Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
Dr. Jen is a firm believer that things happen for a reason and that often you end up at the right place at exactly the right time. Such is the case with T’Challa.
Dr. Jen and her fiancé were heading home from Detroit on Aug. 11, 2019, when she checked her emails on her phone. Garden City resident, Jessy Kellerman, had contacted the good doc for possible help with an FIV+ stray that she had found in her neighborhood and had been caring for since she picked him up on the 5th. Ill with an upper respiratory infection and fully intact—his mere presence was causing a small ruckus in her home—this four-year-old fella (born in the summer of 2015) was in need of placement, with the ultimate goal of adoption into a home better suited to him.
As luck would have it, the lovebirds were only about 20 minutes away from the cat in needs’ location, so they grabbed lunch and headed on over to meet and pick up their furry passenger for the two-hour ride home.
Although the strikingly handsome, petite black panther had been quite vocal at Jessy’s place, he didn’t make a single peep on the way home (ok, once—when Dr. Jen was singing along to a song that he obviously didn’t care for), sitting contentedly in his carrier on her lap. Dr. Jen set him up in her home office for the night and let him settle in a bit, although he would have much preferred to make his rounds about her house, but with two Bassets and 10 cats in residence, it wasn’t advisable.
Although grumbly when seeing the other cats through the door to Dr. Jen’s enclosed ‘catio’, T’Challa seemed more interested in exploring than anything. But since feline immunodeficiency virus is transmitted through bite wounds, and given the fact his whole world had been turned upside-down yet again, Dr. Jen confined him—and heard ALL about it the entire evening. Jessy was right when she said he had a lot to say!
The boy enjoys the ‘catio’
As expected, T’Challa had a hard time adjusting to the shelter and is just starting to settle in at the writing of his bio a month after his arrival. He seems to get along great with some of the cats, even snuggling up next to them sometimes. However, some of our more ‘manly’ cats pick on him and he just can’t understand why—but we have an idea: it’s that constant chattering, meowing and talking to everyone and everything (while in perpetual motion) that ruffles their feathers.
We want more than anything for this sweet boy to quickly find a nice, quiet home. The other cats really do overwhelm him. He’s never been aggressive but the others obviously see his “noises” as a threat. He prefers to be curled up out of the spotlight, enjoys his wet food, and loves all of us doting over him. He has quickly become a volunteer favorite and loves nothing more than to just sit on a lap. He absolutely needs a less active home with no dogs, no small kids, but possibly an older, quiet cat.
T’Challa will make someone a wonderful companion, and we have no doubt he will quiet right down once he feels at ease.
More about T’Challa:
Domestic Short Hair
Black
Adult
Male
Large
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Neutered
Prefers a home without dogs or children
Want to adopt T’Challa? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
Cutting or self-injury behaviors might seem ‘fringe,’ but it isn’t. Here’s what you should do if you find your teen is cutting. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Have you ever met someone who cuts himself or herself as a way to cope?
Whether you knew it or not, you likely have.
Cutting is one of a series self-injury behaviors that young people may use to gain a sense of relief from emotional pain, a sense of control over problems in their lives, or feel a break from pressures in their lives.
While cutting is the most common form of self harm, other self-injury behaviors include burning, picking or reopening wounds, punching/hitting oneself, inserting objects into the skin or purposely bruising or breaking one’s bones.
First of all, Dr. Lowery wanted to make a few things clear.
“Cutting or self-injury behaviors might seem ‘fringe’ to many parents,” she said. “It isn’t. Cutting can happen in any race, socioeconomic class, family. Many also often believe it is a suicidal behavior. While cutting can be accompanied by depression or psychological disorders, for most, cutting is a coping mechanism.”
Cutting discovered. Now what?
For anyone to see evidence of cutting in a teen, it’s always by accident. Cutters go to great lengths to hide scars and open cuts.
Discovery triggers panic in the discoverer because it is alarming, obviously, to see scars or blood. Dr. Lowery cautioned that if you see signs of cutting in your teen, the worst thing you can do is freak out, become angry or emotional.
“Remember that you don’t have to (and can’t) solve anything in the moment,” she said. “Stay calm and caring. Hide shock.”
If the teen is willing to talk about it, simply listen without telling them they must stop. Make an appointment to meet with a professional who specializes in adolescent medicine. As doctors who have dealt with this kind of issue regularly, it is the best starting point.
“I am non-threatening to your child,” Dr. Lowery said. “I can talk to him or her from a safe perspective.”
Dr. Lowery added that she works to build trust and maintains confidentiality with her patients. She is often able to learn how the patient started cutting, how long it’s been going on.
“Some know, some don’t,” she admitted.
Dr. Lowery also tries to learn how the patient feels that cutting is beneficial, for example, does the teen cut to calm down? Do they need to relieve pain? Do they need to feel pain? Do they cut alone, or with a friend or group? The answers to these questions offer clues as to how the teen can best be helped.
Getting help helps. Seek help.
“We have open conversations about it,” Dr. Lowery noted. “Once I’ve confirmed that the teen isn’t suicidal, we start talking about other coping mechanisms.”
For example, some of her patients use deep breathing, bracelets, rubber bands or necklaces as part of mindful meditation when they have the urge to cut.
Cutting can be a symptom of a condition called Borderline Personality Disorder. For patients who may have this disorder, Dr. Lowery first works with psychology professionals to diagnose the condition. Patients often exhibit a long pattern of unstable romantic, family and social relationships.
Getting dialectical behavior therapy can help. A targeted form of cognitive behavior therapy, it helps patients learn to monitor and respond to mood swings and emotional triggers more positively, with safe coping behaviors.
In some instances, anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications may be recommended.
“By carefully educating, monitoring and selecting a medication, starting on low doses, and developing a clear plan with the patient, the medications can help patients gain control over their emotions,” Dr. Lowery explained. “I give realistic expectations. It takes a while to feel the improvement. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Start low, go slow and watch as we go. This is a scary time for families. It’s important to know that we will work together. Depending on how severe it is, we will act accordingly.”
For young people who feel the need to experiment with self injury, Dr. Lowery advised that they tell a trusted adult.
“I know it’s not what you want to do,” she said. “But you can feel better. You can stop scarring your body. Or tell a friend and ask them to help you get help.”
For those who might be the friend, know that you are doing your friend a favor by telling an adult. Cutting isn’t something to be embarrassed about. It is a sign that a person is having trouble working through some problems.
Help is available and can turn things around for the better. Everyone deserves to feel better. Everyone deserves help.
The new school year is finally here. Parents helping their younger children transition into the regular routine of daily school attendance will find a new focus on reading as their schools and their teachers prepare students for Michigan’s new law requiring demonstrated reading competency to move from the third to fourth grade.
In Spring 2020, third grade students will take the state’s M-STEP assessment as before, but all eyes will be on their reading scores. The M-STEP English Language Arts test will be used to determine whether students will be able to move onto the fourth grade or not. There are a number of conditions beyond the test score to be considered before a student is retained in third grade. All are new and should be understood by parents who will want to know all their options if their child’s reading score is low enough to trigger possible retention under Michigan’s “Read by Grade 3” law.
Where does this new retention requirement come from?
In the fall of 2016, the state legislature passed Public Act 306, also known as Michigan’s “Read by Grade 3” law. The law’s authors identify third grade as a critical point in a child’s educational career, marking the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”. They maintain a child who cannot read well by the end of the third grade will struggle in future years to meet proficiency levels if their reading skills are insufficient to allow their understanding of core concepts in all subject areas. These concerns are borne out in student and school performance data, particularly for students of color and those who are economically disadvantaged.
While much of the law lays out foundational strategies to improve reading proficiency, its most controversial aspect is the retention of students who are unable to meet minimum state reading expectations as measured by their performance on the M-STEP third-grade reading assessment. This is not unique to Michigan. As of 2018, twenty-nine states plus the District of Columbia had retention policies on the books.
What are the specific requirements for retention?
Beginning with third graders in 2019-20, a student will not be able to move onto fourth grade unless any one of the following occur:
The student attains a minimum score of at least 1253 on the third grade English Language Arts portion of M-STEP. M-STEP scores range from 1203 to 1357. To learn more about the M-STEP, be sure to check out this primer.
The student demonstrates reading proficiency through a state-approved alternative assessment.
The student demonstrates reading proficiency through a classroom student portfolio.
No later than June 1, or 14 days after M-STEP assessment results are made available (whichever is earlier) each year, a letter must be sent to each household in which a student’s scores fall below the minimum threshold.
Students who demonstrate proficiency on the other subjects of the M-STEP, along with mastery of social studies and science through their coursework, would still be eligible to move onto grade four.
For those students retained in grade three, schools and districts must provide additional supports, interventions and resources in the subsequent school year. A student who is retained in grade three as a result of this law cannot be retained at that same grade level again for failure to meet adequate reading standards.
Is it possible for a student to be exempt from the retention requirement?
There are several “good cause” exemptions from retention. A student may be granted a “good cause” exemption under any one of the following conditions:
The student has an individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, and is granted an exemption by the school.
The student is an English Learner with fewer than three years of English language instruction.
The student was previously retained in kindergarten, grade one, grade two or grade three, and had previously received intensive reading intervention for at least two years prior.
The student had been enrolled in their current school or district for less than two years, but was not provided an adequate individual reading improvement plan.
The superintendent grants a good cause exemption, after being successfully petitioned by a parent or legal guardian.
What is the process for a parent to petition for a “good cause” exemption?
Within 30 days of receiving an official M-STEP notification letter, a parent or legal guardian may choose to seek out a “good cause” exemption for their child. To do so, the parent or legal guardian must first reach out to their child’s teacher, who then passes along their recommendation to the district superintendent.
The superintendent’s decision is final, and must be communicated to the family at least 30 days before the beginning of the upcoming school year.
How many students may potentially be retained under the new law?
While we won’t know until Spring 2020 the number of students potentially retained within Kent ISD, it is possible to look back at the last five years of M-STEP data to get a rough approximation.
Looking at M-STEP data from 2014-15 through 2018-19, we estimate about 2-3 percent of third-grade students may be subject to retention. In 2018-19, this accounts for roughly 170 students in Kent ISD’s 20 traditional school districts. To note, these figures only represent the ceiling, as it doesn’t account for any exemptions from the law.
In terms of who may be potentially retained, our analysis finds these students will likely be disproportionately low-income and students of color. For example, while low-income students make up about half of all third graders in Kent ISD’s traditional school districts, they may make up about 80 percent of all retentions. Likewise, while students of color only account for about 40 percent of students, they could easily comprise up to 75 percent of all retained students.
The supports and strategies for improved achievement contained in the law — and additional state and federal funding targeted for “at-risk” students — are intended to provide additional services for these groups. Decades of data demonstrate economically disadvantaged students do not respond or perform as well on standardized tests. Their higher-income peers, on the other hand, enjoy greater financial security and can provide a broader range of educational experiences and support, if necessary.
Roughly 2-3 percent of Kent ISD area third grade students may be subject to retention under new “Read by Grade 3” Law
Data for Kent ISD include only LEA districts. MDE’s May 2019 retention guidance requires students with a scale score of 1252 or lower on the grade 3 M-STEP in ELA be subject to retention, barring any ‘good cause’ exemptions. Source: MDE, M-STEP English Language Arts 2018-19
Low-Income students and students of color may be disproportionately impacted by Michigan’s “Read by Grade 3” Law…
Data for Kent ISD include only LEA districts. MDE’s May 2019 retention guidance requires students with a scale score of 1252 or lower on the grade 3 M-STEP in ELA be subject to retention, barring any ‘good cause’ exemptions. Source: MDE, M-STEP English Language Arts 2018-19
Does retention actually work as a strategy?
Proponents of retention argue that without this law, schools in Michigan will continue to pass along far too many unprepared students. Those who oppose retention believe it does more harm than good, citing data demonstrating retention policies put students at greater risk for dropping out of high school.
A long-term study of Florida’s reading and retention law — first passed in the early 2000s — provides some important insight. Harvard University researchers concluded students retained under Florida’s reading law exhibited some short-term learning gains but found those benefits tend to fade over time, and are statistically insignificant after six years.
Where do we go from here?
Educators throughout West Michigan and statewide were preparing for this new law well before its passage, working to ensure students have the tools they need to be successful in literacy. This has ranged from literacy coaching, professional development for teachers and other innovative student support strategies. These have been enhanced by new state and regional efforts like the Reading Now Network, General Education Leadership Network, Michigan Education Corps and several others.
Educators and university researchers alike are sure to focus on student performance under the new law to determine if retention, or additional student support and literacy coaching for students and teachers alike, will achieve higher proficiency levels.
