The 19th Annual Caregiver Survival Skills Conference is scheduled for 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m. Friday, June 9 at Church of the Servant Community Hall, 14343 N. MacArthur Blvd.
The theme for this year’s conference is United in Caregiving: You Are Not Alone. The conference affirms for caregivers that being responsible for another person is challenging and many caregivers feel unprepared, overwhelmed or stressed. The Annual Caregiver Survival Skills Conference will bring expert speakers together to equip conference-goers with important skills and resources they can implement immediately.
Jerry Shiles, estate planning and elder law attorney with Parman and Easterday, will be one of the event speakers. He is the co-author of two books, Estate Planning Basics: A Crash Course in Safeguarding Your Legacy and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma: Settling the Affairs of Your Loved One. He is a speaker on estate planning and elder law on television, radio, newspapers and for community groups. He is one of 21 certified elder law attorneys in the state of Oklahoma, a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Other speakers include Andrea Sneed, Sunbeam Family Services Respite Services Coordinator; and keynote speaker Meredith Shafer, executive director of the Wegener Foundation, an organization that supports programs that serve at-risk children and youth. She is also a wife, mother and author of My Pink Champagne Life and Mad Cow: A PTSD Love Story.
The Annual Caregiver Survival Skills Conference is sponsored by Sunbeam Family Services, Concordia Life Care Community, Home Instead Senior Care and Mercy Hospital. In addition to the speakers, the conference will provide complimentary breakfast and lunch as well as a resource fair. The registration and resource fair will open at 8:30 a.m. There is a suggested donation of $10 to attend the conference; please make checks payable to Mercy Community Outreach. Registration deadline is June 1. For more information or to register, call 405.936.5821. Please leave a message with your name and phone number, and your call will be returned for confirmation.
Senior citizens will be celebrated with free admission to the fairgrounds on their special day with events from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sept. 22 at the south end of the Modern Living Building at the Oklahoma State Fair.
All seniors ages 55 or older are invited to enjoy the “Under the Big Top” themed event for activities, entertainment, exhibits, prizes and health screenings designed especially for the golden ager.
“We are very excited to be planning the Fair and Senior Day. New for the 2021 Senior Day event is Mike Black as Elvis!” said Robyn Hicks, Fair Special Programs & Events manager. “Since January, our volunteer Senior Day committee has been hard at work planning an excellent event for Oklahoma Seniors 55 and over. We look forward to having both a successful Senior Day and Fair.”
Black, who will sing Elvis songs at 5:30 p.m., is from Choctaw after growing up in Midwest City. During his long career he has opened concerts for major acts Percy Sledge, Eddie Raven, The Grass Roots, Three Dog Night and Blood, Sweat and Tears. (story continues below)
Later he will appear outside at 7:30 p.m. during the Elvis Extravaganza at the Chickasaw Country Entertainment Stage. Black will compete with other powerful Elvis impersonators in a regional contest to allow one to go on to the National Championship in Las Vegas. Black has won this regional several times.
Activities planned for the day include a robust lineup of free health screenings: Blood Pressure Screenings • Blood Sugar Screenings • Pain Management Assessment • Vein Testing • Depression and Memory Screenings, and Diabetic Foot Screenings.
Flu Shots, Pneumonia, Bone Density, B12 shots will be offered by Passport Health with a cost incurred for all shots. Please have your insurance card if it covers your shots.
The event offers seniors Door Prizes (Registration: Session 1: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., Session 2: 1 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. & Session 3: 3:30 – 6 p.m.) Pick up your ticket at the prize table for a chance to win one of many donated gifts. There will be multiple drawings in the morning, the early afternoon and then again during the late afternoon. Each session’s tickets will be discarded after the end of their respective time. Please register again for both afternoon door prize sessions. Please check the winner board during each session.
The day will also feature a Photo Booth and 22 senior health and recreation exhibitors.
A full listing of what goes on “Under the Big Top” is available online at senior-day-event-detailed-schedule-8-11.pdf (okstatefair.com)
The Oklahoma Senior Games demonstration area will be there on Senior Day and for the whole run of the Fair.
