Newsletter March/April 2020
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Skyline Village’s Town Hall on Pedestrian Safety on a blustery cold February night brought out a hardy panel moderated by State Rep. Lamont Robinson with Alderman Brian Hopkins, Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR) President Deborah Gershbein, Dr. Mamta Swaroop, Trauma Surgeon from Northwestern Medicine, and Phyllis Mitzen, Skyline President.
Each panelist presented compelling evidence on why we need to turn our attention to protecting pedestrians on North Michigan Avenue, the third highest crash corridor in the city.
State Rep. Kam Buckner and State Sen. Rob Peters showed their support by attending and talking to constituents.
Phyllis Mitzen told her story about being knocked down and badly injured by a turning delivery truck while crossing Michigan Avenue at Delaware on a sunny June day with a green light, in the crosswalk. Alderman Brian Hopkins pointed to the elephant in the room—the need to change the auto culture to one of sharing the road with pedestrians. Hopkins said that crashes are not accidents. They are preventable with education and infrastructure changes. Chicago’s Vision Zero plan is to achieve zero crashes by 2026.
Alderman Hopkins called on David Smith from the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) to discuss Chicago's progress and plans to achieve the Vision Zero goal. Dr. Swaroop told the audience that the trauma center had treated crash victims on each of the past three days, and that the hospital has begun to collect data on the crash victims who end up in the Emergency Room. Debbie Gershbein told us about SOAR’s efforts to protect pedestrian safety, pointing to SOAR’s success in preventing electric scooters in North Michigan Avenue neighborhoods.
Skyline Village has long advocated for lengthening the time of east-west crossing lights on Michigan Avenue. CDOT did not commit to that (yet!) but they indicated a change was coming at Michigan and Delaware to slow the auto traffic down. We hope to see this by the beginning of summer.
Among the nearly 20 sponsors attending to support this effort was AARP, Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council, Active Transportation Alliance, Northwestern Medicine, Rush Generations, the Center for Life and Learning, and Rush University Hospital.
Next steps are to follow up with CDOT on their plans for Michigan Avenue, participate on CDOT’s Vision Zero task force and SOAR’s Traffic Safety Task Force, and partner with Active Transportation Alliance to promote pedestrian safety.
Cheers,
Skyline Village Chicago Board
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Top Left: Phyllis Mitzen, Skyline Village Chicago
Top Right, Ald. Brian Hoplins, Ward 2
Middle Left: Deborah Gershbein, SOAR
Middle Right: Dave Smith, CDOT
Top/Botton: Townhall
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In Memory of Susan Nathanson, PhD
Susan Nathanson, a Founding Member and former member of the Board of Directors of Skyline Village Chicago, died in November 2019 after a long illness. Susan was a force of nature, always striving to make the lives of people better.
She received her PhD in Speech Pathology from Northwestern University. She went on to run the Maternal and Children’s Health Clinics of the Chicago Department of Public Health as well as their speech and hearing program; she became Chief Operating Officer for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services, the outpatient clinics of Cook County Hospital.
In the 1970s, Susan and her cousin Mari Terman were concerned about the small number of women executives in health care and helped found the Women Health Executives Network (WHEN). She was President of the WHEN Board of Directors for several years and mentored hundreds of women enabling them to rise to executive positions. The formation of WHEN was part of a national movement to promote qualified women to more visible positions in health care. Indeed, the last executive she helped was during the last year of her illness.
Susan did the first speech pathology survey in Ontario making public in her report that rather than getting good dental care poor children had their teeth pulled and were given false teeth at a young age. She also did research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
She was a true pioneer for women in health and ambulatory care. She was a co-founder and for several years President of the Board of the Society for Ambulatory Care Professionals. Susan was on the Planned Parenthood Board for 20 years and President of the board for two years. On her watch all Illinois Planned Parenthood programs were consolidated into one statewide organization, and she opened a new state-of-the-art clinic in Austin.
