prime montgomery

PrimeSeptember 2011 F R E E

nBirddog Training nCredit Cards vs Cash

nRemember These Treats?nPhysical Therapy/Rehab

nPlant A Treeand more!

INSIDE

WritingDemons

The Canvasof History

get thecourts

EarlyBirds

MontgoMery

Celebrating Midlife and Beyond

September 2011 | www.primemontgomery.com22

www.primemontgomery.com | September 2011 33

PrimeMontgoMery

Celebrating Midlife and Beyond!

Features

12 PAINTING HISTORY Exquisitely detailed paintings depicting Montgomery history, unseen ‘til now, surfaced recently at, of all places, a sewing shop. By Brenda Robertson Dennis

9 WHAT DID ASTRONAUTS DRINK?

Remember that powered orange breakfast beverage? Astronaut wannabes consumed it by the gallon. Here’s Part 2 of our sweet trip down memory lane. By Tom Ensey

18 ORDER ON THE COURT Court’s in session three days a week. Bring a racquet, balls, towel, and a good sense of humor. By Tom Ensey

24 DEMONS IN DIXIE How long would you pursue a dream until you quit? Wetumpka author Jean Therkelsen never gave up, proving that persistence, and talent, can win. By Lenore Reese Vickrey

September 2011Downtown Montgomery, 1885 or ‘86. From a painting by the late Andy Anderson (story page 12).


Financial

27 OFF THE BEATEN PATH Backyard birddog training Part #2: commit to the journey you and your dog will take. By Niko Corley

Entertainment

Lifestyles23 YARD ‘N GARDEN Plan your tree-planting now, and enjoy the benefits for years. By Ethel Dozier Boykin

Health/Medical On the COver





INSIDE

WritingDemons


get thecourts

EarlyBirds

MontgoMery


Lynoid Vaughn on the court. Photo by Bryan Carter. Story page 18.

17 PAPER, OR PLASTIC? Some surprising ways credit cards cost you money. By Alan Wallace

34 PRIME DIVERSIONS Reviews of DVD releases: My Dog Tulip, Paul, The Tourist. By Mark Glass

11 IN EVERY LIFE Rehabilitation is a team effort, and you’re part of the team. By Arlene Morris

34

10 INVESTMENT SECURITY “Low Risk! High returns!” Just one of many ‘red flags’ for investors. By Joseph Borg

15 SOCIAL SECURITY Disabled and drawing Social Security? The Ticket to Work program could add real value to your life. By Kylle’ McKinney

28 MOVING FREE WITH MIRABAI Making the exercise transition from Summer to Fall. By Mirabai Holland

29 AROUND MONTGOMERY Our first indoor Mystery, and a winner for August. By Jake Roberts

16 PHYSICAL THERAPY & REHAB Learn about research being conducted through the National Institutes of Health.

22 MARCIE’S MEDICARE ANSWERS Find a list of Medigap providers in your area.

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PrimeMONTGOMERY


September 2011, Volume 2, Issue 6PUBLISHER

Bob Corley, [email protected]

EDITORSandra Polizos, [email protected]

ART DIRECTORCallie Corley, [email protected]

WRITERSBrenda Robertson Dennis, Tom Ensey,

Lenore Vickrey

CONTRIBUTORSJoe Borg, Ethel Boykin, Mazie Bryant,

Tina Calligas, Niko Corley, Mark Glass, Mirabai Holland, Kylle’ McKinney,

Arlene Morris, Jake Roberts, Alan Wallace

PHOTOGRAPHERSBryan Carter, Bob Corley, Heath Stone

INTERNMazie Bryant

SALESBob Corley, 334-202-0114,

[email protected] Crompton [email protected]

Prime Montgomery7956 Vaughn Road, #144

Montgomery, AL 36116 • 334-202-0114www.primemontgomery.com

ISSN 2152-9035Prime Montgomery is a publication of The Polizos/Cor-ley Group, LLC. Original content is copyright 2011 by The Polizos/Corley Group, LLC., all rights reserved, with replication of any portion prohibited without written permission. Opinions expressed are those of contribut-ing writer(s) and not necessarily those of The Polizos/Corley Group, LLC.

Prime Montgomery is published monthly except for the combined issue of December/January. Information in articles, departments, columns, and other content areas, as well as advertisements, does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Prime Montgom-ery magazine. Items relating to health, finances, and legal issues are not offered as substitutes for the advice and consultation of health, financial, and legal professionals. Consult properly degreed and licensed professionals when dealing with financial, medical, emotional, or legal matters.

We accept no liability for errors or omissions, and are not responsible for advertiser claims.

EDITOR’S NOTE

If you’re 50+ and on Facebook, become a fan of PRIME Montgomery!

As anxious as we all are for sum-mer to arrive, many of us heave a sigh of relief as the season draws its last breath. September arrives as our hero every year with the promise of chasing away the heat and humidity of the past several months.

Truth be told, my beneficially altered emotional state has little to do with weather; it’s still far too hot for my liking. September, for me, brings order back into my life. I no longer feel obligated to leave town each weekend, feast at every opportunity, or spend ridiculous sums of money on garden paraphernalia. The summertime spell has been broken. I heave a tired sign and settle back into my routine.

Regular routines are what this issue is all about. Whether it’s the healthy routine of an exercise regimen or steady adherence to practicing an avocation, steadfast dedication to a purpose can be satisfying.

This month, Lenore Vickrey introduces us to Jean Therkelsen, a River Region writer who’s a prime example of the value of sticking to a routine. Currently penning her third book in the paranormal romance genre, Therkelsen is also a full-time attorney for the State of Alabama, a wife, and a mother. In Writing Demons (page 24) Vickrey shows how this local author manages to complete her multiple job tasks while still finding time to pen a book that Publisher’s Weekly gave a four star rating.

These days we’re repeatedly reminded of the value of exercising as we age. The secret to successful adherence (though I admit I’ve never learned it) is making the exercise a routine. In Early Birds Get the Courts (page 18) Tom Ensey profiles a group of middle to older-aged tennis players who’ve made exercise routine by making it fun. Be sure to read this lively account of 50-plus indi-viduals who meet on the courts several days a week, enjoying the camaraderie as much as the competition.

The hours of meticulous research artist Andy Anderson did before he began painting historical images of Montgomery are impressive. Yet until a few short months ago his work had not been publicly seen. Thanks to Anderson’s widow the paintings have been ‘discovered’, and local historians are abuzz at the degree of detail they reveal. In The Canvas of History (page 12) Brenda Dennis tells Anderson’s story, and the painstaking effort he took to create historically accurate paintings depicting our city in the 19th and 20th centuries. Don’t miss this most intriguing read.

Tom Ensey’s back with Part 2 of Things We Ate as Kids, continuing his smile-provoking look at the odd items we Baby Boomers considered fun and deli-cious. There’s definitely no accounting for taste. All I can say is, where on earth were our parents?

Happy reading!

Sandra


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NEWS YOU CAN USEMoney Can’t Buy Happiness

Freedom and personal autonomy are more impor-tant to people’s well-being than money, accord-ing to a meta-analysis of data from 63 countries published by the American Psycho-logical Association. While a great deal of research has been devoted to the predictors of happiness and life satisfaction, researchers at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand wanted to know: What is more important for well-being, providing people with mon-ey or providing them with choices and autonomy? Researchers found, “Money leads to autonomy but it does not add to well-being or happiness.” Previous research has shown that higher

income, greater individualism, human rights and social equality are all associated

with higher well-being. The effect of money on happiness has been shown to plateau – that is, once people reach the point of be-ing able to meet their basic needs, more money leads to mar-ginal gains at best or even less well-being as people worry about “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Keeping up Your Overall Health May Keep

Dementia AwayImproving and maintaining health fac-

tors not traditionally associated with dementia, may lower a person’s risk for developing dementia, according to a new study published in the online is-sue of Neurology®. The study suggests that rather than just paying attention to

already known risk factors for dementia, such as diabetes or heart disease, keeping up with general health may help reduce the risk for dementia.

Participants were asked questions about 19 health problems such as arthritis, trou-ble hearing or seeing, denture fit, chest or skin problems, stomach or bladder troubles, sinus issues, broken bones and feet or ankle conditions, among others. The study found after 10 years that each health problem increased a person’s odds of developing dementia by 3.2% compared to people without such health problems. Older adults without health problems at baseline had an 18 percent chance to become demented in 10 years, while such risk increased to 30% and 40% in those who had 8 and 12 health problems, respectively.