This year the Games will offer special strength testing for seniors at their Senior Fitness booth
Tests will include arm strength (pushups), leg strength (globet squats), abdominal strength (forearm plank), and balance.
The largest interactive demonstration court for seniors is one of the fastest growing recreational sports, Pickleball. It is now widely embraced by seniors for its great health outcomes.
Pickleball is a recreational paddle sport for all ages and skill levels. Grandparents who welcome the opportunity to try new fitness outlets can play with their grandkids to stay active.
Whether seniors are looking for a way to exercise or want to be challenged at a competitive level, there is a place in the pickleball community.
Volunteers are needed help support the large Senior Games area from September 16 to the 26. By volunteering, helpers earn a free fair ticket, T-shirt and close-in free parking. Schedule shifts at its signup website: www.signupgenius.com/go/9040a4da4a628aa8-oklahoma1
The organizers are counting on the warm hospitality and strong sense of community spirt our citizens have shown as volunteers to allow the state to thrive.
“Our volunteers are a major part of how and why our state has proven itself as a great place to compete in senior games each year,” volunteer coordinator Regina Stewart said. “We have grown to offer more games because of the time and energy Oklahomans who do not compete have invested in offering the Games to those who do compete.”
Seniors can enter at gates 1, 2, 6, or 10 to catch one of the free trams which begin running at 10 a.m. Trams can stop at Gate 3 or by the fountain on General Pershing Blvd to drop you off as they are the closest drop-off points to the building. Electric and manual wheelchairs are available for rent inside Gates 1/2, 6 & 9, while supplies last. Free coffee and snacks will be on offer at 10 a.m. until they are gone.
To view the schedule of activities
A group of senior friends published a new book that takes a look at the undercurrent behind today’s political climate.
by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer
A sociologist, a psychologist and a benedictine nun walk into a room.
Sounds like the beginnings of a good joke.
But for John Karlin, PhD, those are just a few of the cast of characters that helped create his new book: Fear, Religion, Politics: Well I’ll Be Darn!
Karlin spent the last year of his life writing this book that takes a look at the intertwining of three things deeply personal to Americans.
“It was incredible in the sense that how much insight humans have but not realize it,” Karlin said. “In researching this I kept seeing these little lights in other people’s works.”
Karlin was aided by Dr. Melvyn Preisz, Rhonda Bell, Judy Martin, Marsha McMillin, Gerry Lantagne and others in developing his second book. Each brought their own unique talents.
Preisz is a local clinical psychologist who befriended Karlin years ago.
“I agree with Dr. Karlin’s timely and insightful assessments of this unprecedented crisis,” Preisz said. “From my own psychological viewpoint, these enemies of our individual freedoms collude to divide and conquer the good within us, and to continue to attack our personal conscience from a buffet of lies.”
Karlin stresses he has no political motives with this book.
His wish for what readers walk away with is simple.
“Simply an understanding of those undercurrents, a complete, full, intense understanding of … what’s actually happening underneath the surface,” Karlin said. “I just expose those undercurrents, that was my whole concern. I write from a sociological perspective.”
“I’m not the only one who has picked up on this. What I found is pieces of those themes in many, many other works.”
Karlin cites some 120 references in his work, that he says was a labor love performed with dear friends.
“Our intent was to give seniors out there a message that you can do stuff like this. You’re never too old,” the 72-year-old Karlin said. ”Don’t just sit, you’re capable of doing stuff.”
More than 20 years of Karlin’s life have been spent in teaching, largely at Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, Oklahoma City University and Phillips University.
While teaching sociology and criminal justice at OCU, Karlin begin his friendship with Preisz.
Preisz introduced him to Lantagne, who introduced Martin, a former Benedictine nun and things began falling into place.
“It was just friends introducing friends,” Karlin said. “It was basically happenstance then realized ‘Gosh, look at all this talent.”
The motives were simple.
“I just didn’t like the way things were going in this country especially politically and socially in terms of the turmoil and discontent,” Karlin said. “I thought there had to be something underneath that. As a sociologist you always know that what’s on the surface isn’t always the whole story.”
“Sometimes in our culture there are some very deep undercurrents that help explain.”
Karlin recalled attending Louisiana State University for his doctorate. A conversation with an old fisherman came to mind.