If you have further questions, please contact your student’s teachers and building principal to learn what they plan to do to provide support for your child and what you can do to better help your child read.
Community partners Kent County District Library and the Grand Rapids Public Library worked with local schools and have joined forces to offer after-school assistance for you and your child under their new “Mission Read” program.
As the days get cooler, the autumn landscape blooms with golds, oranges, and reds of the changing leaves. From scenic drives along the Lake Michigan shoreline to winding trails through the inland forests, West Michigan celebrates the colors of the season with color tours, unique viewing experiences, and special fall stops along the way.
Driving, biking, and walking color tours
Jump into the car, onto a bike, or motorcycle and wander along the Harbor Country Fall Motor Tour. You’ll find easy stops to shop, pick a pumpkin or grapes, and ease back with great eats and an end-of-ride drink along the routes that runs between New Buffalo, Three Oaks, Union Pier, Lakeside, and Bridgman in Southwest Michigan.
The best places to view the fall colors in South Haven are on the nature trails. Hike or bike the Kal-Haven and Van Buren Trails, or kayak the Bangor/South Haven Heritage Water Trail under a canopy of fall colors.
Experience the fall colors of the Holland area as you climb Mount Pisgah, a towering dune east of Holland State Park, which is accessible via a boardwalk and stair system. With its apex 157 feet above Lake Michigan, the boardwalk culminates with scenic views of Lake Macatawa, Lake Michigan, and Big Red Lighthouse, surrounded by a heavily wooded area in vibrant hues of orange, red and, yellow. Or view the fall colors from the comfort of your car — here are a variety of driving routes around the greater Holland area.
Whether you are driving, hiking, biking or paddling, Ludington is a great place to explore the beauty of the fall season.
For the first three Saturdays in October, Muskegon and White Lake invite you to celebrate the vibrant colors of the area woods, dunes, and water with the Depot-to-Depot Fall Color Tour. Drive your car or ride your bike along this self-guided route that stretches from the Muskegon South Pierhead Light to the White River Light Station. Travel on some of Muskegon’s most scenic roads along Lake Michigan and the West Michigan Pike Byway. This tour is free and participants will receive fall refreshments and coupons to area businesses. There are also free pumpkins for the children and complimentary Visit Muskegon postcards for the grownups (while supplies last). Stamp your map at the designated stops and enter to win 2 round-trip passes for the Lake Express High-Speed Ferry between Muskegon and Milwaukee to use in the 2020 season. Check in on social media for chances to win weekly giveaways using #VisitMuskegon, #D2D19, and #LiveWhiteLake.
With Fall on its way, so is the Mecosta County Fall Color Tour. The 2nd Annual Fall Color Tour is being coordinated by Jeep Freakz of Michigan, and they’ll be riding with the Reed City Trail Rides Off Road Group. On Saturday, Oct. 5th, from 11:30am-5:30pm, the groups plan to travel to Hungerford before exploring other local trails throughout Big Rapids and Mecosta County.
You can also enjoy a Mecosta County Color Tour through self-guided canoe and kayak trips down the Muskegon River. Stop in to the Welcome Center at 127 South State Street in Big Rapids, or visit BigRapids.org to pick-up/download the Color Tour brochure.
Manistee County has two fall color seasons: Inland and Coastal. Check out the latest fall color tour routes and videos for weekly fall color updates live from around Manistee County and Northern Michigan.
Great color, beautiful scenery and interesting places to stop — you’ll find it all in the Petoskey Area. Five suggested routes take you in and around Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Charlevoix, and Boyne City — some offer lake views and all are known as favorite places to enjoy fall’s splendor.
The drive around Lake Charlevoix is a great color route; this journey will take you on the Breezeway through both East Jordan and Boyne City. The surrounding countryside is full of gently rolling hills and abundant foliage that is sure to satisfy that fall color trip you’ve been waiting for.
The contrasting evergreen and hardwood forests of the Grayling area are spectacular in autumn. Nature enthusiasts will enjoy a leisurely drive down the back roads, biking or hiking through Hartwick Pines State Park, or taking in the riverside colors while canoeing down the world famous AuSable and Manistee Rivers.
Set on the shores of Lake Superior, Travel Marquette has partnered with Noquemanon Trail Network (NTN), the leading trail network in the Central Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to deliver ‘Trail Talks’, enriching and engaging talks and expert led tours of the region throughout the 2019 summer and fall season. On Oct. 16 from 6:30-8:30pm, Travel Marquette and NTN will host a Picture This Trail Talk where expert photographer Shawn Malone shows trekkers how to capture the beauty of fall foliage with all levels of equipment including smartphones. Register for free to help organizers plan for the event. Location to meet the group: Marquette Board of Light and Power, 2200 Wright Street, Marquette, MI 49855.
Unique ways to view the fall foliage
Watch as Benzie County transforms into a kaleidoscope of color during Fall Chairlift Rides at Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville. Fall Chairlift Rides are available select dates through the month of October.
Enjoy the beautiful fall colors from the deck of the 77′ schooner Inland Seas as she sails around Suttons Bay. Fall is a relaxing season in northern Michigan as temperatures are comfortable and traffic is light. On this sail, participants can help the crew in raising the sails and steering the ship, or just sit back and relax while taking in the wonder our Great Lakes provide us. Cost is $30 for adults and $20 for children. For more information, visit schoolship.org/buy-tickets.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
Two of the Mitten’s premiere paddlesport rivers, the Pine and the Big Manistee, wind their way through beautiful river valleys, revealing new color palettes at every bend. The Pine River Paddlesports Center in Wellston is here to make your fall color tour on the river an absolute breeze.
Experience Mother Nature’s fall color show from a different perspective. Hop on the Blue Chairlift in Shanty Creek Resort’s Schuss Village in Bellaire for a colorful ride to the top of Schuss Mountain. Just $5 per person, Chairlift Rides take place from noon-4pm on Saturdays through Oct. 19th.
Take a fall foliage tour via the Chippewa River by kayak or canoe and explore the fall foliage or hike to the “elusive” mountain in Mt. Pleasant, Bundy Hill Preserve, home to the highest point in Isabella County.
Home to more than 100 lakes, including two chains of lakes, getting out on the water in Coldwater Country is the best way to see the fantastic fall foliage. Launch a boat, kayak, or canoe at one of the many public access points or rent a boat from one of the area marinas to get out on the water.
Stops to add to your color tour
Looking for the perfect spot to take in the fall color with a glass of wine in hand? Located on the 16th floor of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Williamsburg, Aerie Restaurant & Lounge gives you 360-degree views of Northern Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay. Best of all, Aerie is a three-time Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner, so whether you’re looking for an Old World classic or a local favorite, you’ll find the perfect bottle.
The Courtyard by Marriott Petoskey is your perfect beginning and end to your fall color tour. Only 15 minutes from M-119, the new property offers refreshing rooms and a bistro to share with family, friends, and loved ones alike.
After a day of exploring Northern Michigan, stop in downtown Charlevoix for dinner, a craft beer, or a tasty treat. Explore downtown boutiques for fall discounts and one-of-a-kind merchandise. While taking a fall color tour, celebrate nature’s harvest at the annual Apple Festival, Oct. 11th-13th, where you can enjoy an art and craft show, a variety of food vendors, and family friendly events. Stop at Friske’s Farm Market in Atwood to enjoy numerous tasty treats like a slice of apple pie, you-pick apples, and apple cider.
Lewis Farms & Petting Zoo in New Era is the perfect place to stop for all your fall favorite goodies along the beautiful drive up US-31 between Muskegon and Ludington. Stop in the market for apple cider and fresh donuts, pick up some delicious Michigan apples, or grab a bag of our homemade kettle corn to snack on along the way.
Crane’s is a family owned, family run business that has been a treasured travel destination in West Michigan for decades, nestled in the lush, rolling hills of their family’s fruit farms just minutes from Lake Michigan’s shore.
Special events to celebrate autumn colors
An annual celebration of autumn, Chrysanthemums & More, on display now through Oct. 27th at Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, is the largest show of its kind in Michigan, featuring expansive chrysanthemum displays, fall foliage and family friendly activities. Mum Day, Oct. 20th will provide members and guests an opportunity to interact with horticulture staff and learn more about the fascinating chrysanthemum and fall themed plantings.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
Gaylord’s Treetops Resort will be holding a Fall Color Tour and Progressive Dinner on Oct. 5th and a Farm 2 Fork dinner on Oct. 12th.
Celebrate the vibrant fall colors of Southwest Michigan. Maple Row Sugarhouse is one of the stops on the Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce’s Fall Color Tour, which takes place Oct. 13th from 10am-5pm. Tour the Sugarbush and learn how maple sap is collected, enjoy samples of many different maple products, and learn how the French colonials made maple syrup and maple sugar.
Otsego Resort in Gaylord will host Wine & Cheese Color Tour Saturday, Oct. 19th, beginning at 2pm.
What you don’t know about bone health may hurt you. Get in the know with a doctor’s expert information about osteoporosis. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
The sunny days of summer are long gone, which means it’s time for all of us to start taking our vitamin D supplements.
Vitamin D is a necessary and crucial component of bone health. Unfortunately, we often don’t think about bone health until it is too late and the damage is done.
Osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, is often a silent disease. By the time a fracture occurs, there are usually several other bones already affected.
The good news is that osteoporosis can be prevented. And, if your bones are already weak, there are ways to keep more loss from happening and strategies to keep fractures to a minimum.
Bone mass reaches a peak
Our bones are constantly turning over and renewing. In fact, there are cells that build new bone and others that break it down to make way for new bone.
Our bone mass level and fracture risk depend on the rate of new bone growth compared to the rate of breakdown.
Most women reach a peak bone mass at age 32 and lose a small amount of bone mass every year. In the first five years of menopause, if a woman does not take estrogen, her bone loss will accelerate, increasing her risk for issues such as osteoporosis.
If we aren’t active enough, our builder cells don’t think they are needed and won’t make new bone. Osteoporosis can result, making our bones weak enough to increase the risk for a fracture from minimal trauma—like stepping off a curb awkwardly or a minor fall.
We also need to be aware of a similar but less severe disease than osteoporosis: Osteopenia can occur when the bones are thinner than they should be at a given age.
Osteoporosis has a staggering effect on women’s health.
The most common fractures occur in the hip, but can also occur in the wrist and upper leg bone, with a possibility of micro fractures in the spinal bones.
You may be surprised to learn that another, less well-known complication of osteoporosis is the loss or cracking of teeth and poor healing after dental procedures.
Unfortunately, the effects of osteoporosis impacts our lives in many different ways. There may be surgeries to repair fractures, time off work and physical therapy. Complications from surgery may also occur, including weight gain, muscle weakening, infection, pneumonia and even stroke. Chronic pain can become an issue as well, especially for spinal bone fractures.
The risk factors of osteoporosis are numerous, but the most common are aging, vitamin D deficiency, inactivity, oral steroid intake, cigarette smoking and poor calcium intake.
For women who are underweight, they are at risk of rapid bone loss due to not having enough stress on their bones. There are many other, less common risk factors, including the following: medical issues such as eating disorders and poor nutrition, excessive consumption of carbonated sodas, and poor absorption of nutrients due to colon problems (prior gastric bypass or Celiac disease).
A family history of osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, early menopause due to surgery or chemotherapy, or lupus can also increase a woman’s risk of developing osteoporosis.
Options and opportunities
I had a patient I’ll call Sue several years ago who was diagnosed
with osteoporosis. I saw Sue in my office just after she started
menopause.
As I always do with my menopause patients, I asked about her risk factors for accelerated bone loss. Sue was at a healthy weight but only exercised occasionally. She didn’t have any medical risk factors and had never had a fracture before, but she had also never taken a vitamin D supplement. Because Sue was in menopause and had never taken vitamin D, I ordered a DEXA scan—an enhanced form of X-ray technology that is used to measure bone loss.
When I called Sue with the results of her DEXA scan, she was not pleased. Her results showed that she had osteoporosis, and she had a greater than 20 percent risk for an osteoporotic fracture in the next 10 years. She also had a greater than 35 percent risk of a hip fracture during the same time period.
Sue’s reaction was very typical of many others when they are told they have osteoporosis. She was angry at herself, but she was also angry at the medical community because, at that time, we were not yet routinely recommending vitamin D supplementation.
She had always been told to wear sunscreen, which she did, whenever she went outside. And now she was being told a lack of vitamin D possibly contributed to her osteoporosis diagnosis? It just didn’t seem fair.
