by Vickie Jenkins, Staff Writer

Located in the sought after city of Edmond, OK, you will find The Veraden, a clear choice for today’s retirees and their families. With medical services, shopping, restaurants and hospital all close by, conveniences are built right it. Danna Johnson, RN is the Executive Director at The Veraden. Danna Johnson has been a nurse for over 25 years and an Executive Director at other long-term care for 11 years.
Opening in January in 2017, The Veraden modernizes and redefines the retirement experience. With independent, assisted living and memory care apartments, every need is addressed with styles and compassion.
Born and raised in Dodge City Kansas, Danna attended school in Kansas and the Belleview University of Nebraska. She moved to Oklahoma City, OK in 2010.
What qualities make a good nurse? “A nurse needs to be caring and compassionate, striving for excellence in everything they do, have a positive attitude and make the residents happy. The residents come before anything else,” Danna replied. “There are 142 residents here and each one of them is special in their own way. Their care is the main focus of the caregivers here at The Veraden,” she added. “The title of Executive Director is only as good as the people underneath them,” Danna commented. “Here, we care about the one-on-one with the families. Everyone works very hard making the residents happy. Their happiness makes the whole day brighter.”
What is your favorite part of your job? “I love spending time with each of the residents and I like helping serve their lunch to them, helping any way I can. I think I spend more time in the dining area than anywhere else because I want to visit with all of the residents,” she said. “The number one concern is to make the resident feel loved, cared for and happy. I like to make them smile and laugh!” Danna answered.
“The biggest challenge in healthcare is the turnover in our 3-11 shift. Sometimes, the third shift can be the hardest shift to cover. We always seem to manage though and I think that is because everyone is willing to help out the other. Teamwork plays a very important part in working here, “Danna said.
Danna enjoys her job as Executive Director and sees herself here at The Veraden in five years from now or longer. “I like my work here and there are a lot of great nurses, caregivers and staff here. We support each other and we all help out in any way that we can,” Danna said. “That can be hard to do in a workplace such as nursing and long term care, “she added.
Asking Danna to describe herself, she replied: “I am a happy-go-lucky person; I smile a lot and laugh a big portion of the time. People say that I have a contagious laugh and the residents know when I am coming down the hallway. We try to keep the residents happy. None of us want to let the residents feel sad about anything,” Danna commented.
Recognition speaks volumes here at The Veraden. “We got voted as being the best Senior Care facility in Edmond, OK for 2018. It was such an honor because the people of Edmond voted for us and votes were announced in the Edmond Sun newspaper that we won! We even won over the winners that had been chosen for the last nine years. What a great feeling to be honored as the best senior facility in Edmond, OK,” Danna said. “In April 2019, there will be an Awards Banquet and one person from each area (The best of the best) of Veraden will be chosen and for that reason will attend the Annual Banquet.”
Danna enjoys spending time with her husband, Tony and her daughter Hannah – 16 and son Dean – 10. “Family time is very important to me,” Danna said. When asked what her favorite T.V. medical show was. “I hardly ever have time to watch T.V. but when I did; my favorite medical show was ER. I guess that tells you how long it has been since I watched a show like that,” she said with a laugh.
“Every day at work, I start off with a positive quote for our nurses, caregivers and staff. I like to set a positive attitude first thing in the morning. It seems to brighten everyone’s day, along with the residents,” Danna said. On a personal note, Danna’s daily words of encouragement are live, laugh and love. “I live by those words every day,” she said.

Dear Savvy Senior,

What types of discounts are available to baby boomers, at what age do they kick in, and what’s the best way to go about finding them? Almost 50

