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Seniors for Seniors New committee will be an advocate and voice for issues related to seniors There is a new committee in town, designed to make life a little easier for one of Scugog’s fastest growing groups of residents: senior citizens. “Seniors are probably going to take over the world in a little while, they are increasing rapidly,” chuckles Howard Danson, Councillor for Ward 5, citing that in 2017 there will be more people over 65 in Ontario than in the under-14 age category. It was Howard, along with Scugog councillor Wilma Wotten of Ward 4, who saw the need for a committee designed especially by and for seniors, among the exist- ing roster of council groups. “Basically, we saw all of the committees that were for ibili heritage and that sort of thing, but there was nothing for seniors,” explains Howard. “We thought we should think about setting up a senior’s committee to advise council on senior’s issues, whatever they may be. That “whatever they may be” can be quite a list, Wilma and Howard heard, as they hosted meetings Mailibo Dear Focus... Vertebroplasty relief for back pain To the Editor, Anyone who has a computer can look up what a vertebroplasty injection is, but to me it was a miracle. Since 1987 when my first vertebrae, T12, col- lapsed I have had back pain which was getting worse as the years went by. This year two more vertebrae collapsed causing more back pain. I then decided to contact my niece in the USA who is a haematologist/ oncologist. She is very familiar with the above procedure and sent me an e-mail which I took to my doctor. He arranged for the procedure, as there are two radiologists in Oshawa who do this. In June it was done and since then I’ve been pain free and now able to bend, lie on my back and sit without pain. I only write this as there must be others suffer- ing with osteoporosis and collapsed vertebraes who could perhaps be helped. Apparently this procedure is not commonly known around here, but is done in Vancouver and in the USA. Inez Morley Port Perry 80 FOCUS - OCTOBER 2012 10.FOCUS, OCTOBER. 40 pages.indd 30 around the township, listening to residents of each ward. “They told us they have issues of transit that restrict what people can do, health services, recreational services that are more expensive than seniors want to pay. Another issue was affordable housing and people living alone and finding it hard to make ends meet,” explains Howard. “We asked if there was interest in forming a senior’s committee. The answer was a resounding yes!” The next step was to form the actual committee, with interested people applying to serve on it. Patrick Bowden of Nestleton was one of them. “I went to several of the meetings and I thought it would be useful to put some- thing back in the community, to serve on it. I decided if there was going to be a committee formed I would put my name forward, I filled out the forms, and I ended up being selected,” says Patrick. “The whole issue of seniors is changing so much now because of the general demographics, there’s a whole ‘ange of issues that come from each end of the spec- trum,” he says. “There are seniors who are 80-90 (years old) and active and healthy, then there are those who are not healthy and need assistance. There are so many issues out there. I’m retired, and have time on my hands. Ican add something to the mix and try to help out.” Martha Cottson, another appointed committee mem- ber, does not have much free time on her hands, in fact, just the opposite. She describes herself as a “young se- nior” but she spends a good deal of time helping out her elderly mother. Her busy pace as a caregiver gives her another important perspective to bring to the committee. “There are people in their 50s or 60s working with their parents or aunts, and starting to see some of the challenges with information and transportation,” says Martha. “This is a very timely initiative. We want seniors to know that there is now an entity endeavouring to rep- resent them. We have a direct line to the Council.” Howard agrees. “We've tried to impress on people that whatever issues they raise, they will have a voice on town council. We'll meet once a month, it’s a bona-fide committee of council that gives a voice to seniors and allows them to live a more engaged kind of life in the community, that if they want to access something they can access it. The Senior’s Committee is aware of the many excel- lent services to Scugog seniors that already exist. In fact, their first initiative is to create more awareness about those already existing groups and services. They are planning an information fair to showcase services, tenta- tively scheduled for early November. “We're not in competition with other senior groups in the area,” adds Patrick. “We're there to add to what is already there - to try and bring it all together.” By Karen Stiller Focus on Scugog 12-09-24 9:15 AM