August 2015
Volume 3 • Issue 8
Fall festivals around the corner
Audubon Society celebrates 50 years
Anita’s Mobile Barbering caters to homebound
DON’T MISS IT Aug. 25-29 Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo bentonfranklin fair.com
Medicare: Keeping us healthy for fifty years
By Doug Shadel and John Hammarlund for Senior Times Fifty years ago, on July 30, 1965, the landscape of health care in America changed forever when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation giving life to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. As we commemorate Medicare’s 50th Anniversary, we celebrate the legacy of the program and commit ourselves to keep it strong for current and future generations. What is Medicare’s legacy? Before 1965, roughly half of all seniors were uninsured. That meant if a person became ill they risked not only the loss of their health, but what little savings they may have had — not to mention their dignity. Although Social Security had been in effect for almost 30 years, nearly one of every three older Americans was still living in poverty. Today, 50 years on, Medicare provides guaranteed, affordable coverage for roughly 46 million Americans who are 65 and older and about 11 million people with disabilities. The program has transformed the lives of millions by helping them pay for vital health care services including hospitalizations, physician visits, prescription drugs, and preventive services. Along with Medicaid, Medicare provides Americans with access to the quality and affordable health care they need to live happy, healthy and productive lives. Over the course of five decades, Medicare and Medicaid have become the standard bearers for coverage, quality and innovation in American health care. Medicare remains a vital pillar of support for older Americans and those with disabilities — and will likely remain so for as long as illness and injury overtake human beings. uMEDICARE, Page 6
Retiree Jack Collins of Richland displayed and sold his colorful fused glass bowls and plates and Art in the Park in Richland in July.
Richland artist makes homes more colorful with fused glass art
By Loretto J. Hulse Richland fused glass artist Jack Collins is fascinated by color. He’s also pragmatic about the fragile medium he works in. “Glass breaks — that’s a fact,” he said. “I really admire artists who can paint or take a photograph that’s truly beautiful. Me, I can’t draw a straight line. But give me glass and I can make something that I consider beautiful and I hope others do too.” Collins has worked with glass for 38 years. He started with stained glass and switched to kiln-fused glass a few years later. Fused glass is heated in a kiln until the multiple pieces of colored glass melt together. “Fused glass is easier than stained
glass — the pieces don’t have to fit together as exactly,” he said. Collins learned to work with glass by taking classes at Northwest Art Glass in Seattle and from Liz Klute of Richland, who owns American Art Glass Inc. “I also bought every book I could find about working with glass,” he added. “Then it was just a matter of trial and error before I learned what works — what doesn’t,” he said. He learned a lot through his errors, he said. In 1994, after taking an early retirement from the Department of Energy, Collins said he became a garage sale junkie. It was on one of his circuits that Collins found a small kiln at a garage sale. uART, Page 2
Tumbleweed Music Festival is three days of lively fun and entertainment By Audra Distifeno for Senior Times The 18th Annual Tumbleweed Music Festival, “Changing Times,” will take the Tri-Cities by storm with five outdoor stages, an open mic, indoor dance stage, 36 free workshops and more when it kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4. And if last year’s numbers hold true, about 4,000 area residents will converge daily on Howard Amon Park in Richland over Labor Day Weekend for the popular music festival. “My husband and I have attended almost every one of the Tumbleweed festivals, as well as many of the Three Rivers Folklife Society concerts and
events,” said Terry Andre, volunteer. “We enjoy the diversity of the acoustic music, as well as the opportunity to meet local, regional and national musicians. We have been volunteering for the past 4 years.” The event began in 1997 as an outreach of the Three River Folk Life Society to bring more acoustic music to the TriCities and fill a vacuum left by the demise of the Sunfest festival. “The organizers had attended many festivals and realized the Tri-Cities could offer a wonderful venue to bring together musicians and the public,” Andre said. uTUMBLEWEED, Page 12
PLEASE DELIVER TO CURRENT OCCUPANT Senior Times 8919 W. Grandridge Blvd., Ste. A1 Kennewick, WA 99336
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PASCO, WA PERMIT NO. 8778