Beginning Anew in the New Year
I’m Dick Martin, the new President for AARP Chapter 5239 as we start the new year for Chapter activities. Replacing Carla Wascalus, who has served with distinction as Chapter President for the past two years will be difficult. Carla has been an outstanding leader—among the best we have had in our Chapter’s list of excellent past presidents. Carla’s boundless energy and enthusiasm, dedication, and exemplary organization, and attention to details brought our Chapter a “Best in Virginia” AARP award during her reign.
I know it will be tough for me to follow in Carla’s shoes and bra. (Par-rum-bum.)
Let me start January 2010 by listing several of my goals and objectives for Chapter 5239 during the coming months:
First, AARP means “volunteering.” Our AARP motto is “To Serve, not to be Served.” Our aim is to have every Chapter member active and participating on at least one Committee or in some event. We have a long, long list of Chapter Committees and events. We want to take advantage of each member’s particular talents and abilities, and life-experience, by having each person serve in some group of mutual-interest. More about this next month.
Second, AARP Chapter 5239 will continue to be “Non-Political.” National AARP can often be extreme in their drive for purely political objectives. Some of these national objectives can divide and alienate our member-ship. We will continue to concentrate on bringing help and assistance to our friends and neighbors on a local and regional basis.
Third, let’s have more laughs as a group! In these stressful days of recession/depression, high unemployment, far-away wars, and sudden $1,200 LOWA special assessments, we all need some humor to help carry us through our day. Be ready to tell a good joke at our monthly meetings. Nothing starts a day better than a good belly laugh or two.
For example, what hair color do they put on the drivers licenses of bald men?
If four out of five people suffer from diarrhea, does that mean that one out of five enjoys it? (Par-rum-bum.)
The very best of 2010 to each and every one of us…
Dick Martin, President
January Meeting to Focus on Wilderness Battlefield
by Carolyn Wray, Publicity
Pastor Jim Smith, a member of the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, will be the guest speaker at the January 18, AARP meeting. Pastor Smith is the Associate Pastor of the Lake of the Woods Church. He has always had an interest in the history of the Civil War and appreciates being in this area where he is surrounded by the Wilderness Battlefields.
This first AARP meeting of the New Year, will be held at the LOW Clubhouse. The meeting will begin with sweets and coffee at 9:30 AM. The program will begin at 10 AM. It should be very interesting for our residents to discover how sections of LOW were impacted by the Civil War. Everyone is invited to come and join this very friendly and lively group.
AARP Chapter 5239 Funds Distributed in 2009
Through your volunteer efforts at our fund raising events this past year, we were able to give $5874 to 13 different organizations. The activities which produced most of the funding for these donations were the Chicken BBQ and the monthly auctions.
LOW Fire & Rescue $1100
Project Lifesaver - TRIAD 400
AARP Foundation 100
Culpeper Safe House 250
Sheltering Arms in Orange 1000
Orange Senior Nutrition Center 500
Lions Wilderness Food Bank 1100
Orange County 4H 205
Orange County Animal Shelter 500
Lake Youth Foundation 150
OC Citizens’ Police Academy 250
$5555
SUNSHINE REPORT
Get Well cards were sent to: Tina Aris, Doris Velona, Janet Bloom, Gerta Binotto, Ray Dickerson, Jackie Hill, Dick Durphy, and Boyce Wray.
A sympathy card was sent to the family of Anna Hoehn.
If you know of a member who needs cheering up, contact Carolyn Durphy at 972-3306.
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
( Capricorn and Aquarius)
Joan Albertella, Billy J. Bearden, Richard Bergmann, Ed Brown, Chris Burr, Katherine Causby, William Charest, Alberta Diamonstein, Joan Duy, Rosalind Gantz, Gay Grant, Carol Hein, Marie Johnson, Marguerite Jones, Karen Kovarik, Angelo Laviano, Leonard Maselli, Judith McCann, Jim Moore, Toby Musatow, Olga Patnode, Dick Phillipo, Sandra Plummer, Raymond Poole, Frances Settlemire, Elaine Spencer, Joseph Spero, Richard Stephens, Bill Walker, Bill Wemmerus, Lucille Yery, and Carol Zacheis.
