September/October 2012 Bugle newsletter
A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT OF BLS, STACY GEIER
Every year I am pleased at the outpouring of support for each other and the seniors in our community. We have had so many programs start up in BLS to support our members who are then better equipped to support the seniors in Pinellas County.
It is time once again to start thinking about the Elves for Elders program. For new members not familiar with the program, every year the Elves for Elders program (which is run out of the Senior Resource Committee) provides Christmas for indigent seniors in Pinellas County. We try to meet all of the senior’s requests for items such as toiletries, clothing, baby dolls, etc.
Our first meeting is October 12 at 9am at the Sunshine Center in St. Petersburg. We will go over all details and how you can help with this program.
I thank you all again for being such a wonderful group of professionals to work with.
Sincerely,
Stacy Geier
BLS President
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
FOR THE NEXT BLS CONSORTIUM
November 8, 2012 - 8:30am
The Princess Martha
411 First Avenue North, St. Petersburg
Speaker: Beth Warren, President of Welcome Home Relocation, will be our guest speaker focusing on organizing our lives around the holidays.
It's ELVES FOR ELDERS time!
In lieu of door prizes, BLS asks that all attendees bring an item to help fill the gift bags for the people who are served by this great project.
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BUGLE NEWSLETTER SPONSOR
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Member Spotlight
Roxanna Dreger
Universal Health Care Group
Community Marketing Representative
By: Kurt Steinmann
Roxanna Dreger has been a part of the St. Petersburg community from her childhood. She graduated high school from Northside Christian, met her husband near Mirror Lake and now is raising her family on the beach. After marrying Matthew in 2003, they made career moves to D.C., and Roxanna worked as Director of Marketing for the Arthritis Foundation. However, when her daughter, Emelia, came along, they moved back to the area. Now she is the Community Marketing Representative for Universal Health Care Group, and concentrates her work in Pinellas County.
Roxanna has always been a people person, from her early years working for the family manufacturing business, where she worked for years before she was allowed to answer the telephone, through college at Florida Southern earning a degree in Marketing Management. Now she has the "funnest job in The World", meeting interesting new friends every day, and helping them learn more about Medicare advantage plans and Universal Healthcare. She loves hosting ice cream socials and mixing fun with education. Roxanna can be a big asset to anyone that addresses groups of seniors and caregivers, bringing a lively, smart, and fun personality to your lunch and learn. And, Roxanna will even bring the Ice Cream Dessert! Now that's what I call a great Referral Partner!
Let's all welcome Roxanna to BLS and take some time to get to know her. With over 30 years in the area and lifelong friends throughout the community, Roxanna will be a tremendous resource for us as a group and for each of you lucky enough to become her friend.
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Professional Development Committee
Upcoming Workshops & Social Media Training
The Professional Development Committee has teamed up with LaNona Robinson at the St. Pete College to offer a CEU workshop:
Geriatric Care Workshop: Exploring Critical Competencies for Geriatric, Hospice and Palliative Care
Thursday, October 4 8am - 4:30pm
St. Pete College EpiCenter - 13805 58th Street North, Clearwater FL 33760
Details can be found by clicking:
Geriatric Care Workshop Registration Form
http://spcollege.edu/ceu/Geriatric-Care.html
Be sure to visit the Professional Development Committee website for upcoming information on monthly social networking training. www.BLSProDev.com
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August Consortium Re-cap
BLS's Latest Success Story
By: Dale W. Hutchings
For more than two decades, Better Living For Seniors has earned a reputation for knowing how to put on a successful event and certainly the latest BLS Consortium lived up to this expectation. Held at Menorah Manor in St. Petersburg and put together by the BLS PR Committee, the August 10th Consortium had the usual huge crowd of members attending with a diverse program that was entertaining and educational.
The opening featured a special greeting by Menorah Manor's CEO Robert Goldstein, which included a short video about the facility, and the announcement by President Stacy Grier that Roxanna Dreger of Universal Healthcare will be the member spotlighted in this edition of The Bugle. Then Helen King with the Area Agency on Aging spoke on what is happening at her organization. In her remarks, she revealed that the agency will be moving from the Gateway Corporate Center back to the Koger Building in what is now known as the Baypoint Commerce complex in Northeast St. Petersburg. She also made BLS members aware that next year the agency will celebrate 40 years of service, and asked those who are good as "party planners" to think about how the agency in a collaborative effort with BLS might commemorative this historic occasion.
Bugle Sponsor Todd Goldman enlightened BLS members about his multi-media business, Senior Voice America, which includes a monthly publication and a weekday radio program on 1250 AM WHNZ. The program's format focuses on information of special interest to Baby Boomers and seniors through interviews with professionals such as doctors, attorneys and financial planners.
Then came another enlightening talk from guest speaker Juli Steinocher. Juli is a "mindbody" therapist, licensed mental health counselor, license massage/energy therapist, and a certified personal trainer. She provided a wealth of advice to enhance your mental and physical health, emphasizing the fact that your body can often heal itself from various types of maladies if you just take care of it properly. Her "lessons" and "hands-on" exercises on how to make this happen were well received, as evident by the numerous questions from BLS members at the end of her presentation.