The fisherman pointed to the Mississippi River and told Karlin to watch it closely.
“It’s just real slow, old man river kind of thing but underneath that is just incredible turmoil,” Karlin said. “The Mississippi in spots is almost a mile deep and a lot of people don’t realize that because the undercurrent is cutting it.”
“There are literally complete trees down there. That’s the way culture and society can be.”
That got Karlin thinking about what’s underneath today’s politics and headlines.
“What’s under that is not good,” he said.
Karlin’s book flows through three sequences with the first being our innate fear of death and how we view our own mortality.
“And how that came to actually produce the phenomena we call religion in society,” Karlin said. “Any religion, it doesn’t matter what it is, came from the fear of death because religion was a way to escape that tension and fear.”
The second sequence evaluated Christianity and the life of Jesus Christ.
“I looked at what (Jesus Christ) was actually trying to accomplish in his own time and he was trying to accomplish something,” Karlin said. “You’ll find that as somewhat of a shocker.”
The third sequence takes things into the political realm.
“That’s where the dream goes awry because a big chunk of our Christian community want to blend religion and politics to the point where they are no longer distinguishable and that’s not good,” Karlin said.
“That’s what has created most of the problems you see in society today. Basically, it’s the drive towards theocracy.”
Karlin’s book is now available on Amazon. He will do a benefit book signing for the Peace House at the Peace Festival at the Civic Center Music Hall November 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Peace House will get $5 for every book sold.
Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author.
by Greg Schwem
I am sitting on a wooden chair about the height of one used by a second grader because, after more than 30 minutes of standing and waiting, it was the only seat available.
I am drinking coffee at 10:30 a.m., but not because I am particularly in the mood for caffeine, or any beverage for that matter. I felt guilty talking a seat without making a purchase. Many seat-fillers around me don’t seem to share my guilt.
I am listening to the establishment’s playlist featuring not a single track I recognize. My music identification app tells me the song currently playing is “Chrysalis” by Empire of the Sun. Neither the song nor band title seem appropriate for my surroundings.
I am encircled by individuals whose phones are recording every moment of waiting in line, followed by every monetary transaction, followed by every moment of searching for an open seat.
I am at the world’s largest Starbucks, located on Chicago’s famed Michigan Avenue, just two blocks north of a Starbucks and two blocks south of another Starbucks. Keep that in mind, Starbucks customers, if all you are seeking is your daily dose of java or chai. Actually, the Starbucks in the middle might not even serve your favorite; the menu is, uh, different here. “Cardamom Long Black for Katherine is ready! Katherine? Katherine?”
But if you’re in Chicago, have already visited the world’s tallest building and the largest indoor aquarium, and now you want to experience the world’s largest place to wait in a sea of humanity, straining to hear your name called so you can, in my case, pick up a $7 latte (that drink is still on the menu) and then hope it’s not the victim of an errant elbow as you wade back through the line in search of a seat, then this Starbucks is for you.
As I write this column, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi, other sore-footed patrons are eyeing me so enviously that I’m considering photographing my chair and posting the image in the “For Rent” section of Craigslist.
“World’s Largest Starbucks” is the more common name for this coffee behemoth, officially known as Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago, and featuring a lengthy slogan slapped on billboards scattered throughout the city: “The experience. The spectacle. The craft. The coffee. In a word, it’s epic.”
“Epic” might not be the first word I would use to describe the 35,000-square-foot establishment, formerly home to Crate & Barrel, purveyors of contemporary furniture and housewares. Now, instead of craving a mocha-colored couch, customers seek mocha-flavored drinks. When they aren’t posing for selfies and posting Instagram stories.
No, the word I would use is, “wait,” as in, “Wait in that epic line.”
Seriously, I’ve seen shorter lines at Disney World. My kids never braved lines like this to cavort with Santa. Lines at airports to rebook flights cancelled by January blizzards seem tame by comparison. And, yet, nobody, sans me, seemed to mind waiting for Pizza al Taglio, chilled tiramisu or nitrogen gelato.