Once Sue’s anger subsided, we discussed what she should do next. I tested her for thyroid disease, vitamin D deficiency and parathyroid disease. Since Sue was in menopause, we discussed estrogen patches and pills that are FDA-approved for the prevention of osteoporosis. Sue chose not to take estrogen, but she was open to other options.
Although the tests showed Sue’s vitamin D level was very low, her other tests were normal—good news! So, we came up with a plan to keep Sue’s bones as healthy as possible.
I explained that the most important factors for keeping bones strong and preventing fractures is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. I recommended Sue start on a prescription vitamin D tablet of 50,000 IU per week for two months and then 2,000 IU per day after that. I also suggested calcium-rich foods such as dairy products, almond or soy milk, and dark, leafy greens.
For exercise, we created a routine that included walking, jogging, Zumba classes and weight lifting. On days when Sue simply couldn’t fit in a workout, I advised her to jump up and down 50 times as a way to remind her bones to stay healthy.
In addition to diet and exercise, we discussed a few different prescription drugs, such as Raloxifene or Bisphoshonates, that help treat and prevent osteoporosis.
In the end, Sue chose to look at the situation as a gift. She strove to maintain the bones she already had and make them as strong as possible.
So many women come into the office and share now familiar symptoms.
“Why am I gaining weight?”
“I do not feel like myself!”
“How do I avoid a heart attack so I do not suffer like my mom?!”
“I am afraid to go out in the winter because I do not want to break a hip.”
“How do I deal with all of my stress?!”
Women’s health is different than men’s health and the topic deserves research and attention to better recognize and offer the best prevention and treatment options to women.
Menopause symptoms are important to understand and treat as these symptoms can be a sign more is going on under the surface.
Low estrogen causes hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. It also accelerates development of heart disease, bone loss, diabetes and obesity.
Emotional changes can be a sign of the existence of a high level of stress from handling kids and aging parents. Or this can be a red flag symptom of changing levels of brain chemicals, less sleep and a need for improved coping tools.
Women who cope well with life and body changes have three things in common:
1. They believe they deserve to be happy.
2. They keep a support network around them.
3. They ask for help when they need it.
A patient I’ll call Katie came to us because she was facing the perfect storm of menopause and felt like it was a hurricane.
She had all the symptoms—hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, insomnia, bladder urgency and low sex drive.
She no longer felt motivated to get up early to exercise and ate cookies at 3 p.m. to stay awake.
She and her husband argued about minor things, especially about how to deal with their son who was failing his class. Her mom, who’d suffered a stroke, fell and broke her hip in the assisted living center.
Work seemed crazy as her boss had left and she had to do both their jobs until a replacement could be found.
Katie came to us because she heard we could help with hot flashes. We certainly could offer meds and call it a day, but we see such a situation as an opportunity to become her partner in her health and consider all options.
This included a practical plan for a healthy lifestyle using the SEEDS, tracking and treating her symptoms, and assessing her health risks for bone loss, stroke and heart attack.
We also know emotional health is a big part of healthy aging. We support this facet of wellness by listening, discussing how the SEEDS can support the body and mind, and also having a team that includes a psychotherapist who can help our patients cope with strong emotions.
Three months later, Katie had improved sleep, better moods, only a rare hot flash, and she and her husband had a plan worked out with their son. Her mom had started to heal and feel better, and she was excelling in her new role at work.
Further, she ate better, took her vitamin D and calcium, and made time for small bursts of exercise. She no longer needing cookies to stay awake.
Best of all, she had a plan to reduce her risk of stroke, heart attack and bone loss.
Her hurricane of menopause had passed and life returned to smooth sailing.
Between the corridors of West Godwin Elementary is a courtyard area. Last spring, it was all pavement and grass. Now, it’s brimming with sunflowers, zucchini, watermelons, carrots, and cucumbers.
The new garden is a collaboration between West Godwin’s T.E.A.M. 21 after school program and H.O.P.E. Gardens, a Wyoming-based nonprofit that teaches students in grades K-12 about sustainable ways to grow food while “Helping Other People Eat,” which is what the name stands for.
First grader A’Sahra Kanjia explores the garden. (School News Network)
Ellen Veenkant is the site coordinator for the building’s T.E.A.M. 21 program. Last April, she received a grant from the Michigan Community Service Council to plant the garden.
On their first visit to the garden, students had the opportunity to harvest two items to take home.
“My favorite food was the watermelon. It was juicy,” said first grader Aixi Medina-Mati. “I like that we get to plant veggies and fruit. I liked eating the basil leaves too. It’s important to have a garden so we can get flowers and food.”
“Who wants to sample some cucumbers?” Julie Brunson asked students.
“Meeeeeeee!” answered a chorus of first, second, and third graders.
Julie and her husband, Rich Brunson, visit the school every other week and work with students to maintain the garden. The Brunsons founded H.O.P.E. Gardens to fulfill an idea dreamed up by Rich, who had experienced homelessness and hunger as a teen in the Wyoming area.
Second grader Andy Valenzuela samples the harvest. (School News Network)
The couple work alongside students, teaching them about sunflowers, encouraging them to chew mint leaves, and showing them what’s ripe for the picking.
Julie said that besides the obvious benefits of teaching students to garden and providing fresh produce, there is another plus to a garden at school: working in the dirt is good for you, and can uplift your mood. Students don’t always realize it, she said, but this is their happy place.
The Brunsons want students to take ownership of the space. Julie makes a habit of starting discussions by asking students, ‘Whose garden is this?”
“Our garden!” is the answer.
While H.O.P.E. Gardens is doing similar work in other districts, this garden is the first of its kind in Godwin Heights Public Schools.
Autumn is just about here — and that means it’s time to fill your calendars with some fun, fall-themed events. This season of cool nights, brisk mornings, and changing leaves is a lovely time to refresh with new activities. Whether you’re a Pumpkin Spice Latte fan or you’re counting down the days until you taste Thanksgiving stuffing, here are some senior-friendly fall activities to enjoy autumn with your loved ones.
1. Decorate for fall
Take an hour — or if you’re inspired, a whole weekend — and put away those summertime clothes and household items you won’t need this fall. Once you’ve de-cluttered, it’s time to decorate.
Create a fall centerpiece for your table with miniature pumpkins and dried leaves.
A cozy, plaid blanket is a nice touch for a recliner or rocker.
Turn your door into a lovely autumn entrance with a festive seasonal wreath.
Collect fallen leaves to use in your decor.
Embrace warm fall colors like red, orange, and yellow.
Have fun with pumpkins. Display them on festive plates, in glass vases, or on a bookshelf.
2. Create autumn-themed artwork
Creating beautiful things is fun and therapeutic for all of us, no matter our age. During the fall months, craft stores overflow with wreaths, pumpkins, and scarecrows, and a quick internet search turns up ideas for dozens of easy projects.
Cut paper or fabric into leaf shapes and hang a garland from a fireplace or doorway.
Paint stay acorns or even dip them in glitter.
Press fallen leaves and frame them for a striking autumn wall hanging.
If in-depth craft projects aren’t right for you, an autumn-themed adult coloring book is a calming option. Psychologists recommend coloring as a relaxation technique. There is a huge variety of coloring books available today, so you’ll be sure to find one that suits your style.
3. Enjoy the brisk fall weather
For those of us who couldn’t spend much time outside during the hot summer, the autumn months are a perfect chance to relax outdoors. Many communities offer fun fall activities for the whole family, such as corn mazes, hay rides, or pumpkin patches.
To ensure a healthful day outdoors, remember to check the weather report. Fall weather can change unexpectedly, so make sure you choose appropriate clothing. Don’t forget hats and sunscreen — UV rays can still cause skin damage even on cloudy days. Also, hydration is essential even after the hot summer months, so make sure to bring extra water.
4. Enjoy autumn treats
Everyone has a favorite fall flavor, from spiced apple cider to the classic Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Whether you’re an experienced chef, or if a trip to the local bakery is more your style, make time for a special fall meal.
If you or your loved ones are creative in the kitchen, plan a day of cooking together. For aging adults who are not as active as they once were, perhaps more able loved ones can assist with shopping for a favorite fall menu to prepare and enjoy. Some families have traditional recipes perfect for this time of year. Or you can keep it simple and just enjoy a delicious slice of pie after lunch.
These senior-friendly fall activities are a great way to have a refreshing autumn season with your family. Whether you’re crunching through piles of brightly colored leaves or carving a fat orange pumpkin with your grandchild, fall is a special season and a great time to rejuvenate.
Exercise is a great way to stay youthful and even turn back the clock on aging.
If you’re new to exercise or simply want a fitness reboot, here are ideas by the decade.
In your 20s
Experiment with different workouts to find what you enjoy. Make exercise a regular habit that you won’t want to give up, even when career and family make heavy demands on you.
In your 30s
Short on time? Try three 15-minute walks spread throughout the day. To stay fit and retain muscle, do cardio just about every day and strength training two or three times a week. If you’re new to exercise, take classes or have a personal trainer create a program for you.
In your 40s
Enhance your weekly routine by doing both low-intensity exercise, like yoga for stress relief and flexibility, and high-intensity workouts, like interval training or a spin or kettlebell class, to boost calorie burn and muscle elasticity. Expect longer recovery times after high-intensity workouts, so make sure to get enough sleep.
In your 50s
Regular exercise remains a must, but ask your doctor for modifications if you have any chronic conditions. Varying your workouts or taking up a new sport will engage your brain as well as different muscles. Get in at least one or two high-intensity workouts a week and try to take active vacations that include favorite pastimes like biking, hiking or even walking tours.
In your 60s and beyond
Stay fit and strong to stay independent longer, and stay socially engaged by taking group classes. Stick with strength training, but consider using machines rather than free weights for more control. Water workouts may be easier on joints, too, especially if you have arthritis. But always keep moving. Try tai chi for flexibility and balance, and go dancing for fun and fitness.
A couple of weeks ago, the Wyoming Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce helped marked the opening of the area’s newest hotel, Try by Hilton Grand Rapids Airport.
Wyoming Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce representatives and Tru by Hilton officials cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the new Kentwood hotel. (Chamber)
The chamber hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new hotel located at 4570 28th St. SE in Kentwood, right next to the Home Depot and across from the Wyndham Garden Grand Rapids Airport and the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Grand Rapids Airport.
Just three miles north of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, the hotel, which is owned and managed by Auburn Hills-based Midwest Lodging Group, is 42,000 square feet. The hotel has 98 rooms with a lobby designed for guests to work and lounge. There also is a 24/7 market for snacks and drinks and a fitness center.
GVSU’s annual Shakespeare Festival returns this weekend featuring one of the Bard’s most famous comedies “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Roger Ellis directs the production that centers around four young lovers who leave Athens due to a law that requires a daughter to marry the wrong man or die. The group ends up in the lair of some fairies who decide to have some fun with them and a group of bumbling actors. Opening night is Friday Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. with shows running this weekend and next.
Music for the Soul
Shayna Steele joins the Grand Rapids Symphony for the “Queens of Soul.” (Supplied)
The Grand Rapids Pops pays tribute to the voices that revolutionized rock and revitalized R&B with Queens of Soul on Sept. 27-29 in DeVos Performance Hall, 303 Monroe Ave. NW, to open the 2019-2020 Fox Motors Pops series. Special guest vocalists Shayna Steele, Kelly Levesque and Brie Cassil will be joining the Grand Rapids Symphony for such songs as Aretha Franklin’s “Respect,” Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary,” and Patti LaBelle’s “New Attitude.” Tickets start at $18 for adults and $5 for students. Visit grsymphony.org.
Lending Your Voice
WKTV Managing Editor Joanne Bailey-Boorsma with St. Cecilia Music Center Executive Director Cathy Holbrook. (WKTV)
St. Cecilia Music Center kicks of its season on Oct. 3 when country and folk singer Lee Ann Womack visits Grand Rapids. Or you could wait until Oct. 20 for when Judy Collins makes her way to the the facility located on 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Better yet, just visit scmc-online.org to check out the full St. Cecilia Music Center season, which includes a classical, jazz and folk. Want a few more hints? How about Rosanne Cash Feb. 19. For more, list to the Locally Entertaining podcast.
https://youtu.be/22R5IgxP_pg
Fun Fact: Country Royalty
Since Rosanne Cash is coming to Grand Rapids (in February), we could not resist digging into her family past. Most people know Rosanne is the daughter of country legend Johnny Cash. Her mother was June Carter Cash, who was the daughter of Maybelle Carter. Maybelle was one third of The Carter Family, which also included A.P. Carter and his wife Sara. The Carter Family is considering the first family of country music.
It’s not always possible to lower cholesterol through diet alone—sometimes there’s no way to override your DNA. Sometimes medication becomes a must.