Healthy Sources of Vitamin DThe recent increase in recommended

vitamin D intake from the Food and Nu-trition Board may prompt some to seek more summer sun. To avoid skin cancer, experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer recommend getting the


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daily fill of vitamin D from foods and, if necessary, supplements, including:-Cod liver oil: One tablespoon offers 1,360 IUs (International Units).-Fish: One serving (about three ounces) of certain types of fish can give you a healthy dose of vitamin D. This includes:-Salmon: Provides 447 IUs per serving-Mackerel: Provides 388 IUs per serving-Tuna: Provides 154 IUs per serving-Milk: One cup of whole, reduced fat or non-fat milk is fortified with vitamin D

and provides 115 – 124 IUs.-Fortified cereals: Ready-to-eat cereals, fortified with 10% of the daily recommen-dation for vitamin D, can provide at least 40 IUs.

The daily recommended allowances from the Food and Nutrition Board for adults is 600 IUs for those under age 70 and 800 IUs for those 70 and older. Vitamin D is the main building block for maintaining bone health. It also boosts the immune system to help fight off germs, bacteria and diseases, including certain cancers. Vaccine Improves Survival for Metastatic Melanoma

For patients with advanced melanoma, which is the most lethal type of skin

cancer, the results of a large clinical trial show that a vaccine combined with the immune-boosting drug Interleu-kin-2 can improve response rate and progression-free survival. The findings of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

This marks the first vaccine study in the disease and one of the first in all cancers to show clinical benefit in a randomized Phase III clinical trial. Researchers noted, “If we can use the body’s own defense system to attack tumor cells, we provide a mechanism for ridding the body of cancer without destroying healthy tissue”. Therapeutic cancer vaccines, unlike typical vaccines that prevent infections, are meant to jump-start the immune system to help it battle existing tumors.

New Drug Helps Hepatitis C Patients Achieve Viral Cure

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the drug Incivek, when given in combination with two other medications, can dra-matically increase the chances of people chronically infected with untreated


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genotype 1 hepatitis C virus achieve a viral cure. Currently less than half the people in the U.S. with hepatitis C are cured, but this new medication – and the recent FDA approval of it – means that number should increase to closer to 80 percent. Another advantage to the Incivek-combination therapy was that more than 60 percent of those treated for the first time were able to complete the treatment within 24 weeks. That is

less than half the time of the current treatment regimen.

Immune System Can Counteract Alzheimer’s Disease

A research team at Charité -- Uni-versitätsmedizin Berlin and Univer-sitätsklinik Freiburg has documented this discovery in a newly published pa-per. Their research showed that certain scavenger cells in the immune system,

called macrophages, play a key role in counteracting the disease.

“Macrophages can reduce harm-ful deposits in the brain that are the cause of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Prof. Josef Priller, Dir. of Neuropsy-chiatry at Campus Charité Mitte and head of the research team.

The team was now able to show, in an animal model, which certain subset of macrophages is responsible for re-duction of the deposits. Contrary to earlier academic opinion, this defense reaction cannot be handled by the immune cells of the brain, the microg-lia, because they themselves are dam-aged by the pathological process.

Instead, specialized bone marrow-derived macrophages are activated and directed into the brain to remove the toxic deposits. The carrier cells receive the command to specialize and infiltrate the brain in the form of certain cell-signaling proteins. The researchers managed to identify a specific chemokine for the first time.

This results in a completely new treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease.

“In the future we hope to be able to systematically introduce special-ized scavenger cells to the brain and thus speed up the reduction of Alzheimer’s disease deposits,” says Prof. Priller.

Researchers are confident they have found the approach for a cell-based therapy with relatively few side effects. Study results have been pub-lished in the Journal of Neuroscience.


FEATURE

By Tom Ensey

Things We Ate as Kids(Part 2 of 3)

We Baby Boomers came of age during a golden era of weirdness in the manufacture and distribution of confections, crackers and more-or-less edible

doo-dads that were none too tasty and in some cases, just wrong. But we babysat and mowed lawns, saved our allowances, bought this junk and ate it.

TANGThere was a time when dumping a spoonful of colored pow-

der into a glass of water to give it an orangey, um … tang … was a new and unique thing. Tang, a product

of General Foods, was put on the market in 1957 and didn’t sell so well at first. But in 1962 NASA used it on John Glenn’s Mercury flight and subsequent Gemini flights. It helped mask the unpleas-ant taste of space-water, pro-duced on the space flights as a byproduct of an ongoing chemi-cal reaction in the life-support system. It had a little sugar, some vitamin C, a few other nutrients and no caffeine.

Astronauts were the coolest people alive back in the days of the space race. Every kid on Earth wanted to drink the watery OJ they quaffed, even though here on terra firma we had full access to juice

made from real oranges and water that didn’t taste like it was condensed through a copper pipe.

Tang is still one of Kraft’s top powdered beverage brands, available in more than 30 countries in a variety of fruit flavors “based on local consumers’ preferences,” according to the company’s website.

The Tang dynasty is in decline in the USA, but it’s still around, which is more than you can say for manned space flight.

You can probably find it at your local supermarket if you’re prepared to search a little. Or check out Amazon.com and you can grab a pair of 72 oz. canisters for about 30 bucks – enough to make 11 gallons, which should hold you from here to Mars.

BLACK JACK GUMThe first flavored gum sold in the U.S. was invented by a

photographer and tinkerer who, no kidding, bought a giant wad of chicle from Anton Lopez de Santa Anna, the exiled Mexican general whose forces slaughtered everybody at the Alamo in

1836. Santa Anna was living in exile in New Jersey with little to show for his military escapades but a ton of rubbery tree sap he brought with him.

Thomas Adams of Staten Island, N.Y. used the stuff in a failed attempt to invent a substitute for rubber. He’d seen Santa Anna chewing the chicle, so with nothing to lose and a load of this junk on his hand, he whipped up a batch of chewing gum on his kitchen stove and sold it in a local store. It sold briskly, com-pletely unflavored.

In 1884, he laced the stuff with licorice and started selling it in individually wrapped sticks – the same way gum is pack-aged today. It sold well until about 1970 when people finally realized that lico-rice tastes awful.

Adams company changed hands a few times until Cadbury, which makes mostly good candy, bought it in the early 2000s. They whip up a batch of Black Jack every few years and you, too, can get you some at: oldtimecandy.com.

WAX LIPSEnormous red lips made of

flavored wax with a bite plate behind the lips upon which you could clinch your teeth making the giant lips cover your own to the amusement of all. If you and your girlfriend both wore them at your birthday party, you could “kiss” in front of everybody by touching them together and maybe your dad would run to get the Instamatic to shoot a few photos that he would then use to embarrass you for years by showing them to other girlfriends who came over to your house. But that probably didn’t happen to everybody, only

those of us with insane fathers.The popularity of wax lips has waned, which

taken for all in all, is probably a good thing. But they are still available here: Orientaltrading-company.com. You can also find waxen, bloody vampire fangs, big handlebar mustaches, and buck teeth.

Ed.’s Note: Next month, Tom Ensey continues his irreverent look back at Baby Boomer childhood

treats, including Smarties necklaces, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Chick-a-Stick, and Bit-A-Honey, in “Things We Ate as Kids, Part 3.”


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INVESTMENT RED FLAGSIn today’s chaotic economic climate, senior investors are

eager, sometimes desperate, to restore losses their invest-ments may have sustained. If they delayed retirement or

tapped into savings to make ends meet, they may feel com-pelled to do something fast to seek higher returns.

Remember the time-honored principle - “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” So-called ‘can’t-miss oppor-tunities’ can turn a promise of profits into thin air, further damaging personal financial assets. Investors must be alert for Red Flag language that an investment may not be suitable and in some instances illegal. These Red Flags were developed by regulators observing scams throughout North America:

- Guaranteed to double your money. - Low risk for high returns. You should act right now.- This is a limited-time offer.- It takes advantage of a little-known loop hole in tax laws.

Acting as your own financial watchdog and investigating be-fore you invest can help you avoid a potentially bad decision that could set you back years in achieving financial security. Before investing your money, ask:

- Did I initiate this meeting?- Is this person recommended by someone I trust?- Have I been provided with written information?- Have I been encouraged to borrow in order to invest?- Have I verified this information with a trusted source such

as the ASC?

The following tips can help safeguard retirement assets from fraudulent activities:– Check the licensing/registration

of the seller and product offered by contacting the ASC. – Check to see if any enforcement ac-

tion has been taken against the person offering the investment. – Check with someone you know and

trust before investing any money. – Get written information (but beware, con artists can pro-

duce professional-looking information) – Know how much risk you are willing to take and how

much risk you should be taking given your age, family circum-stances and other factors.– Don’t allow anyone to rush your decision-making process. – Never accept a verbal contract. – Never sign anything before reading it carefully and under-

standing it.

If you are suspicious of an investment offer or want more infor-mation about safe and wise investing, contact the ASC at 1-800-222-1253, visit the website, www.asc.alabama.gov, or e-mail Dan Lord at [email protected].

