2016 Editions

Teams across Greater Cleveland will join together to honor those facing Alzheimer’s disease during Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month by participating in The Longest Day on June 20. The sunrise-to-sunset event recognizes the strength, passion and endurance of caregivers and those living with Alzheimer’s disease. Proceeds benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.

Held annually on the summer solstice, The Longest Day symbolizes the seemingly endless journey so many facing Alzheimer’s disease are asked to endure. Participants will complete activities including running, cooking, hiking and playing bridge to help advance Alzheimer’s care, support and research. The Cleveland area has more than 20 teams.

Wayne Heritage of North Olmsted will host his annual bridge tournament, “Memories and Matchpoints” at the Rocky River City Hall on The Longest Day in honor of his wife, Prudence, who is suffering from the disease. This is the third year for the tournament, which raised over $6,500 in 2015 with 120 bridge players from the Cleveland area. Space is still available for anyone interested in joining the tournament.

Al Keim of Mentor is helping to promote Brain Awareness Month by hosting an event on June 18. Al and his family will be hiking in memory of his father, Woody Keim, at the Cleveland Metroparks North Chagrin Reservation. They invite anyone to join them. The “Woody’s Wanderers” goal is $2,000.

To join or support either team, email [email protected] or call 216-342-5606. To start your own team or to learn more about The

Longest Day, visit alz.org/thelongestday. Alzheimer’s is the nation’s sixth leading cause of death. More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including 210,000 in Ohio. The number nationwide is estimated to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts & Figures report.

They offer terrific hiking and biking and nature watching. And as the weather improves, thousands of people turn to Cleveland Metroparks and its eight golf courses for added fun and relaxation.

The courses are convenient, beautifully maintained and a good option for multi-generational enjoyment. The most popular course is Big Met, with 68,995 rounds played in 2015. That was followed by Sleepy Hollow with 63,144 rounds played, Shawnee Hills with 60,735 rounds played and Manakiki with 58,540 rounds played. Others are Little Met, Mastick Woods, Seneca and Washington golf courses.

Lessons, special events, discounted fees, bonus rounds and convenient online tee time booking are all available for Cleveland Metroparks golf courses. Check out your options this summer; go to clevelandmetroparks.com/golf.

Celebrate? No dog does it better than local greeting card personality Dexter McGoogles.

The 6-year-old rescue dachshund lives in Fairview Park with his doggie wife, Chelsea, and their proud owners Roianne and Dan Sevic.

Dexter’s striking blue eyes caught the attention of American Greetings several years ago, landing him a spot on seven greeting cards. He took to modeling naturally, and so far hasn’t let his celebrity go to his head.

Dexter enjoys walks in the park, napping on the couch, eating and making people smile.

What are you celebrating today?

We tend to think of celebrations as big events. Weddings. Fiftieth anniversary parties. The birth of a grandchild.

Nick and Judi on our cover are celebrating one of those milestone events: college graduation. It’s a big deal at any age, but it’s especially impressive doing it later in life with all of the distractions and responsibilities that come with age.

While big celebrations are fun and splashy and certainly joyful, not all celebrations come with an engraved invitation or a party.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the smaller celebrations in life. I try to look for something to celebrate every day. Sure, I’m looking forward to my son’s wedding in September and a nephew’s high school graduation later this month. Yet, it’s the small stuff that keeps me going.

HERE’S WHAT I’M CELEBRATING RIGHT NOW:

• Finding four bird nests in my yard (one unflappable mourning dove, two implacable robins and a sweet wren).

• Improving my eyebrow game. After chemo 4 1/2 years ago, my eyebrows never grew back. It’s taken me a while (and a few hundred dollars in pricey pencils), but I’m finally figuring it out. Some days are better than others (think Groucho Marx). I celebrate the good ones.

• Raising chickens. My neighbor and I ordered 12 chicks that should be arriving by mail (really) around the time this magazine comes out. The coop is under construction. Let me know if you want eggs.

Something else I’ll be celebrating is bike riding season. I have an upright, coaster-style bike with a basket, a bell and a light. I use it to run errands around my small village. From time to time I’ll meet up with my 82-year-old dad, and we’ll ride on the Towpath Trail in Peninsula — definitely a celebration-worthy activity.

The best hike for you is the one you want to do, and that you can do, now.

It may be different for every person, every day, depending on where you’ll be, whom you’ll be hiking with and how much time you have available.

That’s why “60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Cleveland” is useful. Hiking destinations are listed based on location, elevation, scenery, trail surface and accessibility and length. It makes fitting hiking into your schedule — and into the rest of your life — much easier.

I’m a hiking guide author, and people often ask me “What are the best hikes in Northeast Ohio?” Below is my list of five hikes that are best for various circumstances. Find one near you (or near your workplace, or by a friend’s house or a favorite restaurant) that suits you and hit the trail.

BIGGEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK — Blue Hen Falls

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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Past the pretty and picturesque falls (and the blue blazes of the Buckeye Trail) you’ll find a steep descent to Buttermilk Falls — then a good climb back up. Total distance covered is just about 2 miles, but it will feel like a real “getaway.”

