Dear Savvy Senior,

Love read that many car insurance companies offer a variety of discounts to older drivers when they retire or reach a certain age. What can you tell me about this? Discount Seeker

Dear Looking,
Most auto insurance companies offer policyholders a wide variety of discounts, many of which can benefit retirees. Auto insurers love older drivers because they’re experienced behind the wheel and they drive less than younger age groups, which makes them a lower risk for accidents and a safer bet for insurance companies.
While discounts will vary by insurer, many of these benefits can reduce your overall premium by 15 to 20 percent or more, and you are usually allowed to combine discounts to increase your savings, though total discounts are often capped at around 25 percent.
To find out what discounts may be available to you, contact your auto insurer and inquire about these benefits, and any others that may benefit you.
Age discount: Many auto insurance companies offer a general “senior” discount that will reduce your premium just because you’ve reached a specific age. The actual name and amount of the discount will vary by insurer.
Allstate, for example, provides a “senior adult discount” of up to 10 percent to drivers who are at least 55 years old and aren’t actively looking for full-time work. And Liberty Mutual offers a “newly retired discount” to drivers who reach that employment milestone, regardless of age.
Low mileage discount: Most insurers offer discounts to customers who drive limited miles each year, which is often beneficial to retirees who drive less because they don’t commute to work every day. The fewer miles you drive, the lower your odds of getting into an accident.
The parameters of low mileage differ by insurer, but generally about a 10 percent discount is available for driving less than 5,000 to 8,000 miles each year, although smaller discounts may also be available to seniors who drive more than this but less than 15,000.
Drivers Ed discount: Many states require insurance companies to offer “defensive-driving” discounts to drivers who take a refresher course to brush up on their safety skills. The discounts vary usually ranging between 5 and 15 percent.
Driver safety courses are inexpensive, usually costing around $20 to $30 and can often be taken in a classroom or online. To locate a class contact your local AAA (aaa.com), which operates a Driver Improvement Course for seniors, or AARP (aarp.org/driversafety, 888-227-7669), which offers the Smart Driver Course to members and non-members.
Club member discount: Insurers offer discounts to members of clubs and associations with which they have partnered. These could include professional associations, workers’ unions, large employers or membership organizations such as AAA, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, the Seniors Coalition, AARP, etc. You could even qualify for savings based on the college you attended or the fraternity or sorority you belonged to decades ago.
Safe driving discount: Many insurance providers now offer discounts based on how and when you use your car. To do this, they would place a diagnostic device in your car that transmits wireless data on how you drive (including how fast you’re going and how hard you’re braking), when you drive and how much you drive. Drivers are rewarded for safe driving, low mileage and for not driving late at night.
In addition, many insurance providers also offer discounts to drivers who do not have any violations or accidents for three or more years.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn  [email protected]

An undiscovered intellectual and hands on treat is the Sam Nobel Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma.
Recently it was recognized for excellence by receiving the 2014 National Medal by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for services to their community. This honor was only awarded to five museums out of 17.500, and five libraries nationwide.
The honor was given in a ceremony at the White House where first Lady Michelle Obama said, “The work that you do in the summers and throughout the year is filling a crucial role n our country as we strive to give our young people a world-class education.”
Later O.U. President David L. Boren agreed, “This prestigious national award confirms that our museum is one of the most important university-based natural history museums in our nation and indeed in the world.”
As an example of the museums outreach is the ExplorOlogy program which involves promising students from schools across Oklahoma to get a hands on experience with experts in different scientific disciplines. One ExplorOlogy program took place in the high planes of Oklahoma in the Black Mesa area located in the states panhandle.
The Sam Noble Museum offers a variety of educational programming designed to engage and challenge students as they unlock the past, observe the present and consider the future though natural and cultural history. Jess Cole, head of education, says, “We are really fortunate to be a complement and supplement for Oklahoma schools with their science education.”
More information on the museum and their educational programs can be found at www.SamNobleMuseum.org. For your visit to the museum you may take in the “Be the Dinosaur!” exhibit running through June 12th, 2016. The exhibit is based on the fossils found in the Hell Creek Formations of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. You can guide a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a search for food or learn the behaviors of the Triceratops as it ambles through the Late Cretaceous from a video console. The highlight of a visit might be the video simulated pods which allow visitors to become dinosaurs.
Another attraction is the “Through the Eyes of the Lynx: Galileo and the Microscope” through August 31st. On March 10 at 7 pm, is the free “Galileo’s World Lecture Series and Sky Watch” hosted by the O.U. Observatory.
The museum is available for catered events and banquets.
Located at 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, the Sam Noble Museum is easily accessible near the O.U. Campus, and provides an educational and entertaining experience for all ages.

