Story by Darl DeVault, Contributing Editor

HarborChase of South Oklahoma City executives welcomed the group of 40 Senior Business Solution colleagues who braved a thunderstorm to attend their networking luncheon on March 16. to their assisted living and memory care residence located on south May Ave.
The meeting started with longtime event organizer Bill Muir addressing a significant change in his company. Muir started the SBS luncheons six years ago as an extension of the newly launched Compass Senior Living Solutions he and his wife Karen founded.
“I am proud to announce that Jennifer Buckles, also a certified senior advisor will become a full partner in our mission to help seniors in search of care options as they age,” Muir said. “Jennifer joined Compass in 2021 and has been the sales and marketing manager since early 2022. The first of April, she will be a full partner serving as chief operating officer.”
Muir said he and wife Karen will be stepping back from day-to-day operations due to recent health challenges. They will remain advisors involved in overseeing the continued growth of the company.
Muir said the four senior advisors working in the Oklahoma City metro area now also include Dee Edwards and Cheryl Beaver, who assist Oklahoma seniors in finding the optimal solutions as they explore their options.
HarborChase Executive Director Willena Ferguson welcomed the visitors to the luxury assisted living and memory care facility, which she proudly explained has some of the most amenities of any Oklahoma senior center. It offers 106 one, and two-bedroom assisted living options, and The Cove—offering Alzheimer’s and dementia care and respite care services to families.
A full-service barber and beauty salon augment the resort-level luxury, along with a putting green in the interior courtyard next to the cabana and a creative art studio and a fitness and wellness center on site.
Fine dining is another heralded feature, with an executive chef overseeing the three meals daily and a variety of on-site restaurants, including a bistro and a steakhouse open to the public that takes reservations for Friday and Saturday. HarborChase is also state licensed as a hotel, so they can provide residents and the public with a bar and cocktail lounge.
With a thunderstorm outside during the meeting, Ferguson emphasized the visitors’ safety by talking about the peace of mind builders put into the building. “This Oklahoma room we are in is a safe room rated to withstand an EF 5 Category tornado, Ferguson said. “This large space provides our residents and staff a great sense of safety in Oklahoma’s unpredictable weather and serves as a movie theatre room and chapel.”
Ferguson helped bring the facility to life, arriving to help with planning 14 months before it opened in 2020. She talked about how proud she was to be a part of Vero Beach, Fla. – based Harbor Retirement Associates in bringing the many luxury living options they provide to Oklahoma. HRA operates more than 35 communities in eight states and is partnering to construct even more communities in seven additional states.
HRA manages over $150 million in revenue and approximately $1 billion in assets while employing 2,000 associates.
The luncheon continued with each invitee giving a few minutes of information about their employer and how they saw their role in helping seniors with their needs in the community. A few people outlined special events their venues were planning soon, inviting others to attend.
Representatives of an Informed Senior Seminar to be held Friday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, April 14, spoke of how all the local law enforcement and state agencies will come together that day to offer seniors an overview of their many services.
Some providers reported real-time availability for their care, housing options, and home care and hospice providers. Speakers covered topics ranging from personnel issues to renovation offerings and help explaining VA benefits to patients and clients.
Conversations before and after the more formal portion allowed attendees to stay connected with their senior industry peers while building possible referral networks.
After the networking, half a dozen attendees asked to take a tour. HarborChase Director of Sales Staci Seilkopf began the time by explaining the nearly 1,900-square foot Oklahoma Room used for the luncheon is a safe room rated by FEMA to withstand category EF 5 tornado winds. An enclosed generator ensures power, and a full-stocked pantry provides food and water for residents for up to three days in the case of disaster. Some $400,000 two and a half tons of concrete make up the nearly two-feet thick walls protecting residents, as does the bulletproof glass and custom-designed rolling steel hurricane shutters.
HarborChase South Oklahoma City is located at 10801 S May Ave and can be found online at https://www.harborchase.com

