Story by By Steven Sibley, MBA/Healthcare Administration

I enjoyed a 36 year career in the military, in the Air Force and Army, on active duty and in the reserve. I was honorably discharged from the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) in 2017 at the age of 61, after 10 years as an Army Reserve Career Counsellor, where my primary duties were recruiting, retention, and educating reservists about their benefits. Now, I do the same for military retirees with their healthcare benefits. While we have great healthcare benefits, many retirees do not access or understand how to maximize them. In my opinion, they make the following three crucial missteps.
First, many retirees fail to use the VA Healthcare System or file for VA disability. Generally, anyone who has served on active duty, is eligible for both these benefits. Veterans can seek care with the Oklahoma VA Hospital by enrolling into the VA’s OKC downtown location, room 1B109. Veterans Services Officers (VSOs) are in the same room who can assist with filing disability claims. Claims can also be file at most VFW and American Legion post’s, the DAV, and the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA).
Secondly, many retirees seek another career after leaving active service. Those employers generally offer healthcare benefits. Since retirees are eligible for Tricare Prime or Select up to age 65, they should carefully review their employer plan with Tricare, to see which offers the best benefits and lowest costs. Once a retiree turns 65, they will convert to Medicare with Tricare for Life (TFL). TFL is a premium free wrap around plan, secondary to Medicare, with prescription drug coverage (aka express scripts). Once on Medicare, there is no need for a retiree to continue paying for an employer health plan, which becomes the 3rd payor. This means they only pay the remaining balance after both Medicare, the primary coverage, and TFL, the secondary pays everything Medicare doesn’t. In this scenario, there would be no unpaid balance, so there would be no claim to file with a 3rd payor. It’s simply insurance you do not need.
The third problem is that there is little clear training given about TFL and exactly how it works. Retirees just know that they go to the doctor, get care, and don’t get a bill. While that’s a great benefit, veterans deserve and can access more from the Medicare portion of their TFL by using Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) which will positively impact their health, wellness, and more.
I offer needed education, along with answers and advice to both veterans and their beneficiaries about their healthcare benefits. No cost, no pressure, just help. We’ll sit down and have a conversation until we are satisfied that you understand all that you need to know to make an informed decision about ALL the great healthcare you’ve earned and deserve for you and your dependents. See my ad on this page, and give me a call at 405-850-1569.

Former Governors Share Experience, Wisdom During Fireside Chat

Story and photo by Van Mitchell, Staff Writer

Former Oklahoma Gov. George Nigh, age 96, recalled listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous fireside chats as a child.
Nigh and former Gov. Brad Henry both got to participate in their own “fireside chat” before an audience recently at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie. The event was a fundraiser for the Oklahoma Territorial Museum which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023.
Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd governor of Oklahoma and as the eighth and tenth lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. He was the first Oklahoma governor to be re-elected and the first to win all 77 counties in the state. Additionally, short term vacancies in the governor’s office twice resulted in Nigh assuming gubernatorial duties while serving as lieutenant governor.
In 1950, at age 23 Nigh became the youngest member of the state legislature when elected to the House of Representatives from Pittsburg County. In 1953 he introduced the bill that made “Oklahoma!” the official state song.
“As a kid in school, I listened every week to Franklin Roosevelt’s fireside chat before hardly anybody in this room was born,” Nigh told audience members which included students from Guthrie Junior High, and hardly ever did he attack somebody personally, hardly ever did he call (someone) a dirty word or anything, but he talked about how things were. He basically brought the country through the Depression. Then he brought the country through World War II, and he died shortly before Japan surrendered in 1945. He was not the dictator, he was not the emperor, he was not the king. He was the president. He was an executive. And he led personally and motivated this country.”
Henry, who was the last Democratic governor of Oklahoma, said Nigh was a mentor to him.
“I want to say that he is literally and figuratively my mentor,” Henry said. “When I was a sophomore in college, he allowed me to intern in his office. But it was not your typical intern experience. One of my jobs was every morning to get there a little early, go through the main newspapers and cut out any article that related to the governor or the Legislature, legislation pending legislation, things of interest to the governor’s office. I would copy them all and make it packageable. George would come in and sit down with me while I was reading the paper, and would just visit with me about the day’s news or whatever was on his mind. As you can imagine. It was just absolutely fascinating.”
Henry said Nigh served as a role model for him deciding to run for public office.
“I just had to recognize my friend and mentor George, because he’s a big part of my quest and my decision making and my drive to serve people,” Henry said. “I love the way he puts it. I absolutely agree with him. It’s not about politics, it’s not about being a politician, in my view, it’s about public service.”
Henry said he comes from a public service family.
“I grew up in a family of public servants and I wanted to serve the public,” he said. “My mother was a school teacher. My aunt and grandparents were school teachers. My father was a state representative and a county judge. My uncle was a county judge. My cousin Robert Henry, who you all probably know was state representative then later Attorney General and on and on. I just always wanted to serve.”
Henry initially tried to recruit other Democrats to run for governor, but was persuaded to give it a try.
“The bottom line is I looked back to the service of George Nigh and Henry Bellmon,” he said. “It wasn’t just a Democrat or Republican thing; it was a servant thing. I met Henry Bellmon when I was working for George and became very close and good friends with Henry. I think George and I and Henry are two of the greatest governors that this state has seen. Those two individuals really inspired me to take that risk, take that step.”
Henry told the audience that you sometimes have to take risks for something you believe in.
“I think it’s important to be willing to take a risk to put yourself out there, to be willing to fail,” he said. “Because if you’re not willing to fail, if you’re not willing to make a mistake, you’re never going to make it be successful. And that’s what it boils down to me.”
Nigh said he knew at an early age he wanted to become governor.
“When I was in the ninth grade, I took a vocations class at McAlester,” he said. “You wrote down what you wanted to be when you grew up, this was before Pearl Harbor in 1941. I wrote down that I wanted to be governor, and then you discussed that for the semester.”
Nigh has given commencement speeches across the state and around the country hoping to motivate young people to go into public service during their lifetime.
“I’ve made hundreds of commencement speeches, and what I want to tell these students is you cannot be drafted to be a legislator or governor or President,” he said. “You have to offer yourself. Be involved in serving the people. Yeah, be a politician. Take out an ad, shake hands, kiss a few babies, make a speech, but then be a public servant. And that’s why all 77 counties are important to Oklahoma, not just the one you come from. I want to encourage everyone to get involved.”

