POEM! TAKE ACTION!

Take Action!

I’m not much of a fighter

I’m an artist, a lover, a writer.

But someone today asked me about my passion

What makes my blood boil, what makes me take action!

Like many, I will support the underdog,

I will try to see it their way, while really looking through a fog.

I have my own political and religious points of view

Yet I feel it’s not my place to tell you what to believe or do.

But I can’t sit still and quiet about any form of abuse

From a man, woman, child, church or government, there’s no excuse!

I will take a stand!  I will fight!

I will use all my talents to make things right!

I won’t quietly tolerate the insult they give me, my family, my gender, my race!

I won’t hold my tongue or pen back from pointing out the abuser in his face!

I will fight, because I’ve laid bound in chains and blindness,

I will fight, because I remember how it felt where there’s no hope or kindness!

My breath may grow shallow, and my voice may tremble

Not from fear anymore, but from an inferno has been kindled!

I will shout, when the abused has no words

I will scream, so no one can mistake what is heard!

I may not be much of a fighter…

But I will hold your hand longer and tighter.

I will lift you up and help you find your passion

So together, we can make a difference and take an affirmative action!

Keeping Our Parents at Home Adult Care Facilities

More families are caring for their elderly parents at home much longer than years ago.  This is due to their parent’s wishes to stay home and with the exceptionally high cost of nursing homes.  Many of our elderly in need of care, may miss working and socializing on their own, as they did not too many years before.  So where is a safe, yet stimulating place our loved ones can go, besides nursing homes, which offer them medical supervision plus the fun of a senior center?  Adult care facilities also known as adult day care centers! 

Kim Chalfant, RN, Active Day Medical Adult Center Director

Kim Chalfant, RN Active Day Medical Adult Day Care Center Director, said, “You have to find a facility that works for your personal needs.  You have to choose what level of care and level of acuity you need and want and what will keep your loved one safe.” 

A great place to start to find the best suited adult center for your loved one is a quick call to the Council on Aging Cincinnati: 513-721-1025, or Northern Kentucky Area Agency on Aging: (859) 283-1885.  They can assist you in finding what works best for your family, and what your state and your loved one’s insurance will cover.

Mrs. Chalfant said of her experience, “I went from nursing school at Good Sam to St. Luke’s home care.  Once I was introduced to Active Day 13 years ago, I just knew this is what I wanted to do!”  She continued, “We are a big center, we are noisy and that may overstimulate some.  So it is important to find one that is a good fit for your loved one.  We need to educate the public on adult day centers.”  Not all centers are the same.

Mrs. Chalfant explained, “It’s a long list of things we can do here.  We don’t just play bingo,” she said with an excited twinkle in her eyes.  “The families want to know that their loved ones’ physical needs are taken care of, but the people who come are most interested in the activities.  We meet nursing home level of care.  We have nurses here from 7:30 to 5.  Meals are provided that follow the client’s personal nutrition guidelines. We make sure everyone can gets their medicines on time.  Their blood sugar is monitor if need be. The nurses watch for acute changes in behavior, especially those with dementia. Sometimes it’s no more than an infection like a bladder infection or even a fever blister.  We can call their doctor and say can we send you over a urine sample and if that is the problem, the person can be started on medication right away.  We can provide transportation.  We have a hair dresser that comes in; that always makes the ladies feel good. And a podiatrist that comes in and takes care of their feet.  He bills their insurance if possible.  We also have nursing aids that help with personal care. Like remind the client they have to use the restroom and then help them there if need be, as well help them with their Depends. Then making sure their skin is clean.  Some of our folks get showers her too and the aids help with that.  We offer showers because sometimes they can’t get into the shower at home or it may be too big of a fight with the family.  For example, it may be the son taking care of his mother and she doesn’t want him to see her nude. We also have a washer and dryer here for people who soil themselves or spill something on themselves.  This helps keep them dry, which helps keep them in better health. Our aids held feed some people, and sometimes they just sit with the clients to help remind them to eat. Nutrition is really important.  My biggest goal is that people learn about the senior day cares and find one that suits their loved ones.” 

Mrs. Sharon Pearson, Program Manager / Activities Director

Sharon Pearson, Program Manager/Activities Director has been with Active Day Medical Center 5 years and absolutely loves her job.  As she laughed, “My goal is to be here until I retire!  I knew I found my passion when I came here. I love what I do!  I get on Pinterest a lot.  I go home and my chill-out time is on spent on Pinterest looking for ideas that my members can do here.”

Mrs. Pearson said about her duties, “They have to be challenging.  The members love to do crafts 5 days a week.  I try to make the crafts challenging but not so hard they become frustrated.  I want them to be proud of what they have accomplished.”  I asked what the favorite activities are and she said smilingly, “Their favorite activity is bingo, traditional and jingo bingo.  My goal is to have every jingo out there!”  She laughed.  “The men especially love corn hole. We do exercises 2 or 3 times a day. All activities are to help the members physically and mentally.”  Mrs. Pearson continued, “We have entertainers twice a month.  Music is just another medicine for them.  Socialization is very important and becoming friends.   I want to make everyday a happy day and that they feel they are a part of something so that they want to come back the next day!  To see the member smile makes my day! I am focused and thinking about this 24/7.  I am passionate about it! I love it!”

Mrs. Chalfant agreed, smiling through the whole interview, “I can’t imagine doing anything else.  As a nurse, I know I make a difference.”

Finding a great adult care facility with superb amenities is wonderful, but finding one where the staff is happy and enthusiastic, is the best place for my loved one!