Joseph P. Borg

SAFE INVESTING

www.primemontgomery.com | September 2011

Rehabilitate originates from Latin “habilitas” meaning “to make able again”. Rehabilitation in health-

care is a category of services that helps individuals achieve the highest level of independence possible as they recover from injury, illness, or disease. Those experiencing concerns such as from trauma, addiction, cardiac or pulmonary diseases, stroke, musculoskeletal damage, etc. can

often benefit from rehabilitation ser-vices. Restoring optimal functioning and well-being is highly individual and is based on perceptions of quality of life involving physical, emotional, social and spiritual aspects.

Rehabilitation is a team effort. The rehabilitation team is composed of many skilled professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, coun-selors, social workers, chaplains, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, dieticians, case managers, or others. Rehabilitative services are provided across all levels of healthcare delivery settings: in-patient acute care or rehabilitation hospitals, out-patient hospitals or clinics, long-term care skilled nursing facilities, or home care services. Rehabilitation is not intended necessarily to undo damage from various health concerns, but rather to assist individuals and families to modify effects in order to: 1) regain as much function as pos-sible and 2) prevent further possible damag-ing effects. Thus, goals must be determined by collaboration among the individual, family, and rehabilitation team and include: atreating the basic disease and preventing complicationsatreating any resulting disability to restore as much function as possibleaassistance with modifying the environment or learning to use adaptive toolsateaching individuals and families meth-ods to adapt to lifestyle changes for a new “normal”.

Family and community resources are vital in providing support, because rehabilitation is very hard work! Relearning or learning a new method for how to move, speak, swallow, remember, care for self, interact with others, manage pain (physical, emotional, or spiri-

tual), or retrain for employment is demanding. An additional concern is the cost for “rehab” services. Evaluation of what specific services or providers will qualify for reimbursement by various insurance companies or Medicare/Medicaid is es-sential, and can allow planning for co-payments, deductibles, or filing with coinsurance. Authorization prior to beginning rehabilitation services may be required. Further information can be obtained from personal insurance companies or from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at https://

www.cms.gov/Checking credentials of individu-

als or facilities and asking questions about past experiences can help determine the most appropriate fit between provider and the needs and goals of the individual/family. Ad-ditional questions include policies about admission criteria, visitation policies, treatment frequency and schedules, types of education and support for the individual and family, policies for management of emergen-cies, care provided by licensed thera-pists, nurses or physicians or by aids, and types of discharge assistance.

Further information can be ob-tained from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilita-tion Facilities (CARF) at http://www.carf.org/home/.

Arlene H. Morris, RN, Ed.D. is a Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor in the Auburn Montgomery School of Nursing. She enjoys teaching content regarding gerontology and professional nursing issues. E-mail her at [email protected].

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FEATURE

Every city has its tales to tell - its mysteries, its triumphs, its heartbreaks. In many ways a city is a living organism, growing older and gaining wisdom as it ages. Meanwhile, its busy inhabitants can seem nothing more than visitors passing

through, rising each morning, going to work, raising families while the city breathes around them with memories they can never know… or can they? The truth is, a city can live forever if it’s not destroyed, but it takes the passion of an historian to keep it alive. Through a trio of paintings, local artist Andy Anderson has captured more than just a glimpse of our city’s past.

Anderson isn’t with us today to explain his meticulous attention to historical ac-curacy, or to tell us what inspired his interest to begin with. But there are clues to help us fit together the pieces of this quiet and fascinating individual’s life, and perhaps fulfill his seemingly obsessive dream to tell a few of Montgomery’s stories through his paint brush.

Anderson was born William Michael Andrusyszyn, the middle son of Ukrainian

The Canvas of HistoryBy Brenda Robertson DennisPhotos by Bob Corley; Heath Stone, Stone Images

August 12, 1861. A crowd gathers at what is now Court Square for the announcement of the start of the Civil War.

Artist Andy Anderson, circa 1980s.


immigrants. By trade, his father was an automo-bile painter, adept at putting striping on cars with a freehand style any surgeon would admire. That is probably where Anderson got his talent for the crisp detail seen in his own work. Growing up in Rochester, New York, he developed a passion for art and music that would stay with him throughout his life.

After pilot training in the Army Air Corps, where he graduated first in his class, he was stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base. Anderson deeply regret-ted not finishing his training before WWII ended, but quickly fell in love with the mild temperatures

of Alabama and decided to stay and pursue a ca-reer in graphic art. He took his first job at Para-gon Press, then located down-town on Adams Street, doing air-brush work for yearbooks. He later freelanced for Paragon and other busi-nesses creating logos and print ads, including

logos for Dorsey Trailers in Elba, whose vehicles still bear his work. According to Janice Anderson, his wife of 34 years and a retired elementary school teacher, Anderson had a voracious interest in many things and attacked those interests with no subtle gusto.

“There was not a thing he could not master,” she says. “He just had that kind of desire and ability. He was self-taught in many things. He went for whatever he was interested in. If it took day and night, hours and hours, he went for it because that was what he was all about.”

One of Anderson’s many interests was history. During the 1970’s, while playing drums in a big-band style group called “The Corporation,” he was handed a book by a friend entitled “A History of Montgomery In Pictures” (Society of Pioneers of Montgomery, 1962). Some-thing in the book sparked a passion that would consume him for the next several years, sending him and his wife into the basement of the Archives and History building for hours, pouring over hundreds of old Montgomery newspapers.

“At that time we could actually put our hands on all those old newspa-pers,” Janice recalls. “We could handle them and read about

everything that had happened in those times. You could never do that now.”

Anderson was searching for incidents he thought would make a good subject around which to center a painting. Using old newspapers, “Blue’s History” (a directory of who lived and worked where), and Sanborn Maps he and his wife studied at the University of Alabama’s Library in Tuscaloosa, Andy created a complicated, meticulously hand-written key of loca-tions and events in Montgomery history. The notes alone are

enough to peak the interest of any historian, but it’s the paintings his notes inspired that are so fascinating.

Noted historian Mary Ann Neeley was one of the first to see Anderson’s paintings, which had never been shown until they surfaced a few months ago in, of all places, Sara Howard Stone, a sewing shop in Old Cloverdale. The shop is run by Stone’s son, Bill, a local historian and lecturer.

“This is a good story about how things hap-pen,” says Neeley. “[Janice] came in to have her sewing machine repaired. While she was there Bill

got a telephone call about something he was going

Janice Anderson

Moses Building, late 1800s. (Andy Anderson)


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to give a talk on and that’s how it came up.”Anderson agreed to bring the paintings by and leave them

for a few days so Stone could have Neeley and Stonehenge Gallery owner Rusty Gregory take a look.

“I got on the floor and started examining them because of the detail,” says Neeley, “and thought ‘geez, that’s a lot to put in this book!’”

The book she is referring to is her upcoming project entitled “Montgomery in the 20th Century” (Historical Pub-lishing Network). Due to their historical accuracy, Neeley is including Anderson’s paintings in her book.

“I don’t know why he chose those scenes and locations except that’s what interested him,” she says. “But they are very realistic and I think there’s

a place for realism in art that teaches us lessons.”

All three painting have their interesting points to delve into, particularly the crowd scene at Mahoney’s Fountain, now Court Square. In it, one can find historically precise styles of dress and transportation, as well as a depiction of the Market Street buildings stretching up to the State Capital.

None of the details come from photographs, but the amount of research Anderson put into creating the paintings brings us about as close as we can come to what it might have looked like on April 12, 1861. That’s the day Dr. Weir stepped out of the Magnetic Telegraph Company office on the second floor, west of the Winter Building, to announce to the crowd below that the first shot had been fired on Fort Sumter. This event officially started the Civil War, and though it might re-quire a magnifying glass to find him, he’s there, standing at the railing, reading the fated news. It’s interesting to note that the focal point of the entire painting, the rea-son for its very existence, is also the most diminutive element of the entire 16x20 work. But even that says a great deal about the artist himself who was, by his wife’s description, a modest and stoically private individual.

Andy Anderson passed away in 1999, fol-lowing a fairly swift battle with Alzheimer’s disease. On his mausoleum is a simple phrase his wife feels sums up his life: “No Task Unconquered.”

Though he might not relish the atten-tion his paintings are receiving, it’s likely he would be pleased that at least some of the tasks he conquered, namely his painstak-ing research and expression of events in Montgomery, are now being appreciated.

The paintings will stay in the family and eventually go to his daughter in Rochester, NY. In the meantime Janice Anderson is

discussing the possibility of reproducing them to benefit The Landmarks Foundation and the Montgomery County Histori-cal Society. If this happens, Andy Anderson will become a part of Montgomery’s history. It’s easy to imagine a man with such drive and talent taking a small moment to smile and be proud of that accomplishment, even if it’s just one of many that mark a quiet but extraordinary life.