But certain foods can be part of the plan to improve your numbers, to both lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the bad one, and raise your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good one.
First, choose foods with soluble fiber.
Think of this type of fiber as a magnet, drawing cholesterol out of your body. Good sources are oats, oat bran and barley, along with beans, eggplant and okra. When used in recipes, these foods tend to take on the flavors of other ingredients, so be adventurous with recipe planning—and generous with herbs and spices.
Apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits are good choices because of their pectin, a type of soluble fiber.
Next, go for foods with polyunsaturated fats. These include vegetable oils like canola, sunflower and safflower, as well as fatty fish like salmon, rich with omega-3 fatty acids, and most types of seeds and nuts.
Plant-based foods also contain substances called plant sterols and stanols, which help keep the body from absorbing cholesterol.
Particularly good sources are Brussel sprouts, wheat germ and wheat bran, peanuts and almonds, and olive, sesame and canola oils.
In terms of foods to limit, talk to your doctor about your unique needs. High-cholesterol foods like shellfish and eggs aren’t as dangerous as once thought. The verdict is still out on the saturated fat found in meat, but some research has found that full-fat yogurt, milk and even cheese may be good for you.
The one type of fat to completely avoid is trans fat.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its addition to foods in 2018, but because of extensions granted to some manufacturers, certain items could be on store shelves until January 2021. So keep checking the ingredients on any packaged foods you’re considering.
Your efforts to help the planet don’t have to take a vacation just because you are traveling. Many West Michigan destinations, businesses, and organizations are making sure to do their part to promote eco-friendly and sustainable practices to conserve energy and minimize environmental impact.
Eco-friendly lodging
Crystal Mountain’s village in Thompsonville has been built iteratively, piece-by-piece, over time and the same approach has been applied to make meaningful strides toward a more sustainable future, such as:
Designing the resort as a pedestrian- and bike-friendly village, reducing use of carbon-emitting transportation
First resort in Michigan to invest in wind energy credits, offsetting the carbon footprint of the Crystal Clipper high-speed quad chairlift to help supply the grid with more clean, renewable energy sources—reducing CO2 emissions by 174,000 pounds annually
Building the first LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) spa in the Midwest—one of only four in the nation in 2009—that uses 28% less energy than a baseline structure
First northern Michigan resort to provide complimentary electric vehicle charging stations
Including a closed-loop, geothermal heating and cooling system as part of a $12 million expansion to the Inn at the Mountain (2018), reducing CO2 emissions by 150,000 pounds per year
Setting aside a 30-acre wooded preserve leased to Michigan Legacy Art Park for $1 per year
LED lighting in accommodations and public spaces, including the resort’s 33,000 square-foot conference facility
In-room recycling, electric golf carts, re-fillable bath amenities, efficiency sensors for irrigation and snow-making and more
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
Grand Traverse Resort and Spa’s Green Committee is dedicated to creating a sustainable vacation experience. Here are just a few of the ways Grand Traverse Resort, located in Williamsburg, works to improve their carbon footprint:
Partnership with TerraCycle, to recycle partially used and empty toiletry bottles. TerraCycle provides the Resort with a penny for each bottle, saved up to donate to local green nonprofits.
Partnership with Eminence Organics, which plants a tree for each product sold. To date, over 3,500 trees have been planted.
A composting program with Bay Area Recycling for Charities that directs roughly 100 tons of food waste from the Resort’s dining outlets away from landfills.
In 2016, the Resort replaced an aging boiler with a Micro CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit with an engine that runs on natural gas to generate electricity with useful heat—clean hot water—as a by-product of cooling the engine. The Micro CHP is estimated to save up to $20,000 in electric energy each year, and received an EPA certificate of approval for commercial emission standards.
The Golf & Grounds team has won numerous awards for their eco-friendly approach; resort is certified as a Michigan Turf-grass Environmental Steward; is adding space to the no-mow natural zones on the 900-acre property.
The Resort is eliminating single-use plastic products from the property—a work in progress.
In Mecosta County, being eco-friendly is something that hospitality businesses are familiar with—most hotels have a detailed Green program as part of hotel policy.
The Holiday Inn and Conference Center in Big Rapids has an eco-friendly initiative known as the “Green Engage”, striving to provide a sustainable environment. This particular hotel achieves these policies through the maintenance of the building as well as housekeeping—ensuring that there is energy-efficient output on all room units, light bulbs, furnaces, etc. Housekeeping offers guests opportunities to re-use personal items like towels and toiletries.
Your headquarters for Upper Peninsula outdoor adventures in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale National Park, the Keweenaw Adventure Company hosts Lake Superior sea kayaking and world-renowned Copper Harbor mountain biking. Environmentally conscious and community players, the Keweenaw Adventure Company celebrated their 25th Anniversary this season, and are proud to be “ultimately contributing to the region’s well-being through education, stewardship, conservation and sustainable tourism.”
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
For over 30 years, Inland Seas Education Associationin Suttons Bay has been teaching people about protecting the Great Lakes through their programs on tall ship schooners. Participants engage in hands-on activities as they collect lake samples and analyze them to determine the health of the Great Lakes. Some of the programs also collect microplastics. Individuals also get a chance to raise the sails and steer the ship. Click through to find more information about ISEA public programs.
A hidden gem tucked behind tall dune hills, Lost Lake at Muskegon State Park is a botanical treasure with plants found in both bog and coastal plain marsh habitats. A three-mile, unpaved trail leads around Lost Lake, easily accessed from the Snug Harbor parking lot. A wheelchair-accessible trail from the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex leads to an accessible overlook and viewing scope on the wetland’s north side.
John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids is committed to conserving resources and in doing so strives to make all of their operations as green as possible. The Zoo stays green by diverting 80% of waste from landfills through compost and recycling. They offer compostable straws and other plastics at the concession stands and have a variety of sustainable gift options in the gift shop. The Zoo is also committed to conserving endangered species around the world and right here in West Michigan. Every year John Ball Zoo sends zookeepers out into the field to help native species like the Kirtland’s warbler, Massasauga rattlesnakes, piping plovers, and wood turtles.
Sustainable eating and shopping
Going Green in Ludington is made easier with a number of restaurants using compostable containers, utensils, bags, and straws, or implementing a no-straw policy. Stores use biodegradable paper bags, eco-friendly cleaning practices, and some businesses have promotions in place with donations going to local eco-minded organizations.
Visitors looking to minimize their impact on the planet can feel good about visiting the BarFly Ventures restaurant family, which includes HopCat locations in Grand Rapids,Kalamazoo,East Lansing, and Holland, as well as Stella’s Lounge in Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Brewing Co. The businesses recycle all metal, plastic, cardboard, and glass and locally compost all food scraps, napkins, straws, and any other organic materials, diverting up to 90 percent of their waste from landfills and incinerators and helping to create soil instead of trash. BarFly has helped raise more than $50,000 for local clean-water nonprofits.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
Visit the HollandFarmers Marketon Wednesdays and Saturdays 8am-2pm and support local agriculture. By purchasing locally grown produce, shoppers and vendors cut back on packaging and emissions that would otherwise be used to transport goods to grocery stores from across the country.
Crane’s Pie Pantry in Fennville has gone strawless. Paper straws are only available on request. If you refuse a bag in the bakery or bring your own reusable bag, you leave with a free donut.
It’s time to get the kids together and pull out your family’s favorite costumes because Trick or Treat Trail is right around the corner!
After a widely received social media contest, fans of Wyoming Parks and Recreation’s Facebook page unanimously voted to rename Pumpkin Path to Trick or Treat Trail. The event has been titled Pumpkin Path for the last 14 years.
The City of Wyoming and its Parks and Recreation team is excited to once again host this signature community event under a new name but with many of the traditional elements the community has come to know and love. Trick or Treat Trail is a free event for kids and families on Saturday, Oct. 12, at Lamar Park, 2561 Porter St. SW. The event will be held from 4-6 p.m. Local businesses, clubs and organizations will host spaces along the path and will hand out candy, coupons and other goodies.
“The newly branded Trick or Treat Trail was created to be a fun, safe, family-friendly event for the fall, providing an alternative to traditional Halloween events,” said Rebecca Rynbrandt, director of community services for the City of Wyoming. “Trick or Treat Trail gives families the perfect opportunity to interact with neighborhood businesses while enjoying the outdoors, Lamar Park and the beauty of the fall season.”
In addition to receiving treats, children should also look forward to a DJ and dancing, face painting, jumping in various bounce houses and games. Participants are welcome to come in costume or in regular clothes.
In previous years, the event has welcomed over 65 local businesses and organizations, and more than 6,000 children, parents, grandparents and friends.
Woodland Mall sketch new entrance Von Maur wing 2019 (Supplied/Woodland Mall)
By Woodland Mall
This fall, shoppers will enjoy the long-anticipated grand opening of first-to-portfolio department store Von Maur and the expansion of what will be known as the Von Maur wing at Woodland Mall, along with The Cheesecake Factory as a new dining anchor.
“Over the past two years, we have invested $100 million in order to continue to create a premium shopping experience in the changing retail environment,” said Cecily McCabe, Woodland Mall marketing director. “Many of our major redevelopment efforts will soon culminate with the opening of the Von Maur wing and The Cheesecake Factory, along with a number of other destination retailers and an experiential dining offering.
“If you have not visited us recently, now is a great time to come and rediscover Woodland Mall.”
Saturday, Oct. 12, will be an important date to save as several retailers plan to host grand opening events, including Von Maur, Urban Outfitters, Williams-Sonoma, Tricho Salon and Paddle North. The Cheesecake Factory is set to open Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Destination retailer Von Maur will occupy 90,000 square feet in the former Sears space. The location will be the high-end department store’s first in the region, joining a series of other new-to-portfolio and new-to-market retailers at the mall.
Based in Davenport, Iowa, Von Maur is expanding its footprint across the U.S. with larger stores and new brands. The strength of the Von Maur brand lies in its wide selection of brand-name merchandise, open and attractive store design and amenities that enhance the customer experience, including free gift-wrapping year-round and easy returns.
Woodland Mall’s Von Maur will feature a live pianist, and exclusive brands such as: Kiehls, Sunday Riley, Cath Kidston, Mint Velvet, Joules, Kendra Scott, Miss Selfridge, John Hardy, Rebecca Minkoff, Nora Flemming, Kuhl, T2 and Coast.
Known around the globe for its extensive menu, generous portions and legendary desserts, The Cheesecake Factory will occupy 8,500 square feet in Woodland Mall next to Barnes & Noble. The Kentwood location will be the restaurant’s second in Michigan and the only location within 50 miles.
The Cheesecake Factory features more than 250 menu selections including SkinnyLicious® dishes with 590 calories or less and Saturday and Sunday Brunch – all handmade, in-house with fresh ingredients – and more than 50 signature cheesecakes and desserts.
Lifestyle retailer Urban Outfitters will open an 8,000-square-foot store in the Von Maur wing. Urban Outfitters currently operates more than 200 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, offering experiential retail environments and a well-curated mix of women’s, men’s, accessories and home product assortments.
Woodland Mall will also welcome Paddle North to the expanded wing this fall. The Minnesota-based company offers stand-up paddle boards and accessories, as well as an array of apparel.
The award-winning steakhouse and another first-to-market restaurant Black Rock Bar & Grill will open in mid-October in the expanded Von Maur wing. As part of its immersive dining experience, guests sear their selection of meat or seafood on hot volcanic granite at their tables. This will be the Michigan-based chain’s first location in West Michigan and its ninth in the state.
Complementing these diverse retailers and restaurants will be Tricho Salon, a best-in-class salon offering a personalized experience with talented stylists and the top hair styles, designs and products, as well as makeup and waxing services. An innovator in the salon business since 2003, Tricho Salons operates 12 locations in the most sought-after markets across the United States.
This summer, Woodland Mall welcomed West Michigan’s first REI store. Within its 20,000 square feet, shoppers can explore in-demand outdoor gear, clothing and footwear. Bath & Body Works’ White Barn Shop and A’Beautiful Soul, the companion to Altar’d State offering a plus-size clothing line, also recently opened.
In addition to welcoming new retail offerings, the mall has had several retailers relocate and/or expand within the mall over the past year, including Apple, Chico’s, Hollister, J.Jill, LUSH, Shoe Dept., Sleeping Tiger, Torrid, Vans and Victoria’s Secret.
Woodland Mall also features an exclusive line-up of other retailers, such as Pottery Barn, The North Face, Dry Goods and H&M, along with several other dining establishments and Celebration! Cinema.
Shoppers can anticipate more new and seasonal store announcements throughout the year as part of its $100 million redevelopment.