BEV BOWERS:  POST RETIREMENT - DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, WRITER AND MORE!

Bev Bowers’ early life help prepare her for a great life after retirement!  Several years after graduating from Amelia High School, Ms. Bowers found a home at Grailville in Loveland, Ohio.  Ms. Bowers spoke fondly of her years at Grailville; “They taught us women and only women, how to live independently.  We worked on the farm. The women of Grail built their own spiritual center and held services there.  The five years I spent there were some of the most important years of my life, because of all the wonderful women I met there.  I would meet ambassadors from around the world, and incredible artist journeyed there to be rejuvenated!”

After Grailville, Ms. Bowers started college at Mt. St. Joseph, then worked 10 years for Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company as an underwriter then Operation Manager for Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. “I hurt my back at work, and while I was off I started my own business in vending machines called Gooch-Henke Corporation which I ran for 25 years and retired in 2005.”

Then she started to live her dream… “I always loved movies and film, so I started taking classes in filmmaking.  To graduate you had to do a short program.  So, I decided I would do a TV music program.  The first musician I called on was Tracy Walker! At that time, women’s bands didn’t get the publicity as did the men. You could read about bands in City-Beat.  All those articles written, and nothing about women, nothing!”  She paused, “So, I started a non-profit group that supported women in the arts.  Helping them find new venues, helping them branch out starting with my little TV show on PBS.  Women’s Way of Ohio and Kentucky was born then.”   Soon after, she produced three movies, the most popular being, ‘Hot Flash Saffire the Uppity Blues Women’.   “The first year Women’s Way did 38 concerts at the Monmouth Theatre in Newport, Kentucky, which is now the Falcon Theater.”

Woman’s Way of Ohio and Kentucky has come a long way in a short time and led by Ms. Bowers vision and determination that female artists need to be heard and seen!  She is a natural promoter to new and old artists as they emerge or pass through Cincinnati.

What’s up and coming for Ms. Bowers’ this year?  “We are celebrating 10 years in Cincinnati for Women’s Way!  We are attentively planning another Christmas show at the Aronoff Center on December 4.  We will be bringing back the theatrical performance ‘The Breeze’ this fall.  The last Friday of June through September, we will be sponsoring several musical groups and festivities at the Centennial Barn “Raising the Roof Summer Music Series".  And for the first time, the Blues Society is honoring us by flying our logo from the stage! Friday, August 7 is our night on the Showcase Stage with musical guests the Kelly Richey Band and the Chicago Women in the Blues Revue!”  Not a bad year planned for a retired woman!

KELLY RICHEY

Photos taken by SONYA ZIEGLER

Kelley Richey: More Than a Rock Star Baby!

More Than Just Rock-Star, Baby!

Kelly Richey is more than just a “Blues based rock guitarist,” as she describes herself.  Her complexity and faceted lifestyle with years of refining through thousands of hours of practice and hard work, has produced a diamond of a rock star!

Legendary Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan have inspired Richey as a young guitarist in the mid-70s.  “Tom Jones was the wildest thing in my parents record collection!” she chuckled, “But I loved rock-n-roll from the moment I heard it.  Then I discovered Jimi Hendrix, and I wanted to play like him!”  Now, many years later, master guitarist, Richey, sounds like her idols of years past.  In fact, if you close your eyes, and just compare the sweet guitar riffs of the Hendrix, Vaughan and Richey, you would be hard pressed to tell a difference.

Then, there’s her voice…reminiscent of Janis Joplin! Strong, edgy yet passionate with a coarseness that instantly captivates her audience, as if her guitar skills weren’t enough.

Lexington born, and a Cincinnati based, Richey’s love of the blues started when the church her and her family attended burned to the ground.  Their church integrated with the African-American church.  “Our churches would hold revivals together.  So I saw at an early age the differences in the gospel music.  I attribute my love of Blues-Rock to my early childhood.”  Richey explained about her dedication of those formative years, “I practiced 12 to 16 hours a day when I first started out.  You didn’t see me without a guitar in my hand. Period! Then later, I still practiced 6 to 10 hours a day.  You have to put the time in to master something.”  Richey has taught guitar lessons for most of her career.  Today she has many video classes as well as skype classes with students around the world.  She said of talent, “I find talent is a very small portion of anything.  Passion and hard work is what it takes to be successful.”

In the mid-80s, she played with Stealin’ Horses.  By 1990, she started the Kelly Richey Band.  “I knew I had to pick a music that I could play forever.  Blues was on the rise with Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton, making bluesy rock more popular.  So I decided to play the blues – but I always played it with a rock edge.”

Richey this year has cut the concerts on the road with the band down to 20 really great shows.  “Normally, I do upwards of a hundred.  But I’m starting to play a lot of solo shows. This is not to replace the band, but to have the mobility to travel by myself, so that I can play any gig that comes up anywhere.”  Richey has an album to be released later this year.  “I want to play music that I am passionate about!  I don’t want to be all things to all people.  I want to be who I am.”

But that’s not all for this rock star… she also is a certified life-coach, and training to become a facilitator for writing workshops.  “All the pieces of my life are starting to fit together nicely.  I enjoy teaching and building connections!”

“When inspiration strikes, honor it!  Stop what you are doing and capture it!  Because if you don’t, you’ll lose it!”  For more information about Kelly Richey and/or learn how to play guitar from a master, check out her website:  kellyrichey.com.

This is my dog...
Roxy.  She is a miniature Sheltie!  Best dog I have ever had,
and the most expensive!