THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410120134
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 01B EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Pam Starr
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Bud and Christine O'Donnell are concerned about issues facing the elderly today - housing, transportation, Social Security, long term care and health care reform.
But they don't just sit around and talk about them. This retired couple goes out and tries to do something about the problems of senior citizens.
The O'Donnells relentlessly work the voter registration drives, believing that the only kind of voter should be an informed one - regardless of age. They belong to the American Association of Retired Persons and are coordinators for the 2nd Congressional District of AARP/VOTE, a nonpartisan voter education program which focuses on those issues which are most critical to the elderly.
Now more than ever, Christine O'Donnell said, seniors should be concerned about what is happening in their communities and how it affects them.
``We're trying to get senior issues out in the open,'' she said. ``We have worked on all of these elections by knocking on doors and talking to people. Seniors need to know what's going on.''
AARP/VOTE published a voters' guide for the Nov. 8 congressional election between Jim Chapman and Owen Pickett, which gives the candidates' views on federal issues of health care reform, income security and long term care. The O'Donnells have been giving out the guides to clubs and organizations and putting them in malls, grocery stores and recreation centers.
But the O'Donnells have found out many people are hesitant to take the guides.
``A lot of people won't take them because they think it's political but we're nonpartisan,'' Christine O'Donnell said. ``We can't give out opinions on anyone - AARP/VOTE does not endorse any candidate or political party.''
When they're not working on election-related items, you'd think the O'Donnells would relax in their Baylake Pines waterfront home and take it easy.
Wrong.
The parents of two sons and a daughter and grandparents of eight, they don't know the meaning of the phrase ``slow down.'' On Sept. 7 they were married 55 years and celebrated with a hot air balloon ride over Charlottesville.
They regularly volunteer at Virginia Beach General Hospital, the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and do Medicare and VICAP health insurance counseling. They also belong to the Virginia Beach Task Force on Aging, the Seasoned Couples Club, the Irish American Club and numerous other organizations.
``We just like to help people,'' said Bud O'Donnell, an inveterate joke teller who is never without a grin. (What's Irish and stays out all night? Paddy O'Furniture.) ``I love to see a person smiling - if you see someone without a smile, give him one of yours.''
Togetherness is what is most important to the O'Donnells, especially since a stroke nearly paralyzed Bud a few years back and Christine was felled by a heart attack in 1990. He is a retired Army colonel who fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. They were separated so much during his career, she said, that now they're making up for lost time.
``We can't sit at home and feel sorry for ourselves,'' she said. ``We've been lucky that we've been together so long. Thank God we both like to help people.''
If you would like more information on AARP/VOTE, call the O'Donnells at 460-3111.
EVERY SENIOR CITIZEN living today was affected, in one way or another, by World War II.
Whether you spent that time as a housewife and mother, a soldier, a shipyard worker or a child, you probably like to reminisce about those days. And now you can do just that in a free discussion group, Remembering World War II, led by former Congressman and World War II aviator G. William Whitehurst.
The group will meet at the Norfolk Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays for eight weeks beginning on Oct. 18. Community services assistant Charlette Crowell said that this discussion group is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and was developed by the National Council on the Aging, of which Norfolk Senior Center is a member.
``This is a large military area - we have a lot of seniors here who were in the war,'' said Crowell. ``These sessions will give them an opportunity to talk about their part in history. I think it will be really interesting.''
The group will be held on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and on Thursdays at 1 p.m. Registration is still being accepted. Call 625-5857 for more information or to register.
WITHIN THE NEXT SIX YEARS, 13 percent of the population will be over the age of 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, however, it's expected to increase to 20 percent.
More and more people will have to become caregivers to their aging parents. But few of them will know how and where to start, said Judy Baker, public relations director for Westminster-Canterbury. That's why the retirement center, along with the Farm Fresh Charitable Foundation, is presenting a four-part seminar for adult children of aging parents on two consecutive Saturdays.
The seminar will be held on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Topics will include facts and myths of aging, addressing change with maturing adults, juggling multiple roles and responsibilities, tips for dealing with caregiver stress, tapping into community resources, elder abuse, housing alternatives, medication management and nutrition for older adults.
Experts who work in the aging field will present the sessions. The cost is $10 for one or all of the sessions, and all proceeds will be donated to Meals on Wheels of Virginia Beach.
But reservations must be made, with registration form and payment, by Oct. 24 for the Oct. 29th session and by Oct. 31 for the Nov. 5 session. Baker said that registration forms are available in the racks at every Farm Fresh store in Hampton Roads.
NEW CHOICES FOR RETIREMENT LIVING, a publication of Reader's Digest, has named nine towns as ``Best College Towns for Retirees.''
They are: Amherst, Mass. (University of Massachusetts, Hampshire College and Amherst); Boulder, Colo. (University of Colorado); Burlington, Vt. (University of Vermont); Chapel Hill, N.C. (University of North Carolina and Duke University); Corvallis, Ore. (Oregon State University); Davis, Calif. (University of California); Fayetteville, Ark. (University of Arkansas); Iowa City, Iowa (University of Iowa), and State College, Pa. (Pennsylvania State University).
According to the article, college towns frequently turn up in lists of best retirement locations. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by
MORT FRYMAN
Volunteers Bud and Christine O'Donnell relentlessly work the voter
registration drives, believing that the only kind of voter should be
an informed one - regardless of age.
by CNB