“Now we’ve been to the world’s largest Starbucks and the first one, in Seattle,” said Belinda Schmidt, 72, of San Antonio. Schmidt and her husband Ron were in town for their granddaughter’s middle school music concert at McCormick Place. Ron waited 20 minutes for two lattes, a cinnamon roll and a bottle of water while Belinda found two adjoining seats next to me.
“We met a nice family behind us,” Belinda continued. “They used to live in Seattle but wanted to come here because they hadn’t been to a roastery.”
Me neither. Well, maybe I have. In Paris. Or Vegas. Right now, I need to use the restroom but am afraid to leave my seat. Belinda graciously offered to watch my valuables while I went in search of relief.
I will eventually return to Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago. The clamor, and the lines, have to dissipate at some point, right?
Or maybe I’ll just be that lonely-looking guy at one of the nearby Starbucks. At least I know there will be a seat waiting for me.
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)
Retired U.S. Air Force physician Dr. Bob Mote was soft-spoken and private. The Moore, Oklahoma, outdoorsman made a single $75 gift to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in 1989. Photo form OMRF
Wesley Robert “Bob” Mote, M.D., was soft-spoken and private. A U.S. Air Force physician for 39 years, Mote still lived in the 1,200-square-foot Moore home he purchased in the ‘60s when he died at age 83.
Mote, who never married and had no children, made a $75 gift to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation in 1989. When he died, both foundation officials and Mote’s family were more than a little surprised to learn of a second gift to OMRF worth $2.2 million.
“We were shocked to learn the size of his estate,” said Mote’s great-nephew and namesake, Wes Mote, who said that his great-uncle lived a modest life. “Money meant very little to him. He cared nothing at all about impressing people.”
A second-generation physician, Mote’s family traces his love of medicine to a childhood spent around his father’s clinic in Ardmore. After graduating from medical school at the University of Oklahoma, the young man who had devoted hours of his childhood to writing letters to soldiers during World War II joined the Air Force.
Following posts overseas and stateside, Mote took a staff position at Tinker Air Force Base. He devoted nearly four decades of his life to the care of servicemen and servicewomen and retired as Tinker’s chief of occupational medicine.
Beyond his medical career, Mote was an outdoorsman who enjoyed traveling the world, logging thousands of miles over his lifetime. “He would call us and say, ‘I’m calling from China,’ or ‘I’m headed to Costa Rica,’ or somewhere else,” said Wes Mote’s wife, Leea. “He had just gotten back to Colorado after following the Lewis and Clark Trail and was about to head home when he died unexpectedly.”
Although he was quiet-natured, his great-uncle radiated empathy and had “a manly way of being gracious and caring,” said Wes Mote. He especially delighted in mentoring young medical students, going out of his way to call and check in on them as their careers progressed. “He was so excited about what was to come in medicine,” said Wes Mote.
An avid reader with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, Mote remained a student of medicine even after his retirement. According to Wes Mote, he attended seminars around the country and kept up with the latest advancements in science and medicine.
Because Mote did not designate his donation to a particular area of science, the gift will fund research at OMRF where it is needed most. At OMRF, scientists work on projects affecting a wide range of illnesses, including cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
“Dr. Mote’s generosity will make a difference in the lives of countless Oklahomans and people everywhere,” said OMRF Senior Director of Development Sonny Wilkinson. “It’s clear that the hope for a brighter future medical research offers to us all mattered deeply to him.”
Wes Mote agrees. “He’d been around medicine since the time he was born, so to us, it makes perfect sense that he left his estate to research,” he said. “I think probably his only regret about dying was missing out on what’s to come in medicine.”
Gwen Wallace says that volunteering gives her physical and emotional health.
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Central Oklahoma volunteer Gwen Wallace said her volunteering began in 2008 after watching television and seeing Hurricane Gustav evacuees from Louisiana get off a bus in Oklahoma City where they would live in a Red Cross shelter.
“I had just retired from the school system and had a year of doing nothing,” the Oklahoma City resident explained. “I saw these people getting off the bus with nothing in their hands. My friend and I jumped in with the Red Cross doing volunteer work.”
Once their volunteer work ended with Red Cross, they asked, “What can we do now?”