Mary Ann Neeley

Reading the telegram. Detail from painting on page 12.


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voluntary program called Ticket to Work gives individuals who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security dis-ability benefits access to meaningful employ-ment while maintaining control over benefit choices.

Ed Bairos, a farmer and mechanic, went back to the work he loved with the help of the Ticket program. He began receiving So-cial Security disability benefits after suffering from severe arthritis, complicated by a knee injury that would require 20 surgeries. He was concerned about losing the cash payments and health care he needed to survive and worried that employers might not want to hire him. Then Bairos learned about the Ticket to Work program when

he received a notice in the mail from Social Security. The notice was a “ticket” that Bairos could use with an employment net-work of his choosing. Employment networks are organizations that offer specialized services such as career counseling, job search assistance, vocational rehabilitation and training. Bairos decided to use his ticket with an employment network and returned to work. He continued to receive health care and cash benefits because of work incentives, which are special consider-ations that make it easier for beneficiaries to explore whether

going back to work is right for them.Pleased with Bairos’ industry knowledge and skills as a farm

manager, his employer gave him a promotion and a raise. Now he is self-sufficient, working for another division within the company.

Bairos earns more money than he would have by relying solely on disability benefits. By using his Ticket, Bairos’ medical reviews were put on hold and he is eligible to receive Medicare coverage for up to eight-and-a-half years after discontinuing his disability payments.“Returning to work has made me whole again, especially being

able to work in the area that I love,” said Bairos. “My self-esteem was at its lowest when I wasn’t working and on disability. Re-turning to work not only improved my self-worth but also my financial wealth. The Ticket to Work program and the ability to keep my Medicare was the reason I was able to return to work.”

If you receive Social Security or SSI benefits due to disability, are between 18 and 64 years old and want to work, getting started is easy.

Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/work for more information on the Ticket to Work program and work incentives. You also may call (866) 968- 7842 (TDD (866) 833-2967) to learn how going back to work may affect your benefits.

Kylle’ D. McKinney is Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in Mont-gomery. He can be reached at [email protected]., or by calling 866-593-0914 ext. 26265 (office), or 334-369-8355 (mobile). You can visit the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov.

Kylle’ McKinney

‘Ticket to Work’ for Those with Disabilities


FEATURE

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Rehabilitation is exercise and other therapy designed to return you to your normal activities after

an illness or injury. Stroke, heart attack, arthritis, serious illness or injury often lead to a long, slow return to health. Thoughts of making a comeback take a backseat to simple survival. Recov-ery can also mean learning to live with a disability. Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health are studying the roads people take to recovery. No matter where you’ve been, their findings may help you find your way back.

An important key to recovery is par-ticipation, says Karen Lohmann Siegel, a physical therapist at NIH’s Clinical Center.

“Many medical procedures and treat-ments are done to a patient by a health care provider, and the patient’s role in the treatment is small,” she explains. “That is not the case in rehabilitation. In rehab, the patients do a lot of the work themselves to get better.”

Each year about 700,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke and 1.1 million suffer a heart attack. The moment you survive the critical stage of an illness or injury, you start the recovery phase, says Dr. Michael Weinrich of NIH’s National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

“We have good data that people who engage in moderate activity improve their cardiovascular system,” Weinrich says. “That’s particularly true for people who have a stroke.”

Results from several studies stress the role of physical activity in reha-bilitation. It’s possible to help people get enough exercise to improve their chances of recovery. Researchers sup-ported by NIH’s National Institute of Nursing Research, have found education and encouragement promoted exercise in a rehab program for people recover-ing from heart attack or bypass surgery.

NICHD and NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are funding a 5-year clinical study on im-proving motor skills of stroke survivors. Called EXCITE (Extremity Constraint Induced Therapy Evaluation), the study is looking at how well patients recover function in an arm disabled by a stroke. For a period of time, the patient avoids using the healthy arm to perform daily tasks, instead using the weak arm. Re-sults so far have shown the forced activ-ity strengthens the weak arm and helps the stroke survivor recover motor skills faster. Joint replacement surgery

is another condition for which physical activity speeds recovery.

As people live longer and remain active, operations to replace worn-out knees and hips have become more common. Recovering from this type of surgery means learning to walk again. Not long after surgery, doctors and nurses want you back on your feet. A physical therapist will plan exercises to help retrain muscles and adjust to using the artificial joint. You’ll have pain, but movement will help you recover more quickly.

People with nervous system injury after a stroke want to regain more than basic movements. They want to move the way they did before they became sick. Scientists are now testing the idea that damaged muscles may recover bet-ter and faster with help from technol-ogy. NIH-funded researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) designed a light-weight robotic device called RUPERT (Robotic Upper Extremity Repetitive Therapy) to help stroke survivors regain basic activity in their arms

Dr. Jiping He, ASU professor of bioengineering and RUPERT research team leader, explains that the device has an advanced control system that detects the wearer’s intent to move. It can help them do the things we take for granted - reaching for a cup, eating, etc. It’s being developed by Kinetic Muscles, Inc., the company that helped ASU produce Hand Mentor, a device for recovering hand function. Power is supplied by “pneumatic muscles,” instruments using compressed air to mimic muscle movements.

Research teams funded by NICHD and NIH’s National Institute of Bio-medical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) began testing the Hand Men-tor in stroke survivors. Dr. He says RUPERT should be ready in a year or so to start testing in patients. Prelimi-nary work is under way for leg rehab devices as well.

Compiled from information from the National Institutes of Health, www.nih.gov.

Rehab & Physical Therapy: Finding Your Way Back

www.primemontgomery.com | September 2011

WelcomeHome

Heartland VillageA Memory Care Community at Elmcroft Assisted Living

Home is Where the Heart Is

ELMCROFT OF HALCYONAssisted Living & Memory Care1775 Halcyon Blvd., Montgomerywww.ElmcroftAL.com

Call for your personal visit.

334-396-1111

17

MONEY WISE

The first time that a cashier asked me, “Paper or plastic?” was years ago. My first impression was not

that she was asking for my bag prefer-ence, but whether I was going to pay with cash or a credit card. Over the years the use of credit and debit cards has become almost universal, but if you use plastic, you may actually be hurting

yourself even if you pay off your card balance each month. Here’s why.

First, merchants have to pay a fee whenever a customer pays with a credit card. The fee may run 2-5% of the purchase amount. Merchants are not chari-ties and build this cost into the price of their goods and services which means that we all pay more because of the volume of purchases that use credit cards.Second, many credit cards subject the user to an annual

fee for the convenience of having the card. Depending on your purchase and payment history, your memory, and other variables, you may find yourself paying sizable late fees or over-limit fees. And then there are the high interest rates that card issuers charge for balances carried over from month to month.

Finally, numerous studies have shown that people spend more when they use a credit card than they do when pay-ing with hard cash. Impulse buying is easier and feels painless because no cash is leaving our wallets. The additional spending with plastic appears to be in the 12-18% range.

Are debit cards any better? Probably not. The overspend-ing factor is still in play, merchants have to pay swipe fees, and some banks also levy charges on the customer using the card. The only benefit of a debit card is that you might avoid inter-est payments on balances carried over at month’s end.

In addition, cards involve the risk that someone will steal your card(s) or numbers and use them illegally. Even if you avoid financial liability, you will still be dealing with consider-able hassles to straighten things out.

Now suppose, on the other hand, that you paid with cash, check or direct electronic transfer from your checking ac-count and avoided the use of cards. You avoid annual fees, over limit fees, late fees, finance charges, and the risk of some-one using your card(s) without authorization. You also spend a fair amount less because your spending carries a bigger emotional toll, and you think longer before parting with your hard-earned money. Furthermore, if you talk to merchants,

particularly about larger purchases, they may agree to give you a better price for a cash purchase since they will avoid the merchant fees levied by card issuers.

While this approach may not help you on such expenses as your house payment, car purchase, tax bills, or charitable gifts, it could save you 15-25% on your routine spending such as for gasoline and car repairs, food, clothing, and household supplies. If you have a credit card balance, avoiding continuing

interest charges alone could save you a bundle. And the switch from plastic to paper does not really have to affect your standard of living at all. Admittedly, cash and checks are not as convenient as cards, but what does that convenience cost you? Think about “paper” as a way to get a discount of 15% or more on much of what you buy, and the notion of “plastic fantastic” may lose its attrac-tion.

Alan Wallace, CFA, ChFC, CLU is a Se-nior Financial Advisor for Ronald Blue &

Co.’s Montgomery office. He can be contacted at 334-270-5960 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Alan Wallace

“...people spend more when they use a credit card than they do when paying with hard cash.”

Paper - or - Plastic?