Dear Almost,
One of the great perks of growing older in America is the many discounts that are available to boomers and seniors.
There are literally thousands of discounts on a wide variety of products and services including restaurants, grocery stores, travel and lodging, entertainment, retail and apparel, health and beauty, automotive services and much more. These discounts – typically ranging between 5 and 25 percent off – can add up to save you hundreds of dollars each year.
So, if you don’t mind admitting your age, here are some tips and tools to help you find the discounts you may be eligible for.
Always Ask
The first thing to know is that most businesses don’t advertise them, but many give senior discounts just for the asking, so don’t be shy.
You also need to know that while some discounts are available as soon as you turn 50, many others may not kick in until you turn 55, 60, 62 or 65.
Search Online
Because senior discounts frequently change and can vary depending on where you live and the time of the year, the Internet is the easiest way to help you locate them.
To do a search, start by visiting SeniorDiscounts.com, which lists thousands of discounts that you can search for by city and state, and by the category you’re interested in, for free.
You can also look for discounts at TheSeniorList.com, which provides a large list of national and regional business chains that offer them, or you can Google them individually. Just go to Google.com and type in the business or organization you’re curious about, followed by “senior discount” or “senior discount tickets.”
If you use a smartphone, another tool is the Sciddy app (see Sciddy.com) that lets you search for senior discounts and can send you alerts when you’re at an establishment that offers them.
Join a Club
Another good avenue to senior discounts is through membership organizations like AARP, which offers its 50 and older members a wide variety of discounts through affiliate businesses (see AARPdiscounts.com).
If, however, you’re not the AARP type, there are other alternative organizations you can join that also provide discounts such as The Seniors Coalition or the American Seniors Association. Or, for federal workers, there’s the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.
Types of Discounts
Here’s an abbreviated rundown of some of the different types of discounts you can expect to find.
Restaurants: Senior discounts are common at restaurants and fast food establishments – like Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Subway, Wendy’s, Applebee’s and Golden Corral – ranging from free/discounted drinks, to discounts off your total order.
Retailers: Many thrift stores like Goodwill, and certain retailers like Banana Republic, Kohl’s, Michaels and Ross stores offer a break to seniors on certain days of the week.
Supermarkets: Many locally owned grocery stores offer senior discount programs, as do some chains like Albertsons, Kroger, Publix and Fry’s Supermarkets, which offer some discounts on certain days of the week but they vary by location.
Travel: Southwest Airlines provide the best senior fares in the U.S. to passengers 65 and older, while Amtrak offers a 15 percent discount and Greyhound offers 5 percent off to travelers over 62. Most car rental companies provide discounts to customers who belong to organizations like AARP. Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Carnival cruise lines offer discount rates to cruisers 55 and over. And, most hotels offer senior discounts, usually ranging from 10 to 30 percent.
Entertainment: Most movie theaters, museums, golf courses, ski slopes and other public entertainment venues provide reduced admission to seniors over 60 or 65. And the National Park Service offers a lifetime pass for those 62 and up for $10 (see nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm).
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.

What brings you the most joy in life? Tealridge Retirement Community

Family. We have seven grand kids and I love being around them.

Todd Markum

Seeing my kids, grand kids and great grand kids. All of them came for my 90th birthday.

Cheryl Parker

People, because I don’t get to see my family often.

Sarah Fleming

Family, friends and travel. I like to see all that God has made in the world.

Dr. Bailey McBride

HELP WANTED!

WORK FROM HOME!
Advertising Sales

Senior News and Living and Oklahoma’s Nursing Times is looking for and Advertising Sales Executives. This salary/commission positon. Job Description: Immediate opening. We Are seeking an Advertising Sales executive to continue our growth in both the monthly Senior News and Living and our weekly Oklahoma’s Nursing Times (registered and licensed practical nurses). These are two very uniques niche publications with a strong readership and advertising following. View publications at www.okveterannews.com and www.oknursingtimes.com . Full and part time options available. Call Steve at 405-631-5100 ext 4 for more info or email steven.eldridge@okveterannews.com. EOE

