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THOUGHTFUL NEW YEAR
 | | And a worthy starter it is! |
Dan Garfin got first crack at a 2011 Thought, and responded poetically (with a little help from Edgar Guest):
A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye.
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
GUESTS:
Rotarians: Debbie Roessler - Moraga & Asst. Governor
Walt Stephenson - Moraga
Walt from Heather Farms, Walnut Creek
Rotarian in Spirit: Walt Nelson
 | | Keep on a-comin' Spike |
Others: Spike Speiker, Alex's friend
Linda Fodrini-Johnson, Speaker
Lori Luckenbach, her compadre
LOTS OF HAPPY FOLKS
Quite a list today.
Krysten Laine, double trouble: Rene's birthday 12/24, and becoming an aunt for the first time.
Ron Brown: the world just isn't fair to anyone with a birthday 3 days before Christmas.
Buddy Burke: Unlike Ron, Holly was smart enough to build a firewall between birthday (same day as Ron) and Christmas. Buddy/Holly celebrated by ice skating. No indication whether Buddy made an extra contribution for his outrageous exhibitionism on the cover of the UC Extension magazine.
 | | So...Just how old is that Don? |
Don Reichert: Birthday yesterday. Reconfirming he's the oldest member anywhere. Another $100 to Paul Harris, Esq.
But that's mere chicken feed. Don took the Schwab invitation, "talk to Chuck," literally. He managed to finagle a grant from Schwab for the Paul Harris Foundation for $1,000 to the account of E. Donald Reichert and $1,000 to the account of Gwen H. Reichert. Awesome.
George Chaffey: Celebrating Malte's 2nd baby and Ro's 1st (two of our favorite ex-exchange students, Malte from Denmark and Ro from Brazil).
Dan Garfin: Erin's birthday, with parents.
Chuck Yeager, 17th anniversary, will hit Postino Saturday night to take a conference call.
SOME EVENTS GOING TO HAPPEN, SOME DID, AND SOME DON'T
 | | How can Alex be so happy at 7 a.m.? |
Alex Arnold, our designated director representing us for the 42nd annual InterClub luncheon of the 5 local clubs (responsibility this year of a certain Lamorinda Sunrise Club), announced that it's on Wednesday, February 2nd, at Rossmoor, 20 bucks a copy. He needs help from folks who are willing to go to a couple of organizational meetings. Speaker will be Fritz Tabach, about the lives of the German people during WW II.
Competing for eager volunteers is Jim Brencic, publicity poobah for Motorama. Jim doesn't use euphamisms; his troops won't be garbage collectors called sanitary engineers. He just calls them foot soldiers. There'll be a brainstorming session after next week's meeting.
(Not to be confused with today's Canoe Committee gathering after today's meeting, called by Pat Flaharty.)
 | | Krysten does more than just be Motorama honcho |
And speaking of Motorama and being after bodies, Krysten Laine wants some of our articulate folks to talk about what Rotary does and how it helps the community at the Urban Suburban Green Cow Party this coming Wednesday night at 6:00.
Hays Englehart's intrepid HOME Team was on the prowl again. He said to meet Saturday at 8:00 at Gary Fulcher's shop. Doesn't do a lot of good to report it here, because it's already happened by the time you get this.
 | | Serious Chicken Pot George goes out on top! (That's pot, spelled backwards!) |
But according to Mark Roberts, the Reno Train Trip, sadly, probably will never happen again. Too many available seats and not enough derrieres certainly for this year, and this may have been the last chance. George Chaffey presumably retires as the permanent Chicken In The Pot champion of the world.
CHRISTMAS HERE AND IN BOLIVIA
 | | So...this is what snow is all about! |
Deftly mixing her pictures between north and south of the Equator, Arianne showed partying on the Redding bridge and at Turtle Bay Museum, and Christmas pictures and ornaments back home. The Ware family, and her own family, especially her mother gazing at her picture. Frolicking in the snow at Sugar Bowl with Rick Ashburn and Dana. New Year's countdown with friends. They do the same in Bolivia.
KEVIN ACTUALLY GOT HERE EARLY; HE DOESN'T NEED ELDER CARE YET
A bright-eyed Kevin Croak introduced Linda Fodrini-Johnson,
 | | Linda, warming up the audience |
executive director of Eldercare Services near Rossmoor, with a long string of credentials and experience. Also here was Lori Luckenbach, community outreach representative for the same organization, and friend of the Waals.
Aging of course is a topic of great interest. We're talking about a country where 52 million care for an ill or disabled adult, 34 million care for someone over 50, and 9 million care for someone with a dementia. 78% of all care is provided by families.
60% of these caregivers are still in the workforce. Thus the impact goes far beyond the families themselves. The impact of family caregiving on employers is staggering. According to a MetLife study, total cost to employers is between $17.1 and $33.6 billion. You can estimate your company's cost of elder care in the workplace by going to www.eldercarecalculator.org/Costs.asp.
There are of course many major concerns families have about their elders. So many, in fact, that outside support can be vital. Professional geriatric care managers are a great way to start. Classes, support groups and workshops can also generate helpful ideas. There's lots of stuff on the internet, but it's best to look first to governmental and AARP sites, as some private organizations can be suspect.
Specifically, among the helpful sites are www.caremanager.org (geriatric care managers), www.caregiver.org (Family Caregiver Alliance), VA resource centers, www.benefitcheckup.org (US Govt Benefits Checkup which has some surprising freebies), and Senior Information which will give local assistance at 800: 510-2020 and Eldercare Services at www.eldercareanswers.com.
At the basic level, Linda gave some tips for conversations with elders who need persuasion for their own good. Use "I" messages, and avoid "you should" do this or that. Try to integrate support for their values. Strive for balance between allowing them to be part of decisions and overwhelming them with too many choices. It's possible to ease your way to an objective, such as asking an elder to see an assisted living location to consider if a crisis should happen. With all this, however, the going can be difficult. Eldercare Services has a monthly class to not only deal with Alzheimer's, but to better understand it.
Rich Shearer, from his hard experience as a probate litigator, suggested that elders who are alone be visited at odd, unannounced times, as well as neighbors being alerted.
Brad Davis, with a 97-year-old mother-in-law (that's a lot of hyphens), testified to the huge burden on Carol, and observed that organizations should not get into the elder's checkbook. Linda agreed that families usually can do the bookkeeping. But care should start slowly to build relationships, and be planned carefully. Carol may want to get ideas at a support group.
Linda has personal knowledge of one of the great organizations available to elders - our HOME Team. She has their brochure at her office.
CALENDAR
Tuesday, 1/11 - Board Meeting 7:00 a.m.
Friday, 1/14 - Postino's 7:00 a.m.
Friday, 1/21 - Speaker from Contra Costa Sanitary District
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