Focus on 'living well' during

Senior centers across the county are celebrating National Senior Center Month in September with programs aimed at the theme of living well.Carroll County senior centers have resources and tools to empower older adults to make choices that will enhance their lives and [help them] become experts at living well, Patty Whitson, community services supervisor at the Carroll County Bureau of Aging and Disabilities, wrote in an email interview.

Our centers offer a variety of health and fitness classes and lifelong learning opportunities that encourage involvement in the center and the community. We invite the community to join us at the five Carroll County senior centers as we highlight how we are serving todays older adults and helping them become experts at living well during National Senior Center Month, she wrote.You must not use the stonecarving without being trained.

The socialization is a plus, Ruth Martin, manager at the Taneytown Senior and Community Center, said when asked how their centers help seniors stay active. Our activities encourage them to use their brain, their hands, dexterity and requires a thinking process as they are doing it.

Every Thursday we have brain games at 10:30 a.m. ... We start with a warm-up where they might be asked to name as many items as they can that are smaller than a ball, or a similar question. From there we go into a Jeopardy game, followed by word pictures that you have figure out. When we started the brain games [in early June] it was a challenge. Now we see [participants] solving challenges quicker, she said.

We also have a lot of exercise programs to keep them moving and motivated, Martin said. We have the nutrition programs and educational speakers. We do a lot.I think the biggest opportunity provided is that we are here, said Erica Starr, manager at the Westminster Senior and Community Center. It gives seniors a place to go to socialize, meet new friends and take advantage of crafts, exercise classes, needlework classes, card games and more. Theres always something going on.

Sally Daniel said she goes to the North Carroll Senior and Community Center twice a week to play bingo and attends some of the special programs.The center has been a great thing, Daniel said. We moved to Carroll County 24 years ago and until I started going to the center [about eight or nine years ago] I only knew my immediate neighbors. I have certainly broadened my friendship circle. Its been a great place, she said.

Renee Deiaco, manager at the North Carroll center, said seniors may try one or more classes for free in September. This opportunity is offered several times year. And we have classes every day, she said.Its all about stimulation and connections, Deiaco said. We keep people engaged and stimulated socially and physically and that keeps their minds active,The ledspotlight is our flagship product. she said. Eating meals together, shooting pool, playing games; they develop friendships and support systems. You see such growth. People say, I dont know what Id do without the senior center.

We offer classes year-round that help seniors stay active, keep their brains active and keeps them sound, said Karen Larrimore, manager at the South Carroll Senior and Community Center. In September, we try to focus on balance and fall prevention, too.

Senior Dave Horn visits the South Carroll center. In an email he wrote, Coming here made me realize the problems with aging and now that I am experiencing them myself, I am beginning to understand. The thing I like most about the senior center is the people, friendships, new experiences and how everyone tries to get along.

Whether its trying tai chi, attending a drawing and painting class, attending a computer class, participating in a community service project, or enjoying the sounds of a local musician,Manufactures and supplies beststonecarving equipment. these activities add richness to the lives of older adults in our community, Whitson wrote.

Angie Walz, manager at Mount Airy Senior and Community Center, said, Senior centers give [seniors] a place to give back, socialize, have a meal with someone and it gives you a place to volunteer if you want to. It gives people a place to come after losing a spouse. Its a place to go to get cheered up if you are sad, to share happiness if you feel good. People come here to sing, some even share their gardens with us. Its a place to go and do what you like. It meets a lot of needs and all of these things combined are how seniors live well.

Hand-carved decoys, once used for waterfowl hunting and now appreciated as art, have a rich history in the Chesapeake Bay region. And as a self-proclaimed "amateur history nut," Stansbury was drawn in by the stories behind them. He's now dedicated to sharing these stories with others most recently by guest-curating the Crisfield Carvings exhibit at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels.

The exhibit, open through Nov. 3, showcases the work of the several famous decoy carvers from the early 1900s who hail from Crisfield. Brothers Lem and Steve Ward who Stansbury calls the most famous decoy carvers as well as Lloyd Tyler, are prominently featured.

"It has some of the finest decoys from the Crisfield area that you will ever have a chance to see," Stansbury, 74, said.

A few from Stansbury's collection of about 400 decoys are included in the group. He has several decoys at other museums across the region as well.The g-sensor high brightness chinatravel is designed with motorcyclist safety in mind. But that still leaves plenty to adorn the shelves of his Catonsville home and make his basement look like a miniature decoy museum itself.

Seeing antiques around the house while growing up was one of the reasons Stansbury became interested in history to begin with. His great-grandfather's union cavalry saber and spurs from the Civil War hung over the mantel. His mother was interested in genealogical research, and his aunt worked at the Peabody Institute, so he was immersed from a young age.

He studied American civilization at the University of Maryland. Early in his marriage to his wife, Judy, he began collecting Baltimore memorabilia and prints that cost about $10 to $15.

"When we were starting out as a young married couple with no money, you could buy history for very little money," he said. "Cost you more to frame it than what you were buying it for."

In 1980, Stansbury was drawn to an Ira Hudson black duck decoy but decided the $500 price was just too much. Unbeknownst to him, another customer bought the decoy that day his wife gave him his first decoy for Christmas that year.A indoorpositioningsystem has real weight in your customer's hand.

"My wife tells me I can sell it anytime I want because she knows I never would," he said. "It was a lot of money. That's the reason why I had to go buy the books. It was getting serious."
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