FEATURE

By Tom EnseyPhotos by Bryan Carter, Carter Photography; Bob Corley

Get the Courts

By 5 a.m. the cof-fee’s ready and not long after, the

first doubles matches are under way at O’Conner Tennis Center. There may be 30 or 40 people there before the early-rising members of the Early Birds finish their workouts – a couple sets of doubles tennis and a round or two of conver-sation, sitting in the rock-ing chairs on the porch, watching the others play.

They range from early middle-age to a few who are well north of 80, and their skill levels vary just as widely. The players are all men except for Martha Poole Simmons, who’s been volleying with the guys for about 15 years and has been “grandfathered” into the group. She’s been a regular since the mid-1990s, when there were a couple of other women who played. One passed away and one moved away, but Martha remains a special member of the organization.

“They call me ‘Miss Martha,’” she said. “They don’t curse when I’m there. They are gentle-men and they accept me. I always told them, as long as I can keep up, let me play; when I can’t, I’ll quit.”

Organization may not be the best word for the

‘Early Bird’ players Harold “Woody” Woodman (L) and David Angle.

Early Birds


group of tennis enthusiasts who meet at this public facility every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Nobody can really pinpoint when it all began, and the rules for participating have largely to do with showing up with a racket and balls and having a good sense of humor and fellowship.

Lynoid Vaughn (see cover photo), one of the over-80 gang, is a longtime member – he said he spends about $125 a year to have all-the-time play-ing privileges. Others who are less regular pay $5 a day to play. Martha is the self-appointed “secretary.” She keeps up with names and numbers and such.

Harold “Woody” Woodman, an-other 80-plus player, is the one they call “coach.”

“He’s always offering helpful advice when you play with him,” Martha said, tongue firmly in cheek.

“Nobody listens a lot,” Woody countered.

He continues shouting that same helpful advice from the porch when he’s finished his early sets. The rules are simple – first-come, first-served. The first two to show up are a team and play the next two. If you win, you hold the court. Once you win two sets, you’re off to the rock-ing chairs, the coffee and the conversation.

Woody is always one of the first on and off the court, en-abling him to sit on the porch and continue coaching. One of the Early Birds grew up in Germany, another is from Puerto Rico and speaks fluent Spanish.

So the rocking-chair coaching staff learned how to say “hit it harder,” “hold your head up!” and “that was out!” in German and Spanish.

It’s a diverse group, comprised of a lot of ex-mil-itary folks, school teachers, doctors, and businessmen. Most are retired. Martha said she got involved be-cause she used to teach at Alabama

State and the women’s group that played there started in the mid-morning. She was rushed to get in a game, go home, shower and make it to class on time.

She noticed the group of guys playing, asked if she could join, and has been there ever since.

Most of the stories about how “members” drifted into the group are the same – they never have meetings or vote on

things. They just show up. Some come from Prattville, and Wetumpka, others as far away as Eclectic. You’re always welcome and if you don’t show up one day, you haven’t let anybody down.

Some have pacemakers, one has had two knee re-placements,

Martha Poole Simmons was‘grandfathered’ into the group.


and as Woody said, “all of us have something or the other wrong with us.”

But they have much more than that in common. They love tennis and they love being together. On frosty mornings in the winter, they’re playing bundled up, under the lights. In the summer, when it’s blistering, they’re there before the sun gets

high, swinging away before the humidity and heat can catch up to them. It’s important to stay active the older you get, and they’re seeing to it.

“Some of the guys who are in their 80s get around better than some of the younger ones,” Vaughn said. “It’s definitely a big part of staying fit and feeling well as you get older.”

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Jimmy Cleveland sends a shot to the net, defended by Jim Weinstock.


Monday morning, 7:30 a.m. About half the O’Conner “Early Birds” are on the courts. (L-R) Kneeling; Waldo Spencer, Lynoid Vaughn,Harold “Woody” Woodman, Jim Barrs, M.N. “Buddy” Freeman, Milt Ganier, Ken Barnett. Standing: Gerrard Elliot and son Christiaan,Isaiah Flowers, Jimmy Cleveland, Jerome Smith, Jim Weinstock, Martha Poole Simmons, Harry Lawson, Gene Cau, Bob Hawkins,Gerry Shook, William “Doc” Blackmon, Lynn Murray, Harrel McKinney, Ken Cole, David Escabar, David Angle, Misty Reid.


MEDICARE

Dear Marci,How do I get a list of Medigap companies in my state? — Darlene

Dear Darlene, It is a good idea to start researching Medigaps in your area

well before you enroll in Medicare or lose other supplemen-tal coverage so that you will not have any gaps in coverage. Under national law, persons age 65 and older have rights to buy a Medigap policy only at certain times. During these times, Medigap companies cannot refuse to sell you a policy based on your age or health status. Depending on your circumstances, you may be subject to a waiting period before pre-existing conditions are covered by your Medigap policy. National law does not give the same protections to persons under age 65. State law may give more protections to persons both over and under 65.

Generally, you can call your State Department of Insurance or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for a list of Medigap companies in your state and for help choos-ing a plan. Visit www.shiptalk.org to find your SHIP. You can

also visit www.medicare.gov to see what plans are offered in your area.

If your physician, provider or supplier accepts assignment, they should automatically receive Part B claims from Medi-care so that you do not have to submit the claims to the in-surer yourself. Some Medigap insurers also choose to receive Part A claims directly from Medicare. Before you sign up for a Medigap policy, be sure to ask the insurer if it will receive bills for your care from Medicare automatically or whether you will need to do this yourself.

Marci’s Medicare Answers is a service of the Medicare Rights Center (www.medicarerights.org), the nation’s largest independent source of information and assistance for people with Medicare. To speak with a counselor, call (800) 333-4114. To subscribe to “Dear Marci,” the Medicare Rights Center’s free educational e-newsletter, simply e-mail [email protected]. To learn more about the services that Medicare will cover and how to change plans, log on to Medicare Interactive Counselor at the Medicare Rights Center’s website at www.medicareinteractive.org.

Marci’s Medicare Answers


Physical Therapy • Wellness/Personal Training

YARD N GARDEN

It’s Tree Time!With Fall approaching and a few

trees throwing off shades of orange, I think back to Satur-

days raking golden leaves into large piles, being blessed to live amongst large trees in Dalraida. Looking back over the sum-mer, was there a side of your house the sun baked each afternoon? A tree could help take care of some of that heat.

Trees are friends to the home owner if correctly chosen and planted in the right place. They’re either evergreen or

deciduous,the later losing its leaves in the winter. If you want to block the view of the shed next door use an evergreen. However, it won’t allow winter sun to warm that side of the house. Some-times it takes more than one tree to block a view, so several may be needed. It depends on how wide the tree is at maturity. Yes, there’s an ending width; wish that was true of us! You can find the height and width of a tree by looking on-line or at your nursery. If a tag doesn’t state the size, most good nurseries have a Manuel Of Woody Landscape Plants by Michael Dirr, the Bible for horticultur-ists. Like us, there are trees that will always be short, and those that will grow toward Heaven.

Trees grow at different rates, and this can get you into trouble. A fast-growing tree won’t live long. Look at the Leyland Cypress so popular years ago. They’re now dead or on the way. The Bradford Pear also has issues. Except for the Silver Maple, which is a trash tree, look to Oaks and Maples with nice fall leaves for color and raking. These leaves should not be bagged but used to enrich the soil in flower beds. If you don’t have many leaves rake straight into the bed, wet down and cover with pine straw. If you have an abundance make a pile in the back yard, allow them to decay over winter, then add them to your flower beds next spring.

Often my clients say they want to sit under this tree before they get old. You can give nature a hand and help a tree grow faster. Use drip irrigation around the base of the tree, fertilize three times a

year, and you’ll see what a tree can do if pushed. I once planted a seven-foot Pin Oak. By diligently applying water and fertilizer, in five years it was 30' tall! Tree spikes are an easy way to fertilize and can make a big difference.

With all the soil types we have in Montgomery check which trees like what soils for best results. Drive around your neighbor-hood to see which trees are doing well in your area. I regret telling clients that a tree they want will not do well in their area, but it happens. With the large selection of trees in Alabama everyone should be able to find one to meet their needs. Decide now which tree you want, because winter is coming and it’s the best time to plant a tree. When you’ve made your choice and picked a spot, tie a string measuring half the circumference of the tree at maturity around a can of spray paint. Stick a pole in the ground, tie the string to the pole, and spray a circle on the ground to show where the limbs will be at maturity. This keeps you from planting too close to the house. Nurseries don’t dig trees until they’re dormant, so you can’t plant larger trees until colder times, if they ever come again. Decide on your tree choice now, so you have time if you need to order a tree. And maybe one day that tree will have a limb big enough to hang a swing from for your retirement days.

Ethel Dozier Boykin, a Montgomery native, owns Art in the Garden, a landscape design and consulting company in the Capital City. Contact her at 334-395-5949, or by email at [email protected].