by Bobby Anderson
Staff Writer

Polly Milligan officially started her career in senior health as a dietary aide in a small Perry, Oklahoma residence as a young girl.
But truth be known the executive director of Emerald Square Assisted Living in Oklahoma City was born for working with seniors.
“I’ve literally known nothing else my entire life other than geriatrics,” Milligan said. “This is where I’m comfortable, this age group. I fit right in.”
That first dietary aide position quickly advanced when the dietary manager took ill and Milligan stepped in.
“One day no one showed up to work the floor and they said they needed some help,” Milligan said. “I did that and the steps kept going.”
The experiences of a lifetime spent taking care of others has landed her in the driver’s seat at Emerald Square Assisted Living where new ownership is investing in renovation and expansion with an eye on becoming the leading choice for thoughtfully-planned senior living in the metro.
A NEW HEART
With two decades spent in senior living, Milligan was comfortable right where she was at, leading a local residence owned by a nationwide company.
That was before the owners of Heart Living Centers called.
“I’m not one for small corporations much but there’s just something about this husband and wife that started this that I just knew was right,” Milligan said of the Colorado-based Heart Living Centers.
As the owners shared their passion for what they were doing, Milligan began to open up about hers.
“I was adopted by my grandmother when I was six weeks old out of an orphanage,” Milligan said. “My mother and father, when they divorced, neither wanted the kids. There were three of us so they put us in an orphanage.”
“My mother was 67 years old when she adopted me and she was taking care of her two oldest sisters.”
Due to her age, the orphanage would only let Milligan’s new mother, a Pentecostal preacher, adopt one child.
“Being an infant girl, she knew if I got adopted she would never see me again so she adopted me and bought the house across the street to the orphanage so she could stay next door to my brothers,” Milligan said.
Milligan still remembers going across the street every day to play with her siblings at the orphanage.
It was all about family and honoring that bond.
Milligan has carried that with her ever since, building relationships wherever she has gone.
At Emerald she called on those relationships to begin putting her touch on the facility immediately.
VETERAN APPROVED
Milligan leads one of only a handful of residences in the metro that carries a special Veteran’s Administration approved designation.
“We have a lot of veterans here,” Milligan said. “The VA’s representatives come here frequently and visit their veterans and insure their needs are met. If we need something for them we can just call them and they will bring it to us. They take care of their transportation to their doctor’s visits.”
“It’s a whole working system.”
The designation means that approximately half of Emerald’s residents have served our country with pride.
Building on that program is on her to-do list.
Overseeing construction of more independent cottages in the back of the facility is also on her radar.
A new memory care will soon be offered.
“I’m so excited,” Milligan beamed. “It totally has blown my mind.”
Milligan’s staff is all hand picked through her years of experience in the industry.
They’ve helped initiate resident-favorite amenities.
Soon, Emerald Square residents will experience all-day dining, allowing them total control of when and what they will eat.
“It’s essentially a restaurant open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at night,” Milligan said. “They’ll be able to order and eat whenever they are ready.”
There so much excitement around Emerald Square right now but some things will not change.
“The biggest thing is I have one expectation,” Milligan began. “The expectation I have of everyone is to take care of the residents to the best of your ability. Everything else will take care of itself. Your finances will be fine. Your staff will be happy. Your residents will be happy.”
“You have to provide the best care you can. You never tell a resident they can’t do something. You find a way to make it happen because we are in their house.”

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

Here are more options for your travel comfort tour as we continue our Palm Springs tasting which began in last months issue. Restaurants abound in Greater Palm Springs. I say Greater Palm Springs as that includes the adjacent towns of Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Desert Hot Springs, and Rancho Mirage. Each city has its own upscale resorts and dining options too numerous to mention here.
Concentrating on Palm Springs proper we find, Spencer’s, https://www.spencersrestaurant.com, next to the racket club, also with welcomed valet parking, which offers an excellent and cozy patio dining beneath an ancient spreading ficus tree. Very very popular and busy in a friendly way, but when I ordered my Martini with “ice on the pond”, meaning so cold and diligently shaken that tiny ice floats on the top, I got my beverage but with ice on the side in a glass, which I found amusing. It was so busy the waiter must have misheard my instructions. The well-dressed luncheon clientele were also enjoying the exquisite tomato basil bisque with the a little too dry honey brine pork chops, and delicious corn cake. Eaves dropping on neighboring tables juicy conversations can be intriguing. Spencer’s has a strict dining scheduled and reservations are mandatory, even for lunch.
For a touch of French dining, Le Vallauris, www.levallauris.com, on West Tahquitz Canyon Way, is your choice. Tucked up near a canyon cliff, Le Vallauris with its fresh roses distributed throughout the dining areas, the chalk board type menus, and the congenial and efficient wait staff lets you know you are in a special place. With upscale elegance, dining inside or preferred out, was the perfect bon voyage for me as I was flying out that afternoon. I saved the best for last. The many items on the luncheon menu all were tempting, but with my theme of comfort food I had the Eggs Benedict with prosciutto. I like a super lemony Hollandaise but did not need to ask for more of it on the side, as it was generously served. When I think of this dish in the future, it will always be compared to mine at Le Vallauris. Owner Omar, who travels the world was kind enough to join me for a brief conversation and pose for a photo as he was explaining the chalkboard menu to other eager patrons. In keeping with seasonal best gourmet dishes, Le Vallauris offers frequent email updates to the menu, to remind you of their expertise in freshness and an initiation to return,
Of course reservations are needed in Palm Springs whether for dining or of course for overnight lodgings. I had no reservation at the poolside/patio at the Riviera Resort (psriviera.com) but had a delight lunch lounging around the pool like I was a guest. I think the accommodations there would be perfect for a mid-range budget.
On the upscale side of Palm Springs is the new downtown Kimpton Rowen. (rowanpalmsprings.com) The posh high-rise roof top restaurant, Four Saints, is a touch of elegance from the liquor bottles floating above the bar and the see and be seen dining area which is topped off only by the adjacent roof top pool and specialty bar. You need not order a full meal as an $18 appetizer and beverage can satisfy your palate. An eccentric Palm Springs sight was a well-behaved dog rolled into the dining room in a black baby stroller. I asked my entertaining waiter about this and he said,”You can see anything in Palm Springs.”
If you are an adventurous male, the all male clothing optional accommodation at INNdulge, https://inndulge.com/, in the Warm Springs neighborhood will be a most comfortable experience, with morning Continental breakfast, evening cocktail time, congenial guests and heated pool and hot tub. The staff is most helpful in offering suggestions for your Greater Palm Springs experience. The bars clustered on E Arenas Road is a hit and miss pleasure.
Comfort can easily be discovered in Greater Palms Springs with prepared planning. Due to a recent flash flood the aerial tramway was closed, but is recommended. With a car it can be entertaining just driving around with no real destination in mind. You might find you self at the Palm Springs original sight or the botanical gardens or an unexpected stop at an art gallery or antique shop. Having visited there several times over the years, I had an idea of what would suit my comfort level, and in retrospect I accomplished another happy destination experience.
While the personnel is over whelmed at the CVB they can be contacted at www.visitgreaterpalmsprings.com Their hard copy visitor’s guide, more like a magazine, is more helpful than their online edition. In it you will find shopping suggestions for each greater Palm Springs city. They will send you one but you must request such several weeks in advance of your browsing.

