Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of April 2
Golden Living . . . News for Seniors, Their Families and Caregivers
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
DO THE MASHED (COUCH) POTATO
There are four main challenges to overcome if you’re hoping to live the longest, healthies and most independent life possible. Now that spring has arrived, it’s finally beginning to warm up, and it’s becoming easier to overcome what may be the biggest challenge of the four – physical inactivity.
If you’re a “couch potato,” a recent study, published in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, should concern you. The study indicates that adults over age 60 have a 46% greater risk of having some disability in basic activities of daily living, such as getting around the house and feeding themselves, for every hour they were sedentary during the day. The study also found that even seniors who exercise regularly risk losing exercise’s benefits if they spend extended time sitting.
Fortunately, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle is not complicated. Start by looking for reasons not to sit. If you’re a baseball fan, turn off the TV and listen to the game on the radio instead. That frees you up to engage in a more active life while you listen. If you’re on the phone, talk while standing or walking. Going shopping or to work? Pick a distant parking spot and get in a bit of extra walking. Are you a golfer? If you can walk the course, skip the cart. When given the choice between taking the elevator or the stairs, choose the stairs.
And then there’s grandkids. They have tons of energy, and anything you do with them, whether it’s gardening or a game of tag, will be great exercise for you. It’ll be a wonderful learning and bonding opportunity, too.
THE WALKING GROUPS RETURN
The Office for the Aging can help you get a volunteer walking group going. There’s one group who sets out on the Walkway over the Hudson every week, weather permitting, from late April to November every year. We’ve also had volunteer walking groups who used many other parts of the Dutchess Rail Trail, which covers 13.4 miles from Hopewell Junction to the Walkway; the Harlem Valley Rail Trail in northeastern Dutchess County; and other routes throughout the county for walkers of all abilities.
We try to keep our ears to the ground when it comes to walking groups that already exist, but we might not know about yours. If your walking group is looking for more members, or you’re brand new at leading a walking group and want to get the word out, tell us about your group by contacting OFA Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones atbjones@dutchessny.gov or (845) 486-2555.
If a rainy day keeps you from getting outside, the Office for the Aging’s eight Senior Friendship Centers are among dozens of venues that host senior exercise programs. Contact us for a brochure on exercise opportunities for mind and body in Dutchess County.
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: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
Office for the Aging upcoming events
Unless otherwise indicated, call (845) 486-2555 for more information
Thu 4/5, 12:30 p.m. – Eating For Health with OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
(re-scheduled from Tue 4/3)
The Arc of Dutchess (LaGrange Vocational Center)
Fri 4/6, 12 noon – 3 p.m. – “OFA on the Road”
With outreach coordinator Brian Jones and Red Hook Community Center
Ulster Savings Bank, Red Hook (7296 S. Broadway)
Mon 4/9, 2 p.m. – “Successful Aging” with OFA outreach coordinator Brian Jones
Mid-Hudson Japanese Community Association meeting
Poughkeepsie Galleria Community Room
Space is limited; register by emailing office@mhjca.org
Tue 4/10, 10:30 a.m. – “Successful Aging” with OFA outreach coordinator Brian Jones
Salvation Army, 19 Pershing Ave., Poughkeepsie
Wed 4/11, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. – New York Statewide Senior Action Council informational meeting
Including OFA director Todd Tancredi and State Senator Sue Serino
Boardman Road Branch Library, 141 Boardman Rd., Poughkeepsie
RSVP by April 6 to statewide4@gmail.com or 1-800-333-4374
Thu 4/12, 11 a.m. – “Microgreens In Your Diet” (includes information on growing your own)
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Tri-Town Senior Friendship Center (55 Overlook Rd., Poughkeepsie)
Thu 4/19, 11 a.m. – “Reversing Heart Disease Through Diet”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
East Fishkill Senior Friendship Center, 890 Route 82, Hopewell Junction
Mon 4/23, 11 a.m. – “Heart Healthy Nutrition”
With OFA nutrition coordinator Nimesh Bhargava
Red Hook Senior Friendship Center, 59 Fisk St.
Fri 5/4, 12:45 p.m. – “Successful Aging” with OFA outreach coordinator Brian Jones
With Millbrook @ Home
Maura’s Kitchen, 18 Alden Pl., Millbrook
Mon 5/21, 12 noon – The Celebration of Aging
Villa Borghese, 70 Widmer Rd., Wappinger
Tickets $25/person until April 27, $40/person after
Free for all Dutchess residents who will turn 100 or more in 2018, plus one guest
Free for all Dutchess-resident couples married 70+ years in 2018
Call (845) 486-2544 or email bjones@dutchessny.gov to find out more
To request an Office for the Aging presentation for your senior, social and/or civic group, get in touch with outreach coordinator Brian Jones at (845) 486-2555 orbjones@dutchessny.gov. All your group needs to provide is a venue that’s wheelchair-accessible and open to the public, with space to set up a projector and screen. We have our own projector and screen – but if you have those, let us know.
We feature presentations on Successful Aging, Office for the Aging services, Medicare/Medicaid, senior housing, a wide range of topics related to nutrition, and more!
FREE FINANCIAL WORKSHOP THIS WEEK (Thu 4/5) IN POUGHKEEPSIE
Learn how to avoid being a victim of scams and fraud this week at a free workshop presented by United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region with help from Rhinebeck Bank.
The workshop takes place on Thursday, April 5th from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. at the Boardman Road Library in Poughkeepsie (141 Boardman Rd.). Presenters will include John Viola, supervisory federal agent with the US Postal Inspection Service, and Donna Harris, public information representative for the US Postal Inspection Service in New York.