Ethel Dozier Boykin

It’s Tree Time!


FEATURE

As a little girl, Jean Therkelsen loved to read. Grow-ing up in the tiny town of Canoe in Escambia County, she escaped to other worlds with fantasy stories like

“The Wizard of Oz,” sci-fi adventures and Greek mythology. As she grew older, she became a fan of romances, especially the regency romance genre made popular by Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, in which the hero and heroine speak from another time and place.

A lover of the written word, she wrote her first poetry in third grade, but the writing muse didn’t kick in seriously until 23 years later.

“I didn’t start my first novel until age 32. It was a fantasy. I worked on it 10 years. I wrote and started over eight to 10 times,” said Therkelsen, who by this time had finished law school, gotten married, had children, and was working in the Alabama Attorney General’s Office handling criminal appeals. Yet she hadn’t taken any formal writing classes.

“I’d never written a book. I didn’t know there were rules, or about genres, word count or point of view. I learned by trial and error and the internet.”

But that didn’t stop her. Besides, she had a goal: to be published by age 50. De-spite a full-time job and being a wife and mother, she disciplined herself to write a chapter a week. She finished her manu-script before the big Five-O, but that’s as far as the fantasy novel went. She sent it off to 100 publishers, and got 100 rejections.

“Enough to wallpaper several bath-rooms.”

Discouraged and frustrated, she’d found encouragement and comfort from a local writers’ group in Wetumpka and other groups online. One of the web-based groups challenged her to write the first chapter of a paranormal romance (one of the fastest growing trends in romance nov-els) and they would critique it.

This was something new for Therkelsen. She loved romances, she liked sci-fi, and this sub-genre blended the two. Because she knew something about small Southern towns, she set her story in the fictional town of Hannah, Alabama, a location that blended the ele-

ments of her childhood home near Atmore and her current residence, Wetumpka.

It took about a year, but in November 2009 she finished the novel about Addy, a small-town Southern florist, and

a hunky immortal demon slayer named Brand who “gets his socks knocked off by a Southern chick.” The novel was a paranor-mal romance alright, but with what she calls southern-fried humor. “The group loved it,” she said.

Agents, not so much.She sent out 45 query letters and

several asked to see the full book. She got very excited, but the response was under-whelming.

“They said ‘funny’ doesn’t sell,” she said. “I got bummed out and wondered, what now?”

After bemoaning her plight on the web site of Southern Magic, a Birming-ham-based writer’s group, a woman Therkelsen didn’t know had some advice. She told her to seek out a particular editor with Kensington Books, the largest

independent U.S. publisher of mass market, trade paperback and hardcover books. She did. A month later on March 11, 2010, her cell phone rang.

“I was in a friend’s car and we were driving on Ann Street

DEMONSWriting

By Lenore Reese VickreyPhotos by Heath Stone, Stone Images


past the WalMart and I got the call,” she remembered. “They (publishers) only call if they’re interested. I started scream-ing!”

The editor, Megan Records, not only liked her book, she offered her a three-book deal. Demon Hunting in Dixie and its author were on their way to the big time.

At 54, Jean Therkelsen was finally living her dream of being a published author. Not by age 50, but who’s counting? No sooner had she come down from the high of selling her first book, than she had another deadline to meet - a 30,000-word novella had to be written in three months.

But she did it, by giving herself a goal of writing 10,000 words a month. The Bride Wore Demon Dust was published August 30, 2011 as part of a Kensington Halloween anthology, So I Married a Demon Slayer, that also includes short novels by two well-known romance writers, Angie Fox and Kathy Love. And Therkelsen has submitted book two of the Demon Hunter series and is hard at work on number three.

“But I will admit it has been challenging,” she wrote on her blog. Because she works full-time, she uses every spare moment to write – holidays, lunch hours, weekends, think-ing about it on the way to work and when she gets home.

“If you’ve got a passion or a dream, keep striving for it.”

A l A b A m A S h A k e S p e A r e F e S t i vA lmontgomery, Alabama 1.800.841.4273 www.ASF.net

Adapted by William McNultyOriginally dramatized by John L. Balderson and Hamilton Deane from Bram Stoker’s Dracula

October 7–30

“[It’s]…jump out of your seat, grab the stranger next to you and hang on for dear life fun!” -Louisville.com

Author Jean Therkelsen,aka Lexi George to her fans.


7960 Vaughn Road334-517-1071

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Writing romances is a welcome escape from her attorney job, where “it’s all about the rude things people do to one another,” she said. “When I sit down to read, I want escapism. I don’t want to be enlightened!”

Her novels are part of the Brava series by Kensington, which she describes as “steamy romance.” When she wrote the sex scenes between her hero and heroine (“they have to be really in love”), it was a struggle to begin with.

“I was a little nervous,” she said. “I saw the face of my elementary librarian and my Baptist preacher uncle.” But she persevered “with the help of mint chocolate chip ice cream and red wine.”

Where did the pen name Lexi George come in?“My middle name is Alexandra, and my family calls me

George. No one knows why,” Therkelsen said. The name is “more like what I write -- sassy and over the top.” So Lexi George is the name by which her fans will know her.

She hopes Demon Hunting in Dixie and its follow-up books are just the beginning of a literary career for this “pantser” (“I write by the seat of my pants as opposed to plotters, who have flow charts of family trees before they start writing”). Her advice to erstwhile writers?

“If you’ve got a passion or a dream, keep striving for it. I thought the odds were against me. Set goals, whether they be daily, weekly or monthly. Whatever it takes to get your butt in the chair. When you set out to eat an elephant, take small bites. That’s my philosophy and it works for me.

“Life didn’t end at 50 and neither did my passion for writing.”





INSIDE

WritingDemons


get thecourts

EarlyBirds

MontgoMery

Celebrating Midlife and Beyond Advertise in PRIME Montgomery.With 10,000 copies a monthdistributed through more than

430 locations,PRIME Montgomery is the

best way to reach those50 and older

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Stephanie Crompton334-462-1240

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Contact: Use yourSmart Phoneto visit

our website.

QR Codes, such as the one above and those in the two ads on this page, are tiny black-and-white blocks in a square that can be read by a Smart Phone using a free application. QR stands for quick response, and that’s what the codes provide, a quick link to almost anything, from a website to your personal or busi-ness contact information.PRIME Montgomery is experimenting

with QR Codes with a few of our adver-tisers to see if we can add more value to their presence in the magazine, as well as provide you, the reader, an enhance reading experience.With 83% of U.S. adults owning a

cell phone, and 42% of those having a Smart Phone (for a whopping 35% of ALL adults), use of QR Codes and similar web-accessing methods will only increase.If you have a Smart Phone, download

a free QR Code-reading app. One good site is QR Code City, but there are many available. Once you download the free app, scan the QR Code above and send me a message telling me what you found.Happy scanning!

What theHECK is THAT?!


OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Two things training books and trainers harp on in training any dog, hunting or not, are repetition

and consistency. Whatever the required task, be it sitting on a whistle blast or taking casts at a distance, practice makes perfect. Also, be consis-tent: the dog

must understand there is only one correct response to a command. If other people don’t require the same thing of your dog as you (like allow-ing the dog to jump up on them), it creates confusion for the dog because sometimes the dog is re-warded and at other times scolded.

It’s more cruel to confuse the dog with inconsistencies than it is to ask others to require the same things of your dog that you do. If not, training will be exponentially more difficult because the dog will be unsure what is required of it. Consistency is not a one-time occurrence – it takes repetition to achieve the goals you’ve set for the dog and yourself.

It’s a Journey, Not a Trip You never hear someone say they’re taking a “journey” to

the grocery store. “Trip” denotes something of short dura-tion; a journey takes much longer. Dog training is a journey taking many years, but also one that never really ends. Like professional athletes conditioning their bodies for competi-tion who never reach a certain level and cease training, the same goes for dog training. You’ll never reach a point where the dog is “trained” and you just stop training altogether.

Committing to spend the time necessary to train a dog is the hardest part. If you’re not willing to do that then pick an-other hobby. Like a fine wine, a good hunting dog takes time, and a 100-yard blind retrieve is a masterpiece in motion. As part of the journey be sure to set short term, realistic goals and train accordingly – repetitively and consistently – toward that goal, keeping in mind that the duration of time spent on different phases of training varies between dogs.

Confidence Through Challenge A reliable retriever must be confident, in him/herself in un-

derstanding the command given, and confident in the trainer who issues the command. A right cast to a trained retriever means not only a command to move in one particular direc-tion but also that there should be a bird or training bumper in that direction. The dog learns to trust the trainer through rewards or corrections and in doing so builds its own con-

fidence that it can succeed by following the trainer’s com-mands.