story and photos by Bobby Anderson, Staff Writer

For 48 years, Dr. Bailey McBride taught and lived at Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond.
“I love the students. The students were just so good,” Dr. McBride said. “They have great hearts. They have great sense of purpose and destiny for their own lives. They’re fun to work with and get to know.”
So when the time came after nearly a half century to stop teaching, McBride couldn’t imagine leaving campus.
Turns out he didn’t have to.
Nestled right on the 200-acre college campus is Tealridge Retirement Community, a full-service community providing independent, assisted living and memory care services to the community of Edmond.
The all-inclusive retirement community located in Edmond is designed for maintenance-free comfort, which freed up McBride to retire on his terms.
Dr. McBride remembers his decades at Oklahoma Christian fondly.
“Over the years there was a lot of changes in the way students looked at life,” he said. “When I first came to OC they looked at life much more positively than students nowadays do but I’ve seen some cycling back. “The last year I taught I had some of the most positive and optimistic freshman I had ever had. I really enjoyed it.”
Tealridge Retirement Community was also where he met his wife, Linda.
The two went out for lunch and things were never the same.
Now the pair will celebrate their second wedding anniversary this June in London. Linda’s grandchildren will come along for a trip of a lifetime.
“I really like the people who are a part of this community,” Dr. McBride said. “There isn’t anybody here that I don’t really enjoy being around. They’ve got great stories to tell and they’ve had great life experiences.”
“Good people.”
One of those people Dr. McBride admires is Cheryl Parker.
At 92, Parker has called Tealridge home for the better part of 12 years.
Along the way she was able to help guide two sisters through health issues, all the while coming back to Tealridge to rest and recharge.
“When they were beginning to build this they sent people out to different congregations to let them know what was happening,” Parker said. “We weren’t ready then to think about it but we put it in the back of our mind.”
“When it became time to think about coming over here my husband really was ready.”
Even after the passing of her husband, Parker knew Tealridge would always be her home.
“I knew several people and that helps a lot,” she explained of the feeling of comfort she felt when she moved in.
Across the hall from Parker lives Sarah Fleming, a relatively new Tealridge resident.
Fleming found her way to Tealridge the hard way from Lake Tenkiller.
“I fell four times in January flat on my face out in public of course,” she laughed. “My daughter lives in Edmond and had heard about Tealridge.”
Keeping up with a large house on an acre of land had become too much for Fleming. Living at the lake was fun, but being close to family and services when she needed them the most was more important.
Fleming found her faith at 15 and she believes it led her to where she is today.
“I have no doubt that this is where God wants me. I love people. I love getting to know people,” she said.
It only took a week before Tealridge Executive Director Melissa Mahaffey, MHA, asked Fleming to come visit her in her office.
The offer was extended for Fleming to help welcome new residents.
“I know this is where I’m supposed to be,” she laughed.
After seven houses in 14 states, Fleming says this is the first time she’s ever lived in a city.
And she loves it.
Dr. McBride and wife, Linda, are a different story.
Linda has two daughters – one in Colorado Springs and one in Edmond.
“When they decided I needed to be close to one of them the one with the grandchildren won out,” she said. “I told them up front I wasn’t playing favorites but … that certainly entered into the decision.”
Todd Markum and his wife, Nancy, sold their home just a half mile away to move to Tealridge.
“We always wanted to be here,” he said.“ We got the chance to do it and came.”
Their third-floor residence has a view overlooking geese, ducks and people fishing in the nearby pond. Ask around and the stories are similar among residents.
Tealridge Retirement Community was a choice. And one that everyone is glad they made.