Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of March 13
Before we get to the usual Aging News, here’s what you’ll need to know about the massive snowstorm that’s on the way…
- Due to the impending snowstorm, all eight of Dutchess County’s Senior Friendship Centers will be closed on Tuesday, March 14. The county’s Home Delivered Meals program will not operate on Tuesday, so those who use the program should have their “blizzard boxes” ready.
- Additionally, the State of the County forum with County Executive Marcus Molinaro at the Town of Poughkeepsie Senior Center originally scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to Wednesday, April 5th at 1 p.m.
- Local utilities are also advising customers to be prepared for potential service disruptions, with as much as two feet of snow forecasted. Customers can stay up-to-date with Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation at www.CentralHudson.com and with New York State Gas & Electric (NYSEG) at http://www.nyseg.com/Outages/default.html.
- Dial-A-Ride and Flex services have been cancelled for Tuesday, March 14th. Service disruptions or suspension for regular routes should be anticipated for tomorrow. Service changes or cancellations will be posted at www.dutchessny.gov/loop.htm as well as Dutchess County Government’s Facebook and Twitter social media pages and will be provided to local radio stations and other media outlets.
- Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro is advising residents the County is preparing to activate a State of Emergency should the storm develop and hit as expected. Final determinations about emergency declarations, including possible travel restrictions, will be made very early tomorrow morning to provide public notification by 5am. Should an emergency declaration be made, Dutchess County Government offices, including courts, will be closed. All updates will be posted to the County’s website www.dutchessny.gov and social media pages including Facebook and Twitter.
SNOW TIPS: If you’re on social media, following your local fire and police departments and other first responders is an excellent idea. Here’s an example of good advice, courtesy of the Facebook page of the Tivoli Fire Department:
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With everyone’s mind set on Tuesday with the storm, here’s what you should expect:
– It’s going to snow and will be heavy at times. With up to 2 inches an hour expected, we are anticipating at least 12 inches;
– It will be cold and with this arctic blast, expect road conditions to deteriorate rapidly due to the already cold ground and snow cover. Highway departments will have a tough time keeping up with the roads. It’s best just not to drive. Get your vehicles to off-street parking whenever possible.
– It’s a high moisture storm so the snow should be wet and heavy; with the weight of the snow, expect some power outages in the area along with the wind.
– Cloud cover should be rolling in late Monday and snowfall early Tuesday, lasting until late night Tuesday with scattered snow showers on Wednesday.
– If you haven’t already made preparations you should do so in the remaining hours of Monday. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
– We will be doing our preparations as well, to make sure we can get to you quickly and safely if you need our assistance.
– If you haven’t already done so, today (Monday) is the day to change your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detector batteries, and if they are old it’s time to buy new ones.
– If you have a hydrant in your yard or nearby, help us out by clearing it for us to save us time in case we need to use them…time is of the essence.
– Check on elderly neighbors and give them a hand with clearing driveways.
– If the power goes out, do not use generators indoors and make sure you have some extra blankets handy.
And now for the regular Aging News…
Golden Living . . . News for Senior Citizens
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
Nominations for the Office for the Aging’s 2017 Senior Citizen of the Year awards will be accepted through the end of March. Any senior citizen (age 60+) resident of Dutchess County is eligible for the awards, which come in three categories: Male, Female and Couple. You can nominate as many people as you wish, in as many categories as you wish.
Tell us about your nominees’ service to the community, their professional careers, their families – in short, anything you think demonstrates their worthiness to be named a Senior Citizen of the Year. Go into as much detail as you think is needed, keeping in mind that we won’t be able to return any news clippings or other items you send us. You can find an entry form on page 4 of the winter Spotlight on Seniors, available at the following link: http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/SPOTLIGHTWinter2016final.pdf
You can also get an entry form by calling the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555 or by stopping at our office at 27 High St. in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Our Senior Citizens of the Year, chosen by our Advisory Board, will be among those honored at this year’s Celebration of Aging, Monday, May 22 at Villa Borghese, 70 Widmer Rd. in Wappingers Falls.
You can send your picks for Senior Citizen of the year to the Dutchess County Office for the Aging Advisory Board, 27 High St., Poughkeepsie NY 12601.
We’re also looking for Dutchess County centenarians to honor at the Celebration of Aging. Those are the Dutchess residents who are, or will be, 100 years old or more in 2017. Our best estimates indicate there are some 60 county residents who have reached this amazing milestone, many of them still active and living independently. Also to be honored at the Celebration of Aging are couples who will have been married 70 years or more this year. The highlight of the Celebration of Aging isn’t only having so much longevity gathered in one place, but also their moving firsthand experiences of life in Dutchess County before most of us were born. If any friends or family members fit these descriptions, we’d be delighted to have them as our guests at the Celebration of Aging in May. Each couple married 70 years or more will enjoy lunch for free along with their honors, as will each centenarian and one guest apiece. For all other guests, admission is $25 until April 21 and goes up to $40 after that date.
