Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s
AGING NEWS
For the week of December 3
Note: the Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s Senior Friendship Centers and Home Delivered Meals programs will not be in operation on December 24th and 25th, and on December 31st and January 1st.
The Office for the Aging headquarters will be OPEN for regular hours (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) on Monday, December 24th, but closed for the Christmas holiday on Tuesday, December 25th. We’ll also be OPEN on Monday, December 31st but closed for New Year’s Day on January 1st.
Golden Living . . . News for Senior Citizens
Todd N. Tancredi, Director
Dutchess County Office for the Aging
PUT THE “SPOTLIGHT ON SENIORS” ON YOUR WINTER READING LIST
The winter 2018-19 edition of the Dutchess County Office for the Aging’s quarterly “Spotlight on Seniors” newsletter is being mailed to thousands of local residents this month. It’s packed with information to help seniors and their caregivers survive a Hudson Valley winter and get ready for 2019.
In the “Spotlight” you’ll find out more about our plans to consolidate several Office for the Aging facilities in Poughkeepsie into a single new facility that will be much easier for seniors to access, a recap of the Senior Prom which took place in October, and much more information you can use throughout the winter. The “Spotlight on Seniors” will also look ahead at events for 2019, including our “Celebration of Aging” coming up in May, at which we honor the many Dutchess County residents who will turn 100 or more in 2019, the county’s couples who have been married 70 years or more, and the county’s Senior Citizens of the Year as nominated by you, the readers.
There are two other ways to read the “Spotlight” right away: We’ve posted it at the Office for the Aging’s website, www.dutchessny.gov/aging, and we can also email you the “Spotlight,” along with our informative and entertaining weekly Aging News emails, if you send us your email address. You can sign up via the county website’s “Dutchess Delivery” service at www.dutchessny.gov/DutchessDelivery. Get in touch with Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones at bjones@dutchessny.gov or 845-486-2555 to find out more. If you’d rather get the “Spotlight” through the regular mail, call the Office for the Aging and we’ll take care of the rest.
THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING?
If you’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, maybe a different perspective is needed. Instead of resolving to do something you won’t get around to, what if you made 2019 the year you resolve to avoid doing something? The thing we’d like you to avoid is falling.
The number one way to avoid falling is by avoiding inactivity, and the Office for the Aging has two ways you can get started – one you can get started on this week, and one you can start late this winter.
By joining the Office for the Aging’s Senior Exercise Program, you and your fellow participants get not just the benefits of the exercises, but also socialization, another key factor to successful aging. To find out about the Senior Exercise class nearest you, visit our website at: www.dutchessny.gov/aging. You’ll find a listing of classes and their locations, what a typical workout consists of, information on how to join, as well as the doctor’s consent form you’ll need to begin the classes. If you don’t have internet access, call our office and we will send you the information through the mail.
Another way of avoiding inactivity is by joining our “A Matter of Balance” classes, supported by Health Quest. We’re signing seniors up now for classes that begin in the late winter and early spring of 2019, in locations across the county. Contact the Office for the Aging to sign up. Class space is limited; if the class nearest you is full, you can be placed on a waiting list.
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
All events subject to unannounced schedule changes
Tue 12/11, 11 a.m. – Anti-Scam Presentation
With OFA outreach coordinator Brian Jones
The Regency at Fishkill, 100 Regency Dr.
Snow date: Thu 12/13, 11 a.m.
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 or bjones@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, scam prevention, senior housing, a wide range of topics related to nutrition, and more!
PHONE SCAMMERS AT IT AGAIN
The latest tactic in our region, according to the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, is for scammers to pose as representatives of a utility company billing department, demanding immediate payment or power will be shut off.
It’s a scam. Don’t pick up the phone – and if you have picked up the phone, don’t say anything, don’t press any buttons, and just hang up. Much as you might be tempted to pick up the phone and give them a piece of your mind, don’t. Many scam operations keep track of when would-be victims pick up their phones, and will direct even more calls to those numbers.
Scammers succeed when they can shock us into an emotional reaction, or make an offer that sounds too good to be true (because it is), and thus take leave of our usual common sense. To fight scammers, the sheriff’s office recommends the following. (We’ve added a few followup points in italics.)
- Do not meet up with someone that you don’t know; if you’re asked to do this it is surely a scam, and it is very dangerous as well.
- If you’re called by someone you don’t know asking for money, for any reason, that’s a signal that it’s most likely a scam. Don’t pick up the phone – and if you did pick up, just hang up.
- If someone calls you and tells you that a relative has been hurt or is in jail, confirm it first before sending any money. Hang up. Then… Call other relatives or a legitimate law enforcement agency for confirmation before any money is sent. If they’re posing as a relative, try and contact that relative for confirmation.
- Sending money overseas is especially risky; use extreme caution.
- Ask the person for their call back number and ask to speak to their supervisor to confirm the info; if it’s a scam they will most likely hang up at this point and the number they give you will be bogus.
- If the person is telling you that a loved one is in the hospital or jail, find out which one and contact the institution yourself to confirm.
- If a loved one has recently passed away be wary; in some cases perpetrators have even preyed on victims by searching through the obituaries and calling surviving loved ones. If you get calls from people you don’t know soon after someone passes away, be careful and confirm it before you send any money.
- In some cases someone will call and tell the victim that they’ve won money, but to “process the claim” they need to first send money. Beware this is most definitely a scam, and don’t send any money – you should never have to pay money to claim a prize. If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Sometimes the scammers will include a realistic-looking fake check made out to you. If you’d like to see an example of a scam sweepstakes letter, email OFA Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones at bjones@dutchessny.gov and he’ll send you one.
