THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409140119
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 01B EDITION: BAYSIDE
COLUMN: Seniors
SOURCE: PAM STARR
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines
If you go into the AAA of Tidewater to buy a membership, chances are pretty good that Steve Seelinger will sell you one.
This 93-year-old has consistently been one of the top salespeople in the automobile club since he joined the team 24 years ago, after retiring from the Ford Motor Co.
Last year Seelinger was responsible for nearly 7,000 new memberships and renewals - and he only works four afternoons a week.
``I'm not as active as I used to be but I like working,'' said Seelinger, a reed-thin 6-footer who always wears a suit and tie on the job. ``I enjoy meeting people, talking with people. My best month I sold 150 new memberships.''
When Seelinger retired from Ford in 1966, after 44 years as the truck and fleet manager for Virginia and North Carolina, he thought that mowing the lawn and playing golf would keep him occupied the rest of his days. A few years of that convinced the Norfolk native otherwise.
``I was at a Lions Club meeting one night and Tim Timmons asked me to come work for them,'' Seelinger said from the back room at the AAA office on Kings Grant Road. ``I said I'd try it out. After I got to contacting people, I starting making progress.''
Timmons, the president of the AAA of Tidewater Virginia, is Seelinger's boss and works out of the Norfolk headquarters. He said that Seelinger is one of the best salespeople they have and a ``high-class gentleman.''
``He's a square-shooter - that's why he has so many members,'' said Timmons, 87, who has been with the organization for 67 years. ``Some of his renewals are 24 years old. He was up in the top all the time when he worked full time.''
Seelinger cut back his hours just two years ago because he's ``getting up there in age'' and to spend more time with his wife of 64 years, Margaret. So, four afternoons a week at 1:45, Seelinger gets into his champagne-colored Mercury Topaz and drives to the office. He sells memberships, takes passport photos, contacts members about services and handles any complaints or problems that come his way.
Road service manager Mickey Green used one word to describe her co-worker - smooth.
``Steve tells the person everything they need to know about AAA,'' she said. ``I hate the days he's not in here. He's a lot of fun.''
At 5:30, Seelinger leaves the office for Bay Colony, where he and Margaret live with their only child, Stephanie Foster. They're in the process of building an addition onto Foster's house and will move into it when completed. In the evening, Seelinger likes to watch television (``Murder, She Wrote'' is his favorite show) and read. He also attends regular meetings of the Kiwanis Club and the Virginia Beach Sports Club and is a member of Galilee Episcopal Church.
But work is his anchor, his prescription for a long and healthy life. Seelinger believes that working is the ``key to peace and harmony.'' Two daily vodka and tonics don't hurt, either, he added with a laugh.
``If I didn't work I'd go crazy,'' said Seelinger. ``I'm thinking like George Burns - I'm shooting for 100. And, God willing, I'll make it.
NATIONAL ADULT DAY CARE CENTER WEEK is Sept. 18-24. The M.E. Cox Center for Elder Day Care will be celebrating with its annual luncheon on Tuesday. Six centers throughout Hampton Roads are expected to bring about 120 people to the luncheon, according to Sharon Goumas, director of the M.E. Cox Center. Sentara Adult Day Health Care is the only other center from Virginia Beach that will be participating.
Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and mayors from Norfolk and Williamsburg also will be on hand to help celebrate.
Adult Day Care Week honors the service of the health care professionals who give high-quality care to participants in day care centers, said Goumas.
Available services vary from center to center, but Goumas said that most include these:
Daily therapeutic exercise.
Health monitoring.
Health education.
Therapeutic activities.
Personal care.
Support groups for participants and caregivers.
Respite services.
Nutritious noontime meals.
Memory and motivation activities.
Counseling.
Limited transportation services.
For more information on adult day care, call the M.E. Cox Center at 340-4388.
NOW THEY CAN EAT OUTSIDE. Thirty-five people who attend the Older Adult Day Support Program at Comprehensive Mental Health Services on Wildwood Drive have been enjoying four new picnic tables since Sept. 8.
That's when five men from the Norfolk Naval Base came out during United Way's day of caring and built tables and dug out a garden, all in just a few hours.
Kathy Bullock O'Connor, the program's director, said she had requested the tables and garden through the Volunteer Connection.
``It's really a positive thing,'' she said. ``The clients are really excited about it - now they can have activities outside and enjoy the weather.''
The Older Adult Day Support Program was the only senior-oriented center helped in Virginia Beach, said Paula Cook, executive director of the Volunteer Connection. Two thousand people from business and military commands took a day off work to volunteer at more than 100 different agencies on the day of caring.
``Schools, city agencies, hospitals and all the shelters were helped,'' said Cook. ``These volunteers donated 12,000 hours of time. That's at least $120,000 worth of services.
Other senior places in Hampton Roads who requested volunteers were SEVAMP and Norfolk Senior Center in Norfolk and Georgian Manor in Chesapeake, she said. Volunteers painted, built, delivered Meals on Wheels, taught computer classes and did data entry.
Cook would love to hear from anyone who would like to hear more about volunteer opportunities, especially senior citizens. Call the Volunteer Connection at 624-2400. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
``My best month I sold 150 new memberships,'' said 93-year-old Steve
Seelinger, a salesman with AAA of Tidewater.
by CNB