Nude.” From her frame on the wall, she gives Etta lessons on what Etta and great art mean to each other.

Ticket prices include an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner or brunch, tea and coffee. Specialty alcoholic drinks — like this show’s tequila-drenched mango margarita, named “Abby Normal” — are priced separately.

Our buffet meal was quite good, featuring a selection of meats and sides (including helpfully marked vegetarian and gluten-free options), including prime rib, roast turkey, fried fish, cocktail shrimp, a variety of vegetables, salad bar and more.

Cake and unlimited ice cream are also included. You can also arrange to have coffee or alcohol brought to you during intermission.

At Toby’s, the show’s actors also wait on tables. Their tips constitute much of their pay for their performances, so be sure to tip well. They definitely work for it with this show!

For more information or to reserve tickets, call (410) 730-8311 or visit www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.

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Thank you for reading!

There’s also a lot of projection on the initially bare walls — from huge Matisse works to typewritten letters (when Etta offers to type up Gertrude’s literary breakthrough scribblings). Credit the projection action to Sarah Tundermann. Julie A. Potter designed the costumes, most appropriate for the times.

All She Must Possess offers ample rewards for a playgoer who is all ears, and puts their mind squarely on what’s going on up on the stage.

The play runs through Feb. 25 in the Studio Theatre of the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, located on the campus of Howard Community College at

10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, in Columbia. There will be a post-show discussion on Feb. 23. Rep Stage will also hold a preshow lecture prior to the 2 p.m. performance on February 24.

Tickets are $40 for general admission, $35 for patrons 60+ and the military, and $15 for students with a current ID. The Feb. 22 performance is $10. For tickets and additional information, visit www.repstage.org, or call the box office at (443) 518-1500.

There is also an exhibit of women’s clothing from the era of the Cone sisters at the Rouse Company Foundation Gallery, on the main floor of the Horowitz Center.

ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

FROM PAGE 26 ANSWERS TO SCRABBLE

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U A S N T H I M E R A T R G U I U N E A R O E S W X T B C U I S T T O E M

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MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON

More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Crossword Puzzle Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus A Crossword as Lovely 1

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Across 1. Actress/model Rene 6. Drink mixers at Barcelona bars 11. Health resort 14. “___ the fat lady sings” 15. Extra inning 16. Start of a TERRIBLE crossword clue 17. Start of Arbor Day advice 19. Tech school in Troy, NY 20. Gluttony or sloth 21. Vegetable soup ingredient 22. Chocolate baron buried at Hershey Cemetery in 1956 24. Advice, part 2 29. Reach the moon 30. Unpleasant type of trip 31. Undersea menace at Dunkirk 34. Rev the engines 35. Container for 7 Up or Coke Zero 38. Advice, part 3 43. Blockhead 44. “___ not a crook” 45. Controlled a canoe 46. Ben & Jerry flavor: Karamel ___ 49. Letters clockwise around a weathervane 51. Advice, part 4 56. Come to the same conclusion 57. Largest coll. in Richmond 58. Work done by one dyne for one cm 60. Gender-neutral ending for gentor miss61. Advice, part 5 66. Fail to tell the whole truth 67. “Ain’t”, corrected 68. Going out live 69. Exceeder of Mach 1 70. “Not in the biblical ___” 71. Thomas Edison’s Park

Down 1. Dead-end jobs 2. Like many Nolan Ryan fastballs 3. “Shorthand transcriber”, shortly

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4. Bro or sis 5. Futbol chant 6. Show up for class 7. Insinuate 8. Start of a brief cycle 9. It helps you check in or cash out 10. Terri’s twin sister, on The Simpsons 11. Trolley 12. Cola, which once touted “Twice as much for a nickel” 13. One born on April Fool’s Day 18. Cross the river 23. Paragon of slipperiness 25. Parcel of land 26. After the scheduled time 27. Chills and fever 28. Common sushi ingredient 31. Men in Black craft 32. Abbrev. often used for airports in Baghdad, Bangkok, and Belfast 33. Parking option 34. Place to perform pilates 36. Count of rings on a tree trunk 37. Give silent approval 39. Gaelic name for Ireland 40. Indian bread 41. Seating area, second closest to the stage 42. Playing with a full deck 47. Salt Lake City athlete 48. Sorority letters 49. Stir up emotions 50. Good name for short order cooks 51. Get-out-of-jail fees 52. Unattractive citrus fruits 53. Roman M, C, and X (but not V) 54. Family car 55. Hansel and Gretel’s path back home 59. Greek sandwich 62. Intense anger 63. YMCA members 64. Actor Hanks or Selleck 65. “___ of these days...”