- If there’s any doubt about a phone call you’ve received contact the Sheriff’s Office before sending any money.
We can only add that if you are able to screen calls without picking up, that’s often the best way to proceed – by not talking to the scammers in the first place.
If anyone thinks they may have been the victim of a scam, they are encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office as soon as possible at 845-486-3800, via the tipline at 845-605-CLUE (2583), or dcsotips@gmail.com.
To arrange an Office for the Aging anti-scam presentation for your group, contact Outreach Coordinator Brian Jones at bjones@dutchessny.gov or (845) 486-2555.
ONE MORE THING ABOUT SCAMMERS AND THEIR TARGETS
Scammers will often target lonely seniors, offering the false hope of companionship while trying to trick them into giving away money, as well as personal and financial information. Immigrant seniors who have difficulty with English are particularly tempting targets, because they can have both a language barrier and loneliness with which to contend. If a senior has recently emigrated to join their American family, it is often difficult to learn English at their age. Even when they try to learn English, they may not be able to enroll in an ESL (English as a Second Language) class.
At the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, we use a service called Language Line to ensure we can properly assist non-English-speaking and limited-English-speaking seniors, caregivers and others. Language Line offers translators in dozens of languages. The service has been required by federal law for many years.
When someone whose primary language is not English calls or stops by our office, we ask them to let us know what language they feel most comfortable speaking. We then set up a conference call with an interpreter who can translate the conversation for both parties. All conversations are held in the strictest confidence.
MILLERTON FRIENDSHIP CENTER MOVES TO TEMPORARY NEW HOME IN 2019
The Village of Millerton has scheduled major renovations for village government facilities in 2019, including the Village Hall community room that the Office for the Aging uses as its Senior Friendship Center.
Which means that as of January 2nd we’ll be moving the friendship center down the block to the North East/Millerton Library Annex (28 Century Blvd.), where we’ll stay for the duration of the renovation.
We operate two Senior Friendship Centers in rural northeastern Dutchess – the Millerton center and another one at the South Amenia Presbyterian Church (229 South Amenia Rd., Wassaic). We also operate rural Senior Friendship Centers in Pawling and Red Hook. For more information about any of our eight Senior Friendship Centers, email nbhargava@dutchessny.gov or call (845) 486-2555. From the 518 and 838 area codes, you can call toll free (866) 486-2555.
PEARL HARBOR DAY TALK AT FDR LIBRARY (12/7)
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum presents a Pearl Harbor Day author talk and book signing with Sam Kleiner, author of The Flying Tigers: The Untold Story of the American Pilots Who Waged a Secret War Against Japan on Friday, December 7, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. The event will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park (4079 Albany Post Rd. a/k/a Route 9). This is a free public event but registration is required. Visit www.fdrlibrary.org or CLICK HERE to register.
Other aging news online:
Veterans, here’s another way to check whether you’re getting everything for which you’re eligible: https://seniorplanet.org/veterans-are-you-missing-out/?mc_cid=d83864f9b9&mc_eid=4149ad7bda
If you’ve noticed long waits while on the phone with Social Security, you’re not alone – but it appears that those waits will soon shorten: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/business/social-security-service-backlog-delays.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FElderly
If you like to stay active outdoors, especially in rural areas of Dutchess County, keep in mind that in our region, regular deer hunting season continues until Sunday, December 9th. For hunters and non-hunters alike, here’s the full schedule and maps of which kinds of hunting seasons happen when, and where: https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/huntseason18.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0vLVhPIzOLholncYYDqCuXbL2g3j-uSJS8MoCVqplDhS6ojl98BiILO9g
If stair-climbing is your kind of exercise, here are some dos and don’ts: http://www.berkeleywellness.com/fitness/exercise/article/stair-climbing-how-get-most-benefits?s=EFA_181124_AA1&st=email&ap=ed
Blood pressure tends to rise with age, but maybe that’s a product of the Western lifestyle? https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/14/western-lifestyle-high-blood-pressure-age-hypertension
Setting goals to be more active has been shown to slow declines in memory among older African-Americans: https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/setting-goals-be-more-active-slows-memory-decline-older-african-americans
The 401(k) is 40 years old this year: https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-401-k-turns-40-and-like-all-birthdays-theres-good-and-bad-1542404775?mod=hp_DAY_9&&nan_pid=1864790839&ad_id=8515737
For you history buffs…as of earlier this year, manned spaceships are now older than airplanes were when the Wright Brothers made their first flight: https://kottke.org/18/11/spaceships-are-now-older-than-airplanes-were-when-we-flew-our-first-spaceships?fbclid=IwAR2Z7IXWov_f778ISg5uyIkashs5T4kIBx0-QwpkyqojFYlGUhyGjPZKzeU
And since it’s that season again, here’s just about everything you could want to know about feeding birds during the winter – while keeping pests away: http://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec1783.pdf
The one pest the above article doesn’t mention? Bears. Hopefully they’re going into hibernation now, but come late winter this’ll be handy: https://www.thespruce.com/protect-bird-feeders-from-bears-385679
This week in senior birthdays:
12/3: Musician/reality-show star Ozzy Osbourne (70)
12/4: Game show host Wink Martindale (85)
12/5: Singer/pianist Little Richard (86)
12/6: Singer/musician Frankie Beverly (72)
12/7: Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench (71)
12/8: Irish flute player James Galway (79)
12/9: Actor/producer Kirk Douglas (102)
You thought you were going to finish this Aging News without a Bad Joke? Think again!
My grandfather’s watch doesn’t have any hands or numbers. He says it’s very accurate. I asked him what time it was. You can guess what he told me.
