Senior Citizens

A CARNIVAL atmosphere filled the air as thousands of people crowded the halls of Wilde Lake High School for the 50+ Expo on Friday.The first-time event, sponsored by the Howard County Office on Aging, provided one-stop shopping for information on everything from financial planning, employment opportunities and Medicare benefits to surfing the Internet and housing.Volunteers met visitors at the door and handed them program guides to the more than 100 exhibits and seminars, as well as bags to hold the giveaways -- key chains, smoke detectors, rulers, whistles, refrigerator magnets and brochures.

Finding that a county agency had incorrectly assessed matters, the Howard County Board of Appeals unanimously approved last night a proposed 25-unit complex for independent senior citizens in rural West Friendship.At issue was Ahmad Bagheri's plan to build the townhouse-style project on 13.75 acres in the 11000 block of Frederick Road.Last month, the county Planning Board rejected the plan, noting a technical staff report from the county Department of Planning and Zoning that said the site was outside the public sewer district and would require an extension of those lines.

Welcome to the Carroll Sun's special page for senior citizens. Starting today and continuing on the third Wednesday of every month, Page 3B of the Carroll County edition of The Sun will feature news, human interest stories and calendar listings for seniors.We also want to hear from senior citizens. So, one feature of the new page, Voice of Experience, will give seniors a chance to write about their experiences and share their wisdom. Every month, we'll publish a question. If you'd like to respond, send a letter to the Carroll Sun Seniors Page, Winchester Exchange, 15 E. Main St., Westminster 21157.

Starting June 16 and continuing on the third Wednesday of every month, page 3B of the Carroll County edition of The Sun will be a special page for senior citizens. The senior population is growing in Carroll, and we hope that the news, features and calendar listings on this page will inform and entertain.We also want to hear from senior citizens. So, one feature of the new page, Voice of Experience, will give seniors a chance to write about their experiences and share their wisdom. Every month, we'll publish a question.

EYES FILLED with tears, voice trembling, Hugh M. Roper read aloud from a Western Union telegram sent 58 years ago: "Am safe. Unharmed." And below that message in his mother's handwriting: "Thank God for this.""I'm sorry," Roper, 78, said to 13-year-old Chris Tucker. "This is extremely emotional for me. This is the first notice they had, five days after the attack."Dated Dec. 12, 1941, the telegram was sent by Roper from Hawaii to his family in Baltimore to tell them that he had survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

An Annapolis developer plans to build a $5 million rental home complex for moderate-income senior citizens in Sykesville.Homes for America, a nonprofit housing development corporation, is looking at a 5-acre property on Village Road in the town of about 3,500 residents. The company would build 54 apartments at Village and Sandosky roads, across from the town post office."We are building senior housing, targeting those with moderate income," said Nancy S. Rase, president of Homes for America.

WASHINGTON -- Though addressing the issue of Social Security typically draws a "you first" response among politicians, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin is trying to gain bipartisan support for his new plan to reform the popular New Deal retirement program before it becomes insolvent."

At a time when Baltimore County has 2,500 low-income senior citizens waiting for affordable housing, the federal government announced $12 million in grants yesterday to develop two housing projects in Randallstown and Reisterstown for the elderly poor.The money to build 142 apartments comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.The Randallstown project, to be built with $6.4 million in grants at Liberty and Old Court roads, will accommodate 74 apartments for the elderly.

Just retired, Sykesville resident Bob Pepperney was looking for something to do when a newspaper advertisement caught his attention. The ad was seeking someone to organize a senior citizens recreational group in Carroll County."

Transportation and safety are important issues for Columbia's senior citizens, according to participants at an open forum yesterday sponsored by the Columbia Association's Senior Advisory Committee.The committee is concluding a survey of the needs of residents over age 60 and held the meeting to give seniors who had not been surveyed the opportunity to voice their opinions. Nineteen seniors, committee members and others came to the East Columbia Senior Center to discuss the survey's topics, including job and volunteer opportunities, social and cultural activities, physical fitness, housing and medical services.

