Grand Portage Elders have enjoyed powwows and traveling the county in recent weeks. The Elders enjoyed the dedication of the Mount Josephine Wayside Rest on Friday, May 18. They also enjoyed meeting Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council Treasurer April McCormick’s baby boy.
The Elders have been enjoying spring. We kicked off the season with a Medicine Talk with the new pharmacist, Bob Sample. He provided the Elders with a wonderful chili meal and spent time with everyone answering any questions they had. The clinic staff assisted with this and we all learned a lot about the new medications for pain management for arthritis. Doris Blank and Betty Hoffman each won a prize for the oldest medication or the most medication.
Many Elders were able to attend the Easter breakfast and egg hunt at the Community Center with their families. We had fun watching the excited children gather eggs and enjoyed a delicious meal. We held our last Mini Pow-Wow of the season. There was good food, lively dancers and talented drummers. It has been a privilege to watch the young men as they grew and became better dancers and drummers. They all are wonderful representatives of the Grand Portage community. Best wishes for a great Powwow season.
May was “Older Americans” month and we kicked it off with a membership drive for Sons of the Legion. The month offered more educational opportunities— Marjori Bottila, the Medicare Specialist from ARDC and Senior Linkage Line gave a presentation on Medicare & Scams.
On Saturday, May 7, a bus of Elders traveled to Grand Marais to attend the Navigating Choices as We Age health care conference. We learned a lot from the panel presentations about how to be informed health care consumers and how to stay in our homes as we age. We especially enjoyed Dr. Barry Baines’ presentation about Ethical Wills and Leaving a Legacy. The ENP purchased books and how-to guides to create our own wills and legacies. Anyone interested can sign these out.
We had a delicious lunch at the Angry Trout, visited our friends in the Care Center, stopped for a Dairy Queen and ended with a stop at the post office before getting home.
We want to say a Chi Miigwech to the Reservation Tribal Council and community for hosting a wonderful Elder’s Pow-Wow. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and appreciate the nice cup and rice given out this year. Miigwech to Marlene Allard for the delicious meal and all the volunteers and the Community Center staff for honoring us.
Several Elders were able to attend the dedication for the wayside rest area on Mount Josephine. We had a great time and appreciate the improvements to the area for those of us who are handicapped. This is the most beautiful viewing area on the North Shore and it is wonderful that more people will be able to enjoy it.
We also stopped afterward to support our Legion by buying delicious walleye sandwiches and brats. We hope they had a profitable fundraiser.
I wanted to remind those Elders who receive federal benefits by paper check that they will be required to switch to electronic payments starting March 1, 2013. You must designate a bank or credit union account for these payments. Should you choose not to designate one you will receive a Direct Express Debit Master Card. The federal government finds that this is safer, cheaper and more convenient for people. If you don’t already have a bank account or are not sure you can get a bank account you might want to try a Treasury-sponsored ETA account. For more information you can call toll-free 1-800-333-1795 or contact your local Social Security Administration or Veterans Affairs Officer. For on-line help, visit www.fms.treas.gov.
June will be a full month starting with lunch for our reading volunteers with the school children June 6; Kids Day June 9; the Wisdom Steps Conference June 12-14 and the Community Health Fair June 16. All Elders are welcome to volunteer for Kids Day or the Health Fair. For more information or to sign up please see Patty or call her at 475-2002.
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