Prime Times Newsletter
March 2024
Newsletter for
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Upcoming Events
Senior Cardmaking w/Angela Smith
Tuesday, March 5th @ 1 PM
Senior Bingo with The Canton Regency
Thursday, March 7th @ 12:15 PM
Senior Lunch & Learn: Northeast Ohio’s Total Solar Elcipse
Friday, March 8th @ 12:15 PM
Senior Lunch & Learn: Memory Loss
What’s Normal and What’s Not
Tuesday, March 12th @ 12:15 PM
Senior St. Patrick’s Day Pot of Gold Social
Wednesday, March 13th @ 1 PM
Senior Sip & Paint
Friday, March 15th @ 1 PM
Senior Wool Needlefelting
Tuesday, March 19th @ 1 PM
Senior Easter Social & Egg Hunt
Friday, March 22nd @ 1 PM
Senior Lunch Outing: Walthers Twin Tavern
Tuesday, March 26th @ 11:30 AM
Senior Easter Egg Painting
Thursday, March 28th
@ 1 PM
March has quietly rolled in. According to the old saying does that mean it will exit with authority? In like a lamb out like a lion. The weather here in Ohio is a roller coaster as always but I'm hopeful Spring is on it’s way! My youngest son was playing outside with a friend the other day and came bursting in the house yelling “Mom you have to come see this...come on...you have to see this!”. As a mom of boys I was afraid of what I was about to see. My son dragged me across the yard and suddenly stopped and asked me if I see it. I soon realized his excitement was to show me the flowers that had just poked their colorful petals out of the dead yard! “Spring is coming Mom!” he shouted and ran off to jump on the trampoline with his good buddy! So, hang in there, the dreariness of winter is on it’s way out and the beauty of Spring will be upon us once more! March is jam packed here at Lake Community YMCA! We have lots of fun in store! I hope to see you at an event or three! May you have a colorful March filled with good health and happiness!
Coming Soon: April:
4/5 Wreath Making with Sherry
4/16 Senior Lunch & Learn: “Marjorie Post" w/ Lori Noebe
4/18 Senior Bingo
3/12 Senior Lunch & Learn: “Memory Loss: Normal or Not Normal”
4/23 Senior Lunch & Learn: The Gardens of the White House
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2024 Eclipse in Hartville
It’s a Total Eclipse of the HARTville! Hartville and surrounding Lake Township are lucky to be in the path of totality for the 2024 Solar Eclipse.
Date: Monday, April 8th 2024
Duration: Approximately 2pm-4:30pm, with totality around 3:15pm
Eclipse Viewing Locations & Activities
Hartville Market Place & Flea Market:
Total Eclipse of the Hart(ville) Viewing Party {more info}
Join the viewing party at Hartville MarketPlace & Flea Market! DJ, kid activities, and more are planned. A special viewing area will be set up for those that register. The first 500 groups to register get eclipse glasses (2 pair per household) and special Hartville coupons. All registrants will be entered into the Summer Fun in Hartville giveaway, which includes a one-night stay at Comfort Suites Hartville, along with a brimming gift basket and gift cards.
Make it a whole weekend with the Home & Garden Sale & Expo at Hartville Hardware on April 6th and an after eclipse concert at Hartville Kitchen. Get tickets to be awed by the ring of fire again at The Ultimate Tribute to Johnny Cash performed by Terry Lee Goffee.
Maize Valley
Quail Hollow Park
Pegasus Farm
Viewing Glasses
Eclipse glasses are available for sale at:
– Hartville Hardware
– Shops at Hartville Kitchen
– Pegasus Farm Country Store
-Lake Library will be distributing eclipse glasses. Details coming soon.
Travel Tips & What to Bring
Get your viewing filters (ie eclipse glasses) before the event. Bring along a kitchen colandar as an alternative way to indirectly look at the eclipse. Here’s a fun activity for kids to make and add extra sun protection to their eclipse glasses.
April weather can a mixed bag. Remember to pack gloves, layers, and sunscreen. Check current weather conditions.
What else to bring? Folding chairs or lawn blankets. Have kiddos? Bring along games and activities to play leading up to totality. Plan on extra travel time. Enjoy town before and after totality to avoid highway traffic jams.
In case of cellular connectivitly issues, download a Hartville area map to your phone before your visit.
Share your visit using #discoverhartville!
Newsletter fo Active Older Adults
Newsletter for Active Older Adults Senior Euchre Tournament/ Senior Euchre Tournament/ Senior Lunch & Learn: Meet Jackie! Part 2 Senior Lunch & Learn: Meet Jackie! Part 2
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Newsletter for Active Older Adults
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8 Healthy Foods to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
By Matthew Kadey, R.D. | February 5, 2024High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a serious health problem. Your nutritional choices can make it easier to keep it under control.
Here’s some news that you should take to heart: Half of all Americans have high blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension. A third of them aren’t even aware that they have it, which is why this health condition is often referred to as the “silent killer.”
When your numbers run high, it puts you at increased risk for stroke and heart disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among older Americans.