The electronic babysitter is alive and thriving in the new digital age.
A new study says it all: Children under the age of 2 spend twice the amount of time in front of a screen each day—almost three hours, to be exact—as they did 20 years ago.
Kids are being exposed to far more screen time than recommended by pediatric experts, the researchers added.
That screen was most often a TV set, with the television viewing of toddlers rising fivefold between 1997 and 2014, the study findings showed.
Children aged 3 to 5 actually spent less time on screens than younger kids, around two-and-a-half hours per day, with no significant change between 1997 and 2014, according to the report.
The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages all media use for kids younger than 2 and recommends limiting screen time for children aged 2 to 5 to just one hour a day of high-quality programming.
The researchers found it “surprising” that television still served as the screen of choice for young children, even four years after the debut of the iPad in 2010, said lead researcher Weiwei Chen, an assistant professor with the Florida International University College of Public Health and Social Work, in Miami.
Kids aged 2 and younger spent an average of 2.6 hours a day watching TV in 2014 and children 2 to 5 watched an average of 2.1 hours a day. On average, both groups spent a half-hour daily on mobile devices, Chen said.
“It’s possible they are using it in good ways, like for educational purposes,” Chen said. “But also remember that looking at this young age, it’s before they are attending school, so I would think these are not children that are using that for homework.”
For their study, the researchers used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the world’s longest-running household survey. The study has been tracking U.S. family trends since 1968.
The findings were published online recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
TV might have become an easier option by 2014 because streaming services and on-demand programming had largely replaced video tapes and DVDs, said Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center.
“By 2014, there were many more choices in children’s television programming following in Sesame Street’s example and with lots of cable channels to fill,” Rutledge said.
“Some shows intentionally build in interactivity that reinforces learning, such as ‘Dora the Explorer’ and ‘Blue’s Clues.’ However, not all programming is suitable for children and not all children’s programming is truly educational,” she added.
It’s likely parents still are using the time-honored strategy of using TV as a babysitter, said Sarah Domoff, director of the Family Health Lab at Central Michigan University.
“Research my collaborators and I have conducted indicates that TV may be used to help manage children’s behaviors and allow parents to accomplish tasks at the home,” Domoff said. “Some households frequently leave TV on in the background throughout the day, which may also increase a child’s screen time.”
Domoff recommends limiting screen time for young children to educational content alone, with active parental involvement at all times.
“We know that having a TV in a child’s bedroom increases a child’s risk for sleep issues and obesity,” Domoff said. “Additionally, research has also indicated children hear fewer words from caregivers and have fewer conversations when TV or other electronic media is on, compared to when it is not on. Therefore, excessive screen time may interfere with important activities or routines essential for a child’s development.”
Chen also pointed out that it’s very likely that tablets and mobile devices have become more used among kids 5 and younger since 2014.
“In 2014, it was still a relatively early stage for those products. It’s understandable at that time, they weren’t as common as today,” Chen said. “Now you see we have many more tablets and devices and all kinds of things.”
There is still time for you to add your thoughts and ideas on the vision of the City of Wyoming.
The city leaders and staff will be hosting another Wyoming [Re]Imagined meeting on Thursday, Oct. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Godwin Heights High School, 50 35th St. SW, Wyoming.
“We are really looking for community input on this,” said Mayor Jack Poll during a recent City Council meeting. “This is a big deal that will set agendas, look at properties, look at where we want the city to go in the next number of years.
“We have staff here that does a wonderful job. We try to do our best to give out input but when we have 75,000 people in the City of Wyoming, so there are a lot more opinions then you see in this room and we want those to be a part of the plan in a community where you live and work and do business.”
For the past several months, the City of Wyoming has hosted community workshops, student/youth workshops, focus groups, surveys, and pop-up meetings at various locations.
A key component to the various programs have been an interactive mapping exercise to help identify future desired land uses throughout the community. The exercise is an opportunity for residents to help identify where they would like to see such items as future housing, commercial centers, and employment centers.
According to staff, the mapping exercise will provide residents an opportunity to talk about specific areas within the city such as Site 36, Divison Avenue, and 28 West Place/Downtown area. At Thursday’s meeting there will be a Spanish version of the mapping exercise available with a translator provided.
Those unable to attend the workshop can utilize the mapping exercise at the website wyomingreinagined.com or click here for a direct link to the map.
Also available on the website are ongoing surveys which are offered in both English and Spanish.
Junior Jessi Talluto painted a deer skull surrounded by fire and smoke recently on the wall of Wyoming High School.
Finished murals now decorate the hallway (courtesy photo)
The message she hopes to convey through the mural, located between lockers, is about deforestation, she said. Pictures of tiny factories behind the deer symbolize the takeover of wildlife habitat.
Art students are using a soon to-be-demolished hallway as their canvas to temporarily spread awareness and get their peers thinking about social, mental health and environmental issues. Art teacher Robyn Gransow-Higley said they wanted to use the space for art with the purpose of conveying messages before the hallway is torn down.
Renovations and construction of a large building addition are under way at the school, with much to be completed by fall 2020.
“We’re allowing this space to do one last and hopefully positive thing before it goes away,” Gransow-Higley said, noting that students took charge of the project after she got permission to paint on the walls.
Juniors Nicole Start and Onna Burger painted a picture of a bin containing trash with a large recycling bin above it. Onna said she wants students to think about how much they consume and discard. “A lot of people use a lot,” she said. “I want them to think about how things could be in the future if they don’t think about the waste they create.”
For more stories on local schools, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal In Focus, we continue a series looking at the depth and breath of poverty throughout Kent County and specifically in the cities of Wyoming and Kentwood.
To introduce us to some of the issues, we talk with Susan Cervantes, the Director of the Kent County Community Action program which, according to its 2018 annual report, served more than 7,000 individuals including more than 3,800 families, and also handled more than 42,000 information and referral calls.
The Community Action program came into existence 55 years ago when President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation to establish a War on Poverty.
The local group, according to its website “works to eliminate the causes and circumstances of poverty by investing in individuals and families with low incomes. Through dedicated staff and community partnerships we provide services, resources, education and advocacy to improve the quality of life for all residents of Kent County.”
WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (see our Weekly On-air Schedule for dates and times).
All individual interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVvideos.
The Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) and Avflight tossed the first mounds of dirt today at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of a new state-of-the-art fixed base operation (FBO) and hangar on a five-acre leased parcel at the Airport.
The event included local airport staff, airport authority board members, dignitaries and Avflight executives.
The new facility includes a 5,000 square foot FBO building, plus a 30,000 square foot hangar located on the airport’s east side with convenient access to the terminal and taxiways/runways as well as the local highway system.
Other services provided to the airport community include premiere indoor car parking, secured access, and 1,650 square feet of office space with the ability to build to suit.
“We are anxious to break ground on this new facility, and we are proud to see growth in general aviation at our airport as the demand for more options increases,” said Tory Richardson, Gerald R. Ford International Airport President & CEO. “The Ford Airport contributes over $3.1 billion in economic output in West Michigan each year and as our community grows so does the need for air travel and services associated with air travel. General aviation at our airport is responsible for business traffic, mission trips and charitable flights, health-related services, and even educational opportunities. Avflight is a welcomed addition to our airport.”
“We look forward to bringing Avflight’s expertise and passion for aviation to GRR. Grand Rapids is one of Michigan’s flagship communities with so much to offer its businesses and visitors. Our multimillion dollar investment in this new complex reflects our long term commitment to the region and confidence in our shared future at the airport,” said Avflight’s vice president of operations, Joe Meszaros.
Each week WKTV features an adoptable pet—or few—from an area shelter. This week’s beauty is from Crash’s Landing. Crash’s Landing and Big Sid’s Sanctuary rescue organizations were founded by Jennifer Denyes, DVM (Dr. Jen), who is on staff at Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic (4245 Clyde Park Ave SW).
Magnificent Margaery, a regal and royal specimen of all things fine and feline, came to us in late August of 2019. As the story goes, she had been wandering around a Wyoming neighborhood, searching for a place to claim as her own, for almost an entire year before one of our former adopters took matters into his own hands and enlisted the aid of his sister, who welcomed her into her humble home.
The lovely lady (born in early 2015) took up temporary residence there until she was brought in to the clinic for a work-up; when she tested positive initially for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus), Dr. Jen offered to take her into our program. We were all very upset by this news, but more so because a microchip revealed that she once had an owner who had either abandoned her or released her out into the world to fend for herself; since the virus is transmitted by bite wounds, it was obvious Margaery wasn’t used to fighting off feline foes.
However, as luck would have it, when retested at her one-month follow-up, our gorgeous gray girl sported negative results, meaning that her immune systems was strong and valiant enough to recognize the virus was present and posing a threat, but yet conquer and defeat it before it laid claim.
We have gotten to know Margaery quite intimately over the past few months, and we are all in agreement that she needs to be the ruler of her own domain:
She may look down upon her subjects, but she’s a lovely, lovely girl
“Margaery is not too crazy about the other cats but for the most part doesn’t really stir up any trouble. She will hiss if someone gets too close to her, but a lot of it is talk. She had no trouble moving over to Crash’s side—the fewer cats for her, the better. She doesn’t care to be picked up, but does enjoy human attention, especially loves back scratches. She’s slowly learning that being brushed isn’t so bad but will still swat and let you know when she’s had enough. I think it would be best if she’s an only cat, no small kids, or dogs. She loves bird-watching, so give her a perch with a window view, and I guarantee you she will be the best girl ever.”
“Margaery is yet another pretty girl who thinks she’s a queen. She spends most of her time hanging out on top of a cage, looking over her peasants below. She also enjoys watching birds at the feeders. She needs a home where she is treated like the royalty she thinks she is, so no other cats and probably no children.”
We just know there is a place for her to call her own out there, and after so much time on the streets she certainly does deserve to reign supreme. She has so much love to give—so much potential laying in wait in that pretty little package—that we are most eager to give this to her.
More about Margaery:
Domestic Long Hair
Gray/Blue/Silver
Adult
Female
Medium
House-trained
Vaccinations up to date
Spayed
Prefers to be an only cat; no dogs or children
Want to adopt Margaery? Learn about the adoption process here. Fill out a pre-adoption form here.
On his return visit to our studio, orphaned refugee Phillip Nguyen expresses gratitude for the country that took him in. With pride, he talks about his company’s new charity app, EZsamaritan. With an investment of 45,000 work hours, this app is a free resource to the 1.7 million non-profits across the United States. According to entrepreneur Nguyen, it’s all about giving back.
On any given day, 1 in 5 American youngsters don’t drink any water at all, a new survey shows.
And those who don’t end up consuming almost twice as many calories from sugar-sweetened beverages.
That, investigators warn, translates into an extra 100 calories per day, which over time can raise the risk for becoming overweight or obese.
“Drinking water is the healthiest beverage to drink,” said study author Asher Rosinger, director of the Water, Health and Nutrition Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University. “Water is an essential nutrient that is critical to proper physiological and cognitive functioning.”
By contrast, sugary drinks “are problematic because they have been linked to many negative health conditions, such as weight gain, dental caries (cavities), and type 2 diabetes,” said Rosinger. He noted that current guidelines recommend limiting daily intake of added sugars to less than 10% of all calories consumed.
“Kids should drink water every day and it should be the first option (parents) go to when their kids are thirsty,” Rosinger said.
In the study, data was collected from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2011 and 2012 and between 2015 and 2016.
About 8,400 children, aged 2 to 19, reported whether they drank water each day—although amounts were not quantified—and how much of sugar-sweetened beverages they routinely consumed.
The latter included all non-diet sodas, sweetened fruit juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, and/or presweetened tea and coffee drinks. Zero-calorie diet sodas and drinks, 100% fruit juices and unsweetened coffee and teas were excluded.
Among the 1 in 5 who didn’t drink any water daily, sugared-drink calories totaled 200, on average, compared with 100 calories a day among water drinkers.
Sugared-drink habits varied somewhat by race, however. For example, white non-water drinkers were found to consume more additional calories from sugared drinks than Hispanic non-water drinkers (123 extra calories per day versus 61 extra calories per day).
Regardless, are such relatively low amounts of excess calories really a big deal? Yes, say investigators, who point out that taking in an extra 3,500 calories means packing on an extra pound.
That breaks down to just a little more than a month of 100 extra calories per day.
Rosinger did note that sugary drink consumption among American children has dropped over the last 15 years.
But he added that “there are still pockets and sub-populations that have high consumption levels. (So) it’s critical to identify which kids are particularly at risk for high sugar-sweetened beverage intake, since this can lead to these negative health effects.”