Story by Darl DeVault, Contributing Editor

One of the state’s most family-oriented organized bicycle rides began on a clear morning after rain overnight Sunday, September 11, at Mitch Park, in Edmond. The event is one of the few in the state that allows seniors to ride with their grandkids over 12 years of age in what many term a Grand Event.
The ride offered 27, 40 and 64-mile courses starting in the 280-acre park. The Oklahoma Bicycle Society Streak has evolved into a family event using one of Edmond’s premier parks as a base. Edmond’s Johnny Carino’s Italian Restaurant provided all registered riders a free lunch after the ride.
The ride was moved back to its normal September date because organizers moved it forward last year to avoid conflict with the Red Bud Classic bike ride that had moved later because of COVID-19.
Organizers emphasized the Streak is not a race, and they were proud the ride was back to being later in the year when it was cooler temperatures. Riders could check their names against the posting of the lucky registered riders winning the 15 door prizes offered by local sponsors.
Again, the ride has been going on for so long that seniors have come to see it as an opportunity to help introduce their grandkids to an organized ride. Adult riders accompanied youth riders (ages 12-18).
Multiple rest stops with restrooms were open until 1 p.m. on the hilly 100K, 40- and 25-mile routes. The ride had not used the hilly courses in 15 years, taking the riders east of Edmond into the hills. The previous course, much flatter, went west around Piedmont.
“The course this year is not my idea of a family-friendly ride, which is how they market the Streak,” said longtime area rider Larry Floyd of Oklahoma City. “It was almost all uphill or downhill, and the road surface was like cobblestone in the parts of the course. The old route west toward Piedmont was much more fun and family-friendly.”
Ample fluids and snack foods were available at the rest stops. Several local bicycle shops and volunteers provided SAG (Support and Gear) support.
The first 250 riders received event T-shirts, with more than 260 people riding that morning.
Proceeds from the OBS Streak supply helmets for kids who receive bikes from the Salvation Army Buck$ 4 Bikes program for Christmas.
The OBS is a not-for-profit group dedicated to the promotion of bicycle safety. It supports bicycling in all its forms and the furtherance of the sport by defending the rights of bicyclists. The OBS is active in working with the city, county and state governments as well as other organizations to improve cyclists’ safety and rights and promote the construction of recreational trails and designated bike paths on streets and roads.
OBS organizes weekly rides all year for riders of all levels. See their website for more information about their activities: okcbike.org.
For the latest news on the club activities, upcoming rides throughout the state, and to further the enjoyment of bicycling, the club has an online monthly newsletter, The Pathfinder, available on the website. The club asks seniors to consider joining the OBS to learn more about how to help keep bicycling safe.

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation honored Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) recently with its inaugural Multiple Sclerosis Advocate Award.
Cole received the award for his role in championing biomedical research on MS and other diseases. The ceremony took place at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, during a dinner that also raised more than $270,000 for research and patient care at OMRF’s Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence.
During his nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Cole has advocated for biomedical research on the national level. Cole is the former Chairman and current Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. Under his leadership, the National Institutes of Health’s budget has grown almost $8 billion since 2014.
“Congressman Cole has used his considerable influence to benefit those suffering from disease,” said Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby, who serves on OMRF’s board and presented the award to Cole. “Multiple sclerosis is one of many diseases that impacts the lives of Oklahomans, and Tom understands their struggle. It fuels his passion for funding research that ultimately will make a difference for countless Americans.”
MS causes vision problems, tremors, paralysis, painful spasms, imbalance and cognitive changes. At OMRF, more than 3,000 MS patients receive treatment from clinicians, who also team with laboratory researchers in an effort to develop new treatment options.
“Everyone has family members and loved ones who are affected by some form of disease,” said Cole. “Regardless of your politics, funding for biomedical and disease research is always a worthy cause. As I serve in Congress, I will continue fighting to sustain and increase the gains that we have made, so centers of research excellence like OMRF can continue to pursue groundbreaking research to find more cures and treatments that benefit all of society.”
Those efforts, said OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D., have indeed made a difference.
“Congressman Cole prioritized research funding and has been responsible for historic increases,” said Prescott. “Because of his leadership, we’re now seeing new and meaningful discoveries that will change—and save—lives.”
The Chickasaw Nation served as the lead sponsor of the event, which also received support from Nancy Ellis, Lou and Jim Morris, Susan and Louis Dakil, the Clyde Evans Trust, and the Scaramucci Foundation.