Many thanks also to the event’s sponsors thus far: The Pines of Poughkeepsie, Hudson Cadillac Buick GMC, EverCare, Wingate Health Care, Medicare Resource Group, and MVP.
For more information, call the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555 or email bjones@dutchessny.gov.
Golden Living is prepared by the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, 27 High Street, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601, telephone (845) 486-2555, email: ofa@dutchessny.gov website: http://www.dutchessny.gov/CountyGov/Departments/Aging/AGIndex.htm
Upcoming Office for the Aging presentations and related events:
Tuesday 3/21, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Senior Friendship Center Country & Western Day
All eight Dutchess County Senior Friendship Centers
Reservations required at (845) 486-2555
Friday 3/24, 10 a.m. – “Successful Aging” at Parkinson’s Group meeting
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 67 Randolph St., Poughkeepsie
(845) 471-6580 for information
Thursday 3/30, 12:15 p.m. – “Successful Aging” at St. Simeon Apartments
700 Second Mile Dr., Poughkeepsie
(845) 471-5766 for information
Monday 4/3, 2 p.m. – “Wills, Trusts and Elder Law” at Pawling Library
With John Wirth, Esq., Office for the Aging Advisory Board
11 Broad St.
(845) 855-3444 for information
Wednesday 4/5, 2:30 p.m. – “Successful Aging” at Parkinson’s Disease Support Group meeting
Starr Library, 68 W. Market St., Rhinebeck
(845) 876-4030 for information
Thursday 4/6, 2 p.m. – “Successful Aging” at Blodgett Library
37 Broad St., Fishkill
(845) 896-9215 for information
Tue 4/25 – Senior Walkway and Dutchess Rail Trail walking groups resume (tentative date)
Monday 5/22, 12 noon – The Celebration of Aging
Villa Borghese
70 Widmer Rd., Wappingers Falls
ALZHEIMER’S ADVOCATES LOBBYING IN ALBANY – POSTPONED
On Tuesday (3/14) hundreds of local residents were planning to head to Albany to advocate on behalf of those with Alzheimer’s disease – but the event has been postponed due to the weather. If a makeup date is announced, we’ll pass it along.
“HEAP” DEADLINE EXTENSIONS
Seniors who may be income-eligible for the Home Energy and Assistance Program (HEAP) have an additional two days to apply for benefits, with the final 2016-17 deadline having been extended by New York state officials to Friday, March 17.
Seniors eligible for emergency HEAP assistance have had their application deadline extended to Friday, March 31.
You may be eligible for emergency HEAP benefits if you are in danger of running out of fuel or having your utility service shut off.
The intent of the HEAP benefit is only as a one-time supplement to the payment of annual energy costs. It is not a replacement for your regular payment of heating bills.
For more information on HEAP and emergency HEAP, call the Office for the Aging at (845) 486-2555 or go to mybenefits.ny.gov.
More aging news online:
We had a snowstorm very much like the one we’re getting this week, almost precisely 24 years ago. Snowfall totals hit three feet, according to OFA’s outreach coordinator Brian Jones who distinctly recalls plowing his parents’ driveway in Rhinebeck six times during that storm:http://abc7ny.com/weather/flashback-march-blizzard-of-1993-was-storm-of-the-century/1796600/
And 129 years ago this week, in 1888, another massive blizzard hit New York. Much of Dutchess County received four feet of snow, there were snowdrifts of 15 feet reported in Millbrook and 40 feet (you are reading that correctly) in the hamlet of Bangall in the town of Stanford, and a train that went off the tracks in the eastern Dutchess hamlet of Coleman Station was all but buried. Here’s the picture from March 13, 1888: http://www.virtualny.cuny.edu/Search/search_res_image75aa.html?id=349
Local experts are predicting an upswing in Lyme disease throughout the Hudson Valley (and most of the Northeast) this year:http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/06/518219485/forbidding-forecast-for-lyme-disease-in-the-northeast?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20170306
With spring on the way – it really is, despite what’s coming on Tuesday – you may be thinking of being more active than you were over the winter. Whether you’re active or not, the right footwear is key and the wrong footwear can lead to bigger problems than you might think:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170301130822.htm
Working longer may be better for your health: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/business/retirement/working-longer-may-benefit-your-health.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fretiring&_r=0
This week in senior birthdays:
3/13: Baseball Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey (87)
3/14: Actor/author Michael Caine (84)
3/15: Apollo XII astronaut Alan Bean (84)
3/16: Comedian/actor Jerry Lewis (91)
3/17: Singer/songwriter/Hudson Valley resident John Sebastian (73)
3/18: Pianist/composer John Kander (90)
3/19: American author Philip Roth (84)