Blood pressure is considered high if your readings are consistently higher than 120 over 80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). The larger number is known as systolic pressure, and it measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The lower number is called diastolic blood pressure, and it measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats.
Regular bouts of exercise, avoiding smoking, managing stress and going easy on alcohol are good places to start to keep blood pressure numbers from spiking. But there is also mounting evidence — beyond limiting salt — that diet can also play a big role in keeping blood pressure numbers from boiling over.
A 2021 study in BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health linked a plant-based diet to lower blood pressure. Refined grains, sugar-sweetened beverages and red meat make it go up. To shave some points off your own numbers, try adding these eight foods to your weekly meal plans.
1. Oats
Kicking off your day with a bowl of whole-grain oats is a wise choice. A study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that eating oats regularly for eight weeks or more can help people with high blood pressure lower their numbers, particularly systolic blood pressure.
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8 Healthy Foods to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
By Matthew Kadey, R.D. | February 5, 2024
Oats contain high amounts of a type of fiber known as beta-glucan which may improve blood pressure control. The next time you head to the grocery store, choose steel-cut oats or rolled oats instead of those instant oat packets that usually have a lot of added sugar.
2. Lentils
Not a vegetable or a bean, these pulses are a top-notch source of potassium. Research shows that higher intakes of this mineral can blunt the effects of sodium on blood pressure by helping remove excess sodium in the body through urine. The potassium effect appears to be particularly strong in people with high-sodium diets with elevated numbers.
Lentils are also a hearty source of low-fat plant protein. You can use them in soups, stews and chili, or you can toss them into a salad. They should not be eaten raw, but you can easily cook them by boiling them in water on your stove.
3. Tomatoes
The summer months shouldn’t be the only time to enjoy this juicy red fruit. A new study of more than 7,000 older adults found that those who ate the most tomatoes or tomato products each day lowered their risk of developing hypertension by more than a third.
Why the blood pressure lowering benefit? Tomatoes contain the chemical compound lycopene, which may help keep blood vessel walls more flexible. It also has potassium that helps manage the effects of sodium in the body.
If raw tomatoes aren’t your thing, try a bowl of tomato soup. Past research has shown that regular consumption of gazpacho, a tomatoheavy cold soup, can help lower blood pressure numbers.
4. Yogurt
Making a habit of eating this cultured dairy staple every day can help older adults lower their blood pressure numbers. Researchers from Tufts University in Boston found that over the course of 14 years, people who ate yogurt for at least 2% of their daily calories were 31% more likely to maintain healthier blood pressure numbers year after year.
Newsletter for Active Older Adults
8 Healthy Foods to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
By Matthew Kadey, R.D. | February 5, 2024
Yogurt’s nutritional mix of probiotics, protein, calcium, potassium and magnesium may be its blood pressure superpower. Whenever possible, choose unflavored yogurt to reduce your intake of added sweeteners.
Add fruit or savory mix-ins to suit your flavor cravings. Greek or Skyr types of yogurt will also give you an additional protein boost.
5. Leafy greens
Make your salads and soups work harder for your heart. A study in the European Journal of Epidemiology found that adults who ate the most nitrate-rich vegetables, which include leafy greens like arugula, spinach and watercress, had lower systolic blood pressure and as much as a 26% lower risk for heart disease.
Nitrates help dilate blood vessels, which helps blood flow more smoothly. Aim for a serving size of 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked greens to give you a good dose of them.
6. Berries
Blueberries, blackberries and other sweet-tart berries contain a lot of flavonoids. Why does that matter? Flavonoids are plant compounds that have some protective effects on the cardiovascular system. One study found that adults with the highest intake of flavonoid-rich foods had better blood pressure numbers.
You probably don’t need a lot of guidance on how to enjoy these sweet, juicy treats, but you can toss berries on cereal, yogurt, and salads — or enjoy them as a healthy afternoon snack.
7. Peanuts
The news about peanuts isn’t all about food allergies. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that all participants experienced a significant decline in their diastolic blood pressure levels after just 12 weeks. For those who had high blood pressure, the changes were greatest over the first two weeks of the study and stayed that way for the rest of them.
The study authors believe this could be because of the amino acid arginine that’s found in peanuts. Arginine promotes the production of nitric oxide, which helps open blood vessels and lower blood pressure.
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8 Healthy Foods to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
By Matthew Kadey, R.D. | February 5, 2024
It’s not clear if peanut butter has the same effect. Add these affordable nuts to your soups, stews, salads and stir-fries. And if you choose to snack on them, make sure to keep it to a small handful to avoid eating too many calories.
8. Herbs and spices
Most doctors recommend their patients cut back on sodium consumption to help control blood pressure. But avoiding your saltshaker doesn’t mean your meals need to taste bland. Sprinkling herbs and spices into recipes boosts the flavor profile of pretty much any dish you want to prepare, and there’s almost no way you can use them that will ruin the meal you ’ re making.
If you ’ re new to the seasonings game, mixtures such as Herbs de Provence, Middle Eastern za ’atar, fiery Ethiopian berbere and Indianinspired garam masala can punch up the flavor of everything from roasted vegetables and soups to pasta dishes and salad dressings. Plus, it gives your meals a little international flair.