Even before they have an address, the future residents of an Annapolis elder co-housing project have what so many senior citizens long for: a community they've designed, with shared spaces and a social compact that keeps them in charge. Striving to balance independence and interdependence, Bob and Diana Corbett are a driving force behind a dream to build what could be the first elder co-housing project in Maryland. The Annapolis project is part of a niche trend: community-style condo living for senior citizens that they run by consensus.

According to a Pew Research Center poll taken late last month, senior citizens are more worried than any other age cohort about the president's health care reform proposal. Asked whether they agree or disagree with the statement, "I am concerned that the government is becoming too involved with health care," 53 percent of Americans 65 or older agreed, while 40 percent disagreed. For every other age group - and the country overall - more people disagreed than agreed, with the splits wider for each successively younger age cohort.

For Pfc. Holly Burnham, helping the senior citizens of Howard County feel safe is a mission. And for Cpl. Alan Shaffer, finding a way for minority communities to develop a relationship with the Police Department has become his reason for going to work every day. Burnham and Shaffer are liaison officers for the Howard County Police Department, which established the positions in November to meet the growing needs of two key segments of the public: seniors...

`Oliver!' -- Shadow Block Productions will present its last two performances of the musical Oliver! at 8 p.m. today and tomorrow at Drama Learning Center, 9130 Red Branch Road, Columbia. Tickets to the production, based on Charles Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist, are $15; $12 for senior citizens, students and groups. Reservations are recommended. 410-997-9352.

When the county convened one of its periodic forums to hear the concerns of senior citizens, only 22 showed up at the Pascal Senior Center auditorium built to hold 186. The sparse attendance at the Glen Burnie center seemed to illustrate a point raised repeatedly by the people who did attend: The county has not been effective at getting the word to seniors about events and services. "We've always had a problem," said Ed Thomas, president of Pascal Senior Incorporated, and a volunteer with the Pascal Senior Center for the last 16 years.

Senior citizens take an art class. Teenagers play basketball across the hall, in one of Harford County's largest gyms. And a group of parents meets in a nearby community room for a book club or a discussion on a pressing neighborhood issue. That is a scenario envisioned yesterday by officials at the dedication of the $6.4 million Havre de Grace Activity Center, lauded as a facility that will allow generations to mingle, socialize and work together seven days a week. "We have figured out how to put kids and seniors together and make it work," said Mary F. Chance, director of Harford County's community services.

Mary Ellen Fonte donned a black 1920s bathing suit. Then she stepped down off the stage and faced about 150 people. "Women in the 1920s didn't go swimming. They bathed," said Fonte. "Their wool bathing suits weighed about 20 pounds when they got wet. So they went fanny dipping." Some of the seniors in the audience cackled while others sat with quizzical looks waiting for an explanation. Fonte demonstrated. "The women would lower their bottoms until they touched the water," she said squatting down and pretending to dab herself with water.

Mayor Martin O'Malley and police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm announced yesterday a new program that makes bracelets marked with important contact information available to Baltimore's more than 100,000 seniors. The silver-colored bracelets are inscribed with identification numbers that link the wearer with a Police Department database that stores home addresses, telephone numbers, emergency contacts, vehicle information and information about basic medical needs. City officials say the information will be helpful in emergencies.

As the temperature soared into the high 90s, local officials and social agencies throughout the Baltimore region intensified efforts to reach senior citizens and others at risk of succumbing to the stifling heat. City workers phoned thousands of older residents to see how they were holding up and made house calls to deliver food, water and fans. Counties provided similar heat-related assistance, paying special attention to the frail, the elderly and pregnant women. Temperatures reached 97 degrees in the Inner Harbor and 94 at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, with high humidity pushing the heat index well over 100. During last night's game at Camden Yards, Orioles right fielder Eli Marrero had to leave in the fourth inning because of heat exhaustion and for X-rays of an injured thumb.

Fees a burden on senior citizens Mrs. Owens' [proposals for] increasing fees for trash collection and water and sewer usage seem to be yet another onerous burden on the taxpayer. These regressive taxes by both Mrs. Owens and the state (flush fees and auto registration) are particularly egregious to seniors on a fixed income. Those of us in A.A. County who are on septic systems are now forced to pay a "flush fee" in addition to the waste hauler fee we pay every time our septic system is pumped out. We pay a far larger share of our income for these fees (taxes)