https://www.caresuitesokc.com/

By Nick Thomas

In her new book, “Connecticut in the Movies” released in October, actress Illeana Douglas explores Hollywood’s long love affair with the Constitution State.
“The book features movies from the silent era to modern films that were either shot in Connecticut or featured the state in some way in the storyline or production,” Douglas told me when we met at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, this past summer.
“On the one hand, you’ve got country-living comedies like ‘Christmas in Connecticut’ (1945) and ‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House’ (1948),” explained Douglas. In the latter, a New York businessman (Cary Grant) builds his dream home in rural Connecticut, but the remodeling goes horribly wrong in a costly yet hilarious way.
The book’s subtitle, “From Dream House to Dark Suburbia,” alludes to the other more edgy themes and darker storylines in the collection.
“Films like ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ (1947) and ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’ (1956) have dark suburbia at their core,” said Douglas, referring to movies that deal with anti-semitism and disillusionment in the postwar generation, respectively. But it was back in the 80s after viewing “The Swimmer,” a 1968 film set in Connecticut, that she first developed an interest in films connected to the state.
“Connecticut cinema began to percolate in my head and when COVID hit, I had time to sit down and focus on more Connecticut films,” she said. “I simply fell in love with my subject.”
So much so, Douglas uprooted herself from Los Angeles and moved to Connecticut, near where she grew up in Old Saybrook. This allowed her to not only travel the state while researching and photographing its Hollywood links, but to also purchase a 19th-century house near her childhood home where she completed the book.
But complications of ironic proportions soon arose, linked to the “Mr. Blandings” film. Like Grant’s character in the movie, who relocates from the bustling city to rural Connecticut and purchases an old home that becomes a money pit, Douglas discovered her new home was desperately in need of major repairs – far more than she anticipated. Plumbers, electricians, and builders became her constant companions for the past 2 years!
An actress in her own right appearing in such big-screen hits as “Goodfellas” and “Cape Fear,” Douglas is also a producer, director, and writer, and has appeared as a movie host and interviewer on the Turner Classic Movies network (see www.illeanadouglas.com). However, her personal ties to Connecticut uniquely qualify her as the ideal author to discuss the Hollywood-Connecticut link.
A thoroughly researched book with over 300 photos, Douglas is hoping it will not only appeal to residents of the Nutmeg State and film fans, but will also inspire filmmakers.
“I’ve demonstrated the diversity of films that have been made in Connecticut,” she says. “I hope the book is a blueprint of a renaissance of filmmakers returning to Connecticut.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama and spent this past summer traveling throughout Connecticut and Maine. He writes features, columns, and interviews for newspapers and magazines around the country. See https://www.getnickt.org/.

Seaman 2nd Class Cecil Thornton, born in Rogersville, Alabama, who died during the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, will be buried with full military honors in the Civitan Cemetery in Rogersville, Alabama on March 11 at 10 a.m.
As Seaman 2nd Class, Cecil Thornton’s duties included performing ordinary deck duties in connection with the upkeep and operations of the ship, such as painting, cleaning, and polishing of the ship’s brightwork; the collection and disposal of garbage; maintenance and repair of various types of equipment. He also handled ropes and wires; stored and secured items; assisted with the movement of cargo on and off the ship. He stood watches as lookout, telephone talker, messenger, or similar duties. Also was member of a gun crew.
Awards and Decorations include Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet Clasp), Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medals.
Duty Stations were: USS Oklahoma (BB 37): 03/29/1940 and Naval Training Station Norfolk, VA: 12/15/1939.
Promotions include: Apprentice Seaman upon enlistment and Seaman 2nd Class: 04/14/1940

New service for patients with Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

A new outpatient infusion treatment center for people with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) has opened at Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City. The center is part of Mercy’s efforts to expand gastroenterology services in the metro area.
Dr. Hussein Bitar, a gastroenterologist who specializes in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, joined Mercy last year with the opening of the Mercy Gastroenterology and IBD Center, the only dedicated IBD center in the state.
“There’s a lot of excitement in this field with new treatments regularly coming on the market, and many are delivered intravenously,” said Dr. Bitar. “Having a dedicated infusion center for patients just down the hall from where they get lab work, imaging and visit our team in the clinic is a unique care model that makes the experience for patients much easier and streamlined. We’re proud to be the only center in the state with this service.”
Patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis struggle with painful symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, anemia, weight loss and fatigue. Many of these symptoms cause patients to experience severe dehydration. In addition to having access to the latest biologic infusion treatments, they’ll be able to get IV fluids and iron infusions as needed in the new center.
“We see a lot of really complex patients in various stages of their disease process, and many come to us for second or third opinions,” said Dr. Bitar. “Our long-term goal is to create a medical home where they can receive all their care in one location, and this infusion center is another step in that direction.”
Click here for more information about Dr. Bitar and Mercy’s IBD Center in Oklahoma City, or call (405) 752-3900.