On that front, Rosinger noted that water insecurity due to contamination “is a growing problem in the U.S., so we need to keep that in mind as important context, especially when it comes to parents who may be giving their kids soda or juice because they distrust the water. Therefore, it’s critical to ensure that everyone has access to safe, clean water.”
The findings were published recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Lona Sandon is program director in the department of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She said the findings “confirm what I have seen in practice: If someone is not drinking water, they are drinking something else, likely soft drinks or other sugary drinks.” She was not involved with the study.
Sandon’s advice to parents? “Provide water and low-fat plain milk at the table. Keep flavored milk only for special occasions. Avoid purchasing soft drinks or other fruit juice-type drinks that are laden with added sugar.
“Try no-calorie, flavored seltzer water instead. Make a no-soft drink or other sugary drinks rule in the household. Save them for special occasions. Keep 100% fruit juice to 1 cup per day. Keep sports drinks for sports, not with meals, and only if the child will be exercising for more than an hour.”
From the left, candidate Ron Draayer, Wyoming Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce President Bob O’Callaghan, moderator Kathey Batey, and candidate Bill Benoit. (WKTV)
Meet the Candidates
With Michael Brown’s decision not to seek another term as a 2nd Ward commissioner for the City of Kentwood, two candidates are vying to serve the city in that seat. Both candidates Bill Benoit and Ron Draayer were at the September candidate forum hosted by the Wyoming Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, where they shared their ideas and discussed why they were the best fit to serve in the 2nd Ward seat. WKTV will re-broadcast the debate on Wednesday, Sept, 25, at 9 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 26, at noon along with several times in October before the Nov. 5 general election. For air dates and times, visit the WKTV Schedule.
Getting the Scoop
Who knew that studying wombat scat could be so rewarding? GVSU alumna Alynn Martin, along with the research team she was with, received the Ig Nobel Prize for studying the question why is wombat scat square. “It’s not going to change anybody’s life but it’s a great little piece of information that we didn’t know before,” said Martin, who earned a master’s degree in biology at Grand Valley State University. No, but it is certainly a fun fact which is why the group won the award. So why is the wombat’s scat square? It appears to form that way in the digestive system.
Time to Take the Leaves Out
The colors are a changin’ which means we can forecast a lot of raking for many area residents. With that in mind, the City of Kentwood announced it would be opening its brush and leaf drop-off sites at the Kentwood Department of Public Works, located at 5068 Breton Ave. SE. The sites will run concurrently from Saturday, Oct. 5, through Saturday, Dec. 7, with open hours from noon to 8 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The City of Wyoming operates a year-round yard waste site next to its Public Works Facility, 2660 Burlingame Ave. SW. Hours are 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday through Dec. 7. Residents should bring ID when dropping off.
(Geosciences, Utrecht University)
It Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found
So some of the people visiting or skiing in the Alps may not have been on the European continent at all, but rather Greater Adria. Researchers announced this week that they have found the eighth continent, which is stuck under Southern Europe. Most of the original continent was under water but much of its rocks were scrapped off when it was forced under Europe with the rocks helping to form mountain ranges in the Alps, Apennines, the Balkans, Greece and Turkey. Source: CNN
Kent County Land for planned Sustainable Business Park, aerial shot that includes the property adjacent to the landfill, with the landfill in the background. (Supplied/Kent County)
By WKTV Staff
ken@wktv.org
Kent County’s plan to create a Sustainable Business Park adjacent to the South Kent Landfill in Byron Center took another step forward early this month when the Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW) received a $95,000 site readiness grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
The grant was announced by Kent County DPW and The Right Place.
The planned 250-acre Sustainable Business Park is aimed at creating a industrial center with the prime goal to convert waste into marketable goods and services.
“Kent County is committed to becoming a regional, state and national leader in reducing landfill waste by attracting companies that can convert that waste into new products, consumer goods and energy,” Dar Baas, director of the Kent County DPW. said in supplied material. “The Sustainable Business Park will have a positive economic and environmental impact for both Allegan and Kent Counties and we are thankful for support from the MEDC to begin the site planning phase of this innovative, first-of-its kind project.”
The grant is part of the MEDC’s new competitive Michigan Build Ready Sites program, the targeted grant program of the Site Readiness Improvement program, according to supplied material.
The MEDC program, according to its website, is intended to allow “Michigan to gain a competitive advantage when it comes to business attraction and expansion projects, it must assist communities or other public entities … with the development/enhancement of industrial sites to make them vetted sites and ready to compete for site selection projects. Vetted sites may be defined as a site that has appropriate planning, zoning, surveys, title work, environmental conditions, soil conditions, infrastructure is in place or preliminary engineering is completed, the property is available for sale and development and site information is ready, and up-to-date.”
The grant was secured as part of the Kent County DPW’s and The Right Place’s 3-year partnership to help support the planning and development of the Sustainable Business Park, as well as identify sources of funding for the project and building community partnerships.
Last year, the Kent County DPW board approved a master plan for the Sustainable Business Park on 250 acres of land currently used for agriculture and previously designated for landfill expansion. The grant, with a 1:1 match from Kent County, will be used to survey and develop topographic profiles for the Sustainable Business Park, as well as develop engineering and environmental reports.
“The Sustainable Business Park is a collaborative economic development project that will attract investment and create jobs while making a positive environmental impact,” Birgit M. Klohs, President and CEO, The Right Place, Inc., said in supplied material. “The site readiness grant from the MEDC will provide critical support in developing shovel-ready land, which will give the Sustainable Business Park a competitive edge in attracting businesses.”
The Kent County Department of Public Works (DPW) provides solid waste management services to Kent County. The DPW manages facilities and programs that include the Recycling & Education Center, Waste-to-Energy Facility, North Kent Recycling & Waste Center and South Kent Recycling & Waste Center.
According to the DPW, building a Sustainable Business Park is part of the Kent County DPW’s solution to decreasing the growing amount of solid waste buried in landfills. Kent County DPW processes over 1 billion pounds of waste each year and estimates 75 percent of that waste could be reused, recycled or converted. For more information, visit reimaginetrash.org.
The two candidates for the City of Kentwood’s Ward 2 Commissioner seat currently held by Michael Brown, which will be decided on the Nov. 5 ballot, participated in WKTV Journal’s “We the People” public service videos, which allow the candidates to communicate their qualifications and goals directly to the public.
The two candidates for the Ward 2 seat are Bill Benoit and Ron Draayer. Also on the ballot in November but running unopposed for other Kentwood Commission seats are incumbent Commissioner at Large Maurice H. Groce and incumbent Ward 1 Commissioner Robert D. Coughlin.
Benoit, Draayer and Commissioner Coughlin each produced “We The People” videos, which are available on WKTV’s YouTube Channel at WKTVvideos. Commissioner Grace was invited to produce a video.
WKTV’s “We The People” candidate introduction videos series are produced prior to each election voted on by Wyoming and Kentwood residents. Each video is five minutes or less, with content decided upon by the candidates, and produced without content edit by WKTV staff.
The two Ward 2 candidates also recently answers questions from a moderator at the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce’s Government Matters Candidate Forum, which took place Sept. 11, at the Kentwood Branch of the Kent District Library, with WKTV Community Media cameras recording the event.
Benoit, according to the candidate, is a Kentwood resident who works for the Charter Township of Cascade as a building inspector and plan reviewer, and is currently on the City of Kentwood Planning Commission.
Draayer, according to the candidate, is a Kentwood resident who was a classroom teacher at Davenport University for 40 years and taught classes in the field of technology and cyber security.
WKTV Community Media was at the forum and will both broadcast it on WKTV Government Channel 26 as well as making it available on WKTV’s YouTube Channel at WKTVvideos. The forum will be broadcast Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 9 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 26, at noon; as well as several but as-yet unscheduled times in October. See the WKTV on-air schedule for dates and times.
West Michigan is home to great shopping destinations. Whether you are looking for souvenirs to bring back from your vacation, a unique gift, antiques and collectibles, or planning a special shopping spree, you’ll find all wide variety of shops to get the retail therapy you need.
If you’re looking for some retail therapy, look no further than Old Town Lansing. This renaissance neighborhood is chock-full of galleries, boutiques, and trendy shops. Find everything from sassy goods to Michigan-made items, quality clothing stores and retro consignment shops lining the streets. And if you get hungry, know there’s great barbeque, two taco joints, a fancy burger bar, pizza parlor, and more.
Marshall’s downtown is filled with unique shopping experiences for all ages and interests. Located in a Historic District, original and restored buildings house a bit of everything: charming antiques, Michigan-themed gifts and housewares, distinctive clothing, adorable toys, new and gently used books, natural and environmentally-friendly items, one-of-a-kind artwork, salons and spas, high-quality items for your furry friends, and much more.
Locally owned boutiques, art galleries, and artisan shops filled with unique items line the downtowns of Saugatuck, Douglas, and Fennville. Swing in on your stroll through town to find items you won’t find anywhere else.
Visit Purely Michigan in St. Joseph to find Michigan products, including beer and wine.
You’ll find paintings, photography, fabric art, and household novelties like napkins, table runners, towels, chenille pillows, and scrubbies, as well as pottery, jewelry, note cards, hand-knitted, crocheted, and quilted items at Ledge Craft Lane in Grand Ledge. Ledge Craft Lane offers changing weekly workshops and classes for kids and adults. Artist of the month featured in the gallery, too.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
South Havenboasts many unique shops and boutiques in the downtown area. Two large antique malls, stores with women’s, men’s, and children’s fashions, home décor, handmade jewelry, and children’s toys and games.
You will find a large variety of antiques, collectibles, vintage jewelry, sport and fishing items, furniture, and much more at the Allegan Antiques Market.
The Bookman in Grand Haven is your locally owned, full-service bookstore offering over 10,000 new books and thousands of used paperbacks, as well as a great selection of magazines, newspapers, and greeting cards.
Visit Muskegon for a range of vintage and antique stores, specialty grocery shops, unique pop-up shops along Western Ave., and the Muskegon Farmers Market.
Shop with a purpose at GR8LKS Apparel for Change in Norton Shores. For each retail dollar spent, GR8LKS will spend one minute cleaning the water and shoreline of the Great Lakes.
Ludington includes a variety of stores offering name-brand clothing and shoes, home decor, specialty foods and more. For a unique shopping experience, visit the downtown gallery of Todd & Brad Reed Photography. The famed Ludington artists offer traditional prints, gallery canvases, and coffee-table books of the highest quality, featuring gorgeous scenes of Lake Michigan, Hamlin Lake, notable lighthouses, and the local countryside.
There are many wonderful local shops to explore in Mecosta County. You can find a variety of these shops just in Downtown Big Rapids, including Michigan and Big Rapids items, unique gifts, wedding decor and supplies, furniture, books, jewelry, and handmade items created by local artisans. Mecosta County is a great place to look for antiques, collectables, retro items, and one-of-a-kind gifts. Find freshly made pastries, pies, and more at a variety of local eateries and restaurants where you can enjoy a delicious treat while taking a shopping break.
Shopping for family, friends, or that special someone can be hard, but the Mt. Pleasant Area has a number of specialty shops and artisan stores to make it easy. Downtown Mt. Pleasant is home to unique boutiques and shops featuring arts and crafts from Michigan-based painters, sculptors, and other creators. Find stops to add to your next shopping spree in the Mt. Pleasant area.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
Downtown Holland is widely regarded as West Michigan’s premier shopping, dining and events destination, with over 125 locally owned clothing and accessory boutiques, home furnishing stores, specialty food shops, art galleries, and more.
Hollandis also home to craft breweries, fine dining destinations, and cozy coffee shops… meaning there’s something to satisfy everyone’s cravings, whether sweet or savory or something in between.
Summer may be over, but the Holland Farmers Market is still in full swing. The Market is open from 8am–3pm every Wednesday and Saturday at the Eighth Street Market Place through the end of December. All autumn long, you can shop for apples, pumpkins, squash, potatoes, and so much more, not to mention breads and other baked goods, mums, hay bales, honey, maple syrup, jam, meat, eggs, and cheese too.
While visiting Holland, stop by the Holland Museum gift shop, filled with unique items including books, cards, games, and pottery.
Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus is an outdoor adventure sports specialty retailer with over 50 years in the Grand Rapids area. They sell skis, snowboards, backpacking and camping equipment, kayaks, apparel, and more.
Add some retail therapy to your fall color tour around the Cadillac area, with restaurants and over 20 art, clothing, and gift shops, then head east to Lake City to several new restaurants and small town gift shops.
Dublin General Store in Wellston is your destination for world-famous Dublin Jerky Company jerky, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, ostrich & wild game. Also steaks, ribs, smoked fish, various spices and rubs, award-winning sauces, aged cheeses, and more.
