Hurricane Expos

The Pasco County Emergency Management Team will be hosting two hurricane information expos - one on the west side of the county on June 2nd and one on the east side of the county on June 9th. These seminars can help you to prepare your family and your home for hurricane season. Admission and parking are free. Here are the specifics:

West Side Expo

with special guest speaker Steve Jerve - 

the Chief Meteorologist from Channel 8 News

 June 2nd 

10am - 2pm

J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex 

2830 Gulf Trace Blvd.  

Holiday, FL 34691

East Side Expo

with special guest speaker - Leigh Spann -  

News Channel 8 Meteorologist

 June 9th

10am - 2pm

5827 Dean Dairy Rd 

Zephyrhills, FL 33541 

Hurricane Season is nearly here!

National Hurricane Preparedness week runs from May 27th - June 2nd and hurricane season officially starts on June 1st. It is important to prepare ahead of time - especially if you have special needs or own a pet.  The Florida Department of Elder Affairs has published a "Disaster Preparedness Guide for Elders".  This guide covers many types of disasters including:

• hurricanes
• fires
• floods
• tornadoes

This is an excellent guide with practical advice - such as how to assemble a disaster supplies kit and create a plan for yourself and your pets.  You can read this guide online here or pick up a print copy at your library.  You can find more information, including videos from the National Hurricane Center.   

Here are local Pasco County resources to prepare for hurricane season: 

• Pasco County's Hurricane Guide (English version)
• Pasco County Hurricane Guide (Spanish version)
• 2012 Evacuation  Map (English)
• 2012 Evacuation Map (Spanish)
• If you have special needs - you will need to pre-register for SNAPS services, like transportation and care.  You can learn more about this service and get the application here. 
• If you have a pet and need to have a place for him/her during an evacuation, there is one shelter that accepts pets. This shelter operates on a first-come, first-served basis and proof of vaccinations is required.  In addition, the pet owners must stay with their pet. More information can be found here.

The Tampa Bay Times has also published an online "Hurricane Guide 2012" here.

New Healthy Eating and Exercise Resource

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has published a guide called "Young at Heart: Tips for Older Adults". This guide gives useful information about healthy eating and exercise.  This nutrition information can help you to lower your risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. In addition, exercise may also help to ward off depression. You can access the full report here.

              Young at Heart: Tips for Older Adults

You can find even more in-depth dietary guidelines in "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010", from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Older Americans Month Census Facts

President Obama proclaimed May, 2012 as "Older Americans Month". This year's theme of "Older Americans Month" is "Never Too Old to Play".  Every Year the U.S. Census Bureau provides a fact sheet to celebrate this month. 

Here are some highlights from this fact sheet:

• 40.3 million people in the U.S.were 65 or older in 2010
• $31,408 is the median income of householders 65 and older
• 9% is the poverty rate for people 65 and older
• 6.7 million people 65 or older were in the workforce in 2010 and this is projected to increase to 11.1 million by 2018
• 81% of householders age 65 or older owned their own homes in 2010.
• 74.1 was the median age of the 65 and older population in 2010.
• 9.1 million veterans of the armed services are age 65 or older

The full census report can be found here.

May is Older Americans Month

May is the month to celebrate older adults. This observance was originally called "Senior Citizen's Month" when it was created in 1963, but it was renamed "Older Americans Month" by President Carter in 1980. The Administration on Aging has announced the theme for this year- "Never Too Old to Play". The Administration on Aging states that this theme "encourages older Americans to stay engaged, active and involved in their own lives and in their communities". 

You can play at your library this month at our Senior Social at New River Library. There will be Wii bowling, card games, board games, and refreshments. This free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library:

Senior Social

May 9th at 2:00pm

New River Library

34043 State Road 54

Zephyrhills, Fl 33543

In addition, you can celebrate Older Americans Month by contacting the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco - Pinellas and finding out about volunteer opportunities with programs which help Older Adults in our community.

Upcoming Free Caregiver Seminars

The Elder Law Office of Emma Hemness is sponsoring six free seminars for Seniors and family caregivers in May. The first program is presented by a Florida ombudsman. For people not familiar with the Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, an ombudsman "is an advocate for people who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult family care homes. All services are confidential and free of charge." There are also programs about caregiving, veteran's benefits, avoiding fraud, and Medicaid Managed Care. Registration is required (the registration webpage is here).

Here is a partial list of these programs:

Your Buddy the Ombudsman: What you didn't know or didn't know to ask
Don Hering, Director of Field Operations, State LTC Ombudsman

May 1st from 10:30am - noon
Jimmie B. Keel Library
2902 W. Bearss Ave, Tampa, FL

How to Expect the Unexpected: 
Preparing caregivers for transitions in care, advocating for their loved one, and securing benefits in plain English
Ann Cholowski, M.D., J.D., Life-Path Hospice

May 5th  9:00am - noon
Embassy Suites USF
3705 Spectrum Blvd
Tampa, FL

 So You're a Caregiver, but Who is Taking Care of You?
Allan W Redash, M.D.; Teri Redash, R.N.

May 19th  9:00am - noon
The Galleria at USF
3720 Spectrum Blvd
Tampa FL

What Medicaid Managed Care Means to Sick Seniors and Their Families
Rebecca Bell, Esquire, BCS, LLM in Elder Law

May 22 10:30am - noon
Jimmie B. Keel Library
2902 W. Bearss Ave, Tampa, FL

You can get more details by downloading the event flier here.

Inspirational Athletes

Sports are not just for the young. Older Adults can enjoy recreational sports and compete in the  Florida International Senior Games & State Championships.  There are also Older Adults who are leading competitors in the sport of show jumping, such as John Whitaker MBE. He was rated 4th in Britain in 2009, at the age of 54. Here is a video of John Whitacker winning the BP Cup in 2007:

There are many examples of inspirational Senior athletes.  Johanna Quaas is an 86 year old German gymnast who has done exhibitions showing her prowess at parallel beams and floor exercises. Here is a video of her from the "Turnier Der Meister" Cottbus 2012 exhibition:



Fauja Singh is 101 years old and is famous as the world's oldest marathoner. Last year, at age 100, he completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  In addition he has set records for 8 different distances (from 100m to 5,000m) for his age group. Here is a video about this amazing runner: