By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

Twenty-one years aftershe retired, Mae MarieBlackmore’s appointmentbook remains full.

Since her 1990 retire-ment from her job as UNDChildren’s Center director,Blackmore has increasedher volunteer work load.

“I’ve been a volunteerall my life,” she said. “Igrew up in a family whodid that. Her family, wholived in Emerado, N.D.,volunteered for church, 4-H and “anything you’d doin a small town,” Black-more said.

She long has been activein the Republican Party inGrand Forks and is a char-ter member of the GreaterGrand Forks Women’s Net-work. She also is a member

of the PEO Sisterhood andwas a Cub Scout leaderwhen her sons were inScouts.

“I was the best father inthe Boy Scout troop,”Blackmore said, with asmile. A single mother tofour young children afterher husband was killed inan airplane accident in1957, she balanced her vol-unteer work with the CubScouts and other organiza-tions with raising a familyand her job at the UNDnursing school.

“My whole life, from ’59to ’90 was really loadedwith early childhood” pro-grams, she said.“When you retire, you haveto find something that youlove.”

Labor of loveFor Blackmore, that’s

volunteer work. She espe-cially enjoys volunteeringfor fine arts organizations.

“The arts are my fa-vorite,” she said. “If it’sconnected with the finearts and they call me, I say,‘Sure.’”

“I go to plays. I’m espe-cially interested in themusic part. …I work withthe (UND) music programat the Museum of Art,” shesaid. She also enjoys at-tending Grand Forks Sym-phony concerts andworking on the music se-lection committee at herchurch.

Besides her volunteerwork with fine arts, Black-more also enjoys the timeshe spends at Altru HealthSystem arranging and de-livering donated flowers topatients.

“I volunteer at the hospi-

tal one morning a week. Ihave the perfect job. It’sjust a spot of brightness.”

Between her volunteer

work and visiting friends,Blackmore doesn’t havemuch time to spend sittingat home.

“I don’t think there’s aday that I don’t go out forsome reason,” she said.

Ann Bailey, photo

�� Since her 1990 retirement from her job as UND Children’s Center director,Blackmore has increased her volunteer work load.

Life-long volunteer� Mae Marie Blackmore says volunteering

has always been a part of her life

Submitted photo

Ann Bailey, photo

Outlanders� YMCA Family Center group has fun thinking outside the box

By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

The Outlanders just want to havefun.

The YMCA Family Center group,which is made up of about 10 to 15men and women ages 45 to 96, gatherseveral times a month to visit, work oncharitable projects or go on outings.The group, which was formed about10 years ago, calls itself the Out-landers because they wanted to gooutside the box and try somethingnew, said Roxee Jones, a YMCA Fam-ily Center activities coordinator who

works with the Outlanders group.“Everybody’s welcome and we just

have fun together,” Jones said. “Someof them are having coffee five days aweek,” she said.

Jones, who founded the group,brought the idea for the Outlanderswith her when she moved to GrandForks from Winnipeg, which had asimilar group at its YMCA. She mod-eled the Grand Forks group after theWinnipeg group, but added a few ex-tras.

“We took it a step further,” she said.Instead of meeting in a room, like the

Winnipeg group does, the GrandForks groups goes on field trips.

ActivitiesPast outings have included touring

the Ronald Reagan Minuteman mis-sile silo near Cooperstown, N.D., at-tending a play at Frostfire Theaternear Walhalla, N.D., and to visit aNorth Dakota winery. During the out-ings, members eat lunch together at alocal café.

“In the winter, we try to stick close

“I didn’t knowany of thesepeople before

coming. It helpsyou to socialize.We enjoy each

other.We’re verydiverse in ourthoughts andideas, but weget along.”Paulette Roseno

Outlander

�� The YMCAOutlanders on a recentouting.

YMCA: See Page 2

�� Helen Robinson began making afghans,using Swedish weaving designs, about 10years ago.

A special gift� Robinson’s reward formaking the afghans isthe reaction that shereceives from her familymembers when shegives them one

By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

Helen Robinsoncan’t put a price onher afghans. Neithercan her family.

“To me it’s some-thing that comes fromher heart,” saidJacque Brockling, oneof Robinson’s daugh-ters. Despite a healthcondition that makesit difficult for Robin-son to stitch, she hasmade afghans for eachof her children and isnow making them forher grandchildren.

“It’s an act oflove…. It’s a specialgift, they’re all so dif-ferent and unique,”Brockling said.

Brockling is one of10 family memberswho are the proud re-cipients of Robinson’safghans. Robinsonbegan makingafghans, usingSwedish weaving de-signs, about 10 yearsago. Swedish weaving,originally used to dec-orate plain, whitelinens such as pillow

AFGHANS: See Page 2

Features Staff Reports

Forty-four percent ofseniors report they are re-ceiving lower Social Secu-rity checks compared to2010 — even while dealingwith significantly higherexpenses. The findings arepart of the annual 2011Senior Survey just re-leased by The Senior Citi-zens League, one of thenation’s largest nonparti-san senior citizen advocacygroups. Of the seniors re-porting lower Social Secu-rity checks, about onequarter say their monthlybenefit was reduced bymore than $50 in 2011.

The lower Social Secu-rity checks this year reflectto a large extent the effectof rising Medicare Part Dand Medicare Advantagepremiums that are auto-matically deducted frombenefits. Because SocialSecurity recipients re-ceived no annual cost-of-living adjustment in 2011,any increase in theMedicare premiums thatare automatically de-ducted from their SocialSecurity reduced theamount of their monthlypayments.