Get Well cards were sent to: Tina Aris, Doris Velona, Janet Bloom, Gerta Binotto, Ray Dickerson, Jackie Hill, Dick Durphy, and Boyce Wray.
A sympathy card was sent to the family of Anna Hoehn.
If you know of a member who needs cheering up, contact Carolyn Durphy at 972-3306.
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
( Capricorn and Aquarius)
Joan Albertella, Billy J. Bearden, Richard Bergmann, Ed Brown, Chris Burr, Katherine Causby, William Charest, Alberta Diamonstein, Joan Duy, Rosalind Gantz, Gay Grant, Carol Hein, Marie Johnson, Marguerite Jones, Karen Kovarik, Angelo Laviano, Leonard Maselli, Judith McCann, Jim Moore, Toby Musatow, Olga Patnode, Dick Phillipo, Sandra Plummer, Raymond Poole, Frances Settlemire, Elaine Spencer, Joseph Spero, Richard Stephens, Bill Walker, Bill Wemmerus, Lucille Yery, and Carol Zacheis.
Membership Renewal Now Due Please note that if you joined for the first time from September to December of 2009, your 2010 dues are paid. Also, several people paid twice last year, so they do not owe 2010 dues. Check with Linda Wight/Dick Durphy. You may pay your $7 dues at the January meeting or mail a check made payable to “AARP Chapter 5239” to AARP 5239, P.O. Box 945, Locust Grove, VA 22508
Monthly Silent Auction
We always need new and gently used items for the auctions, which will resume in January. We need to have all items by January 15 to ready them for the meeting on January 21. Thanks for your help.
Call Roxanne at 972-8364, Patti at 972-1370, or Carla at 972-3436 for pickup. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.
Pictures Needed
by Nola Davidson, Scrapbook Editor
To keep the Chapter Scrapbook up-to-date, pictures taken on the various AARP trips are needed. If you don't want to share, I will make copies. Just identify the event and the people featured. See me at the meeting, call 972-8403 or email ndavid51691@verizon.net
Free Income Tax Filing Assistance
Free Tax Preparation and E-filing through the AARP Tax-Aide Program will be available at two Orange County locations beginning in February through April 15, 2010.
· Lake of the Woods Holcomb Building starting February 5 through April 10, 2010. Appointments for either Friday from 10 AM to 2 PM, or Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM may be made after January 25 by calling 972-0350.
· Orange Extension Office, 146 Madison Road, Suite 102, Orange (Across from McDonald's), starting February 3 through April 15, 2010. Appointments for either Wednesday from 10 AM to 2 PM or Thursdays 1 to 5 PM may be made by calling 540-672-1361 beginning in January.
Requirements include: Social Security card(s) or appropriate alternative(s), an official ID with picture, ALL W-2s and 1099 Forms, any other 2009 tax-related material and a copy of your 2009 tax return.
Monthly Silent Auction
We always need new and gently used items for the auctions, which will resume in January. We need to have all items by January 15 to ready them for the meeting on January 21. Thanks for your help.
Call Roxanne at 972-8364, Patti at 972-1370, or Carla at 972-3436 for pickup. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.
Pictures Needed
by Nola Davidson, Scrapbook Editor
To keep the Chapter Scrapbook up-to-date, pictures taken on the various AARP trips are needed. If you don't want to share, I will make copies. Just identify the event and the people featured. See me at the meeting, call 972-8403 or email ndavid51691@verizon.net
Free Income Tax Filing Assistance
Free Tax Preparation and E-filing through the AARP Tax-Aide Program will be available at two Orange County locations beginning in February through April 15, 2010.