Following committee reports, an important added benefit for BLS members was learning more about the organization's new website. Trisha Randall, who has helped to spearhead this endeavor along with putting together the new online Bugle, led members through an overview of the site to make everyone more familiar with its features and capabilities in getting information out to the membership on various issues and events.
Kudos also goes out to those who donated door prizes for the consortium: A trend many of us hopes continues and once again becomes something BLS members can always look forward to whenever attending this function.
One final note: The BLS PR Committee decided half of the proceeds collected at the Consortium would go to Neighborly Care Network's Meals On Wheels Program, with of course the other half allocated to the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas. This resulted in a contribution of $224 to the Meals On Wheels Program. This might not seem like much, but according to Neighborly's Marketing Director/ BLS member Sandi Narron, a donation of just $25 is enough to cover the cost of a homebound senior's meals for a week. Thus, this contribution will mean some lucky older person on the program's waiting list will be able to receive meals for at least two months
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A QUICK LOOK AT PRESIDENTIAL PETS
By Dale W. Hutchings
Throughout American History, pets owned by our U.S. Presidents and their families have brought joy, happiness, and at times, even bits of controversy to the President and the First Family. And, while many U.S. Presidents are known historically for having a people-friendly dog or cat, as a pal, there ve been Presidents who have chosen rather interesting four-legged creatures as pets, such as: a cow, a rabbit, a horse, hamsters, even crocodiles. Really? Yes, read on.
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Miss Beasley,
Pres George W Bush
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In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for a fourth term when rumors stirred that his Scottish Terrier, Fala, had somehow been left behind when visiting the Northern Pacific Ocean's Aleutian Islands. In response, Roosevelt allegedly sent back ships to rescue Fala. In doing so, the president was ridiculed; accused of spending thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money to retrieve a dog. Roosevelt, in a speech, addressed the subject by saying, "You can criticize me, my wife and family, but you can't criticize my little dog. He's Scotch and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious." It was later said the "Fala Speech" was responsible for turning the election in favor of Roosevelt.
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| Meet Bo, the current First Dog of the White House |
In 1952, Richard Nixon, during his candidacy for vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower, was accused of hiding a secret slush fund. In a televised response, known as the "Checkers Speech," named after his beloved cocker spaniel, he denied having such a fund, but did make the following admission: "There is one thing that I did get as a gift that I'm not going to give back." That gift was "Checkers," given to his daughters. At the time, although Nixon had been in danger of being kicked off the ticket, following his speech he received an increase in support and Mamie Eisenhower reportedly recommended he stay on the ticket because she viewed him as "a warm person."
Many other such tales could be told, but you get the idea of just how important at times our U.S. Presidents' four-legged friends have meant to them. As for types of pets, here is a brief listing of some of the pets owned by U.S. Presidents throughout our history:
* President Barack Obama - "Bo," a Portuguese Water Dog.
* President George W. Bush - "Spotty," a female English Springer Spaniel; "Barney" and "Miss Beazley", both Scottish Terriers. Also an India cat named "Willie" and a Longhorn cow, living on the Bush's Crawford ranch named "Ofelia."
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President Clinton's
Chocolate Lab Buddy
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* President Bill Clinton - His daughter Chelsea's cat named "Socks," and "Buddy", a chocolate Labrador Retriever
* President George H. W. Bush - A Springer Spaniel named "Millie," and "Ranger," one of Millie's puppies. Also a Bouvier des Flandres named "Lucky" and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, "Rex."
* John F. Kennedy - numerous animals, "Gaullie" a Poodle, and "Charlie" a Welch Terrier; a cat "Tom Kitten," "Robin" a canary, and two parakeets, "Bluebell and Marybelle." In addition, a ponies ("Macaroni," "Tex" and "Leprechaun"), a rabbit, a horse, and a number of other dogs, including a Soviet space dog as a gift from the Russian premier.
And what about the pets owned by Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, whose birthdays we celebrate in February of every year? "Honest Abe" is known for having had two goats, "Nanny" and "Nanko," as pets, along with two dogs - "Fido" and "Jip"; a horse and a rabbit he was very fond of, and a turkey named "Jack." As for our nation's first president, George Washington had an affection for his dogs - "Sweet Lips," "Scentwell" and "Vulcan" - all American Stagehounds. He also had several Black and Tan Coonhounds, and a donkey named "Royal Gift."
It is further important to note Washington, during the American Revolutionary War, rode two horses he consider his favorites to ride in battle: "Nelson," a sorrel; the other, "Blue Skin," who earned his name for being a light bluish gray, closely akin to white.
Note: To learn more about our U.S. Presidential Pets, visit the web site for the Presidential Pet Museum in Williamsburg, VA, at: www.presidentialpetmuseum.com.
