Are you thinking about an Independent Living lifestyle outside of your own home? One where you no longer need to cook, take care of the water heater, leaky roof, or overgrown yard? Or perhaps you are just looking for a retirement living environment that provides more social interaction, and the opportunity to develop new friendships.
On Thursday May 2, from 12 noon to 2pm, Cypress Place Independent Living in Ventura will be offering a free Lunch & Learn presentation to discuss the Independent Living lifestyle.
Come discover what retirement living is all about – and when to know it is the right time to move. Experience a Cypress Place Senior Living chef prepared healthy buffet. Enjoy exploring the options available to active seniors not ready for assisted living, but ready to enjoy an enhanced, vibrant lifestyle outside of their own home.
Lunch is free, but space is limited, so please call 805-650-8000 to rsvp.
Cypress Place Independent Living is at 1220 Cypress Point Lane, Ventura. To learn more about Cypress Place Senior Living of Ventura, visit their web site at www.cypressplaceseniorliving.com.
On March 5, 2019, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report designed to identify innovations with the potential to improve the lives of older adults and persons living with disabilities. The report, Emerging Technologies to Support an Aging Population, was drafted by experts convened by the National Science and Technology Council from across the Federal government—including NIA. The expert panel was co-chaired by NIA’s Dr. Nina Silverberg and Dr. Michele Grimm of the National Science Foundation.
The report outlines six key areas in which technology can support continued independence for aging Americans and identifies research and development needs to make these innovations a reality. These are:
Key activities of independent living, including technologies to support good nutrition, hygiene, and medication management.
Cognitive skills, including technologies to help older adults monitor changes in their cognition and technology-based systems to help older adults maintain financial security.
Communication and social connectivity, including video calling and other technologies that connect older adults and far-away friends and relatives.
Personal mobility, including technologies to help people move safely and easily throughout their homes and communities.
Access to transportation, including vehicle modification and supports to help older adults more easily and safely access public transportation.
Access to healthcare, including technologies to align and coordinate care.
In addition to the six areas above, the report identifies cross-cutting themes that are critical to ensuring new technologies are widely adopted by the older adult population, including intuitive design, user-friendly interfaces, and strong privacy and security infrastructure.
The report is designed to serve as a guide to the public and private research and development sectors to ensure that older Americans benefit from technological advances we’re making today and will continue to make in the future.
Hi Scamp Club: I’m Bo and I’d like to be a member of your club. I’m a 5-year-old Havanese dog, originally from Cuba. I love to run at the beach and in the park. I’m not very well behaved when I see big dogs – I think I’m bigger than them. My Mom is taking me to doggie school so I’ll learn to be more behaved. Wish her luck! I hate it when people stare at me when I’m trying to read the Breeze pet page.
Donald Knapp with his wife of 77 years, Evelyn Knapp. Evelyn wrote to Donald every single day that he was in combat.
by Maryssa Rillo
Donald Knapp, a Ventura local who served as a tank commander in World War II, celebrated his 100th birthday on Sunday, April 20th, 2019.
Knapp served in the military for three years and was in combat for 11 months during World War II. At first, Knapp tried to avoid combat, but was unable to do so and was called to be a gunner.
“I went on to Fort Knox and I was supposed to be the radio man back at headquarters, stay out of combat, but it turned out some of the gunners didn’t physically make it,” Knapp said. “They said, ‘you are now the gunner in Montoya’s tank.’”
Knapp then went overseas to fight in combat against the Germans. On July 11th, 1944, when trying to take Hill 122 from the enemy, Knapp barely escaped death.
“Our lieutenant decided he would go without the infantry, which you need to get out in front to see what’s happening. Four of the five tanks I was in got knocked out, whoops. But we had a little mechanical trouble and missed the last part, so I survived,” Knapp said.
Once Knapp returned to the states, he went back to being what they called a “shack rat.” This meant he would go into town every night to see his wife. The army again had different plans for Knapp and assigned him as a tank commander. Without any previous experience, Knapp was forced to learn on the job.
“Well you know there’s people shooting at ya. I determined that our tanks were not as good as the Germans. They had better fire power and what not. By that time, I was 25 and I was considered a little bit old. I was getting younger kids for my tank and I thought first thing is to protect the kids,” Knapp said.