· Lake of the Woods Holcomb Building starting February 5 through April 10, 2010. Appointments for either Friday from 10 AM to 2 PM, or Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM may be made after January 25 by calling 972-0350.
· Orange Extension Office, 146 Madison Road, Suite 102, Orange (Across from McDonald's), starting February 3 through April 15, 2010. Appointments for either Wednesday from 10 AM to 2 PM or Thursdays 1 to 5 PM may be made by calling 540-672-1361 beginning in January.
Requirements include: Social Security card(s) or appropriate alternative(s), an official ID with picture, ALL W-2s and 1099 Forms, any other 2009 tax-related material and a copy of your 2009 tax return.
Legislative Report
by Pat Berry
While Congress wrestles with the issue of Health Care Reform, many of us are still faced with health decisions about our personal situations. Before getting medical care—whether it's having a knee or hip replaced or another nonemergency treatment—it's helpful to know how a particular hospital, even a physician, performs compared to other providers. Checking out a provider's quality performance becomes increasingly important as individuals take on more health care decision-making in the era of consumer-driven health care.
Several web-based tools are now available to make each of us evaluate hospitals in our area and their quality of treatment. One such national site, Hospital Compare at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, is maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Not only does it provide information on specific medical conditions such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, it reports on efforts to prevent surgical infections. (I tried comparing hospitals within 50 miles of Lake of the Woods and picked Mary Washington Hospital, Potomac and Martha Jefferson as a test.)
Another source to check out is the Leapfrog Group at www.LeapfrogGroup.org, a site that rates hospitals on how they are doing on several key measures of improving patient safety. Consumers can search for hospital rankings with the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results, where you can search for hospital information by your ZIP code.
In Virginia the Virginia Department of Health Professions at www.dhp.state.va.us offers links for consumers to look up physician licenses, physician profiles and other specific information. The Virginia Board of Medicine offers Virginia Health Provider Search at www.vahealthprovider.com, a database of state- and self-reported information on providers, from specialty area and board certification status to legal and disciplinary actions taken against specific providers. You can search for professionals by name, location and languages spoken. Virginia Health Information (VHI) at www.vhi.org offers several performance reports on Virginia providers, including Cardiac Care Reports.
Perhaps these websites will be useful as you begin to manage your own health care questions in the New Year.
by Pat Berry
While Congress wrestles with the issue of Health Care Reform, many of us are still faced with health decisions about our personal situations. Before getting medical care—whether it's having a knee or hip replaced or another nonemergency treatment—it's helpful to know how a particular hospital, even a physician, performs compared to other providers. Checking out a provider's quality performance becomes increasingly important as individuals take on more health care decision-making in the era of consumer-driven health care.
Several web-based tools are now available to make each of us evaluate hospitals in our area and their quality of treatment. One such national site, Hospital Compare at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, is maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Not only does it provide information on specific medical conditions such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, it reports on efforts to prevent surgical infections. (I tried comparing hospitals within 50 miles of Lake of the Woods and picked Mary Washington Hospital, Potomac and Martha Jefferson as a test.)
Another source to check out is the Leapfrog Group at www.LeapfrogGroup.org, a site that rates hospitals on how they are doing on several key measures of improving patient safety. Consumers can search for hospital rankings with the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results, where you can search for hospital information by your ZIP code.
In Virginia the Virginia Department of Health Professions at www.dhp.state.va.us offers links for consumers to look up physician licenses, physician profiles and other specific information. The Virginia Board of Medicine offers Virginia Health Provider Search at www.vahealthprovider.com, a database of state- and self-reported information on providers, from specialty area and board certification status to legal and disciplinary actions taken against specific providers. You can search for professionals by name, location and languages spoken. Virginia Health Information (VHI) at www.vhi.org offers several performance reports on Virginia providers, including Cardiac Care Reports.
Perhaps these websites will be useful as you begin to manage your own health care questions in the New Year.
