Drinks on the Driveway and the Revolutionary War

Can you guess what this picture is? If you attended the presentation by Mike Ptak on June 30 on “The Soldier in The War for Independence,” you know the answer.

Wanted: Outstanding pool etiquette and pool sanitary behavior

We are thoroughly entrenched in the “dog days of summer,” having already received multiple warnings about too much sun and too many biting disease-bearing ticks. Concerning our indoor and outdoor pools, Sun City/Huntley’s seniors should have been taught by now how to enter our community’s swimming lanes using notification of their presence as a form of safe and proper etiquette.

National Night Out

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign started 34 years ago by National Association of Town Watch (NATW) that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.

One family, nearly a century of combined military service

The Mathis family lived in North Dakota. There were seven boys and four girls. All seven boys enlisted in the U.S. Military service. I hope you will enjoy reading about their lives in the service of our country as much as I did writing about it.

Sewing their appreciation

American veterans have been honored in many ways over the years – in parades, holiday celebrations, church services, city hall ceremonies, and just by someone coming up to them and saying “thank you for your service.” A lot of the attention and honor comes on Veterans Day, November 11, formerly called Armistice Day.

But today, a new method of recognition has emerged – and it’s even making some of the vets cry.

Top your pizza with probiotics?

You may expect more bugs in your food this summer! Though in the recent past, you might have only found probiotics in your yogurt, now food companies are adding the digestive and immune system helpers to granola, juices, baking mixes, and even pizza and water!

7-0 vote converts two tennis courts to pickleball courts, controversy arises

For the past several years, the Sun City Tennis and Pickleball clubs have shared playing courts at the Tall Oaks Tennis Center. Schedules and court availability have been negotiated by leaders of both clubs.

All of that is about to change, however.

Heart to heart

Margitta (Kitty) Rizzo and her granddaughter, Maddy Popp, share a certain kind of heart: a caring one.

This time, it’s Popp who is in the spotlight.

These frustrating situations have a plethora of causes, too. These include bad drug reactions, depression, inadequate diet, consuming too much alcohol, blood clots or tumors in the brain, head injuries, and thyroid, kidney, or liver problems, as well as vascular dementia.

Southern fried comedy

In the small Texas town of Sweetgum, poor Gaynelle has just “accidentally” crashed her minivan through the bedroom wall of her husband’s girlfriend’s doublewide, and now Gaynelle is one frazzled nerve away from a spectacular meltdown. Her cousins, Peaches, the number-one mortuarial cosmetologist in the tri-county area, and Jimmie Wyvette, a rough-around-the-edges store manager of Whatley’s Western Wear, have problems of their own to deal with. But the three Verdeen cousins have committed to throwing their family reunion, and it’s too late to back out now.

Wrapped in appreciation

If you served in the military or lived in America’s Vietnam era, you probably remember the controversy, hostility, demonstrations, and even violence that occurred.

Homecomings for servicemen were often difficult. Returning veterans got chilly, sometimes hostile receptions, not thank yous.

10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

An estimated 500,000 Americans will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) this year alone. At present, brightfocus.org/ADR explains that AD “is (now) the only disease among the top 10 causes of death in America (including cancer and heart disease) that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed.” Therefore, it behooves Sun Citians to understand the warning signs of the dreaded disease as found at alz.org/10 signs.

Sun City Pilot Honored with Prestigious Wright Brothers Award

Steven Seaman enlisted for the United States Air Force straight out of high school, before he had ever even taken a plane ride. It was 1965, and Seaman remembers boarding the plane that would take him to bootcamp.

“I thought to myself, ‘This is pretty neat, these airplane things,’” he said. “I remember the sound of the gears and the flaps coming up.”

A Duck Tail

As spring begins, mother Mallard ducks lay eggs in parks, planters, and other usual spots.

This year, Sun City resident Gilberto Raffanti and his dog, Basil, discovered a duck nest with six eggs in their own back yard. That discovery was the beginning of an adventure that dominated Raffanti’s life for almost a month.

Sew ‘N Sews irons out equipment questions

Sometimes, good things happen in the most unexpected ways. Just ask Sun City’s Sew ‘n Sews Charter Club.

Slowing down Alzheimer’s

As we age, our brains tend to develop memory loss and daily life cognitive difficulties. Did you know that 5.5 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of senior mental decline or dementia? Today Alzheimer’s accounts for 60 to 80 percent of Americans’ progressive loss in thinking, memory, and behavior.

Box Tops effort met with success

The “Box Tops for Bill” fund-raising effort in Sun City this past spring was unique and successful.

Waterfall finally restored

After a six-month repair job and the spending of more than $580,000, the rear waterfalls feature behind Prairie Lodge was reopened on June 2.

Theatre Company donates to Food Pantry

Theatre Company members presented Mary Hardy a $200 check for the Grafton Food Pantry.

Was Kilroy here?

Gather ’round, Sun Citians, and I’ll tell you a tale from World War II.

If you were a GI in the early forties, you no doubt remember one of the war’s most famous phrases – Kilroy Was Here. On this 46th anniversary of Memorial Day, let us reminisce a little.

OLD’S COOL to rock at Trio Grill this Sunday

The snowbirds are back, and it’s time to rock once again!

Route 47 corridor continues expansion

Huntley’s Route 47 corridor continues to be a popular place for developers and businesses.

Two projects – a Panera Bread restaurant and a luxury senior apartments facility – are in various stages of review by village officials.

New policies affect which positions CAM Board members can hold

At the Sun City Association board workshop on May 10, the agenda topics were concealed weapon carry rules, election candidate guidelines, tennis courts resurfacing, and Wildflower Lake’s shoreline.

Setting the avocado record straight

A tropical fruit that grows on trees, native to South America and dating back to Inca Indian times, the avocado requires a tropical climate for growth. If temperatures fall below freezing for only one day, its tree will die. As a result, U.S. avocados are grown in the states of California and Florida.

Ask an Angel: June 1, 2017

How is dementia different from Alzheimer’s? Aren’t they the same thing?

Belle Aire

Just how brutal is war? Consider this: you report for combat duty in the army air corps in 1942, and you’re told 82% of you won’t make it back.

Clarence “Bill” Winchell and 10 of his crew mates beat those odds and came home to tell their harrowing World War II stories when they flew on the legendary “Memphis Belle” B-17F bomber in Europe. Even their plane survived, although it absorbed a few machine gun and flak shells.

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