That started a long relationship with the Mobile Meals program at her church in Spencer, St. Luke’s Baptist, an RSVP partner, as well as with other Mobile Meals programs in the Spencer area.
“This volunteer program helps me deal with serious life disruptions,” Gwen said. “I lost my sister and then eight days later, my granddaughter died suddenly. Being able to help others took that sense of loss and gives me a sense of pride.”
Gwen, who is 78, said that volunteering also gives her physical and emotional health.
“When you don’t move those joints, they start getting rusty,” she said. “I get up, volunteer at least three days a week, help with the prepping, and I really love developing relationships with my clients and other Mobile Meals workers. It gives me a sense of contentment in my life and helps me release the stresses, anxieties, and depressions that sometimes comes with older age.”
Since 1973, RSVP of Central Oklahoma has helped older adults 55+ continue to live with purpose and meaning by connecting them with rewarding community volunteer opportunities. RSVP is a partner of AmeriCorps Seniors and the United Way of Central Oklahoma. To learn more about becoming a volunteer, call Laura McRaniels at 405.605.3110 or visit https://rsvpokc.org/. You can also follow RSVP on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/RSVPokc.
Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com
While we are still feeling travel is an uncertainty, I have found my arm chair reminiscences of past travels a comfort and a possibility for the future. A trip to relive and see Nashville through the eyes of Disney Travel is a pleasant escape.
Many seniors find that a packaged tour offers the best in time and treasure management. A package tour is pre designed to offer the ease of small group travel and the expert knowledge of the highlights of a particular itinerary. Package tours take the worry out of exploration, as the operators know the area offered and the fastest way to experience the survey of an area. For first time visitors, it gives an over view of the best of the area, and if the traveler finds that time at an attraction is not enough, it is a good reference point for a follow up visit. As you can tell, I find an expert package tour is a convenient holiday experience.
Adventures By Disney is a group tour offering. Disney does it right, whether it’s movies, theme parks or group tours. I experienced Nashville the Disney way, with many insider and backstage visits not available to other tours and certainly not by solo travelers. Several years ago I visited Nashville, but with my tour with Adventures By Disney, I have a complete Nashville experience with many Disney extras that are memorable, educational and fun. Every day our energized and informative tour guides, Kelley and Paola, offered extras and surprises that got us spoiled as we visited from venue to venue. Just when you thought the venue or day was complete we’d hear our guides say, “And then there’s more!”
The Hermitage, located near Nashville, was the home of President Andrew Jackson. Adventures By Disney arranged for Andrew and his wife to greet our bus, and welcome us at the traditional entry to the homestead, which is not offered for other visitors. We had an after-hours visit, complete with a guided grounds and house tour, and then there was more. We had a period dance instruction with Andrew and his wife joining in, as others in the group enjoyed wine and vintage Andrew Jackson bourbon. And then there was more. We had a hands on instruction in simple biscuit making by expert, Maryann Byrd, and then enjoyed our creations baked just for us at a catered sit down dinner in an a joining air conditioned venue. Walking back in the dark to the bus we were all more than satisfied as our departure was enhanced with a spectacle of fireflies.
Nashville has added notoriety with the popular ABC television drama of the same name. Disney enhanced our Nashville adventure with a bus tour of filming locations, and a very special private concert luncheon at the famed Blue Bird Cafe. The essence of Nashville’s established and rising performers was exhibited by the intimate hour long plus performances by Leslie Satcher and Walker Hayes. We were all moved by the stories they told that inspired the creation of the songs they sang for us. This example of sincerity and the universal experiences of life, is the real Nashville sound. The clear and rhythmic songs were true examples of craft being raised to the level of performance art. Beyond the flash and country glamour of Nashville, the Blue Bird Cafe experience reaffirms the essence of America’s indigenous music.
A visit to Music City would not be complete without a tour of the historical Ryman auditorium and of course Disney gave us a special private tour and a chance to stand on that stage which was inhabited by the founders of country music. We entered through the stage door entrance in an alley adjacent to a bar/lounge famous as a haunt of music pioneers. And while the Ryman is a must, the new Grand Ole Opry venue is as impressive when you are able to visit the famous back stage dressing rooms, and wall of fame. But there was more!
We had a pre-show dinner in the broadcast studio where many Nashville shows were filmed which included the sound stage where the popular Hee Haw show was once produced. A catered sit down meal with wine was only briefly interrupted when instruction in line dancing was included. And to top off all of this VIP experience, we had VIP seating at that nights Grand Ole Opry show, with a special treat for me, hearing a couple of songs by Vince Gill, a fellow Oklahoman.
The more continued with hands on poster making at Hatch Show Print, a mock station ID recording at the legendary WSM 650 AM radio station, admission to the expansive Country Music Hall of Fame, and a private visit to Music Row’s RCA Studio B recording studio where Elvis along with other legendary artists, recorded their songs beginning in 1957. We were entertained with insider stories, and with many rehearsals under our belts, we recorded our own group singing a well-known Elvis favorite, and was later presented with our own special CD of our performance.
All along our days of adventures all admission charges were taken care of by our hosts as were most meal times. We ate at Merchants’ Restaurant where we customized our own BBQ sauce, and had breakfast at popular Puckett’s Grocery. There was even a little free time for us to explore downtown Nashville sights on our own. I took this opportunity to reserve my spot for lunch at the Southern Steak and Oyster restaurant, and then took a stroll up to the historic Hermitage Hotel and the Capitol Grille, where I took in a beverage and tales of this famous watering hole.
If you couldn’t tell I was impressed with the services and thoughtfulness of the Adventures By Disney experience. Some tours are for adults only while most welcome the whole family. Documents and itineraries are sent to you well in advance of your departure and should you have added questions they are easily answered by phone from your personal travel concierge. Besides state-side destinations, the company offers tours overseas and cruises as well. Tempt your travel lust by exploring: https://www.adventuresbydisney.com.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to pause in gratitude for our seniors and express how much we value their place in our lives. For seniors, especially those individuals coping with Alzheimer’s and dementia, feeling important to the people they love can be vital for health and quality of life. Every moment matters, and the little things can make all the difference. Here are a few ways you can be proactive about showing your loved ones that you see and care about them! (These can be modified depending on your loved one’s mobility and interests.)
Take them out to lunch, or cook their favorite meal. Sharing favorite foods and treats can spark memories, creating opportunities for chats about treasured moments.
The residents at Iris Memory Care love when our home is filled with the smell of fresh cookies or warm bread.
Make a scrapbook with them (or for them), and include letters, photos and other special mementos. This is a wonderful opportunity to research and learn more about your loved one, their friends and family, and their work, hobbies, and accomplishments.
Philip’s favorite part of scrapbooking is preparing the pages for the pictures.
Ask them to tell you a story (and be a patient listener!). One of the best ways to learn about our history is to listen to someone who has lived it. Having a loved one be genuinely interested in you feels so meaningful!
Thanking Harry for his decades of military service. He has some stories!
Go on a field trip – visit places that are familiar and have fond memories (childhood home, ice cream shop, an outdoor park, or a favorite store). Familiar sights, sounds, and smells often trigger cherished memories and help even the quietest individual share!
Philip, an avid reader, loved visiting the library with Sylvia
Take a family photo, frame it, and have family members sign the frame. Dusting off those old family memories sitting in a box or photo album shows your loved one that the moment in the photo has meaning to you.
At Iris Memory Care, our families make sure their loved ones’ memory boxes by their door are filled with pictures and mementos with wonderful memories.
Get crafty and make homemade decorations for their room. Putting forth time and effort on a loved one’s behalf to make their surroundings cheerier has the two-fold benefit of making them feel valued while also bringing a little life to their space!
Diane painting clay ornaments to decorate her room for fall.
Encourage them to participate in classes or activities at a local senior center or senior living community (and then join them). Staying active and engaged has been shown to increase longevity and quality of life. Let your loved one know about different activities in the community and offer to give them a ride or help arrange transportation. Show interest in what they are up to!
Doris enjoying the sunshine while she draws.
How can you tailor these ideas to meet your loved one’s specific health needs? For an expert opinion, please contact a personalized consultant from Iris Memory Care at (405)-330-2222.