It is important to continually challenge dogs in training; it’s how you judge progress. When I feel a dog is “getting” a particular command I usually challenge the dog by introduc-

ing a new variable. If the dog meets the challenge I know the dog is progress-ing. If not, I will step back and work on the basics of the previous command to ensure the dog understands it before challenging again. Progress occurs in small steps, not large leaps. In introducing a new variable, it is important to set the dog up for success so that even if the dog does not overcome the new challenge it still succeeds because it followed the underly-ing command. This builds confidence and eventually, the dog will rise to meet the challenge.

Part 3 in October addresses obedience, innovation, and making training fun.

Niko Corley spends his free time hunting, fishing and enjoying other outdoor activities. He can be contacted at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cootfoot-outfitters.

Coco & Bella

Backyard Bird Dogs, Part 2


MOVING FREE WITH MIRABAI

FREE PRESCRIPTION CARDIf you or someone you know is one of millions without

prescription coverage, the ProvisionRx prescription cardcan help! (Cut out card below, fold, and carry with you.)

STEP 2 CALL ME: PHARM1975, LLC Phone: 334-467-1388 www.pharm1975.provisionrx.com

60,000

September again. Summer’s unofficially over, vacations are behind us, the kids are back to school. It’s a busy month, a transitional month. Transitional times come with danger

and opportunity. Many people fall off the exercise wagon at this time of year. It’s easy to do.

On the other hand, many people start or step up their ex-ercise programs in September. This is a perfect time, as your schedule transitions, to add something new.

So I’m going to suggest we do something new with some-thing old, the old fitness stand-bys, the major building blocks of fitness, Cardio, Strength and Flexibility. A proper balance of these three can improve your quality of life at any age and may help you live longer.

We all know cardio exercise burns calories and helps pre-vent or manage heart disease. But did you know that, accord-ing to the National Institutes of Health, daily moderate cardio exercise can reduce one’s risk of heart attack by 50%? In our sleek 21st century way we’ve kind of back-burnered cardio in favor of more ooh-la-la exercises like Pilates and Yoga. Bad

idea. Try dancing around to an old favorite

CD. Walk, run, swim, bike, spin, take a class. Find new ways to get that cardio. I know you’ll actually enjoy it, especially after about 20 minutes when the endorphins kick in. Your body will be eternally grateful, and if you’re prone to mood swings, those may improve, too.

Strength is in for women. It’s finally fash-ionable for women to be buff. You don’t have to look like you could arm-wrestle a lumberjack, but a firm sculpted physique is healthy, feminine and sexy. Strength training builds muscles and bones, burns calories and picks up

your metabolic rate to aid in weight control.

If you’re pressed for time now, try some compound strength exercises that address more than one muscle group at a time. For instance pushups against a wall or on the floor work your chest and arms together. Modified squats (go half way down to save stress on your knees) work the front

and back of your legs, buttocks, and if you go up on your toes when you come up, you’ll work your calves, too.

Last but not least, Flexibility promotes a supple, youthful body, increases range of motion around the joints making daily movements easier, and helps keep us mo-bile as we age.

Here’s where Yoga and Stretch classes come in. If you’re not stretching or only stretching after other exercises, try mix-ing in at least one stretch session a week. Stretching has the add-ed benefit of inducing a near meditative state. You end with a feeling of well-being and a renewed vitality.

So don’t let a good transition go to waste. Mix the Big Three into your schedule and get a jump on those holiday bulges.

Mirabai Holland M.F.A. is a leading authority in the Health & Fitness industry, and a public health activist specializing in preven-tive and rehabilitative exercise for women. Her Moving Free™ approach to exercise is designed to provide a movement experi-ence so pleasant it doesn’t feel like work. Send your questions to: [email protected]. or visit her website at www.moving-free.com.

Exercise in Transition


AROUND MONTGOMERY

This mystery village is under the jurisdiction of an agency that was the first of its kind in the U.S., and is part of a larger endeavor that when completed, will reveal the breadth of Alabama’s HISTORY as nothing

else has.Find the village, take your photo there, and send it to me by September

15 and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a Gift Certificate from Mr. G’s, and get your photo in the next issue of Prime. E-mail your photo and contact information to [email protected].

Oh. By the way. Our mystery site is indoors.

September Mystery

The old Webber’s department store downtown was the mystery location for August. Thanks to everyone who sent in photos. And to Nancy Ausley (above), congrats! You won!

August FOUND!


OUT & ABOUT1) Irene Collins, Dept. of Sr. Services Commissioner, speaks at the induction ceremony for the Ala. Sr. Hall of Fame. On stage (L-R) , 2011 Hall of Fame inductees Selena Daniel, Shirley Hudson, Roy Drinkard, Phillip Martin, Senator Jabo Waggoner, Richard Wright; Hall of Fame Chair Melvin Cooper, Religion Award Honoree Rev. A. Ray Foreman, guest speaker Lt. Gov. Kay Ivey. 2) Dr. Ed Bridges, Dir. of Archives and History, conducts a press tour of their newest exhibit.3) Tai Chi Instructors (L-R) Ruth DeRamus, Elaine Ward, Janet Hutto, Makiko McCoy, Susan Smith at a Tai Chi Open House.4) 1970 Lee High graduates (L-R) Nina Kynard, Sydney Carroll, Debbie Rouse, Theresa Sides, Patsy Smith, and Linda Pugh met at the home of PRIME Yarn ‘N

Garden columnist Ethyl Boykin.5) Paul Robertson, Sr. (L), pres-ents a camera to Ed Bridges, Dir. of Archives and History. Robertson used the camera to take the famous photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Montgomery city jail. The photograph, held by Bridges, received national exposure, in-cluding Life magazine. Robert-son also volunteers at Archives.

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Eastdale Estates5801 Eastdale Drive

Montgomery, AL 36117Contact: Frank or Lynn; Wade or Rose

334-260-8911

1. Care•free (adj.) - untroubled, relaxed2. In•de•pen•dent (adj.) - self-determining3. Com•for•ta•ble (adj.) - a state of physical ease

• Studio, 1 & 2 bedroom apts. w/kitchenettes• Prepared meals, restaurant-style dining• Guest dining and lodging• Pets welcome• Library/TV media room

For more information visit www.holidaytouch.com and click on Our Communities.

De•fin'•ing Re•tire'•mentDe•fin'•ing Re•tire'•ment

• Exercise equipment• Paid utilities and cable• Daily shuttle bus• Enjoy a complimentary lunch prepared by our award-winning chef, then take a guided tour of our community


SEPTEMBER CALENDAR• Local Theatre Reviews •

Michael Howley reviews local professional, university, and community theatres (theatremontgomery.blogspot.com. ) A professional stage director, Howley is a member of the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers and the American Theatre Critics Association. He retired from Alabama State University where he taught as both Chairman of the Dept. of Theatre Arts and as an English professor.

Theatre Sept. 8-11 & 15-18. Mtgy. Unseen. Theater AUM. 334-244-3632, [email protected]. $. Sept. 15-18. Troy. Smokey Joe’s Café. Troy U. Theatre Dept. 334-808-6142, www.troytheatre.org. Sept 22, 23, 25, & 27. Auburn. La Bete. AU Theatre Dept. 334-844-4154, www.cla.auburn.edu/theatre. $. Sept. 22-25 & 29-30. Millbrook Community Players. A BadYear for Tomatoes. 334-782-7317, www.millbrooktheatre.com. $.

Music Sept. 9, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Mtgy. Chestnut Street Opry. 2201 Chestnut Street. Play, listen, sing, dance. 334-313-0843, 334-531-0054, www.chestnutstreetopry.com. Sept. 10, 24, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mtgy. Jam Session, Old Alabama Town. 334-240-4500, www.oldalabamatown.com. Sept. 17, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mtgy. Hank Williams 88th Birthday Celebration. Hank Williams Museum. Live music, collector’s fair. 334-262-3600, www.thehankwilliamsmuseum.com.

History Sept. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mtgy. Labor Day, Old Alabama Town. 334-240-4500, www.oldalabamatown.com. $. Sept. 15, noon-1 p.m. Mtgy. “Tecumseh at Tuckabatchee: Fact and Fiction”, Kathryn Braund. Dept. of Archives/History. 334- 353-4726, www.archives.alabama.gov.

Arts & Crafts Sept. 4- 30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mtgy. Works by Bruce Phillips. Rosa Parks Museum. 334-241-8701, www.montgomery.troy.edu/rosa-parks/museum.