Over the past decade,COLAs have increasedbenefits on average about3 percent a year - enoughto offset much of the cost of

increasing Medicare pre-miums in most years. Butin 2010 and in 2011, infla-tion was too low to pay theannual COLA, even thoughMedicare premiums, par-ticularly for Part D andMedicare Advantage plans,continued to climb. Thesurvey also found that eventhough inflation as the gov-ernment measures it re-mained low, seniorsexperienced big jumps intheir overall costs. Morethan 60 percent reportedthat their monthly ex-penses grew at least $80over the past year. Thetrend of shrinking SocialSecurity payments whileexpenses climb appearlikely to continue into nextyear, warns TSCL Chair-man Larry Hyland. “TheCongressional Budget Of-fice recently said that in-flation will remainextremely low in 2012 witha forecast of just a 1.1 per-cent COLA,” he notes.

TSCL’s survey findingscome on the heels of tworecent fiscal commissionproposals to cut the rate ofgrowth in annual COLAs,and to make seniors paymore for their Medicarebenefits, in order to re-duce the U.S. budgetdeficit. “The survey illus-trates exactly the type of fi-nancial impact those two

proposals would have onseniors and future re-tirees,” says Hyland. “Out-of-pocket medical costs arechipping away at Social Se-curity benefits, even in thebest of years,” he pointsout. “When there is noCOLA, or an extremely lowone, any unexpected jumpin Medicare spending andpremium costs will requirean ever-growing share ofthe Social Security pay-ments,” Hyland observes.Almost 70 percent oftoday’s beneficiaries relyon Social Security for atleast 50 percent of their in-come.

By Howard KossoverSpecial to the Herald

A participant at one ofmy seminars asked aboutdelayed retirement creditsso I’ll address it in this col-umn.

Starting your Social Se-curity retirement at 62, orat any age younger thanyour full retirement age re-sults in a permanently re-duced benefit. On the flipside, delayed retirementcredits increase your SSAretirement amount if youchoose to delay startingbenefits until after full re-tirement age. If born from1943 to 1954, your full re-tirement age is 66.

DRC increases are basedon the number of monthsyou do not receive benefitsbetween your FRA and age70. There is no additionalbenefit increase after youreach age 70, even if youcontinue to delay takingbenefits. For people bornin 1943 or later, the yearlyrate of DRC benefit in-crease is approximately 8percent or two-thirds of 1percent per month.

BenefitsOver time, this increase

can be significant. For ex-ample, assume your full re-tirement age is 66 and yourunreduced monthly bene-fit starting then is $1,000.Deferring benefits untilage 70 would increase yourmonthly amount to $1,320because of delayed retire-ment credits, about 32 per-cent more than themonthly amount if startingat FRA. This higher bene-fit continues for as long as

you live and could in-crease potential survivorbenefits to your widow orwidower.

While some peoplechoose to defer benefitsand earn DRC’s, this optionof waiting to start SSA re-tirement until some pointpast your full retirementage is not the choice ofmost people. This is espe-cially true because annualearning test restrictionsend with the month youreach full retirement age.From then on, you can re-ceive all of your SSA re-tirement benefits with nolimit on your earnings.

Annual earningstest

The annual earnings testconcerns how your owngross wages or net self-em-ployment in a year mightaffect any SSA retirementpayable in that year. A spe-cial monthly test is avail-able for one year, usuallythe first year of retirement.The full calendar yearearnings test amounts for2011 are unchanged from2010 and remain as:� If under your FRA for

the entire calendar year,

$1 in benefits are deductedfor each $2 earned abovethe 2011 limit of $14,160.� If you reach FRA in

2011, $1 in benefits are de-ducted from each $3earned above the 2011limit of $37,680, but onlyfor earnings before themonth you reach FRA.�No earnings limit ex-

ists starting with the monthyou reach FRA.

InformationVisit the online SSA re-

tirement planner atwww.socialsecurity.gov/re-tire2/index.htm for moreabout full retirement age,delayed retirement creditsand the earnings test.

Information: Visit theSSA website at www.so-cialsecurity.gov for onlineservices, retirement plan-ning tools and applicationsfor retirement orMedicare.

Phone the SSA nationaltoll-free number, (800) 772-1213 (TTY (800) 325-0778),from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. aboutyour existing benefits or tomake an appointment.Phone the Grand Forks of-fice directly at (888) 617-0456 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Howard I. Kossover is theSocial Security Public Af-fairs Specialist for NorthDakota and western Min-nesota. Based in GrandForks, he works with organi-zations, government agen-cies and businesses on allSSA topics including SSAbusiness services online andteaching pre-retirement sem-inars. Contact him athoward.kossover@ssa.gov.

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cases, now also is used onitems from pillowcases toafghans.

Robinson, 79, learnedhow to do the needleworkseveral years ago. She tookon the new craft despitebeing cautioned by otherwomen hat it would be ex-tremely difficult for her todo. Doing work that re-quires small motor skillsis especially challenging toRobinson, Brockling said.

“They said, ‘You wouldnever be able to do this,Helen.’ She’s not only doneone but done them forevery grandchild that’scome along,” Brocklingsaid.

A naturalRobinson, an accom-

plished seamstress whosewed prom dresses andwedding dresses for herdaughter, was undauntedby taking up a new sewingchallenge. Brockling wasnot surprised by hermother’s resolve. She re-calls that years ago shetook her mom to three dif-ferent stores to show herthe kind of wedding dressshe wanted.

“I said, ‘I want thebodice off of this. I wantthe sleeves off of this one. Iwant the train off of thisone.’” Her mother obligedand sewed her a weddingdress that combined the el-ements of all three.

Robinson didn’t enroll

in a class, take lessons orread a book to learn theSwedish weaving tech-nique she uses.

“I just picked that up onmy own… It’s easy to do,once you get started,” shesaid.

One of the reasons shedecided to try her hand atafghans was because thematerials she uses are easyto transport, Robinsonsaid.

“Quilting, you can’t takeyour sewing machine withyou. You can take your(afghan) material withyou,” she said.

Labor of loveShe made the first one

for Brockling about fiveyears ago and has madenine more for other familymembers since then. Theafghans take from three tofive months to complete,depending on their sizes.Sizes vary from 6 feet by 6feet to 12 feet by 15 feet.

Her afghans, which shemakes in the colors chosenby the recipients, are inhigh demand and leave lit-tle time for watching tele-vision.

“I just make one, rightafter another.” However,Robinson makes them onlyfor family members anddoes not sell any.

“You couldn’t put a pricetag on them,” she said.

Robinson’s reward formaking the afghans is thereaction that she receivesfrom her family memberswhen she gives them one.

“They’re all thrilled withthe finished project.”

to town,” Jones said. Thismonth, the Outlanders aretouring the NorthlandsRescue Mission in GrandForks. Members plan to do-nate boxes of cake mixes tothe mission so residentscan have cake on theirbirthdays.

Other charitable workthe Outlanders undertakeinclude making blanketsfor hospice patients, hold-ing bake sale fundraisersto raise money to buyaquatic equipment for theYMCA Family Center andother YMCA classes forseniors. Members also chipin to buy flowers for a giftfor members who are ill,Jones said.

Each month, the Out-landers host a speaker atits monthly birthday morn-ing coffee. The speakers’topics have included seri-ous issues such as elderabuse and legal issues thataffect seniors. Speakersalso address lighter topicssuch as gardening.

“We talk about anythingand everything,” Jonessaid. “We just cover what-ever topics come up.”

FunHowever, speakers are

discouraged from “preach-ing” about health issues tomembers.“So many times people

will take seniors and pa-tronize them and checktheir cholesterol levels,”Jones said. “When you’re75 years old, you alreadyknow if we have high cho-lesterol. We don’t needpeople to come in and tellus we should eat fruits andvegetables… because weknow that. We’re not look-ing necessarily to livelonger. We’re just lookingto live a good quality oflife.”

For many of the Out-landers, the friendshipsmade with other groupmembers are one of themost important ways beingin the group has improvedtheir quality of life.

Paulette Roseno, anOutlanders member fromEast Grand Forks haswidened her circle offriends through her mem-bership in the Outlanders.

“I didn’t know any ofthese people before com-ing. It helps you to social-ize. We enjoy each other.We’re very diverse in ourthoughts and ideas, but weget along.”

Jones has a knack fororganizing fun activities,said Outlanders memberLorna Martin. “Roxee isresponsible for all thegood things we do.”

Submitted photo

�� Mary Jane Halvorson (left) and Ardelle Sickel cutout material to make a blanket for Hospice patients.

Continued from Page 1AFGHANS/

Ask AmyEvery day in the classifieds

To subscribe 780-1215 or 1-800-811-2580

Continued from Page 1YMCA/

2 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, March 6, 2011

Delayed retirement credits willincrease SSA retirement amount

Kossover

More than four in 10 seniorsreport lower social security checks

Rick Asche, LUTCF1521 24th Ave. SouthGrand Forks, ND58201

Office 701-772-1138Cell 701-739-4938

MetroCreative

When 72-year-old Armyveteran Ted Eickhoff wasat his local VA hospital foran appointment recently,he struck up a conversa-tion with another patientabout selling his home anddownsizing. As luck wouldhave it, Eickhoff’s fellowpatient lived in a local in-dependent retirementcommunity owned by Holi-day Retirement, and ravedabout the benefits. Eick-hoff was sold.

“I couldn’t believe howmuch you get for themoney,” said Eickhoff. “Itis so nice to have every-thing taken care of withjust one monthly payment.It covers everything I need,including amazing meals.And if you need anothersnack, the chefs just makeit for you!”

Eickhoff, a retired Com-mand Sergeant Major, ispart of a growing numberof seniors who are plan-ning for an independentliving future.

In fact, a recent AARPpoll found that nearly 60percent of Boomers saythey are concerned aboutliving independently, andmore than 50 percent saythey have begun to thinkabout how they would payfor independent living as-sistance as they get older.

Crunching thenumbers

Mereen Klein, 86, startedlooking at the costs ofkeeping her own apart-ment versus independentliving when her eyesightdeclined. Klein needed as-sistance with transporta-tion and didn’t want tokeep bugging her son todrive her around, so shedecided to move to an in-dependent retirement liv-ing community that mether needs.

“It was right for me withmy fixed income, and themoney covers everything,”said Klein. “I don’t pay forTV, or to have my roomcleaned. I couldn’t believewhat I got for the money —

it was really something.”To determine what

makes financial sense, sen-iors need to add up thetrue costs of managing ahome versus being part ofa retirement community.

“Even if you no longerhave a mortgage payment,you still have fluctuatingmonthly expenses includ-ing utilities, taxes, phone,cable and food that canadd up significantly,” saidStan Brown, COO of Holi-day Retirement. “Formany seniors, switching toa community that includesone manageable, monthlyflat fee gives them the abil-ity to plan out the next 15to 20 years and know ex-actly what they can expectto spend and what they canafford.”

For Klein, it not onlymade financial sense, italso gave her back some ofher freedom.

“I can take the commu-nity bus down to the bankor out to dinner. I can evengo to the doctor and my ap-pointments without bug-ging anyone for a ride,”

said Klein. “I have moreindependence now thanwhen I lived alone.”

Ask the rightquestions

To calculate the truecosts of making the move toan independent retirementcommunity, Brown cau-tions seniors to ask asmany questions as possibleprior to moving in, to un-cover any buy-in fees, todetermine if a long-termlease is required and tosee if the “feel” of the com-munity is right.