Find all things cherry (and delicious) at Cherry Republic in downtown Traverse City, the cherry capital of the world.
Oryana Natural Foods Market in Traverse City is your source for local, organic and natural food. Oryana carries the region’s largest selection of locally sourced goods, organic and locally-grown produce as well as locally roasted fair-trade coffees, naturally leavened breads, and body care products.
If shopping is always included in your vacation plans then head to Shanty Creek Resort for a fun-filled getaway; resort-themed gifts abound on-site. Check out the charming shops in downtown Bellaire for unique gifts, clothing, art, and more. Need to include more shopping during your getaway? Traverse City is just 31 miles from Shanty Creek Resort.
Family owned and -operated since 1933, McDonough’s Market on Beaver Island specializes in grocery, custom-cut meat, fresh produce, and a wide selection of beer and wine.
Courtesy West Michigan Tourist Association
The brand-new Courtyard by Marriott Petoskey is opening soon and booking rooms in November. The beautiful property is only two miles from downtown Petoskey and local attractions. Featuring 129 guest rooms and 10 suites, you’ll be able to enjoy a day on property in the pool, arcade, and bistro or you can explore the shops in the Gaslight district of Petoskey with our Shopping Spree package. Indulge with $100 in Downtown Dollars and breakfast in the Bistro.
Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts of Petoskey is a favorite source of treasures from Northern Michigan offering Lynn Haney Collectible Santas, Minnetonka Moccasins, home decor and native gifts, as well as signs for your home or cottage including personalized ski signs, and pre-printed Walloon and Crooked Lake signs.
Don’t forget your furry friends while you’re on your shopping spree. Ruff Life Pet Outfitters in Petoskey carries the latest products in the pet care industry, offering natural items and unique, high quality affordable pet products.
Being a full-time caregiver for your loved one is a taxing job. It takes a lot of energy and time to give good care, not to mention the emotional toll it takes. Caregiving is a difficult journey, and it takes a lot out of you. Because of that, many caregivers can suddenly find themselves burned out.
Caregiver burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion brought on by the stress of full-time caregiving. Avoiding caregiver burnout should be a top priority for you as a caregiver. After all, how can you give your best effort to caregiving if you aren’t in good health yourself?
Here are some ways to take care of your health and avoid burning out.
Find Other Caregivers in Your Area
Building a support network of other caregivers can be a big asset in avoiding burnout. Meeting with people who can understand and sympathize with your situation is a great outlet for your stress, and talking with people who experience similar feelings as you can help you feel less alone and isolated during your time as a caregiver.
You can meet other caregivers through online groups, Facebook pages, support meetings, or by asking medical professionals if they are aware of any type of caregiving support groups in the area. Social media and technology allows you to stay connected to your support group when you need them.
Take Respite Breaks
There aren’t regular breaks from caregiving like there are for other jobs. You don’t get weekends off, and your hours aren’t from 9am-5pm. You are constantly on the clock and need to be prepared at all hours of the day, every day. One way to regain some energy is to use a respite care service. Respite care is temporary, professional care of a dependent person that provides relief for usual caregivers.
Taking advantage of respite care helps you avoid isolating yourself, lets you stay healthy and avoid exhaustion, and allows you to stay focused and remain positive. You also don’t have to worry about the quality of care your loved one is receiving when they are at an assisted living community or other senior care center that offers respite care.
Keep an Eye on Your Health
Another important step in avoiding caregiver burnout is to keep a close eye on your own health. Remember, you can’t take care of your loved one if you aren’t doing well yourself. Staying active, exercising, and eating right are all ways to keep your health in check.
You also need to watch out for signs of stress and depression, which can signal caregiver burnout. Signs to look out for include:
Feeling sad, hopeless, or empty.
Losing interest in things that used to bring you joy
Outbursts and sudden changes in emotion
Changes in appetite
Changes in regular sleep patterns
Increased anxiety and restlessness
Trouble thinking clearly
Feeling extremely guilty and constantly blaming yourself
Frequent thoughts of death or suicide
If you experience these symptoms, seek medical help. There are services dedicated to helping caregivers maintain their mental health, and you can take advantage of those services.
Stay Organized
It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the stress of caregiving and burnout, so help yourself by keeping organized where you can. By staying organized, you don’t have to worry about where your loved one’s insurance papers or appointment schedules are.
Set up calendars either online, on your phone, or in paper form to organize appointments and meetings. File away paperwork in an orderly fashion that you can remember later on. You can also create daily checklists and task lists so you don’t have to worry about what you need to get done in a single day.
Organizing your life can help you feel more relaxed and confident in your role as a caregiver. It doesn’t take a lot to organize, but it can go a long way in reducing your overall stress and your likelihood of burning out.
Find Caregiving Services Near You
There are services and companies that provide caregiving assistance to people who need extra help. The National Eldercare Locator can help you find caregiving services around you. Examples of caregiving services include:
Meal deliveries
At-home nurses or physical therapists
Housekeeping services
Doing “elder-proofing” in your home with ramps and handrails
Legal aid
Financial counseling
Taking advantage of these services doesn’t mean you are incapable of
doing these things on your own— it just means that you don’t have to do it alone. Using these services can help you avoid feeling isolated and burning out.
Accept Help from Family and Friends
Along with accepting help from caregiving services, you should also use the help offered to you by family and friends. It can be hard to admit that you can’t do everything on your own, but everyone will be better off when you do. Not only does this greatly reduce your odds of burnout, but it will make your family feel better to be able to help you as well, even in small ways. Family and friends can help with:
Cleaning
Cooking
Doing house and yard work
Grocery shopping
Driving you and your loved one to appointments
Running errands
The last thing you want to do as a caregiver is burn out. By using these tips as a guide, you can avoid burning out and relieve some of your stress so you can be a better caregiver to your loved one.
Sagar Dangal is the host of the Bhutanese Talk podcast. (WKTV)
For the past couple of years, Kentwood resident Sagar Dangal has been wanting to put together a show focused on his community, the Bhutanese.
“The show is about the Bhutanese issue from my perspective, someone who grew up in the refugee camp,” Dangal said, adding that is the reason he titled his podcast “Bhutanese Talk,” which can be found at the wktvjournal.org under the “Podcast” tab.
First, a history lesson
Bhutanese are from the Asian country Bhutan, bordered by India and China and just west of Nepal. Bhutan is about half the size of South Carolina, totaling around 14,800 square miles. It has a population of 758,288, which is about 12 percent of the U.S. population, which is estimated at around 9.8 million.
Since the 1600s people from Nepal settled in the southern region of Bhutan however, larger settlements of people with Nepalese origins happened in the early 20th century as the government saw it as way to collect more taxes. The Nepalese — or Lhotshampas as they are called in Bhutan — where never given the same status as the majority, the Drukpa people.
Bhutan is an Asian country bordered by China and India. (Free Domain)
In the 1980s, worried about the growing ethnic Nepali minority, the government adopted the Bhutan’s Citizenship Act of 1985, also called the “One Nation, One People” policy. The government had officially adopted the culture of the northern Bhutan, banning the teaching of the Nepali language in schools and requiring residents to dress in the traditional clothing of the Drukpa. The act created tension between the Nepalese people of the south and the Bhutanese of the north.
Tensions grew to demonstrations which escalated in the 1990s with more than 100,000 people — many who had families that had lived and farmed in southern Bhutan for generations — leaving the country to live in refugee camps in eastern Nepal.
Dangal’s family was among those who left in the early 1990s.
“This podcast is not only about, ‘hey my parents were forced out of their home country and we became refugees and the government of Bhutan did not treat us well,'” Dangal said during his first podcast. “It is not all about that. Those are all facts. It will always stay with me and it will always stay with my parents, and thousands and thousands of Bhutanese folks.”
About 96,000 Bhutanese are ow living in the United States. There are about 15,000 still living in the refugee camps in Nepal. (Wikipedia)
A Community Connected
Dangal said technically he was born in the refugee camp and lived most of his life there, coming to the United States in 2009 when he was 16. From about 2008 to 2015, approximately 111,673 Bhutanese refugees were resettled to eight different countries with about 86 percent of the Bhutanese population coming to the United States. Dangal estimated the total Bhutanese U.S. population to be about 96,000 of which somewhere between 5,000 to 10,000 live in the Wyoming/Kentwood/Grand Rapids area.
“We are not really refugees anymore,” said Dangal, who became a U.S. citizen in 2017. “We have settled.”
Dangal lived in Lansing, attending school there and Michigan State University. After graduating from MSU in 2017, he moved to the Grand Rapids area, where his family had located.
“Even through we live all over the United States, a group might be in Pennsylvania and another in California, because Bhutan was such a small country, we all know each other and we are all connected,” Dangal said.
Like for most refugee groups. the transition to living in the United States has not been easy for everyone, something Dangal has seen firsthand with his own family. He noted that the Bhutanese community has one of the highest suicide rates when compared with other immigrant communities in the United States, a topic he explores in his second podcast.
He plans to explore the traditions and beliefs of his community and the generation gap that has evolved as the next generation, many of whom have not lived in Bhutan, embrace the American culture. To help build the bridge of open dialog, Dangal said he plans to speak in his native language, with some English, so as to reach his target audience.
“With this show, I wanted to talk about the Bhutanese refugees, the issues, both the positive and negative,” he said, “talk about the progress and the downside of some of the issues in and within the Bhutanese community not just those in Nepal, but in the United States and all over the world.
“The show is about the issues I see in my community and how we can approach them, how we can talk about it, how we can tackle it and how we can actually make things better.”
The City of Kentwood will again offer leaf and brush disposal this fall. (WKTV)
By the City of Kentwood
This fall, the City of Kentwood will again offer its brush and leaf drop-off sites at the Kentwood Department of Public Works, located at 5068 Breton Ave. SE.
The sites will run concurrently from Saturday, Oct. 5, through Saturday, Dec. 7, with open hours from noon to 8 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to again offer the convenience of having both leaf and brush drop-off sites at the Department of Public Works this fall,” said John Gorney, director of public works. “We encourage residents to take advantage of the services as part of their fall lawn cleanup efforts.”
The brush drop-off site will accept brush, sticks, tree limbs and logs. Materials that cannot be accepted in the brush pile include plastic bags, trash, dirt, concrete, asphalt, tires, rocks, stones, construction materials, glass or metal.
The leaf drop-off site will accept leaves and grass clippings. Leaves should be loose when dropped off, not left in bags. Small dumpsters will be provided for the disposal of bags.
Beyond helping make yard maintenance easier, leaf and brush collections services help residents stay in compliance with City ordinances. The accumulation of leaves and debris within the lot line of a property or upon the adjacent right-of-way is prohibited in the City of Kentwood, as is burning leaves and brush.
The services are available to Kentwood residents only; anyone wishing to drop off items must show proof of residency. After closing for winter in December, the City plans to open both drop-off sites again in the spring of 2020 from Saturday, April 4, through Saturday, May 30.
Candy VanBuskirk is the new Lee Middle and High School principal. SNN gets to know her in this edition of Meet Your Principal.
Other positions you have held in education:
Principal at Michigan City High School, Indiana
Assistant Principal at New Prairie High School, Indiana
Biology and chemistry teacher, New Buffalo High School
Head women’s basketball coach, Roberts Wesleyan College, New York
Head women’s basketball coach, Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
Assistant women’s basketball coach at Miami University, Ohio
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowling Green State University, where she was a team co-captain in basketball
Master’s degree in educational leadership from Western Michigan University
Master’s degree in science education from the University of Dayton
Currently pursuing a doctoral degree from Indiana State University
Principal Candy VanBuskirk with children Dawson and Sela, and husband, Todd
Spouse/children: husband,Todd; children Dawson and Sela
Hobbies/Interests: Running and reading
What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was an athlete, and all I wanted to do was play sports. My personality has always been fun, engaging and adventurous.
The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… You have never walked in (their) shoes.
If I could go back to school, I would go to… my senior year in high school, because I could have done more.
If you walked into your new school building to theme music every day, what would the song be? “We are the Champions” by Queen
Three goals for the school year: Attendance, Achievement and Attitude.
Late bloomer: VanBuskirk said she didn’t get into education until her senior year in college.
“I was going on to medical school; I was a bio/chem major and had a conversation with my college basketball coach, who encouraged me to go into education. Right out of college I was a college basketball coach, got engaged and got married, and went on to get my master’s in education and then taught high school.
“When my children started getting into school age, I went back into high school coaching and teaching, and taught high school for six years before I went into administration.”