Answers on page 25.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2018

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/ Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box on the right.

CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either.

Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment.

EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Financial INCOME TAX PREP in Middle River. Federal and State returns electronically filed from $60.

Call John, CPA, 410-245-3912, for appointment.

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate ROOMS FOR RENT — CENTRAL LOCATION near bus stops, schools and shopping.

Reasonably priced, furnished, all utilities included. For more information, 410-908-3519.

West Baltimore Location.

PROPERTY WANTED: Estate, residential commercial. Any property. Any condition. Get cash for your property fast, skip repairs and pay no closing costs. There are options that will get you moving forward. Stop stressing and let’s find a solution that works! 410-322-4325.

For Sale TWO SIDE-BY-SIDE CRYPTS in Cloisters Mausoleum at Dulaney Valley Gardens. Retail value $15,000. Sell for $8,000. 410-870-1442 or best offer.

TWO SIDE-BY-SIDE PLOTS in Gardens of Faith Cemetery, Way of the Cross. Asking $4,900 for both. Call 410-459-1819.

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED Deadlines and Payments: Ad text and payment is due by the 5th of each month.

Note: Only ads received and prepaid by the deadline will be included in the next month’s issue. Please type or print your ad carefully. Include a number where you can be reached in the event of a question. Payment is due with ad. We do not accept ads by phone or fax, nor do we accept credit cards.

Private Party Text Ads: For individuals seeking to buy or sell particular items, or place a personal ad. Each ad is $10 for 25 words, 25 cents for each additional word.

Business Text Ads: For parties engaged in an ongoing business enterprise. Each ad is $25 for 25 words, 50 cents for each additional word.

Note: Each real estate listing counts as one business text ad.

Send your classified ad with check or money order, payable to the Beacon, to:

The Beacon, Baltimore Classified Dept.

P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915-2227 Health

Legal Services

DENTAL INSURANCE. Call Physicians Mutual Insurance Company for details. Not just a discount plan, real coverage for 350 procedures. 844-3661003 or http://www.dental50plus.com/320 Ad# 6118.

WERE YOU AN INDUSTRIAL OR CONSTRUCTION TRADESMAN and recently diagnosed with lung cancer? You and your family may be entitled to a significant cash reward.

Call 1-888-351-0312 for your risk free consultation.

LAKEVIEW MEMORIAL PARK: 2 LOTS and 2 vaults. Value $8,100. Asking $7,600. Call 410-882-2926.

Home/Handyman Services

Business & Employment Opportunities

2 CEMETERY LOTS, SIDE-BY-SIDE, Meadowridge, paid $6,000, asking $2,500 for one, $4,000 for both. 443-250-6697.

CREATIVE CUTS BY CIDNEY NOW HIRING — Barber Stylist, master barbers, braiders (licensed). With some clientele, full and parttime positions available. Booth rent starting at $100 weekly. Health package, 1 week paid vacation per year. Serious inquiries only please. Licensed professionals, call 410-908-3519. West Baltimore Location.

2 SALVADOR DALI woodblock prints from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Signed and framed.

Asking $900 for the pair. Can email pictures if desired. Call Steve, 410-913-1653.

T’S HAULING & MOVING — I will move your possessions or haul them away. Don’t pay hefty delivery fees. Call Tim, 410-889-3795 or 443-690-6525. Senior and military discounts. www.tshaulingandmoving.com. Like us on Facebook.

Caregivers CAREGIVER, 24 YEARS EXPERIENCE. I am looking for a caregiving job in your home, private care for your loved ones. Please call Mary, 443-987-6191 or 432-232-2787. Reasonable rates!

Financial DONATE YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR BOAT to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3-Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. CALL 1-844-855-7670.

GOT AN OLDER CAR, VAN OR SUV? Do the humane thing. Donate it to the Humane Society. Call 1-844-230-2952.

Health PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR — May Be Covered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and long-lasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 855-851-0949.

PRESENT THIS TO YOUR PHARMACIST and save up to 90% or more on your prescriptions. Member ID: Enter Patient’s Phone Number. RxGROUP: NCR7241.