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
http://realtraveladventures.com/author/zinn/
http://www.examiner.com/travel-in-oklahoma-city/terry-zinn
www.new.okveterannews.com – www.martinitravels.com

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

In the beginning, it was just Rodney Bivens and a half-ton pickup driving around to local safeway stores picking up canned goods.
Thirty-six years later, the Oklahoma Food Bank has grown into a world class organization meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands of people needing help putting food on the table.
“I always felt if it was right, you believed in something and put the time and resources into it … people would respond to it,” Bivens said.
Bivens, 70, is the founder and executive director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. But he’ll pass the torch soon, leaving a legacy that has touched so many Oklahomans.
“Maybe a week ago I said this retirement gig is harder than I thought it would be,” Bivens said of all the attention he’s been getting since announcing his retirement. “Maybe I should have just written out of a resignation letter and gave my two weeks notice.”
His work with other nonprofit agencies led him to witness what hunger can do to individuals and families.
Out of his personal conviction that no one should have to face hunger in a nation blessed with so much abundance, he founded the organization in 1980.
Born and raised in Chickasha, Bivens and his three older brothers grew up on a farm just outside of town. After his father was disabled in a car accident, the Bivens’ family came to rely on friends, family and church to help them keep food on their table.
The experience left Bivens with a unique perspective on the impact of hunger on children and families in Oklahoma.
Under his leadership, the Regional Food Bank has grown rapidly to fulfill the need for food in central and western Oklahoma. In its first year of operation, the Regional Food Bank distributed 280,000 pounds of food.
Today, that amount is distributed in about three days.
The nonprofit provides enough food to feed more than 110,000 people every week with administrative and fundraising costs less than four percent.
Since its inception in 1980, the Regional Food Bank has distributed more than 545 million pounds of food to our hungry Oklahoma neighbors.
It’s food that goes out the door, but for Bivens it’s about so much more.
“You reminisce a little about things,” Bivens said of what’s been on his mind the last few weeks. “I think about the people we serve and the contacts we’ve had. It’s all about people, the people we serve, the folks who work here, the volunteers we have the board members and I’ve been privileged to get to know a lot of people. For me it always comes down to people.”
Bivens and his team at the Regional Food Bank developed one of the first rural distribution systems in the country, which has become a model for other food banks.
The Regional Food Bank currently serves more than 1,200 charitable feeding programs and schools throughout 53 counties in central and western Oklahoma, and distributes nationally donated product to four other food banks in Kansas, Texas and New Mexico, as well.
The Regional Food Bank was the first in the nation to implement an online inventory and agency ordering system with new technology for increased efficiency in food distribution.
Other efficiency initiatives implemented at the food bank facilitate energy conservation, solid waste reduction, air quality controls and sustainable living techniques for a more efficient operation.
Bivens has also shepherded other innovative programs into existence at the Regional Food Bank, including Urban Harvest, an urban sustainable agriculture program that aims to teach individuals and community groups to grow their own food.
The Regional Food Bank also implemented the Food for Kids Backpack Program, which provides a backpack full of weekend food to chronically hungry elementary children throughout the school year. The program began in 2003 as a pilot program in five urban elementary schools, and it now serves more than 18,500 children in 501 elementary schools.
There are now 124 school pantries in middle and high schools in Oklahoma serving the needs of nearly 5,000 chronically hungry students. As the founder of the 21st food bank in the U.S., Bivens has more than 35 years of experience fighting domestic hunger and he is seen as a leader in the food banking arena.
Bivens served on the board of directors of Feeding America for more than 12 years in various positions. He also helps in national disaster relief efforts, and in 2005, set up an emergency relief warehouse for Hurricane Katrina and Rita storm victims.
In less than four weeks, he helped to distribute more than 8 million pounds of relief supplies in the New Orleans area.
“I feel good about. I feel great about the organization and where we’re at,” Bivens said of retiring. “I know we’re going to continue to grow and throw in the community and the community will continue to respond to the need.”