She served as Director of the Division of Ambulatory Care at the American Hospital Association. And she was an adjunct professor at Northwestern Hospital’s dental school. She was a natural organizational leader who knew how to identify good people to work for her, provide them with the resources for success, and then stay out of their way. Most of her career was in government and non-profits.
Her last job was at Burson-Marsteller where she was initially baffled by their goals. But she soon told her beloved husband Michael, “I finally figured it out—it’s all about the money.” After working her whole life to help others, working with a for-profit advertising agency was a dramatic change.
When Susan came to our first planning meeting for Skyline Village Chicago, then known as the Aging Issues Committee of SOAR, she brought her wonderful connections at Northwestern and creative ideas for programs as well as her organizing skills. She was a leader and a visionary, optimistic, creative, and brilliant. Her memory and legacy are blessings for all of us.
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Join Skyline Village Chicago
Annual Dues $75 per individual, $100 per couple
Mail check: Skyline Village Chicago, PO Box 81334, Chicago, IL 60681
Our 501C3 status affords members tax deductions to the extent allowed by law.
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4th Annual Villages Dining Together
Wednesday, March 18
4:30pm - 7:00pm
The Walnut Room at Macy's on State
Seventh Floor
111 North State Street, Chicago
Walnut Room Prix Fix Dining Menu - $35.00, including 18% Gratuity
Payment and choice of entrée is required at the time of registration.
First Course
• Walnut Room Salad with signature toasted sesame dressing
Second Course
Choice of one of the following entrées:
▪ Mrs. Herring’s 1890 Original Chicken Pot Pie
▪ Caramelized Salmon
▪ Butternut Squash Tortellacci Pasta (Vegetarian)
Coffee, Tea, and Soft Drink Service included
Cheesy Garlic Bread Service included
Alcoholic Beverages and Dessert are optional.
Wine by the bottle is half price on Wednesday evenings.
Beer, cocktails and dessert can be ordered separately.
You will receive an individual check for alcoholic beverages and dessert at the end of the evening, including 11.5% Tax and 18% Gratuity.
Payment only by cash or credit card
Prepaid reservation is required. No walk-ins please
Reservations open through Wed., March 11 at 12:00pm. No cancellations after close date.
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Skyline Women's Salon
(Typically meets the second Tuesday of the month)
SVC members gather in conversation monthly to increase their awareness of cultural and societal
notions on aging.
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March Salon
March 10
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Address:
TBD
Host:
TBD
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April Salon
April 14
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Address:
TBD
Host:
TBD
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SVC's Friday Forum
(Last Friday of the month)
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Mity Nice Grill
835 N. Michigan Avenue, Mezzanine
Dutch Treat Lunch
$5 room fee payable at event.
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Friday, March 27
AARP: The Census: Why is It Important?
By April 1, 2020, every home will have received an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. You will have three options for responding: Online, by phone, and by mail. Join us on March 27 as representatives from the Census Bureau will be available to answer your questions.
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Friday, April 24
Speaking for the Dying: Life-and-Death Decisions in Intensive Care
Susan Shapiro's book shines a bright light on a role few of us will escape and offers steps that patients and loved ones, health care providers, lawyers and policymakers should consider before it is too late.
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May 29
Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater (Tentative)
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Author Mark Larson explores the story of the Chicago theater movement from 1953 to the present, almost exclusively in first-person accounts. Larson draws
on audio clips from interviews with some of those who have played a crucial role in making Chicago theater so powerful, influential and unique.
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June 26
Alliance for the Great Lakes
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What’s Happening to the Lake? Erosion, Invasive species, plastic, climate change. How can we help keep Lake Michigan healthy?
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26th Annual Alzheimers Day
Thursday, May 14
11:30am - 4:15pm
Northwestern Memorial, Feinberg Pavilion
251 E. Huron, 3rd floor Conference Room
Northwestern Alzheimer Day was established to showcase Alzheimer’s research conducted throughout Northwestern and to bring this information to the community.
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Center for Life and Learning and Skyline Village Chicago Present
Empower: Medication Safety for Older Adults
Monday April 27
11:30am - 12:30pm
126 E. Chestnut, Room 4G
Presenter: Nina Henry, LCPC, CADC, Addiction Specialist
Many older adults take multiple medications on a regular basis. it is critically important to understand how to use these commonly prescribed medications safely in order to avoid unintentional misuse.
This workshop provides senior care workers, adult children with aging parents, and older adults themselves with information to help identify signs of medication misuse, recognize how medications and alcohol interact, and gather tips for using prescribed medications safely and effectively.
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Sounds Good! Choir
Spring Session
Mondays beginning January 27, 12:00pm - 1:30pm
The Clare, 55 E. Pearson
Rehearsals are Monday, 12:00pm-1:30pm
The Spring session concludes with a free performance on Thursday, May 14, 2020 at Fourth Presbyterian Church. All are welcome. No auditions. Join the choir!
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Spring Session
Tuesdays
10:00am - 11:30am
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Gratz Center
126 E. Chestnut
Choir members include people with memory loss, their care partners, and volunteers. No musical experience or training is needed.
Spring Concert - Combined Choirs
May 12
12:00pm
Fourth Presbyterian Church Buchanan Chapel
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Our Community Partners
The Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy
Website
Beth Finke MasterTeachers™:
Website
Center for Life and Learning 4th Presbyterian Church:
Brochure
Rush Generations Center for Excellence in Aging:
Website
Sounds Good/Good Memories Choirs:
Website
Streeterville Organization for Active Residents:
SOAR
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Volunteer
- Sign up to help an SVC member home from the doctor, dentist or hospital.
- Contact us if YOU need an SVC member to help you home from the doctor, dentist or hospital.
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SVC's Friday Forum
Follow-ups
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January Friday Forum
Louise Kiernan, editor-in-chief of ProPublica Illinois
ProPublica Illinois was founded in 2017. With
a team
of 12 reporters, editors and technologists, ProPublica pursues stories that hold powerful institutions to account, from politics to government to business. It is led by editor-in-chief
Louise Kiernan
,
a former editor and reporter at the Chicago Tribune who most recently served as an associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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February Friday Forum
League of Women Voters: 2020 Election:
Be An
Informed Voter
The Illinois’ Primary is March 17. Who’s on the ballot? How can I get an absentee ballot? Where is Early Voting? Pat Wilder and Tana Durnbaugh,
Chicago Voters Services Committee, League of Women Voters Chicago answered all our questions at the February Friday Forum.
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SVC Advocacy
Making Our City More Livable
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All-Ages/All-Abilities Park Equipment.
Skyline has long advocated for adult playground equipment in East Lake Shore Park to provide intergenerational interaction at play.
The Lake Shore Park Advisory Committee has said it is possible that adult playground equipment will be available in the park by Summer 2020. We’ll be meeting with officials from the Park District this winter and will keep you posted.
Pedestrian Safety Project
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A Chicago research study indicates that older and slower pedestrians have a higher likelihood of being injured on Michigan Avenue from Chicago Avenue to Oak Street. "
Vision Zero Chicago”
is a 2018 city traffic plan with a guiding principle to put pedestrians first. Skyline Village is planning a community forum for early 2020 to learn what pedestrian safety plans the city has for North Michigan Avenue. We all have the right to walk safely on city streets. We are committed to advocating for lengthening the east-west traffic lights as a first step in making pedestrians the top priority in our neighborhood.
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Safer Streets Campaign Training!
Saturday, March 14
11:00am 2:00pm
Active Trans 35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 1782, Chicago, IL 60601
Lunch will be provided.
The Active Transportation Alliance advocacy team will guide you through the following:
- Defining your goal
- Identifying who can help make your street safer for people walking and biking
- Building your base of support
- Assessing your capacity
- Planning your tactics
Once a goal is established, we will help you craft an action plan to build support for a safer street.