Fundraisers Sept. 25, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Wetumpka. Bark in the Park. Elmore Co. Humane Soc. Ft. Toulouse-Jackson St. Park. Pet contests, vendors, music. 334-567-3377, www.elmorehumane.com. $. Sept. 11, 2:30 p.m. Mtgy. Chorale, Youth Chorale, Orchestra. 38th season starts with Concert of Remembrance. Ala. Shake-speare Fest. 334-265-3737, [email protected]. $

Other Sept. 8, 4 p.m. Mtgy. Hearing Loss Support Group. Cloverdale United Methodist Church. Speaker, refreshments, fellowship, information on hearing loss. Sept. 8, 11 a.m. Eastdale Estates. Silver Haired Legislature planning session; general meeting 2 p.m. Discussion includes Elder Justice Alliance. Sept. 9, 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Mtgy. Ballet, “Ballet and the Beast.” Zoo. Picnic, concessions. 334-240-4900, www.montgomeryzoo.com. Sept. 11, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Union Station Train Shed. 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. City of Mtgy, HandsOn River Region. Volunteer service activities, disaster preparedness info/training, tribute to 9/11 victims. To volunteer, 334-264 -3335 or handsonriverregion.org.


GAMESCrossword CluesACROSS 1 Burn badly6 The lightning bolt on Harry Potter’s forehead, e.g.10 Squirrel away14 “__ World”: ticklish Muppet’s “Sesame Street” segment15 Woody Guthrie’s son16 Candy that comes in twos17 Winter Olympics event with gates20 Invoice fig.21 Place for inks or oinks22 Subtle vibes23 One stalking lions or tigers28 It.’s continent29 Raw rocks30 “Octopus’s Garden” singer Ringo33 Talk show guest’s blatant promotion35 Swelled head38 T-bone with a warm, red center42 Colorful card game43 Lends a hand to44 Lecture rooms45 Abel’s assassin47 Jazzy horn48 Lass awed by the big city, maybe54 Bright

55 Sis’s sib56 IM offerer58 He “runs through the town ... in his nightgown”63 Thomas __ Edison64 Tater __: Ore-Ida product65 Big tractor name66 Movie house suffix67 Allergy trigger, often68 Passover dinner

DOWN1 Nintendo competitor2 Start up the mountain3 Italian violin maker4 Chaney of horror5 “Spring ahead” hrs.6 Witch trials town7 Whooping bird8 Entirely9 Kanga’s kid10 Vain walks11 In the loop12 Anglican parish priest13 Flames that have cooled?18 Box for practice19 Horse’s hair24 Spice Girl Halliwell25 Ashram authority26 Store posting27 Craving30 Sch. in Big D31 Commandment count32 Hubbub33 Painting reproduction34 Schoolboy35 Slippery fish36 “For Me and My __”37 Gives the nod39 Postal sackful40 Layered haircut41 Crosstown bus alternative45 Auto finish protection46 Height: Pref.47 Chilly powder?48 What the nose knows49 “Circle of Friends” writer Binchy50 Newspaper bye lines?51 Seize (from)52 Gathered, as fallen leaves53 OrlŽans’s river54 Exchange57 Ogle59 India Inc.?60 Gehrig who played with Ruth61 Credit card users may be asked for them, briefly62 Society page word©2011 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Other (cont’d) Sept. 13, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Mtgy. Ala. Business Women’s Assn., Arbonne International Wellness Workshop. Jack Ingram Mercedes. www.abwariver-region.org. Sept. 13, 1:30 & 6:30 p.m. Mtgy. Bridge Club. Free lesson, games, refreshments. 334-244-5052, www.montgomerybridgeclub.org. Sept. 17, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Jackson Hosp. Classroom 1. AARP Driver Safety Program. Refresher course may qualify older drivers for auto insurance dis-count. 334-293-8805. $ Sept. 18, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Arrowhead CC. Retired Officers Wives Club Luncheon (all services). Make reservations by Sept. 23. Janet Lewis 334-567-9872, Linda Davis 334-224-9929. Sept. 30, 7-11 p.m. Court Sq. to the Alley. Zombie Walk/Prom benefiting Mtgy. Area Food Bank. Dress like a zombie, bring non-perishable food item to donate. Oct. 1, 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. 9th Annual AUM Adopt-a-Thon, Moore Hall. Animal shelters/rescue orga-nizations bring adorable pets needing new homes. 334-244-3350

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR

Crossword answers on page 23.


PRIME DIVERSIONS

My Dog Tulip • Paul • The TouristRecent dvd releases

Mark Glass

My Dog Tulip (NR) This animated treatment of J.R. Ackerley’s reminiscence about

the dog who shared much of his later years is a low-key, touching homage to a pet, with which most animal lovers will find com-mon emotional ground. In his lonely, declining years, Ackerley found himself with a dog - surprising to both of them - since the man hadn’t been particularly interested in them before.

The relationship began awkwardly, with some embar-rassing aspects, as we see and hear from Christopher Plummer’s wistful voice-over, imbuing the tale with nos-talgic warmth and the sort of droll humor we associ-

ate with refined Brits. The hand-drawn animation style makes this a visual treat, with an ethereal timelessness. Everything important about the bond and behaviors of man and dog, including the uncertainty that evolves over who is the master of whom, could have fit into any era of the last few centuries.

Paul (R)If you’ve joined the legions of fans belonging to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost after their cult hits Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, you’ll be delighted by their new antics, as two British nerds on a veritable pilgrimage to San Diego’s ComicCon, whose wildest dreams are surpassed when they meet an actual alien (voiced by Seth Rogen). With elaborate nods to popular culture and con-spiracy theories, our eponymous visitor crashed here in 1947,

and has been held by the government in a secret facility ever since. He escapes and runs into our lads while they’re touring all the sites of sci-fi and urban legend through-out the Southwest. When they decide to help Paul, the chase is on, complete with minions of men-in-black types in hot, top-secret pursuit.

From his years on Earth, Paul has become surprisingly hip about our customs and language, making him much sav-vier than his new human pals. The script (written by Pegg and Frost) mixes some sharp satiric elements with a bumper crop of lowbrow-to-grossout laughs we all expect from the lads’ previous collaborations. Kristin Wiig and Jason Bateman head a deep supporting cast. Rogen seems funnier as Paul’s voice than in most screen gigs in his own body. Paul may fall short of the wow! factor of Shaun, or the farcical brilliance of Hot Fuzz, but it’s easily the best comedy so far this year.

The Tourist (PG-13) A subset of romantic comedies might be called “love on the

run”. An attractive pair of stars is thrown together in a crime or spy caper, mixing varying degrees of humor, suspense and exotic settings for a backdrop. Examples of the perfect balance include classics like Charade, To Catch a Thief or How to Steal a Million. Others, like this year’s Knight and Day, hope that high-octane pace and action (plus the dazzling smiles of Tom Cruz and Cameron Diaz) will obscure all other deficiencies in the product.

This one starts with Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, a James Bondian villain and an almost-exciting multi-party chase among them and Interpol through the canals and rooftops of Venice, in search of an elusive thief and a mind-boggling amount of booty (financial, not anatomical).

But somewhere between the script and the director’s choices, the film suffers from indeci-sion. Most of the running time is too slow and dramatic for the leaps of logic one must make to stay engaged. That minimizes our feeling the essential chemistry between the leads, under-mining the payoff value of the later plot twists. Depp was either the wrong choice for this role, or excessively restrained from fleshing out a character that would seem worthy of a place in Jolie’s heart. For all the assets that were at hand, the result is far more disappointing than satisfying.

Mark Glass is an officer and director of the St. Louis Film Critics Association.

Montgomery Bridge Club

Two SessionsTuesday, Sept. 13

1:00 p.m.& 6:30 p.m.

Food, Fun, Friendly People!

Montgomery Bridge Club1711 Mulberry Street To register, call or e-mail:334-244-5052 or [email protected]

Montgomery Bridge Club• Four FREE Contract Bridge Lessons •


Call 334-263-1366 for tickets/info

$9 Chicken or Pork Plate$12 Lamb Plate

Plates include Camp Stew, Slaw, Bread

Drive-Thru, Eat In, Take Out

Monday, September 5th 9 a.m. until Sold Out

__________________________________

63rd Annual

Labor Day BBQ &

Greek Pastry Sale

_______________________

Greek Orthodox ChurchCorner of Mt. Meigs & Capitol Parkway

_________________

____________

________

Only 13%of general practitioners

screen forhearing loss.

Those with severehearing loss have

unemployment ratesdouble that of their peers

who use hearing aids.

When someone in the family has a hearing loss, the entire family has a hearing problem. LET US HELP! A medicalevaluation of your hearing can best discover the cause of yourhearing loss and allow us to select the proper treatment. Whether medicine, surgery or a hearing instrument is right for you,at all EARS we providecomprehensive, physician-directed hearing services.

Call us today • (334) 281-8400“The doctor to see is an ENT.”

R.G. Love, M.D.2006 AAO-HNS BOG

Practitioner of Excellence

Michael PassineauDirector of

Hearing Instruments

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For mild hearing loss, hearing aids can reverse income loss by 90 to 100%.

Find us on the web atwww.allearscenters.com.

Ears ringing?Use your

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