What a Day of Lower Blood Pressure Eating Looks Like
Wondering what a blood pressure-lowering diet may look like? We’ve made it easy for you with a sample menu that not only will help you avoid or manage hypertension, it will give you the nutrients you need for better health overall.
Breakfast
Oatmeal seasoned with cinnamon and topped with berries and peanuts Hard-boiled egg
Lunch
Lentil arugula tomato salad topped with fresh basil
Snack
Greek yogurt topped with berries
Dinner
Sheet-pan salmon and sweet potatoes topped with fresh cilantro Spinach beet salad
Newsletter for Active Older Adults
Newsletter for Active
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Senior Balance
Move of the Month
Again, make sure to talk to your physician or personal trainer before starting any exercise program to ensure and always do exercises safely with a chair or something to hold onto nearby.
1) Tandem Stance Tandem Stance
Stand one foot directly in front of the other and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute or as long as you can. Repeat with other foot in front.
Progression: eyes closed, stand on foam pad/folded towel. Modification: stand feet slightly apart or hold onto something next to you, just have fingertips touching.
2) Stork Stance Stork Stance
Stand on one foot and kick the other foot behind you. Hold this position for 30 seconds to 1 minute or as long as you can. Repeat for both feet.
Progression: eyes closed, stand on foam pad/ folded towel. Modification: have toe of lifted foot just touching the ground, hold onto something, have fingertips touching the bar only.
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Newsletter for Active
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6 Surprising Health Benefits of Gardening
By Jessica Migala | June 2, 2023Gardening is all about caring for plants. But it turns out that when you garden, you ’ re also caring for your own physical and mental wellbeing.
“Gardening promotes overall health and quality of life, physical strength, fitness and flexibility, cognitive ability, and socialization,” says Jean Larson, Ph.D., the Nature-Based Therapeutics Faculty Lead at the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
Don’t be afraid to dig in and get your hands dirty. Here are all the ways your green thumb is good for your health.
Gardening Counts as Exercise
An afternoon pulling weeds, spreading mulch, or planting flowers feels like exercise — and that’s because it is.
Gardening is considered moderate-intensity exercise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. A couple of mornings tending your garden will easily get you on your way toward that goal.
Gardening Boosts Your Memory
“There’s some research to show that time spent in green spaces working in gardens can help those with memory loss, specifically by lessening their symptoms of depression and anxiety,” says ecologist Joshua Lawler, Ph.D., professor and director of the Nature and Health Program at the University of Washington.
Lawler points to Maude’s Garden, a memory garden for people living with dementia created by the university’s Memory and Brain Wellness Center, as an example of this in action.
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6 Surprising Health Benefits of Gardening
By Jessica Migala | June 2, 2023
One review in 2021 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that therapeutic gardening improved wellbeing in people with dementia.
And gardening can boost your brain power beyond dementia care. Research in 2019, also in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that a 20-minute gardening session for healthy adults over age 65 improved levels of certain brain nerve growth factors associated with memory and cognitive function.
Gardening Can Help Improve Your Diet
When you get into gardening, you get to enjoy the (literal) fruits of your labor. Taking home your bounty and eating more fruits and vegetables can help improve your diet.
Adults should aim to eat 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit and 2 to 3 cups of vegetables every day, according to the CDC.
Whether you follow a plant-based diet or serve up a side of leafy greens with chicken for dinner, food always seems to taste better when you grow it yourself.
Gardening Lets You Soak up the Sun
When your skin is exposed to sunlight, your body makes more vitamin D. This crucial vitamin helps support nerve, muscle, and immune health.
Vitamin D is all the more important as we age. Having a vitamin D deficiency can lead to bone diseases such as osteoporosis.
Plus, sunlight can help lower your blood pressure, according to a 2018 report in Clinical Medicine. (Just don’t forget to wear sunscreen.
Community Gardening Serves up Social Connection
Community gardens have garden plots full of vegetables, fruits, and flowers that are maintained by dedicated members of the community (like you). If you rent one of these small plots, you can grow some fresh produce, even if you don’t have a yard at your home.
But that’s not all: “Community gardens provide a social aspect. People are always chatting, and they might even get together and have parties,” says Kathleen Wolf, Ph.D., a retired research social scientist with the University of Washington.
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6 Surprising Health Benefits of Gardening
By Jessica Migala | June 2, 2023Gardening Relieves Stress
Yes, gardening is good for you. But the main reason people garden? It feels good, according to a 2021 Cities study.
Researchers looked at more than 5,000 gardeners in the United Kingdom. Two or three gardening sessions per week were found to bring about the most benefits in terms of improved wellness and lower stress.
It turns out working in a garden for enjoyment is a highly restorative activity, according to a 2020 Landscape and Urban Planning study.
If you ’ re brand new to gardening, there are a few easy-to-grow starter vegetable plants for your garden, according to the Farmer’s Almanac:
Lettuce Peas
Radishes Beets
Summer squash
Remember, you don’t have to jump into something big. “I suggest you start with a container of herbs and see how that success can propel you to more, ” says Larson. Happy planting.
Newsletter for Active Older Adults