“It doesn’t make finan-cial sense to make themove if you aren’t comfort-able in the new communityand will want to move outwithin a few months,” saidBrown. “It needs to notonly be affordable, but agreat place to live as well.”

Seventy three-year-oldJulianne (Judy) Kayattknows this all too well. Shesold her home and movedinto a community that did-n’t offer much for hermoney and wasn’t as caringas she’d hoped. After only

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Grand Fork Herald/Sunday, March 6, 2011 3

Wealthy boomers’retirement outlook? RosyBy Andrea CoombesMarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO —While many Americans’retirement looks bleakbecause they don’t haveenough money saved, amajority of wealthy babyboomers in a new surveysay their standard of liv-ing in retirement willtop that of their parents.

Eighty-four percent ofhigh-net-worth boomers,age 46 to 64, said theirretirement will differfrom their parents. Ofthat group, 86 percentsaid they plan to bemore active, and 72 per-cent said their standardof living will be higher,according to a Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynchsurvey of 1,000 peoplewith investable assets of$250,000 or more.

Seventy percent ofthese boomers saidthey’ll work in retire-ment, at least part time,“to remain more activeand engaged”; 26 per-cent said they’ll go backto school, 24 percentsaid they plan to learn anew trade, and 20 per-cent said they’ll start orkeep running their ownbusiness.

‘Freedom’When asked what

word they’d use to de-scribe retirement, 35percent said “freedom,”31 percent said “oppor-tunity,” and 21 percentsaid “relaxation.” Just 9percent said “uncer-tainty,” according to theMerrill Lynch survey.

Still, while thesewealthy boomers may beoptimistic about theirown retirement, otherresearch suggeststhey’re worried abouttheir children’s future,said Andy Sieg, head ofretirement services forBank of America MerrillLynch.

“One dichotomy is thatwhen you ask people thequestion — how doestheir standard of livingcompare to their parentsin retirement — theytend to give you a verypositive readout,” hesaid. “When you askthem what the futurelooks like for their chil-dren ... in terms of thenext generation beingbetter off, you tend tosee more pessimismthan we have in thepast.”

A separate survey lastyear of savers of all in-comes and age levelsfound that about half ofpeople are either “nottoo” or “not at all” confi-dent they will haveenough money saved fora comfortable retire-ment. That’s according tothe 2010 retirement con-fidence survey by thenonprofit EmployeeBenefit Research Insti-

tute.The economic crisis

did hit some wealthyboomers’ retirement out-look: 27 percent saidthey did not retire at theage they had planned towhen they were in their40s, and 34 percent ofthat group said it was be-cause the recession tooka toll on their finances,according to the Merrillsurvey.

Another 23 percent ofthat subgroup said theydelayed retirement be-cause they had to pro-vide more financialsupport to their childrenthan they’d expected.And 23 percent said theydecided to keep work-ing.

Late comersTwenty-one percent of

the group that delayedretirement said they didso because they “didn’trealize how much Iwould need to save forretirement,” and 18 per-cent said they startedsaving too late or didn’tsave enough.

When asked abouttheir financial worries,64 percent of thebroader survey groupsaid rising health carecosts were a top concern,and 57 percent are wor-ried about whether theirretirement assets willlast through their life-time.

What was thesewealthy boomers’ No. 1piece of advice, relativeto saving and investing,for their 30-year-oldselves? Thirty-four per-cent said to work with afinancial adviser or towork with one earlier.According to 27 percent,it’s to be more hands-onwith their investmentportfolio, including ad-justing their asset allo-cation. Nineteen percentadvised planning forlong-term expenses suchas college tuition, healthcare and caring for agingparents, and 14 percentsaid their top advicewould be to manage debtbetter.

And they said they en-countered some sur-prises as they nearedretirement: 48 percent ofaffluent boomers saidthat knowing how theywant to live in retire-ment was more impor-tant than they’d realizedit would be. Fifty-twopercent said knowinghow to manage retire-ment income was moreimportant than they’dexpected.

Seventy-eight percentof those surveyed saidyounger people shouldstart planning for retire-ment no later than their30s, and 57 percent saidthat planning processshould start when peo-ple are in their 20s.

Discover what’sin it for YOU!

780-1215 or 1-800-811-2580

Is it time to make the move toindependent retirement living?

MetroCreative

�� A recent AARP poll found that nearly 60 percent of Boomers say they areconcerned about living independently, and more than 50 percent say they havebegun to think about how they would pay for independent living assistance as theyget older.

MOVE: See Page 4

By Troy WolvertonSan Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. —About 60 people recentlyfilled the multi-use roomat the Willow Glen Commu-nity Center in San Jose,Calif., for a discussionabout Gmail, Google’s freee-mail service.

After an overview fromWalt Cole, a computer in-structor and retired IBMengineer, the attendeesstarted firing questions.One wanted to know howGmail worked with GoogleVoice, the company’s Inter-net calling service. An-other wanted to know ifthere was a way to syncGmail with phone-based e-mail programs. Yet anotherwanted to know how tomove calendar entriesfrom Microsoft’s Outlookprogram to Google.

The gathering was re-markable not because ofthe questions or the topic— this is Silicon Valley,after all, and technology ispart of the very air webreathe. What made it re-markable was that nearlyeveryone in the room ap-peared to be older than 55,and many were much olderthan that.

When it comes to tech-nology, many seniors areout of the loop. A muchsmaller proportion ofolder Americans use com-puters or the Internet thanAmericans in other agegroups. But as the commu-nity center gathering indi-cated, seniors have begunto embrace technology.

Computer use amongAmericans 65 and olderhas doubled in the past 10years, while Internet usageamong that age group hasmore than tripled, accord-ing to the Pew InternetProject.

Just seven years ago,most volunteers on AARPCalifornia’s mailing listdidn’t have an e-mail ad-dress, noted ChristinaClem, a spokeswoman forthe senior advocacy organi-zation. Now the AARP hase-mail addresses for allbut a few volunteers in theentire state.

Closing the gapThe digital divide “is not

as big as it used to be,”Clem said.

Senior advocates and re-searchers say that’s partlybecause of the aging ofbaby boomers who haveused computers for muchof their working lives. Butit’s also because of the per-vasiveness of technology inAmerican lives, as well asthe desire of seniors tostay in touch with childrenand grandchildren whotend to communicate viathe Internet.

“The real trick is gettingthem over the initialhump” of using computers,said Aaron Smith, a seniorresearch specialist withPew Internet. “Once

they’re involved, they areas active or more activethan other users.”

The gathering at thecommunity center was partof a years-long effort tohelp San Jose seniors getover that hump and keepup with the latest techtrends. It was sponsored bythe local branch of Senior-Net, a national nonprofitgroup that offers technol-ogy courses to seniors. Formore than 12 years, the Se-niorNet center in WillowGlen has supplemented itsclasses with User Group, amonthly meeting that fo-cuses on technology topicsof interest to members.

In addition to Gmail,User Group has recentlylooked at computer secu-rity, Facebook and Win-

dows 7. Upcoming topicsinclude blogging, onlinetax preparation, AdobePhotoshop Elements andsmartphones. Attendeestend to change from monthto month depending on thetopic, say the regulars.

“These are people whoare interested in what’sgoing on,” said Miles Wel-ter, a SeniorNet teacherand longtime User Groupparticipant.

On the edgeSome in the group, like

Helen Stolin, have workedin technology. She’s a re-tired software engineerwho has attended themeetings off an on since2002. She attended a ses-sion last year on Windows7 because she didn’t havethe software on her homecomputer and wanted tolearn more about it.

“It’s nice to be on theedge of technology,” shesaid.

Others come to learnmore about technologyuseful for hobbies they’venurtured since retiring.Tom Barashas, 59, a pho-

tography enthusiast,mainly attends meetingsthat relate to digital pho-tography. User Group “hasbeen very informative inhelping me decide what topurchase,” he said.

Still others use the groupto acquaint themselveswith websites or technol-ogy that they’ve heardabout from family orfriends, but don’t knowhow to use. That’s whyJoyce Monda, 72, attendedthe meeting on Gmail.

“I was interested inswitching,” she said,adding that after learningmore at the User Groupmeeting, “I’m not sure Iwant to now.”

Learning about technol-ogy is not the only reasonsome attend the meetings.Organizers and partici-pants say they give seniorsa chance to socialize. In-deed, some attend sessions“just to get out of thehouse,” said Welter,adding, “A lot of seniorsjust like to talk to otherpeople.”

Roger Fong started theUser Group in 1998 afterbecoming involved withSeniorNet two years ear-lier, after his retirement asa systems engineer atLockheed. His aim was tosupplement SeniorNet’scomputer classes. UserGroup was patterned aftersimilar meetings he had at-tended while at Lockheed,where technology vendorswould come to get feed-back on their productsfrom actual users. The Wil-low Glen User Group hasmet monthly, with occa-sional breaks, since 1999.

“One of the problemswith (SeniorNet) was afteryou take a class, what doyou do next?” said Fong.“How do you keep peopleinterested? How do youkeep up with the state ofthe art? I was hoping theUser Group could be theanswer.”

Phil Carnahan, one offounders of San Jose’s Se-niorNet, said he’s pleasedwith how User Group hasturned out.

“It’s a really neat thingfor people,” he said.

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a few months, she startedher search again and wasfortunate to find that aHoliday Retirement com-munity was a perfect fit forher.

“My family likes that Iam happy here, and I likethat I can still be inde-pendent and live here,”said Kayatt. “I am free togo where I want; I am en-joying activities and eventsand I’m surrounded byfriends. I know I can behappy here for a longtime.”

The golden yearsMaking the move to an

independent living com-munity can be an afford-able way to make the mostof one’s retirement years.Kayatt, Klein and Eickhoffhave all seen the benefitsto cutting ties to a house oran apartment in favor ofcommunity living.

Klein was able to takeadvantage of a promotionfrom Holiday Retirement,which covered up to $1,000of her moving expenses,and Kayatt received herbirthday month free whenshe moved in.

And as for Eickhoff, thepayoff for him is being sur-rounded by people his ownage with shared experi-ences and a passion for liv-ing the good life.

“This is everything I everthought about doing when Iretired,” said Eickhoff.“Sometimes people remi-nisce about the past beinggreat, but I was fighting inthe military for 22 yearsand working hard, and nowthese are my golden years.I can actually relax andpeople take care of me fora change.”

For more information onmaking the move to inde-pendent retirement living,visit holidaytouch.com orcall (800) 322-0999.

4 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, March 6, 2011

Continued from Page 3MOVE/

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�� Bill Denison, 79, from left, and Daisy Ung, 81, receive instruction from SeniorNetcomputer class instructor Jerry White at the Willow Glen Community and SeniorCenter in Willow Glen, Calif.

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Your localhealth source.

Every otherSaturday.

By Joey HollemanMcClatchy Newspapers

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Theytrundle through River-banks Zoo every Thursdaymorning, Jo Hines carryinga broom and pulling asmall dolly loaded withcleaning supplies whileRuth Ouzts totes a long-handled squeegee and alitter picker-upper.

Most zoo visitors proba-bly don’t notice the gray-haired volunteers, but theysee the results of the duo’swork. They wash the dustand grime off the many in-formational signs, cleanthe windows on the someoutdoors exhibits and pickup trash.

In by 8:30 a.m. and donewith their loop around thezoo in less than two hours,Hines and Ouzts in manyways are typical of thenearly 150 volunteers thatroutinely help out at River-banks. But they stand outin some ways — especially

longevity.Hines, who’d rather not

reveal her age, began vol-unteering at Riverbanks a

month after the zoo openedin 1974.

“A friend of mine calledand said ‘We’re going to

the zoo and learn all aboutit,’” Hines said.

Satch Krantz, then thezoo’s chief curator and nowits executive director,taught the four women theins and outs of the zoo, itsexhibits and its animals.Then he put them to workas volunteers.

“We did the schoolchild-ren tours for years,” Hinessaid. “I always had the sec-ond group and (a friend)had the first group. Itdidn’t matter what time Icame through, it seemedall the animals were mat-ing when we came through.I asked (her friend) whatshe was doing up thereahead of us.”

Eventually, the zoo hiredstaffers to direct schoolgroups, but new roles keptpopping up for volunteerssuch as Hines. She espe-cially enjoys helping keep-ers observe animalbehavior. About a decadeago — they can’t recall ex-actly when — Hines and

Ouzts got together for theirThursday morning spic-and-span patrol.

Ouzts, 86, is a Riverbanksnewcomer compared toHines. She joined the zoovolunteer effort when sheretired in the Columbiaarea in 1986. She had fam-ily in the area to keep herbusy, but she was lookingfor another outlet for herenergy.

“The most fascinatingthing I’ve done here waswalking the Africancranes,” Ouzts said. “Theyhad a new chick, and a bigone picked on him. We’dhave to take him out andwalk him for 20 minutes.”

Opportunities like thatdraw volunteers to the zoo.Riverbanks volunteer man-

ager Christie Vondrak saidrecruiting isn’t part of herjob. People just call andask how they can help. Butmost volunteers stickaround only a year or two,until some change in lifemakes it difficult to rou-tinely give up time.

More common are theteens looking to fulfillschool volunteer require-ments or groups that wantto help with the big events,such as Boo at the Zoo orLights Before Christmas.

“The new trend is differ-ent from these ladies,”Vondrak said. “They don’tstay around for 35 years. Idon’t think we’ll ever seethis sort of thing again.”

Hines and Ouzts weren’t

By Anita CreamerMcClatchy Newspapers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —JD Conger told everyonehe couldn’t live without hiswife, Opal.

He took care of her asher dementia deepenedand she slowly faded. Buteven during her last diffi-cult year, they relied oneach other: Frail as shewas, she translated theworld for him, making upfor his failing eyes andears.

When Opal Conger diedat age 97 on the morning ofJan. 13, they’d been hus-band and wife for 81 years,partners in a marriage soenduring that they werethe subjects of a Sacra-mentoo Bee story a yearago. While it’s left toyounger, dreamier genera-tions to describe long-mar-ried couples as the loves ofeach other’s lives, the Con-gers’ devotion was clearlyan unbreakable bond.

And so JD followed Opalinto death just after dawnnot 48 hours after she died.He was 101 and he was trueto his word.

“He was not going to behere without her,” said theCongers’ granddaughter,Sue Seaters, 55, a PlacerCounty, Calif., publichealth nurse. “He went tobed and didn’t get up.”

As Seaters sat by hisbedside in his final hours,he twice lifted her hand tohis face and held it to hischeek. Maybe he knew it

was his granddaughter —or maybe he thought it washis Opal.

NameResearchers have a

name for the increasedprobability of death amonggrieving mates withinweeks or months of theirspouses’ passing: the “wid-owhood effect.”

Among elderly couples,according to Harvard Uni-

versity sociologists, menare 22 percent more likelyto die shortly after thedeath of a spouse, com-pared with 17 percent forwomen.

And a National Instituteon Aging study found thatrace plays a part in thewidowhood effect, withwhite partners aged 67 orolder more likely than eld-erly African Americans tosuccumb early in bereave-ment.

Findings on the widow-hood effect don’t come asnews to medical profes-sionals, who have observedsimilar patterns of in-creased mortality.

“We’ve all had experi-ences with this kind ofthing,” said Trish Caputo,Sutter Auburn Faith Hos-pice bereavement coordi-nator and a registerednurse. “Often, it’s unre-lated to any accident orcardiovascular incident,

but sometimes it is related.That can be part of thestress reaction to grief.

“I’ve had at least threebereaved spouses who’vefractured a hip within aweek of their loved one’sdeath, one at the funeral ofthe spouse.”

Complicating the fog ofgrief is the fact that elderlycaregiving spouses like JDConger are at a 63 percentgreater risk of death thanolder people not caring fortheir mates, according toAmerican Medical Associ-ation research.

Traditional gender rolesplay a part in the widow-hood effect, too: Whilewomen seek connection —a trait that serves themwell after the death of aspouse — men’s drive forindependence can leavethem isolated and lonely,said Barbara Gillogly, a li-censed marriage and fam-ily therapist and AmericanRiver College’s gerontologydepartment chair.

“It’s just the differencebetween men and womenand how we’re socialized,”she said. “Connectionhelps us negotiate old age.Independence does not dous well.”

With his wife’s death, shesaid, it’s possible that JDConger lost his meaning inlife.

“His job was done,” saidGillogly.

To the people who knewthem in their last days, thetiming of the Congers’deaths is both sweet and

sad — not tragic, simplypoignant.

“They were so attachedto each other,” said Vir-ginia Stone, marketing di-rector at Carmichael OaksSenior Living, where theCongers lived for the pastfew years.

“They kept each othergoing. It’s such a touchinglove story. One of thethings JD said when shepassed was, ‘How can I goon without her?’”