Principal Candy VanBuskirk, second from left, was a server at her prom at Waynesfield-Goshen High School in Ohio
For more stories on area schools, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.
After a little heat wave, fall is in the air. Families and friends gather around the television to watch football, and the leaves are just starting to turn color. There are many things to love about fall, but some of our favorites are the foods we associate with the season. We have hand-picked these heart-healthy, antioxidant loaded recipes because they remind us of cozy autumn evenings, warm colors, and the bountiful harvest we receive every year, here in the Midwest.
Appetizers and soups
Baked Brie Envelopes: These bite-sized pastries feature melty brie cheese paired with the beautiful fall flavors of cranberry, citrus, and cinnamon. With the perfect amount of sweet and salty, these tasty morsels can hold their own as an appetizer or a stand-alone snack.
Three Sisters Soup: The name of this hearty soup refers to the Native American practice of planting squash, beans, and corn together. In each stage of their lives, these plants would nurture one another and encourage a good harvest. This soup is creamy, and packed with protein and fall flavor for a dish suitable as a companion to a main course, or on its own for quiet evenings.
Main dishes
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples: This delicious dish is great for chilly autumn days, with the smells of tender pork and roasting apples in the oven warming you inside and out. Apple picking is one of many great fall activities for seniors and their loved ones, as is making and eating a meal together. As this dish is low in saturated fat and high in protein, everyone is sure to get plenty of energy for fall fun.
Fennel-Garlic Braised Brisket with Roasted Peppers and Potatoes: With a name that’s just as much of a delicious mouthful as the meal itself, this brisket is rustic and wholesome. This heart-healthy recipe is easy-going, and makes plenty for everybody at the table — plus leftovers for sandwiches. EatingWell.com suggests a “flat” or “first” cut of brisket for a leaner meat, and to be sure to call your market to make sure they have what you want.
Desserts and snacks
Apple Nachos: Make good use of your apple-picking adventures with these fun apple “nachos.” Drizzled with peanut butter and honey, and topped with dried fruits and roasted nuts, this snack allows the many wonderful flavors of Midwest apples to shine. Combine sweet, tart, and spicy apples for maximum fall flavor, and make sure to snag a few slices before they all disappear.
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: Pumpkins are fun for carving and decorating as well as eating, but make sure not to throw away the seeds. This recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds is sweet and savory with a little cayenne kick. Great as a snack, dessert, or even as a topper for soups and salads, pumpkin seeds contain tons of healthy vitamins and minerals. Who knew?
With all the fun of fall to experience, these healthy autumn recipes will be sure to get you excited for activities like hayrides, apple picking, and more. It’s always amazing how the nutritious produce grown in our backyards can be transformed into these heart-warming meals. Just be sure to make a little extra and pack them along for those longer adventures!
Not a creature was stirring—except for Myra Moritz, 61, a Hudsonville, Michigan, business supervisor who had no plans of missing work.
But something felt a little odd that day. A sluggish left arm. And a heavy hip.
“It got worse over the day,” Moritz remembers. “I told my husband the next morning that I was having a stroke.”
Her husband, Dennis Moritz, took her to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, where doctors soon confirmed what she suspected: She had suffered a stroke.
Lifestyle change
Not all strokes move quickly.
While minutes and seconds certainly matter when treating the victims, the type that hit Moritz had been slow-moving.
“I was too late for that magic pill that turns a stroke around,” she said. “But the staff immediately started tests and treatment and they found I had 95 percent blockage in my right artery and 75 percent in my left.”
In the years leading up to the stroke, Moritz underwent treatment for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She also had five successful bypasses eight years prior, with surgery performed at Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
She knew enough about stroke to recognize her condition, even though she didn’t experience the more classic FAST symptoms associated with stroke:
F—Facial drooping
A—Arm weakness
S—Speech difficulties
T—Time to call emergency services
“I did not have any facial drooping or slurred speech,” Moritz said. “But as the day went on, I felt more weakness in my arm. And my brain was getting foggy. I was having trouble comprehending.”
Justin Singer, MD, Spectrum Health Medical Group neurosurgeon, served on the stroke team that treated Moritz.
“Myra had severe bilateral carotid stenosis, or carotid artery disease,” Dr. Singer said. “Lifestyle habits that contribute to this are high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, but also genetics. She had these high risk factors.”
To reduce Moritz’s chances of having another stroke, Dr. Singer performed carotid endarterectomy on her right artery. This surgical procedure removes blockages in the carotid arteries of the neck.
Carotid endarterectomy is not a cure, Dr. Singer said. Arteries can become blocked again if conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol are not controlled. This causes new plaque buildup.
“So I quit smoking,” Moritz said. “That was the last day I smoked.”
Moritz immediately began to exhibit mild seizures during rehab.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
“That’s not uncommon after a stroke,” Dr. Rector said.
But the seizures were enough to set Moritz back in her recovery.
“After the seizures, my memory seemed to be more affected,” Moritz said. “I was very tired. And about six days later I started to have hallucinations—probably a side effect from some of the meds I was taking to control the seizures.”
Moritz remembers seeing pirate ships sailing across the lake outside her window at Blodgett Hospital. Dogs she had owned in the past, now dead, suddenly trotted into the room to greet her. When she reached out to pet them, there was nothing there.
“I learned to check with my husband before trusting anything I was seeing,” she said. “And then I also realized that if I blinked, if it was a vision, it would go away.”
The good news: Moritz wasn’t bedridden during recovery.
Under Dr. Rector’s guidance, the rehab team gave her a proper workout to strengthen her left leg and left arm.
She practiced ascending and descending the stairs. She’d get in and out of a pretend car, use the bathroom independently and improve her balance with a walker.
“All the things I needed to be able to do when I go home,” Moritz said.
A return to normal
Before the stroke, Moritz would swim 60 laps twice a week at an indoor pool.
It may be a while before she achieves that level again, but her prognosis is excellent.
Photo by Chris Clark, Spectrum Health Beat
On leaving the hospital a little more than a month after her stroke, she felt optimistic and strong.
“A physical therapist comes out to the house three times a week to work with me,” she said. “That will go down to twice a week soon. My brain doesn’t feel foggy anymore and my appetite is better.
“Although, maybe that’s not so great,” she laughed.
Her doctors have recommended a Mediterranean diet, heavy on fruits and vegetables. She expects to drive again in about six months, when the risk of seizure has passed.
“Myra has made a remarkable recovery,” Dr. Rector said. “By the time she was discharged, we scored her 4 out of 5. We expect her to eventually return to normal or near normal.”
The directive from her doctors: control blood pressure, screen for hypothyroidism, stay active, maintain a healthy diet and keep watch on any reoccurring stroke symptoms.
And don’t smoke.
“An amazing group of doctors and nurses and rehab people have worked with me,” Moritz said. “Everyone has been so kind and supportive throughout every step of my recovery. My rehab people always ask me during my exercises: ‘Can you do one more?’”
Many seniors who reach retirement age start to slow down and decrease the time they spend exercising—or just stop exercising altogether after feeling fatigued from activities that at one point had been easy. However, doing so may have some serious consequences.
Choosing not to exercise as a senior can have a negative impact on your health. As you age, exercise becomes more than creating a healthy habit. Even simple exercises can give you significant benefits to your overall health—sometimes even more so than when you were younger.
1. Exercise stops muscle loss
Muscle loss starts to affect all adults around age 30, with an estimated 5% loss of muscle in each subsequent decade. This process can speed up quickly around 65 years of age, which is why seniors can rapidly lose muscle mass and become enfeebled in a matter of a few years.
There’s no way to completely halt muscle loss, but exercises ranging from more intense weight-resistance training to simple daily exercise like walking and functional movements that use a wide range of muscle groups can slow the progress of muscle loss.
2. Exercise improves mental health
Exercise is a huge stress reducer and releases hormones like endorphins that improve overall mental health and make you happy. A regular release of endorphins through exercise can significantly lower your risk of becoming depressed as you age. In addition, seniors who exercise have better moods and more self-confidence than seniors who don’t exercise.
3. Exercise builds stronger bones
Falling and hurting yourself or breaking bones are some of the most devastating injuries that seniors can suffer from. Breaking a bone and losing bone strength creates long-lasting negative impacts on other areas of senior health. Exercise, usually in conjunction with good foods, can help build stronger bones that are able to withstand wear and tear without breaking.
4. Exercise keeps your weight in check
Metabolism and the ability to naturally burn calories slows down as you age, which is one of the main reasons why it’s difficult for seniors to lose or maintain a consistent weight as they grow older. Regular exercise can burn calories and speed up your metabolism which helps you control your weight.
5. Exercise decreases the risk of falling
Damage from falls are some of the most debilitating injuries to seniors, as they both limit independence and can actually reduce life expectancy. A good exercise routine can improve flexibility, stamina, balance, coordination, and strength in seniors. All of these things combined can work together to reduce the risk of falling.
6. Exercise helps you sleep better
Sleep is important as it gives seniors energy for their day and allows the mind to rest and maintain good health. Sleep is also an important factor in reducing senior depression and irritability while at the same time improving concentration and motivation.
Regular exercise can help you fall asleep quicker and stay asleep for longer—beating the insomnia that often keeps seniors from getting their recommended levels of sleep. Exercising can also help you feel more energized when you wake up after a good night’s sleep.
7. Exercise prevents disease
One of the most well-known benefits of exercise is that it helps to prevent a number of serious diseases that affect not only seniors, but adults of every age. This can include heart-related diseases like high-blood pressure and heart attacks, along with other diseases like diabetes and osteoporosis.
Exercise also has been shown to improve immune health—as people who exercise regularly get sick less often than people who don’t exercise at all—along with digestive and gut health.
8. Exercise reduces the risk of memory disease
Exercise and physical activity has been shown to reduce the chances of coming down with serious memory diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Exercises that include multiple parts or are more detail-oriented can improve cognitive functions by working areas of the brain that might not otherwise be stimulated.
9. Exercise encourages socialization
Most senior exercise ends up becoming a group activity, especially for seniors who are exercising in the same senior living community. This leads to increased odds of having more social engagements and opportunities to make friends and cultivate relationships.
Even if you exercise alone, the added energy gained from a daily exercise routine can help you feel motivated to socialize rather than isolating yourself. Seniors who live more sedentary lives might not be as willing to get up and leave the comfort of home, despite the benefits of socialization.
Not all exercise needs to be intense in order to have a large impact on senior health. Even simple chair exercises, stretches, or short walks can make major long-term improvements to overall senior health. Understanding what your limits are and finding exercises that fit your lifestyle can help you improve your health, both physically and mentally for years to come.
Playgrounds are fun, but all too often result in injuries.
From kids falling from swings and monkey bars, to little tykes flying off the merry-go-round, hazards abound.
But that’s not a reason to avoid them altogether. If a playground has good equipment with soft landing surfaces, add in a bit of adult supervision and the risk is greatly reduced.
To make sure everyone has a merry time at the playground, keep in mind a few statistics.
Each year in the United States, emergency departments treat more than 200,000 children for playground-related injuries, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Falls are the most common, accounting for more than 75 percent of all playground-related injuries, according to Jennifer Hoekstra, an injury prevention specialist.
Lack of supervision is associated with approximately 45 percent of playground-related injuries.
Check out some helpful advice from the Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention team for keeping your kiddos safe at play.
7 tips to avoid playground injuries:
1. Actively supervise children on playgrounds.
It won’t be hard—they’ll probably be calling for you to watch them climb, jump and swing.
2. Look down.
Take your kids to playgrounds with shock-absorbing surfaces such as rubber, synthetic turf, sand, wood chips or mulch.
If your child falls, the landing will be more cushioned than on asphalt, gravel, concrete, grass or dirt.
For swings, make sure the surfacing extends in the back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar. (If the swing set is 10 feet high, the surfacing should extend 20 feet.)
3. Dress appropriately for the playground.
Remove necklaces, purses, scarves or clothing with drawstrings that can get caught on equipment and pose a strangulation hazard. Even helmets can be dangerous on a playground, so save those for bikes.
4. Make sure your kiddos are kind.
Teach children that pushing, shoving or crowding while on the playground can be dangerous.
5. Focus on the littles.
Little kids play differently than big kids, so it’s important to have a separate play area for kids younger than 5.
6. Inspect equipment.
Check playgrounds for hazards such as rusted or broken equipment and
dangerous surfaces such as sharp points or edges. Report hazards to the
school or local office.
7. Look up.
If playground platforms (such as the top of slides) are higher than a few feet, there should be guardrails that little ones can’t slip through and fall.
All openings should also have gaps of less than 3 1/2 inches or more than 9 inches to avoid head entrapment.