Terrain is steep, with loose sand and gravel in places. To hike here, you should be surefooted, and certain that your knees can handle the steep trail.

BEST BET FOR UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER — F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm

Summit County

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The visitor center (closed most Mondays) is as green and inviting as an indoor space can be, so if you have a day to get outside but the weather isn’t cooperating, you’ll find your outdoor fix here. Even when the park’s three hiking trails are too wet to enjoy, you might still be able to traverse the paved paths that wander through an herb garden and arboretum.

Here’s one for you: Remember when the Christmas season started the day after Thanksgiving and ended Jan. 1? My wife, Janice, and I track the first mention of Christmas every year (a Wal-Mart ad on Labor Day this year) and then see how long it takes before every last decoration is taken down. Even so, we love the holiday season and all the memories that come with it.

Local TV and radio gener – ated a lot of those memories. WEWS was the first TV station in Ohio, and its first broadcast in 1947 was the annual Cleveland Press Christmas Show from Public Hall. They brought out the big guns, too. Jimmy Stewart, the star of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” hosted, and word is it was a spectacular show.

A TREE AND A KEY Those were the days when people went to downtown Cleveland for first-run movies, nightlife and shopping; the Christmas season kicked it into high gear. You saw the giant tree at the Sterling-Lindner Davis department store, got lunch in a little toy stove at Higbee’s Silver Grille, and then a visit to the “Keeper of the Keys,” Mr. Jingeling on Halle’s seventh floor.

Starting in the mid ’50s, Halle’s ran a Mr. Jingeling segment on Captain Penny’s show on WEWS every day beginning the day after Thanksgiving and usually ending a day or two before Christmas with an hour-long special.

It was a daily story with Mr. Jingeling and the Play Lady spinning some sort of a tale that involved the latest toy. Remember, this was live TV, and after the show, Max Ellis, Earl Keyes or one of the other actors who played Mr. Jingeling headed back to Halle’s to meet fans and hand out special paper keys.

It was so cool to be a kid in Northeast Ohio back then.

As the holidays approach, people start thinking about making charitable donations. But take care with those well-meaning plans. Each year, crooks use scams to cheat people and to steal millions of dollars intended for charities.

The problem is that these scams are hard to identify. For example, the Federal Trade Commission in May filed a lawsuit against the Cancer Fund of America, the Children’s Cancer Fund of America and the Breast Cancer Society.

These charities, which have existed for years, have raised more than $200 million, yet only about 3 percent of their money went to cancer patients, research or treatment, according to the FTC. The trouble is that when someone gets a phone call from an organization such as the Children’s Cancer Fund of America, it sounds legitimate and well-meaning, so people donate money.

DOORSTEP SCAMS

Some scams are closer to home. A few years ago, a teenager along with an older gentleman, asked local business owners to contribute to a Muscular Dystrophy Association bike ride. In exchange, donors were promised discounted Cedar Point season passes. Instead, the scammers pocketed the cash.

This is a big problem with a solution. Look at the FTC and Ohio Attorney General websites to help identify scams targeting people who want to donate to charities. For example, the FTC recently issued a warning about charity scams in connection with recent floods in Louisiana.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU WANT TO CONTRIBUTE TO CHARITY?

Here are five steps to take to make sure your money goes to the charity you want

1 Research the Charity.

If you are not familiar with the charity you can research it on the FTC website, consumer .ftc.gov. You can also research on the Ohio Attorney General’s website, ohioattorneygeneral.gov, to find charities registered in the state.These websites have links to organizations such as Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and Guide Star, which provide valuable information about charities, including how much they spend on charitable activity versus payroll and other overhead.

QUESTION: Why does my leg hurt and feel numb sometimes? Is this related to my lower back?

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ANSWER: Numbness or tingling sensations in the legs could definitely be related to your back. What you are describing sounds like lumbar spinal stenosis, but it’s important that you have your spine evaluated to determine the exact cause and course of treatment.

Another problem that can cause numbness is neuropathy, which is a complication from diabetes, or peripheral vascular disease. Seeing a spine specialist can help pinpoint the problem.

Stenosis is a medical term simply meaning narrowing, so essentially this is “spine narrowing.” The nerves of the spine are getting pinched as they exit from the spinal canal through the center hole between the bones, which is called the foramen.

This nerve compression can result in sciatic pain that radiates down through your leg. You may also feel a loss of strength and fatigue in the legs as the sciatic nerve is pressed and becomes inflamed and irritated.

Many find that leaning forward may relieve the pressure and stop the pain — this is referred to as the “shopping cart sign.” It’s also common for this type of pain to happen during specific activities, or it can come and go rather than being a constant sensation.

A combination of conditions can lead to spinal stenosis, including facet arthritis and disc degeneration, which occurs in everyone to some extent, through aging. As we get older, the height between the vertebral bodies is decreased, thus reducing the space available for the nerves to exit from the spine. Pinched nerves are a very common occurrence.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

First, have your spine evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon to determine the severity of your condition. Although it is best to start with a surgeon, most cases will be treated non-surgically.