RxBIN: 610568. PCN: DRX. This is not insurance, it’s free! Your information is never disclosed to any third parties or used for solicitation, unlike any other card, we are HIPAA Compliant.

STOP OVERPAYING for your prescriptions!

SAVE! Call our licensed Canadian and International pharmacy, compare prices and get $25.00 OFF your first prescription! CALL 1-888-9817657 Promo Code CDC201725.

BORN AGAIN REFINISHING c/o Vernon E. Madairy Sr. Because your antique and fine furniture is an investment. Photographs at www.bornagainrefinishing.com. Furniture refinishing & repairs. All pieces hand stripped.

Restorations. Missing pieces hand-carved. Veneer repair and replaced. Upholstery. Kitchen cabinets refinished. Hand-woven natural cane.

Cane webbing. Natural rush. Fiber rush. Wood splint. Residential and commercial. Since 1973 (43 years). 410-323-0467.

RESIDENTIAL PAINTING: RETIRED PAINTER seeking residential, light commercial work in Baltimore area. Call Mark at 443324-0091. Good work at good prices.

Miscellaneous PHOTOSHOOT: SEEKING FOUR FEMALES for Australian Outback Magazine. Age and size not important (w/ daughters acceptable). Fee will be paid to those accepted. Plus a bonus. Magazine will make final decision. Send resume w/ photo and phone number to Mr. Carter, 9 Ruxview Ct., Towson, MD 21204 or call for info to 410-370-8512.

ENJOY 100% GUARANTEED, DELIVERED to-the-door Omaha Steaks! Save 75% plus get 4 more Burgers & 4 more Kielbasa FREE! Order The Family Gourmet Buffet — ONLY $49.99. Call 1-844-302-3754, mention code 51689JCT or visit www.omahasteaks.com.

TV/Cable DIRECTV. CALL AND SWITCH NOW — Get NFL Sunday Ticket for FREE! Every Game.

Every Sunday. CHOICE- All-Included Package.

Over 185 Channels. $60/month (for 12 Months.)

CALL 1- 888-572-4953.

Legal Services SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Up to $2,671/mo. (Based on paid-in amount.) Free evaluation! Call Bill Gordon & Associates. 1866-970-0779. Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington, D.C. Office: Broward Co. FL., member TX/NM Bar.

Classifieds continued on page 25.

ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE Clinical Research Studies

Housing

Medical/Health

Subscriptions

COPD Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Vitamin D STURDY Study . . .11

Aigburth Vale Senior Community . . . . . . . . .7 Alta at Regency Crest . . . . . . .15 Charlestown/Erickson . . . . . . .1 Christ Church Harbor Apts. . .23 Linden Park Apts. . . . . . . . . . .22 Oak Crest/Erickson . . . . . . . . . .1 Park View Apartments . . . . . .16 St. Marys Roland View Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Virginia Towers . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Woodholme Gardens . . . . . . . .23

Clarity & Comfort Hearing . . . .9 FIT! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 MedStar Good Samaritan . . . . .6 MedStar House Call Program . .9 Rosenblatt Foot Care . . . . . . . .10 Skin Cancer EB . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Steady Strides Fall Prevention .5

Beacon Subscription . . . . . . . .25

Dental Services Denture Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Diamond Dental . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Education CCBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Events Celebration of the Arts . . . . . . .3

Financial Services d.a. Hawkins Insurance . . . . . .15

Home Health Care Baltimore City Senior Companion Program . . . . . .10 Options for Senior America . .18

Legal Services Angels of Elder Care Planning 14 Frank, Frank & Scherr Law Firm . . . . . . . . .15

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Shopping Jitterbug Flip Cell Phone . . . .24 Perfect Sleep Chair . . . . . . . . .13 Radio Flea Market . . . . . . . . . .22 Wow! Computer . . . . . . . . . . .20

Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Keswick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Manor Care Health Services . .12

Technology TechMedic4U . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 TheBeaconNewspapers.com . .28

Theatres/ Entertainment Chesapeake Shakespeare Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Toby’s Dinner Theatre . . . . . . .21

Travel Eyre Bus, Tour & Travel . . . . .19 Festive Holidays . . . . . . . . . . .19 Nexus Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Superior Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

28 More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

MARCH 2018 — BALTIMORE BEACON