Along with teaching you how to build the power and the political will to support your goals, we’ll also discuss Active Trans’ plans to advocate for a
$20 million dollar Safe Streets Fund
to help fund safer street design throughout Chicago.
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Master Plan on Aging
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom announced in his State of the State address in February their Master Plan on Aging. The plan will encompass every sector of state government. In her role as Chair of the Illinois Council on Aging Phyllis is advocating for the development of a Master Plan for Illinois, which includes promoting Age Friendly and Livable Cities, Towns, and Villages throughout Illinois.
CAPS and Beat Meetings
Y
ou can take an active role in helping the Chicago Police Department prevent crime in your neighborhood by attending your police district's Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meetings.
The 18th District serves residents East of the River and South of Fullerton, Lincoln Park, Old Town, River North, Gold Coast, and Streeterville. Beats in our area are 1831, 1832, 1833 and 1834.
Click here
to confirm/identify your District and Beat.
Beats 1834 and 1833 meetings are held on the first Thursday of every odd-numbered month. Beat 1834, serving Streeterville south of Superior, and Beat 1833, serving Streeterville north of Superior, meet at 6:00 pm on the first Thursday of every odd-numbered month at Access Living, 115 W. Chicago.
If you need assistance from the Police Department, Fire Department, or an ambulance, call 911 immediately.
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We would love to hear about your travels. Snowbird adventure to get away from winter? Other recent travels? Please send an article along with a few pictures. When you attach the pictures to an email, and your computer asks for small/medium/large, choose large. Send your articles and pictures for the May/June issue by the week of April 20th to
judy.karlov@gmail.com.
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Travels in the South
By Lenore Holt Darcy
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When we think of the southern states we may think of swampland, rural areas and live oaks as pictured below in Louisiana and Mississippi.
At this time of year, many people celebrate Mardi Gras, traditionally accompanied by a king cake.
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I Never Sang in a Choir Before
By Regan Burke
Never. Not ever.
When Karen Ross handed me the songbook at the first rehearsal, I was hesitant to take it. I wondered aloud whether I’d remember to bring it with me every week. To be honest, I wasn't even sure I'd remember that rehearsals were every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m.
My own memory loss has been gradual. I’m in good company though—my friends and I laugh when none of us remember the name of the movie we just saw. But when I started losing my way in airports and receiving bizarre Chinese packages I barely remembered ordering, I knew it was time to call the Neurology Department at Northwestern.
In order to make an appointment, I had to talk to an intake person. They said they'd call me back to set up an appointment. I missed the call. I called them back. They called me. I missed that call. That simple ordeal set me off—I felt like I was racing against the clock.
I consulted Dr. Google.
One or two clicks, and Bingo! Mayo Clinic says cognitive decline is a normal part of aging. It described me to a “T”. They said you can slow it down by learning something new. I clicked to an article that said singing might even heal the brain.
Just about that time, Phyllis Mitzen told me about the Good Memories Choir. Ashamed to admit my Google-based self-diagnosis of cognitive decline, I signed up as a volunteer.
At my first rehearsal, people asked me what “part” I sang. Part? I had no idea. I love to sing, but I don’t, or rather I didn’t, know a thing about music. I only knew how to sing the melody. At rehearsals, the singing was running ahead of me—I couldn’t catch the words. This was no sing-along.
Alice Dolan sat next to me in the last row of the soprano section and pointed out which lines were the soprano notes. She brought me a highlighter to mark the words and told me to sing the notes with the stems pointing up. Jonathan Miller has taught me what mezzo piano and fermata mean (hold the note). I was learning a new language.
At that first rehearsal, I wasn't sure where -- or even if --I fit. Eventually I nailed the lyrics to the page and learned to follow the notes. I’ve been in the choir for over a year now. I’m still not sure whether rehearsal is at 10:00 or 10:30. But I show up on the right day each week. And I never forget my songbook.