Knapp was diagnosed with tonsillitis and was sent to the hospital. Though this seemed to be unfortunate, Knapp escaped death once again.
“They sent me back to the hospital to bring my temperature down and all that. Meanwhile, someone took over my tank. That tank got knocked off and the tank commander got killed. That should have been me,” Knapp said. “Some of the guys said, ‘Don Knapp got out of it again.’”
At one point, Knapp was an in area called Mairy, which was further into France. While on guard one night, the Germans shot up their headquarters. Knapp said they took evasive action and while on a hill the tank next to him was shot with an armor piercing from a German Panther. Knapp immediately got his crew out of there.
“We evaded action and we were waiting on the side of the road. Here came a Panther tank right on the side of us and our armor would not pierce the front of that tank, but we could catch it from the side. So, we all nailed them. It felt good that we got a superior tank out,” Knapp said.
Knapp said that fighting in combat changed him and he returned from war not the man he used to be.
“You’d see all these malfunctions and you wish it could have been different because I saw a lot of people killed and it always stays with you,” Knapp said.
Knapp said that the secret to living such a long life is “the love of a beautiful woman.”
Knapp said that Evelyn, his wife of 77 years, wrote to him every single day while he was in combat.
“I used to write to him every single day even if it was just a little. Who was doing what, and who I saw,” said Evelyn Knapp.
Evelyn Knapp was able to stay with Donald while he was in Fort Knox but she said that it was hard when he was away.
“I would have to tell you that being together all these years, she made my life,” Donald Knapp said.
Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association has received the award for “Nonprofit of the Year” from the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce. The award selection committee consists of representatives from event sponsors, including Umpqua Bank, CSU: Channel Islands, DCH Auto Group, Kaiser Permanente, Procter & Gamble, SoCal Edison, Spherion and Dignity Health.
Since 1947, Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association has been providing home health, palliative care, hospice, non-medical home care, and grief and bereavement services to Ventura County and the Oxnard community. They provide equitable and inclusive access to home health and hospice services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. In 2018, they provided home health and hospice services to 920 Oxnard residents, 170 of whom received care free-of-charge through our Subsidized Care program.
They have a four star rating on Medicare’s Home Health Compare Website, which is above both the state and national average for home health services. Their Medical Director, Dr. Lanyard Dial, joined in 1986 and established Livingston as Ventura County’s first Medicare Certified Hospice. He holds Certificates of Added Qualifications in both Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The Joint Commission accredits us for adhering to national standards of excellence in home health care.
The 69th annual Community & Business Awards will be held Thursday, April 25 at 6:00 pm at Residence Inn by Marriott/River Ridge. Reservations are required in advance and are $60 per person.
Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association www.lmvna.org.
At the April 16, City Council meeting the council presented the Ventura County Parkinson’s Disease Support Group a proclamation in support of April being “Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month.”
In presenting the honor Mayor Matt LaVere stated “It is my honor to recognize April as National Parkinson’s Awareness Month, as this is a way for communities to come together to bring awareness of the impacts of the disease and those who are living with it in their communities. I offer my sincere thanks to those members of the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group who are so active in supporting those with Parkinson’s in Ventura and who are here tonight to receive this proclamation.”
The award was accepted by Aurora Soriano – Volunteer Advocate; Find a Cure for Parkinson’s Disease, California Parkinson’s Registry, Susan Kline, Founder of the Ventura PD Support Group 23 years ago and Patty Jenkins – Volunteer Coordinator for the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group.
“Thank you so much, Mayor LaVere and City Council Members, it is an honor to be here and receive this proclamation on behalf of our Ventura County Parkinson’s Disease Support Groups. “Every 9 minutes, someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease” said Patty in accepting the proclamation.
She went on to say “The Ventura PD Support Group’s goal is to provide a venue for Parkinson’s patients, their caregivers and families to share unique and common challenges, and also bring in medical and community experts who offer information about innovative treatments and resources to better manage and improve our quality of life. We are 100% volunteer organized and without the help of community supporters like the Ventura Breeze, The Star, and the Lexington, it would be impossible to have our meetings and reach newly diagnosed people who, like us at the beginning, felt lost, confused and alone with this disease.”
by Patty Jenkins – Volunteer Coordinator for the Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group
The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is excited to announce a “Field Trip” on May 8th for our members and our supportive community friends to the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center in Oxnard. Participate in one of their special programs, “Brain Max”, learn about all of the activities and services included at the Oxnard Family Circle as they graciously host our Support Group meeting from 2:30PM to 4:30PM.
We will also be joined by Brenda Birdwell, Ventura County Family Consultant with Coast Caregiver Resources Center (CRCC) and Betty Berry, Senior Advocate and guest columnist with Senior Concerns for the Ventura County Star.
Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Healthcare Center specializes in day time Adult Care, Senior Care, and provide a very special room set-aside just for Veteran’s Care programs and support. Secure and safe environment with various activities and stimulation is a core of the Oxnard Family Circle services. Extended hours are added to provide a respite for caregivers. In 2018 an additional program “Brain Health and Independence for Life” was added for memory stimulation and brain fitness. Every 2nd Saturday of the even month Oxnard Family Circle offers Alzheimer’s cafes called Garden of Memories Cafe. Caregiver Support Groups and Garden of Memories Cafe are open for the public.
The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group welcomes the public along with our members, their care-partners and new friends who find themselves navigating the challenges of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological conditions. Join us at the Oxnard Family Circle Adult Day Health Care Center, 2100 Outlet Drive, Ste 380, in Oxnard.
Reservations are not required. For more information, call Patty at 805-766-6070. The Ventura Parkinson’s Disease Support Group is an independent and volunteer-organized group, not affiliated with or a part of any other organization or group.
The Best Friends Animal Society 2020 calendar cover cuties are Fly, Swim, and Hike! You can get your own calendar by making a membership gift of $25 or more.
Your gift will bring it closer to the day when no cat or dog is killed simply because they don’t have a safe place to call home. And closer to creating a no-kill country by 2025. Working together with shelters, other animal welfare organizations and you, we will save them all.
A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends runs the nation’s largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals, as well as lifesaving programs in collaboration with its nationwide network of members and partners working to Save Them All. For more information and to buy a calendar go to https://support.bestfriends.org.
Canine Adoption and Rescue League (C.A.R.L.) seeks participants, visitors, and of course, dog lovers of all ages for its 22nd Annual Pooch Parade! This event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 5 at Ventura Beach Promenade Park.
In addition to the parade, there will be races, pet-related vendors and displays, food, live music, beer and wine, demos, a silent auction and fun contests. And the Ventura Breeze booth where you can pick up a tennis ball for your pet.
As the benefit’s main fundraiser, the Pooch Parade is a scenic round-trip walk along the Ventura Beach Promenade, starting at 10 a.m. Entry fees are $40 with pre-registration for individuals (ends May 1); $45 the day of event (8:30-9 a.m.), or $50 for dog teams (more than one walker in the group).
Registration forms are available online at poochparade.org. T-shirts will be given to the first 250 entrants.
A Silent Auction featuring hundreds of special items will be held on-site from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Proceeds will help pay for supplies and medical care for dogs and puppies in C.A.R.L.’s Second Chance Program.
C.A.R.L is a non-profit, Ventura County-based organization almost entirely run by volunteers..
Rescued dogs awaiting adoption are boarded at their large Pet Care Center in Santa Paula.
For more information, email [email protected] or visit poochparade.org or carldogs.org.
Christina Sisk, DVM, is the new director of veterinary services at the Humane Society of Ventura County (HSVC). Hired in March, Sisk joins the HSVC team to oversee its low-cost spay and neuter clinic and the general well-being of all the animals in the HSVC’s care, making sure every animal at its shelter in Ojai is properly vaccinated and receiving necessary treatment. Sisk also will provide leadership for the clinic staff, ensure that quality medicine is delivered, and make sure that regulatory compliance of veterinary medicine is practiced. A native of McHenry, Illinois, Sisk attended the University of Illinois, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in animal sciences in 2000 and completed veterinary school in 2004.
The HSVC is focused this year on raising community awareness about its spay and neuter clinic as well as increasing capacity to perform low-cost surgeries. Research has continuously shown that areas with strong spay and neuter programs, along with community support, have dramatically reduced shelter populations.
SPAN Thrift Store is providing $10 spays and neuters for low income cat and dog friends.