Senior News & Living and VIPCare will be hosting a Veteran Resource Fair November 16th at the Guthrie American Legion LeBron Post 58 at 123 N First St., Guthrie, OK 73044.
Coffee, beverages, snacks, and donuts will be served at the event, and veterans are encouraged to attend and enjoy learning and socializing.
Resources covered will include: Veterans Healthcare Options

Veterans Mental Health Services

Veterans Disability Claims

Veterans Home Care

Veterans Education

Veterans Beneficiaries Benefits

and more…

For information about the event, call Steve Sibley at 405-850-1569. We will see you there!

The Metropolitan Library System is proud to offer the Library By Mail program to help Oklahoma County residents 65 years or older who are homebound get access to library materials.
The Library by Mail program provides materials (like books, CDs, DVDs, and more) by USPS at no cost to library customers who are homebound or are otherwise physically unable to visit one of our 19 library locations. Recipients can simply request materials through the catalog or by phone, and Metro Library will mail them. When the guest is ready to return the materials, they’ll put them back in the bag they received them in, and send them back to the library with no postage required.
Library by Mail also offers monthly newsletters with suggested titles from the Library by Mail collection.
Now, with the integration of Metropolitan Library System’s upgraded catalog (starting Nov. 1), customers will be able to select “Library by Mail” as their pickup location to have their material(s) mailed to them.
To access this service, guests can visit metrolibrary.org/LBM and log in with their library card number and last name.
Interested recipients who are 65 years or older and reside in Oklahoma County can call 405-606-3295 or 405-606-3297 or email [email protected] to consult with a staff member to determine eligibility.
About Metropolitan Library System: The Metropolitan Library System provides library services for more than 800,000 residents of Oklahoma County with 19 physical locations as well as 24/7 access to our digital resources at metrolibrary.org.

The OKC VA Healthcare System would like to extend their appreciation to all the Veterans who have trusted their care with us and helped to make the OKC VA HCS the fastest growing health care system in the country.
“We have pushed our community engagement and outreach programs to travel to remote locations to personally reach out to our Veteran population and provide them with the answers to their questions,” said Wade Vlosich, OKC VA Director. “Many Veterans are not sure if they are eligible for VA healthcare or not, and the best way to find out is by letting us help you navigate the VA eligibility process with our expert staff.”
As of August 2023, the OKCVAHCS data results include:

• * OKCVAHCS consists of a 192-operating bed facility, located in central Oklahoma serving 47 Oklahoma counties and two counties in North Central Texas (Wilbarger and Wichita), with a total unique Veteran population over 74,600.
• * OKCVAHCS consists of 15 outpatient clinics, 4 outpatient clinic partnerships with the Department of Defense and a Friendship House/Compensated Work Therapy transitional residence.
• * OKCVAHCS is in the process of procuring space off-site for a Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Program (SARRTP) and Community Living Center.
• * OKCVAHCS currently has outpatient clinics in Ada, Altus, Ardmore, Blackwell, Clinton, Enid, Lawton (DoD), Lawton North (DoD), Norman, North Oklahoma City, North May, Shawnee, South Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Tinker (DoD), Wichita Falls, and Yukon.
  Through the OKC VA partnership with DoD, they have opened clinics on Fort Sill Army Base and on Tinker Air Force Base. OKC VAHCS is a part of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 19, which includes facilities in Oklahoma, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.
  Positive changes and improvements have been made throughout the system to include:
• One of 15 VA Systems in the country to receive the exoskeleton robotic device providing spinal cord injury providing Veterans the ability to walk.
• OKC VA is the only VA to have completed minimally invasive outpatient lumbar spine fusion surgeries.
• Offers VA Express Care Clinic at the main hospital and in Outpatient Clinics. The Express Care Clinic is similar to an urgent care clinic.
• Robust Lean-Six-Sigma management program with a running total of 205 projects.
• Implemented a robotic surgery program.
• OKC VA HCS has sharing agreements with DoD Facilities to increase integration of best practices of health care services to military service members and Veterans.
• In 2020, first VA to deploy and staff mobile ICU on campus to support the Oklahoma City area with additional bed capacity due to increased COVID cases.
• Opened new Veterans Resource Center in 2019 which houses: Veterans Recovery Center, Mental Health Intensive Case Management, Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams, and HUD-VASH.
• Selected as one of 12 sites to receive a Fisher House. This will be the first Fisher House in the state of Oklahoma.

“We are proud to announce that according to FY23 VHA statistics, we are leading the nation in growth but we are even more excited about is the ability to take care of the nation’s most precious resource—our Veterans,” Vlosich said, “Not only do we strive to provide the best medical care for our Veteran population but we are also thinking outside the box on innovative ideas to reach the most rural areas in Oklahoma. The statistics prove that what we are doing here at the OKC VA, is working and we plan on keeping up this positive momentum going forward for 2024.”
For more information about the OKC VA Health Care System and programs, please click the link below or visit the VA website at: Oklahoma City VA Medical Center | VA Oklahoma City Health Care | Veterans Affairs

by Greg Schwem

I recently received a concise text message that, depending on your affection for canines, was adorable or unbelievable:
“Sorry, I can’t meet tonight. I have a swim class…for my dog. She is spoiled.”
“She” and her owner are exactly the types of travelers Harvest Hosts CEO Joel Holland has on his radar.
Holland, 38, purchased the 13-year-old travel membership network from its original owners in 2018. Aimed at “self-contained” travelers (aka campers and RV-ers,) Harvest Hosts partners with thousands of farms, wineries, breweries and other unique destinations only too happy to host camping vehicles ranging from your basic fifth-wheel to your tricked out Airstream, for a night. Occupants, and their pets, pay no camping fees; instead they are sort of on the honor system to purchase products — perhaps a wine club membership or a bottle of homemade bourbon — their gracious hosts are selling.
“We recommend a $30 purchase. But it’s not a requirement,” Holland said. People are very generous and tend to spend $50. That turns into $50 million that goes back into these small businesses.”
Harvest Hosts takes none of those profits; participating properties pay a fee to join the program and get listed on its site.
So what about those guests who just can’t leave their beloved pooches at home? Harvest Hosts recently found 52% of travelers base their routes, and destinations, on pet-friendly camping locations. If that location contains a body of water for dogs to show off their swimming skills, all the better. Holland estimates a quarter million Harvest Hosts travelers, mostly over 55 and empty nesters who consider a dog their “new kid,” take their pets along for adventures.
“We learned early on that we needed to have a filter that said ‘pet friendly,’” Holland said. “In the process of recruiting hosts, one of the things we angled for were pet friendly locations.”
Swilled Dog, a distillery of bourbon and cider in Upper Tract, West Virginia, has proven to be the perfect Harvest Hosts partner. Currently slammed with campers taking advantage of fall colors that complement their day hikes to Spruce Knob, Seneca Rocks and Smoke Hole Canyon, the property hosts up to four RVs per night.
Once parked, dogs have free reign.
“ Dogs are allowed to relax alongside their owners in both our cider tasting room and whiskey room or even play a game of cornhole outside,” said Lauren Hagman, Swilled Dog’s operations manager.
Upon hearing this, I texted my friend and asked if her dog was currently enrolled in cornhole lessons. I have yet to hear back.
Most guests abide by the aforementioned honor system, purchasing bourbon or cider for family and friends, Hagman said. The distillery also donates a portion of its profits to various dog rescue and adoption programs.
Holland, a seasoned traveler who believes “there is something fun to do in every state,” is only too happy to share his unique adventures, which include getting a massage from an 84-year-old nun, a proprietor of Heartland Farm, an Alpaca ranch in Pawnee Rock, Kansas. Although not listed on the property’s website, massages are a legitimately offered service.
“I learned it’s OK to be naked in front of nuns in the right context,” he chuckled.
With post-pandemic travel restrictions easing, Harvest Hosts business is booming as travelers opt for wide open spaces so they, and their pets, can roam freely. Holland says he’ll continue running the business, and seeking new dog-loving sites, “as long as it’s fun.”
What could be more fun for a dog than to belly up to a bar and join their owner in a glass of locally produced wine?
Particularly if the dog has completed Wine Appreciation school.

(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 https://www.amazon.com/. Visit Greg on the web at https://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 https://www.gregschwem.com/)

Across
1 Sarah Spain’s network
5 Percussion set
10 Cards
14 “Go on, git!”
15 Tickle
16 __ were
17 Textile machine
18 Nigerian seaport
19 “Ciao”
20 Medic with an office at Fisherman’s Wharf?
23 Expert
24 Extremely chill
25 Leaders inclined to work as a group?
31 Extremely cold
32 Channel marker
33 Picked up the tab
35 BYU or NYU
36 Sun screen
37 Strive (for)
40 African country in the Maloti Mountains
41 Drains
42 Summits
45 Captain Hook’s incredulous assessment of his nemesis?
47 Statue base
49 Melber of MSNBC
50 Puts comfy shoes through rigorous testing?
56 Tropical spot
57 Safari equine
58 Most CFOs
60 Some game
61 “Middlemarch” novelist
62 Bend at a barre
63 Retired boomers
64 Action
65 Blood bank fluids

Down
1 Subj. for those wishing to be bilingual
2 Utterly beyond repair
3 Play down
4 Motto for the ruthless
5 Meteorological effect caused by refraction
6 Desktop with an AppleCare option
7 Literary award with a spaceship logo
8 Starting on
9 Lab work
10 Thinned (down)
11 Pulitzer-winning journalist Wilkerson
12 Early ICBM
13 Hung around
21 Play-__
22 “Science of Logic” philosopher Georg
25 Small ammo
26 Director Jean-__ Godard
27 LAX postings
28 Superhero once played by Stephen Amell on The CW
29 “__ Comes to Pemberley”: P.D. James novel
30 Obama daughter
34 Friendly honk
36 Rats, gnats, and brats
37 Element in an algebraic equation
38 Wall St. event
39 Key that exits full-screen mode
40 Brand of packaged bagels
41 Is extremely frugal
42 Ladybug prey
43 Shuts
44 “The Gleaners” painter Jean-Fran ois
46 River that rises in the Bernese Alps
48 Fuzzy states
51 Move to a warmer state?
52 Drama honor
53 Cut short
54 Ink
55 Place to hibernate
59 “Wide Sargasso __”: Jean Rhys novel

Story and photo by Eddie Roach, VillagesOKC Member/Volunteer

“VillagesOKC is everywhere!” That’s what we hear from friends who’ve been watching as we’ve grown over the past five years. And, while we aren’t everywhere, we are lots of places with our own events and partnering with others.
Our newest partnerships are with the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City and the Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma. The YMCA partnership is intended to foster a sense of community and social connection among members of the YMCA and VillagesOKC. The Neighborhood Alliance partnership includes the opportunity to publish older-adult focused articles in the Alliance’s quarterly newsletter, which has a distribution list of 6,600.
Here are some of the other organizations with which VillagesOKC partners to connect members with information and resources to age successfully – with vitality and purpose.
– Caregiver Ambassadors is a program within VillagesOKC which helps train a network of volunteers guiding faith communities through the challenges of aging.
– Senior Living Truth Series offers two monthly seminars on topics affecting older adults. We are education partners with the Truth Series.
– NewView Oklahoma is a valuable partner that provides services and employment opportunities to empower individuals who are blind or have low vision.
– Oklahoma Senior Journal provides a comprehensive guide to all things senior as well as hosting the Second Half Expo each October.
– OKC Town Hall Lecture Series brings nationally recognized speakers to the city. We are proud to partner with them and promote these stimulating and informative lectures.
– Veterans Initiatives include partnering with Force50 Foundation, Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight, Vietnam Era Veterans recognition and pinning, and Path to Freedom hosted by NewView Oklahoma.
Details for all our activities and those of our partners are on the Events Calendar on our website: https://www.villagesokc.org/, or call (405) 990-6637. We’d love to see you!