by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

Brad Whinery’s mother and father were pioneers in the Oklahoma funeral industry.
Sixty years later, Brad Whinery is still innovating how Oklahomans lay their loved ones to rest.
“What it’s provided us is an opportunity to help other people,” Whinery said of his family’s Oklahoma legacy. “We’ve always been a family that likes serving other people.”
Whinery firmly believes you should pay your last respects and not your life savings when a loved one passes.
He’s helped literally thousands of Oklahomans select a lasting and dignified cremation option that meets family needs and budgets.
And now Oklahoma’s first cremation-only garden is providing even more options for those laying their loved ones to rest.
REFLECTION POINTE
Whinery has helped honor and remember loved ones by integrating the beauty of nature with the beauty of the celebration of life at Reflection Pointe.
The first thing you’ll notice upon entering the grounds is the peaceful sound of water cascading over a granite wall. A waterfall is a magnificent feature that also serves as a permanent resting place. Your loved one’s ashes can be placed behind a black granite plaque on the backside of the waterfall.
The water pools into two reflection ponds surrounded by a garden with bistro-style seating. The waterfall offers several options for memorialization, including black granite plaques with room for an inscription or custom, engraved portrait. It is the only area where a bronze plate can be placed to give a person’s name with their birth and death date. The waterfall and garden area have limited availability.
Another area is known as the Ossuary.
Oklahoma artist Jay Hylton was commissioned to design the Ossuary at Reflection Pointe Gardens. The bronze and steel sculpture with the rotating ball reflects the perpetual connection to one another.
The Ossuary provides an elegant, affordable and permanent memorial option for cremated remains. Families place their loved one’s ashes into the Ossuary through the opening in the bronze ball. A family can add their loved one’s inscription to the surrounding granite cenotaph as a testament to their enduring legacy. The Ossuary and cenotaph also have limited availability.
Pet owners recognize they don’t just have an animal they have a family member.
Whinery recognizes that dogs and cats are much more than pets. They are important members of our families and deserve to mourned and be memorialized in a dignified way. The first of its kind in Oklahoma, Furever Friends is a special space where pets and pet lover’s remains can be buried separately or interred together. This special memorial garden is designed to represent the unique bond between pets and their owners.
The entire property is tranquil and uncluttered.
Built on an eight-acre wooded area, visitors can stroll through the park, reflect at the waterfall or sit on the grounds without walking around above-ground monuments like traditional cemeteries. As unique as the life you are remembering, Reflection Pointe also offers the options of scattering ashes in the meadow or placing them in the Ossuary or a niche inside the waterfall.
Reflection Pointe Gardens uses GPS technology and smart microchips to locate your loved ones’ site and access online memorials. Visitors simply download an app to their personal smartphone, or borrow a tablet from the office to self-navigate the gardens.
As you walk through the gardens you can view digital memorials of friends and loved ones that not only give more than important names and dates, but also a keen insight into the unique life presented.
Videos and photos bring a person’s memory back to the forefront of visitors.
“When someone visits a grave they’re not given a name and a date they’re given a life story,” Whinery said.
Last summer, Whinery invested in a 360-degree virtual property photo shoot. So far the feedback has been tremendous.
No matter where they live in the world, loved ones are able to virtually visit the final resting place any time they want.
And one of the best parts is services at Affordable Cremation and Reflection Pointe are often only a fraction of the cost of just a grave opening in the Oklahoma City metro.
That’s not including the traditional funeral-associated costs of buying a monument, a vault – not to mention a lot which easily boosts prices into the thousands of dollars.
It’s another milestone in the Whinery family’s commitment to helping loved ones pay their last respects and not their life savings.