First two clinics in May are: Albert H. Soliz Library – El Rio, 2820 Jourdan St., Oxnard, 93036 on Thursday, May 9th, and another one on Thursday, May 23rd at Shiells Park, in the parking lot, located at 649 C St., Fillmore, 93015. Please call to schedule an appointment (805) 584-3823.
May is National BARKE SALE Month! The Canines-N-Kids Foundation (CNK), a nonprofit working to put an end to the cancers kids and man’s best friend both develop, is encouraging youth across the nation to host a BARKE SALE and is providing a tool kit with step-by-step instructions. Using the traditional bake sale model, a BARKE SALE enables anyone to raise awareness and funds for cancer and the development of better medicines and a cure for both by offering tasty pet and people treats.
The Foundation offers a free BARKE SALE kit containing flyers, postcards and a step-by-step instruction guide. Or, for a small fee, there is a new “BARKE SALE in a Box,” a turnkey toolkit which includes everything from the online kit as well as cookie cutters, a poster, recipes, stickers and more. Groups interested in holding a BARKE SALE need to register on the Foundation’s web site—www.CaninesNKids.org—to receive their supplies.
Funds raised through a BARKE SALE will support the Foundation’s work to promote the promising science of comparative oncology – studying and treating spontaneously developing cancer in canine patients when they get sick.
The Canines-N-Kids Foundation is a recognized charitable nonprofit committed to finding a cure to the devastating cancers that canines and children face in common.
Scientists searching for cures to cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other deadly illnesses may soon lose their funding, due to a misguided proposal from Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar.
The proposal would gradually reduce Medicare’s reimbursement rate for advanced drugs administered in hospitals and doctor’s offices by 30 percent. Sec. Azar claims these price controls “will save $17 billion in Medicare drug spending over the next five years.”
Price controls would save the government money, at least initially. But the cuts to research funding would make it much harder for scientists to discover the cures of tomorrow.
Drug research is ludicrously expensive and fraught with pitfalls. Most research projects fail in the lab. And roughly nine in ten experimental drugs that emerge from the lab and enter human trials fail to gain FDA approval. This high failure rate explains why it takes almost $3 billion to develop just one drug.
Unlike most European nations, which impose strict price controls on medicines, the United States has a relatively free market for drugs. The ability to earn a sizeable return on successful drugs explains why a majority of world’s new drugs are invented in America. America’s researchers are currently developing more than 3,000 new medicines.
Price controls would halt this medical progress. They’d make it nearly impossible for research companies to earn a return on their initial investments. As a result, the investors who currently fund drug research would redirect their capital to other business opportunities that offer better returns.
Consider how price controls have wrecked drug development in Europe. In the 1970s, more than 55 percent of all new drugs were developed in Europe. Just 31 percent were developed in America.
Now, those statistics have reversed, largely due to Europe’s ever-stricter price controls, which have made America ever-more attractive for drug researchers. From 2001 to 2010, the United States generated more than half of all new medicines developed globally; Europe accounted for just one-third.
Medical breakthroughs could save patients, and the government, billions of dollars by preventing or curing chronic disease. Approximately 1,500 innovative treatments targeting Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are currently in development. If researchers produced one successful treatment that delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s by five years, the government could save over $200 billion annually by 2050.
American patients have some of the best health outcomes in the world precisely because we’ve avoided the pitfalls of socialist price controls.
Peter J. Pitts, a former FDA Associate Commissioner, is President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris Descartes Medical School.
The Ventura Council for Seniors (VCS), formerly the Ventura Council on Aging, formed in 1975, is designated by the Ventura City Council as the representative organization of all seniors (50 and over) in the City of Ventura. The VCS board is comprised of senior volunteers who reside in the city, along with a non-voting City liaison appointed by the Parks, Recreation, and Community Partnerships Department. This group meets quarterly to consider and gather input on local issues important to seniors. The VCS is responsible for making recommendations on these issues to the Ventura City Council.
Meetings
You are invited to participate in the Ventura Council for Seniors board meetings during the member/public communications segment of our agenda. Your concerns are our agenda!
Meetings are at the Ventura Avenue Adult Center, 550 N. Ventura Ave.
Contact 805-648-3035 or www.cityofventura.ca.gov/vcs for more information.
Or write to:
Ventura Council for Seniors
c/o City of Ventura
501 Poli St.
Ventura, CA 93001