Eternal loveHe once told his grand-

daughter that he’d live to105 if Opal could find thestrength to live to 100.

“They had each other,but their bodies werewearing out,” said Seaters.

After they died, sheasked her father and heraunt if she could keep hergrandparents’ weddingrings as a symbol of theirlasting devotion. But Opal’srings had slipped off herfrail hand and seemed lost.

It turned out that some-one — perhaps JD, a re-tired lumber millsupervisor — had the prac-ticality to stash the rings inthe dresser, safely knottedin the toe of a sock.

“It’s that love they hadfor each other,” saidSeaters. “They were hard-working people. You didn’tsee that love every day. Butit was there.”

Until death parted them,and beyond.

Robert Beattie, MD

Stephanie Luithle, PA

Mark Berntson, MD

Eric Pearson, MD

Jon Bradbury, MD

Michele Spiekermeier, CFNP

Karin Lokensgard, MD

Matthew Stayman, MD

Family Practice

Family Practice

Family Practice

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A spouse dies, then soon, another: The widowhood effect

�� In this Dec. 28, 2009 file photograph, JD, left, and Opal Conger, seen just aftertheir 80th anniversary, were finally parted when she died on Jan. 13. He died soonafter in what has been documented as the “widowhood effect.”

Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, March 6, 2011 5

McClatchy Tribune

After decades at zoo, volunteers keep on cleaning up

McClatchy Tribune

�� Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens volunteers,Ruth Ouzts, left, and Jo Hines clean a display windowat the zoo in Columbia, S.C. Ouzts has been avolunteer at the zoo for 25 years and Hines for 35years. They have been working together as a teamsince 2005. ZOO: See Page 6

By Sara GlassmanStar Tribune (Minneapolis)

In our beauty-crazed cul-ture, where wrinkle-freefaces dominate magazinecovers, runways and redcarpets, beauty is youthand youth beauty. Butwomen with an enduringsense of style know thattrue beauty is ageless. Wetalked to three nonagenari-ans, each of whom hashoned her own brand ofpanache and established asignature style. And whilethese fashion mavens maynot have discovered thefountain of youth, theyhave discovered how tolook their best at any age.

Elsie LorineMenser

Victoria, Minn., 94� Family: One son, three

grandchildren, one great-grandchild and one ShihTzu named Brittany.�Her style: Classic, with

a twist. “I’ve always liked alittle splash — a scarf or apin or animal print.”� The outfit: Suit from

Nordstrom, lace blousefrom Dayton’s, handbagfrom her granddaughtersand ostrich boa from hermother.� In her handbag: Lano

Lip, mirror and Kleenex.�Makeup routine: A lit-

tle Coty loose powder,which she’s used sincehigh school, and eyebrowpencil. “I don’t wear lip-stick anymore because itlooks grotesque on someolder ladies,” said Menser.“Be natural — you look somuch prettier.”�Must wear: Pearls.

“They’re pure.”�Don’t be afraid of:

Heels. “I used to wearmuch higher heels. Yourankles look so much betterin them.”�Wardrobe do: Capes.

“They hide a multitude ofsins.”� Secrets to life: “Eat as

naturally as you can, liveas naturally as you can.Moderation in all things.”�Role model: Her

mother, who lived to be101. “She taught me how tohave good manners andhow to love everyone.There’s good in everyoneand my mom always foundthe best.”� Easy aging: Embrace

your birthday. “I don’tmind that I’m getting older— I’m getting wiser,” saidMenser. “Your birthdaysmean you’re alive andready for whatever newthing comes next.”

Gert WeinerSt. Louis Park, Minn., 92� Family: Five kids, 10

grandchildren.� Fashion philosophy:

“It’s important that my out-fits match and my house bestraightened up. I’m notobsessive about it, but I’vealways been that way.”� Signature accessories:

Colorful costume jewelry,earrings and a watch.�Hair routine: Styled

once a week, every threeweeks for color. “It’s im-portant that I do as muchas I can to keep myself asattractive as I can be,” saidWeiner.�Makeup musts: “Foun-

dation, a little eye shadow,rouge and lipstick andthen I’m off and going,”Weiner said. “If I leave thehouse, I’m vain enough totry to look my best. I’venever gone to the grocerystore without makeup.”� Beauty secret: “Cheap

is better. I’ve never usedexpensive makeup. I’vebeen using the same Cover-Girl blush for years.”

Can’t do without: Heels.“I bought a pair of tennisshoes, and I’m still betteroff in a heel,” said Weiner.“I’m more comfortable. Ican’t wear a flat.”�Accentuate the posi-

tive: “I’ve always worn alot of belts. I had a smallwaistline, so I showed itoff.”�Modesty rules: “I don’t

think I’ve felt beautiful,”she said. “I have felt good,but I keep it to myself.”� Best advice: Family

comes first. “I have won-derful children and son-in-laws who treat me like aqueen. They’re pretty ter-rific kids,” she said. “Ihave no complaints, be-lieve me.”

Grace RoepkeShorewood, Minn., 93� Family: Two kids, six

grandchildren and sixgreat-grandchildren.� The outfit: Jones New

York sweater and necklaceand bracelet by SequinNew York.

Fashion philosophy: “Wedidn’t have very muchwhen I was growing up, soI wasn’t able to purchasenew clothes,” she said. “Mymom was an excellentseamstress and would sewme the most beautifulclothes, including gloves.She taught me that even ifyou don’t have muchmoney, you can take pridein your appearance andchoose to dress well.”� Signature accessory: “I

love shoes.”Makeup musts: Estee

Lauder Projectionist HighDefinition Volume Mas-cara, Clinique High ImpactEye Shadow in neutral col-ors and Rouge Dior Lip-stick. “I don’t let anyonesee me without makeup.”� Best compliment:

After showing up for a din-ner in a St. John skirt and

jacket trimmed in gold, “awoman told me I lookedlike I had stepped out ofVogue magazine.”�Dress-up don’t: Blue

jeans. “I do have jeans, butI just wear them aroundthe house. I don’t thinkwomen my age should bewearing them out.”� Favorite indulgence:

Pedicures and manicuresonce a month. “I do mynails myself in between,”she said. “I always look atpeople’s hands.”� Style Icon: Jacqueline

Kennedy Onassis.�All-time favorite store:

The old Dayton’s South-dale. “It was so much funwalking in there.”� Best advice: “Keep

busy, stay very social, stayas physically active as pos-sible, travel, use yourbrain by playing bridge orreading and maintain apositive attitude,” she said.“I entertain, cook, pay myown bills, play bridge, ex-ercise and hit golf balls.You look as good as youfeel, so please do every-thing you can to feel won-derful.”

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6 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, March 6, 2011

friends before they met atthe zoo, and they don’tspend time with each otheraway from the zoo. Butevery Thursday morning,they’re a team. Ouzts han-dles the high spots with thesqueegee, which has a rub-ber blade on one side anda shammy-covered blade

on the other. Hines pullsout the liquid cleaner andpaper towels to get thegrime off the signs.

They don’t clean the in-sides of the exhibit win-dows. They aren’tresponsible for the exten-sive windows in the Bird-house, the Aquarium

Reptile Complex or thegorilla house, but theyhave plenty to keep thembusy. On nice days, theystretch out their “working”

hours and hang out inwhatever area seems mostinteresting that day.

“We just wander aroundand see what everybody’sdoing,” Hines said.

On a cold, damp day likeThursday, they skedaddlehome when their cleaningis done. But they plan to beback next Thursday andthe next, for as long asthere are dirty signs andwindows to clean.

Continued from Page 5ZOO/

McClatchy Tribune

�� Women with an enduring sense of style know that true beauty is ageless. Here,Elsie Menser sports a suit from Nordstrom, lace blouse from Dayton’s, handbagfrom her granddaughters and ostrich boa from her mother.

Beauty before age� Three

nonagenarianfashion

mavens telltheir secrets

Serving morethan 133,000

everyday.

Just as milk buildshealthy bones,reading buildshealthy minds.

But...you alreadyknow that.

How did boomerretirement problem

surprise us?By Jane Glenn HaasThe Orange CountyRegister

It’s all my fault. I’vegot a Medicare card, so Imust be a GreedyGeezer.

Ah, but I’m not aloneanymore. Now if you’rea Boomer, it’s your faulttoo.

The Boomers arepushing the nation tohell in a handbasket, ac-cording to economistsadding up the loss ofjobs plus the loss of re-tirement savings in thestock market meltdown.From that set of nega-tives, they deduct thefirst of the Boomer wavereaching 65 and retch.

How can the nation’seconomy survive theloss of boomer spendingpower while paying forthe added cost of SocialSecurity and Medicare,they ask?

Which leaves me won-dering why nobody sawit coming. Like theBoomer tsunami was asurprise? Suddenly, anentire generation burst-ing the budget bubble?

Because we are notproviding earning op-portunities for theseworkers, the taxpayerstands to lose millionsof dollars.

Why? Because some-body has to pay for theirmedical care and, in ex-treme cases, housingand food. Because thosewho don’t work don’tpay taxes. And whenthey reach the age todraw Social Security,they draw less — hencecontinuing to need extrapublic health benefits.

It all seems simple.Start at step one and goforward.

Start with someonelike Cherry from Or-ange, Calif. She workedfor 22 years for a hospi-tal system and plannedto retire at 62, “so Icould move to HumboldtCounty where the Red-woods make me feel athome.”

Instead, she wasdownsized. Yes, she gotsome severance. Yes,she drew one round ofunemployment thenturned 59 1/2 and starteddrawing on her retire-ment savings until shereached 62 and was eli-gible for Social Security.

She was looking foranother job. At the sametime, she had to spendmore time with hermother and step-dad,

both of whom were hav-ing memory problems.She saved the statethousands in caregivingcosts until she had toput them in an institu-tion because their careexceeded her capability.

In the middle of allthis, she ran into one ofthe senior vice presi-dents of the companyshe used to work for.She asked Cherry, “Howare you enjoying retire-ment?” Cherry told hershe hadn’t planned toretire at all.

Yes, there are thoseactually enjoying retire-ment.

Kay belongs to the“Partners in Chime”group at Anaheim Sen-ior Center. “I go withour group to performconcerts in the commu-nity. Do you know whatthat means to a 65-year-old? To feel useful andto be able to entertainothers?”

And then there’s Scottfrom Lake Havasu, Ariz.He says his situation is“hopeless.”

“I’ve spent my ownmoney trying to go backto school and get certi-fied for helping seniorswith end-of-life issues.After I got the certifica-tion, I was supposed tobuy ads and spend otherdollars on marketing.I’ve only got so muchmoney.”

And so anotherBoomer turns to unem-ployment welfarechecks.

I’m not a financial orpolitical expert. But thesituation seems obviousto me:

Boomers need helpnow to remain finan-cially independent inthe future.

People don’t suddenlylose their skills whenthey blow out 50 candleson the birthday cake. .

Here we have a hugegeneration, almost 80million people, reach-ing 50, 55, even 65, at therate of seven perminute.

Current projectionssay these people willlive to be 80 to 90 yearsold.

Please don’t tell me 50is life’s peak. Boomersstill have so much tocontribute and giveback to society.

Let’s make sure thesocial contract startswith employment beforeretirement. It justmakes sense.