For information and registration, call (845) 471-1900 extension 3106 or email jawada@uwdor.org.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR STANFORDVILLE BIKE RODEO (Fri 4/6)
The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and Dutchess County Traffic Safety Board are hosting a bike rodeo and safety clinic on Friday, April 6th from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Stanfordville Recreation Park (86 Creamery Rd.), sponsored by the Stanford Free Library. If you can help with the event, contact wjohnson@dutchessny.gov or call (845) 486-3603.
Kids will need helmets to participate, and will learn about helmet fitting, bike safety inspections, and skills testing.
WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW MAY “HEAR-T” YOU (The Importance of Good Hearing)
Hearing wellness educator Haim Keren is the speaker at the “Lunch and Learn” series at Temple Beth-El in Poughkeepsie (118 South Grand Ave., (845) 471-9811), onWednesday, April 18 at 11:30 a.m. Lunch can be had after the talk for a suggested $6 donation.
Call the temple for more information on the weekly “Lunch and Learn” events.
WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY 2018
This annual event had been held in Poughkeepsie for many years, but it has drawn attention from around the Hudson Valley. Organizers say a larger venue was needed to host this year’s event – therefore, it’s been scheduled for Friday, June 15, at the Aquinas Theatre at Mount Saint Mary College in the City of Newburgh (330 Powell Ave.). According to organizers, in future years, the event will be held in rotating locations including Dutchess County, and the event remains open to all guests from any county who register in advance while there’s space.
Dutchess County will be represented at the conference by Patricia Sheldon, Director of Adult Protective Services. Additionally, Dutchess County Executive Marcus J. Molinaro will join Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus at the conference for opening remarks.
Space will be limited, so register by emailing weead2018@evercare.org, or by calling the Orange County Office for the Aging at (845) 615-3700.
Sign-in begins at 9:00 a.m. and the program will run from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Keynote speakers are Bob Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition, and Philip C. Marshall, founder of “Beyond Brooke – advancing elder justice.” Marshall is a grandson of the late New York philanthropist Brooke Astor, who was a victim of elder abuse in her last years before dying at age 105. Among her philanthropic activities was the donation of hundreds of acres of family land in Rhinebeck in 1960; one plot of land is now the site of the ArchCare skilled nursing facility (formerly Ferncliff Nursing Home), and another remains forever wild as the Ferncliff Forest preserve.
SPRING BOOK SALE IN PLEASANT VALLEY
The Friends of the Pleasant Valley Library have scheduled their annual Spring Book Sale for the second weekend in April.
Donations of books, CDs and DVDs in good condition are being accepted now at the library, at 1554 Main St. (Route 44) in Pleasant Valley. More than 20,000 items will be available for purchase at the Town Hall the weekend of April 13-15 (Fri-Sun). Anyone who brings a non-perishable food item for the local food pantry will receive a free book. The event will begin with a preview sale on April 13th, for which there is a $5 admission fee. Admission is free April 14th and 15th. Children’s books and pocket-sized paperbacks will start at five for $1 and adult books, CDs & DVDS will be six for $5. There will be a giant $5 bag sale on April 15th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Books will be free, although donations will be accepted, for a half hour at 2 p.m. on April 15th.
Call the library at (845) 635-8460 for more information.
Other aging news online:
Even brief walks have long-term benefits for your health, long as you do a lot of them: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/well/move/walking-exercise-minutes-death-longevity.html
More on last week’s announced merger between Dutchess-based Health Quest and a group of hospitals just over the state line in western Connecticut:http://southwestdutchess.dailyvoice.com/business/health-quest-western-connecticut-network-merge-seven-hospitals/734945/
Many recent and not-so-recent retirees are finding that retirement doesn’t agree with them: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/health/unretirement-work-seniors.html
This 100-year-old survivor of the WWII Bataan Death March is still taking part in memorial marches: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/meet-the-100-year-old-survivor-who-took-part-in-the-bataan-memorial-death-march-1.518761
A truly enormous compendium of answers to your common nutritional questions, presented in plain English: http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/ultimate-conversation-on-healthy-eating-and-nutrition.html?utm_campaign=nym&utm_source=fb&utm_medium=s1
Here’s a variety of technology that can deal with phone-scammers and robocalls – some solutions you’d have to pay for, but others are free: https://lifehacker.com/waste-phone-scammers-time-instead-of-yours-with-robokil-1824049341
A recent news story claiming $7.9 trillion (with a T) in savings from earlier Alzheimer’s disease detection may or may not be all it claims to be: https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2018/03/early-alzheimers-diagnosis/
Any day this spring, you may see a turtle trying to cross the road. Here’s what to do (and what NOT to do) should you encounter one. https://www.thedodo.com/turtle-road-crossing-help-1873527047.html
This week in senior birthdays:
4/2: Mets infielder Al Weis (80) – and because it’s finally baseball season, here’s his big highlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLoQ2iQo5Zo
4/3: Anthropologist Jane Goodall (84)
4/4: Actor/director Craig T. Nelson (74)
4/5: Singer/songwriter Agnetha Fältskog (Abba) (68)
4/6: Pianist/composer/conductor André Previn (89)
4/7: Activist/author Daniel Ellsberg (87)
4/8: Actor/comedian Shecky Greene (92)
Well, you’ve completed another issue of the Aging News, so it’s time to reward yourself with our weekly bad joke.
Q: What did the pirate say on his 80th birthday?
A: Aye, matey.
Brian Jones
Outreach Coordinator
Dutchess County Office For the Aging
Phone: (845) 486-2555 Fax: (845) 486-2571
Email: bjones@dutchessny.gov
Website: www.dutchessny.gov/aging