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7 Ways to Show Appreciation to Your Loved One
By: Jessie Motsinger, Iris Memory Care
As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to pause in gratitude for our seniors and express how much we value their place in our lives. For seniors, especially those individuals coping with Alzheimer’s and dementia, feeling important to the people they love can be vital for health and quality of life. Every moment matters, and the little things can make all the difference. Here are a few ways you can be proactive about showing your loved ones that you see and care about them! (These can be modified depending on your loved one’s mobility and interests.)
Take them out to lunch, or cook their favorite meal. Sharing favorite foods and treats can spark memories, creating opportunities for chats about treasured moments.
The residents at Iris Memory Care love when our home is filled with the smell of fresh cookies or warm bread.
Make a scrapbook with them (or for them), and include letters, photos and other special mementos. This is a wonderful opportunity to research and learn more about your loved one, their friends and family, and their work, hobbies, and accomplishments.
Philip’s favorite part of scrapbooking is preparing the pages for the pictures.
Ask them to tell you a story (and be a patient listener!). One of the best ways to learn about our history is to listen to someone who has lived it. Having a loved one be genuinely interested in you feels so meaningful!
Thanking Harry for his decades of military service. He has some stories!
Go on a field trip – visit places that are familiar and have fond memories (childhood home, ice cream shop, an outdoor park, or a favorite store). Familiar sights, sounds, and smells often trigger cherished memories and help even the quietest individual share!
Philip, an avid reader, loved visiting the library with Sylvia.
Take a family photo, frame it, and have family members sign the frame. Dusting off those old family memories sitting in a box or photo album shows your loved one that the moment in the photo has meaning to you.
At Iris Memory Care, our families make sure their loved ones’ memory boxes by their door are filled with pictures and mementos with wonderful memories.
Get crafty and make homemade decorations for their room. Putting forth time and effort on a loved one’s behalf to make their surroundings cheerier has the two-fold benefit of making them feel valued while also bringing a little life to their space!
Diane painting clay ornaments to decorate her room for fall.
Encourage them to participate in classes or activities at a local senior center or senior living community (and then join them). Staying active and engaged has been shown to increase longevity and quality of life. Let your loved one know about different activities in the community and offer to give them a ride or help arrange transportation. Show interest in what they are up to!
Doris enjoying the sunshine while she draws.
How can you tailor these ideas to meet your loved one’s specific health needs? For an expert opinion, please contact a personalized consultant from Iris Memory Care at (405)-330-2222.
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Recipients of the annual Rural Fire Defense 80/20 Reimbursement Grants have been announced by Oklahoma Forestry Services. The grants provide funding for equipment purchases and fire station construction and are available through an application process to rural fire departments which serve populations of less than 10,000.
“There is a great need for equipment and station construction by our rural fire departments,” said George Geissler, director, Oklahoma Forestry Services. “These departments are the first line of defense for their communities and we would like to be able to offer assistance to more departments.”
A total of $125,000 was available for the program this year and departments were eligible to receive up to $30,000 for fire department construction and up to $20,000 for fire equipment purchases. The grants provide reimbursement of up to 80% of the total amount of projects, with fire departments receiving reimbursement after the purchase or constructions costs have been paid. Sixteen departments were selected to receive the grants this year.
The grants are authorized by Governor Mary Fallin, funded by the Oklahoma Legislature and administered by the Oklahoma Forestry Services, a division of Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry. Oklahoma’s Rural Fire Coordinators grade the applications and select the recipients.
Rural fire departments which have been awarded grants this year include: Boulanger Rural Fire Department; Butler Volunteer Fire Department; Caddo Fire Department; Blackwell Fire Department; Harrah Fire Department; Cordell Volunteer Firefighters Association; Darwin Volunteer Fire Department; Green Country Volunteer Fire Department; Walters Fire Department; Jacktown Fire Department; Monroe Volunteer Fire Association; Ochelata Volunteer Fire Department; Oglesby Civil Defense Volunteer Fire; Sam’s Point Volunteer Fire Department; Meeker Fire Department; Rosston Volunteer Fire Department and Wilson Community Volunteer Fire Association.
For more information about the grants and recipients visit the Oklahoma Forestry Services website at www.forestry.ok.gov or call 405-288-2385.