Good Memories is a choir of people with early-stage memory loss, their care partners and volunteers. Read more about it here:
www.soundsgoodchoir.org
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My Favorite Thing:
Movement Revolution
By Judy Karlov
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As we age, our bodies need training by people knowledgeable not only about exercise, but who also have the knowledge to adapt movement to our increasing physical limitations. Several years ago I was lucky enough to work with a trainer at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (predecessor to Shirley Ryan Ability Lab) who amply fit that description. Working with Eric Johnson was and remains one of my favorite things.
A few years passed, and with several relevant degrees under his belt, Eric founded Movement Revolution, a company that specializes in therapeutic exercise for medical conditions. When I saw him recently, I was excited to learn that the company has now assembled an expert team of over 8 medical exercise professionals and has expanded from Deerfield headquarters to Streeterville, where teaching is done in the studio and offered as an in-home service. You can reach the office at 312-465-3921.
Movement Revolution was established in 2013 by Eric Johnson, CEO, with a mission to empower people with neurological conditions and other complex medical conditions to live stronger everyday through specialized health and wellness programs. Each program is centered on positivity, health and functional wellness.
Movement Revolution's team of Neuro Exercise Specialists have a passion for what they do and are the roots of the organization. Their knowledge, compassion, and vigor are the drivers of a fun, positive, empowering client experience. Specialists collaborate with other experts on the client’s team so that exercise is coordinated with education, social engagement, diet and various therapies.
The complexity of how each client is impacted by their diagnosis can be dynamic and highly variable which is why Movement Revolution specializes in building tailored wellness plans for each client. The foundation of any exercise program begins with a comprehensive neuro-intensive evaluation that assesses balance, mobility, gait, strength, quality of life; then a goal setting session where wellness goals are established based upon these results and functional objectives.
Programs span the spectrum from one-on-one personalized training, small group symptom-specific training, and larger group classes.
Expertise:
· Parkinson’s Disease
· Multiple Systems Atrophy
· Stroke
· Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
· Multiple Sclerosis
· Lewy Body Dementia
· Brain Injury
· Spinal Cord Injury
· Other Medical Conditions
· Orthopedic and Arthritic Conditions
Programs:
· Neuro Intensive Assessment
· 1:1 Individualized Training
· Small Group Programs
- Vim & Vigor: Cardiovascular ConditioningVoltage: Parkinson’s Performance Training
- Align: Postural Strength and Stability
· Larger Group Programs
- Neuro Fight Club and Rock Steady Boxing Windy City (for Parkinson’s Disease)
- Falls Prevention
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Join Skyline Village Chicago
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New Members
Roberta Cohen
Marcia Dillon
Darcy Evon
Judith Haan
Brian Hopkins
Linda Marshall and Jesse Scott
Susan Quaintance
Judith Smith
Steven & Randi Wine
Jeanne Zasadil
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Renewing Members
Nina Appel
Alissa Ballot
Penelope Bingham
Guilla Guidotti
Judy Karlov
Beth Najberg
Pamela Passis
Anna Rappaport
Gay Roberts
Dan & Danielle Roberts
Bina Sanghavi
Valerie Yaffe
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Annual Dues:
$75 Individual, $100 Couple
Send a check to:
Skyline Village Chicago, P.O. Box 81334, Chicago, IL 60681
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Your Guide to Voting in the 2020 Primaries
The Importance of the 2020 Census to Older Americans
Census Scams
How the Montessori Method Works in Dementia Care
NPR's All Things Considered: "How Some Are Teaching Seniors to Spot Fake News
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Fill out your CENSUS Form
You will receive a postcard by April 1, 2020 directing you to fill out the census online.
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Do you have something you'd like to share with your Skyline Village friends in the next newsletter? A news story, a poem, blog, piece of art, photo, a Favorite Thing, a quote? We'd love to include you in an upcoming newsletter and the website.
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The Skyline Village Chicago community of older adults engages
in cultural, educational and social programs. We are active, informed
and connected advocates within our unique, vibrant high-rise neighborhoods.
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Copyright © 2020 All Rights Reserved
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