All Posts in "Spotlight"

Long time advocate for senior services retires

Michele Williams speaks with Nadezda Litvin while Grace Morales looks on.
Michele Williams (center) talks to Lighthouse cook, Nadezda Litvin (left) about a meal while Grace Morales looks on. Williams said that one of the requirements for her job when she was initially hired was that she be certified as a Boiler Operator. “It was the hardest thing I ever did,” she said when she talked about her training to be certified.

It’s 8:30 Monday morning and already the phone’s strident ring can be heard throughout the entire Lighthouse Activity Center.  While it never rings for long, it rings relentlessly like a broken school alarm, it’s blare only drowned out by the commotion and clash of exercise classes and dozens of voices.  Michele Williams, the queen of all this hustle and bustle moves quickly through each minor disaster and momentary angst with a gentle touch and a quick smile.

The Lighthouse Senior Activity Center started out life as a Mormon church.  The city bought it in 1981 but Williams still gets Mormons looking to tour the old church and loves that part of the building’s history.  When the city took over the building, the Red Cross and the meal site shared it and eventually the Red Cross left.  “The center used to be like a mini Boys and Girls Club,” says Williams.  Widowed men, uncomfortable with the quiet of being alone at home and by nature not as social as their widowed women counterparts, hung out at the center.  Over time the push has been to make programs more intentional—focusing on healthy older adults and offering group activities such as dance that are tailored for individuals.  Williams is proud of the work the center has done.

She encourages a group of seniors to put down a deck of cards and go make Christmas stockings, “Carol in room six…they’re making free Christmas socks downstairs,” she hollers over to them.  Someone makes a comment about it might be fun.  “Well get down there,” she answers back.

“I ain’t got time,” says another.

“Oh, you got time, honey,” she laughs at her.

She jumps up to suggest a change to the center’s new cook and checks in on the exercise class with a quick stop to pass a private joke with a woman in her 90s that leaves the ones in on the joke slapping their thighs while everyone else just smiles.  She’s quick and efficient like you can only be when you have dozens of years of experience under your belt.  At the end of December, the queen abdicates her throne.  Williams, who has been at the center for 32 years says one of her clients has been with her for 25 years.  She’s working with the fourth generation of another family.  “That means I’ve been here too long,” she says with a bittersweet smile.  She muses, “Where did it go?”  She dabs at brimming eyes and reflects on memories­­—good memories she’s been happy to be part of.  “They’re not my participants.  They’re family.  Family calls me from out of town.  I know everybody by first name.  I know who their kids are…their dogs’ names.  That’s my honor—to work with them. The best part is so much sharing.”

Williams decided in early December to accept an early retirement when Tacoma employees were informed that many of them faced layoffs as the city deals with a $23 million budget deficit. The center’s employees and clients are still reeling from the shock.

Cindy Rieger, the center’s van driver calls Williams, “the best boss I’ve ever had.  She’s incredible.”  Rieger has worked at the center for two years and says that Williams’ generosity of spirit extends beyond the clients.  “It’s not just the seniors, it’s every one of us.”

Bob Riler, Community Outreach and Education Specialist with Pierce County, is a frequent contributor to many of the center’s awareness programs including a senior providers meeting Williams hosts each month.   “There are few people as skilled as Michele Williams,” he says. “She has a thorough knowledge and understanding of community resources that complements her passion for the needs and concerns of older adults.  She is one-of-a-kind and will be sorely missed.”

Michele Williams talks with Terri Coplin
Michele Williams talks with Terri Coplin

Carol Maddox, who teaches quilting classes, says that Williams’ has been a major force in her work.  “She’s got my creative juices going,” says Maddox.  “It’s been fun.  I’m going to miss her in a big way.”

Williams jokes that when she retires she’s going to clean her basement, organize her house…then stops and shakes her head with a little laugh.  “I have a fourth granddaughter coming in April and I want to work for Mary Bridge (in their hospice program for children with cancer).”

She muses, “Thirty years.  Where did it go?  I would still like to not retire.  I have to have another door open.  I can’t see myself watching The View or Bob Barker.  You have to have a purpose in life.  If you don’t, life just goes away.”

Bonnie Dickson by — December 21, 2011 in Spotlight
Reader Theater hits it big at Lighthouse Activity Center

Delores A. Forester pops out to surprise Mary Korthof in a presentation featuring a mouse and a bear.

Julie Collins, a volunteer at Lighthouse Activity Center in Tacoma, is very excited about the new reader theater program she started at the center.

Collins, a retired nurse from Western State Hospital, said she had run the program at Western State as well, and the patients loved it. She was nearly moved to tears when a patient who was participating in Reader theater enjoyed it so much he said, “I finally did something right.”

Seeing the positive results, Collins approached Michelle Williams, Lighthouse Activity Center Supervisor, with the idea of implementing the program there.

“It is an outlet for creative expression,” explained Williams, “a safe place for people to do that.”

Seniors who participate in the program at Lighthouse are extremely enthusiastic about reading the plays and getting into the act. Clamoring for lead parts, they perform on a regular basis and have a large following of folks acting as the audience, an important part of the production.

Reader Theater is described as a dramatic presentation of written work in script form. Collins uses children’s stories and turns them into scripts, improvising to keep things inexpensive.

No memorization is required and costumes are not necessary, although the folks at Lighthouse like to bring items from home to enhance their performances.

Collins said they started out with four or five interested participants, and now there are 15 or 20. “This is the third time we’ve done it,” she said. “They are energetic and gung ho.”

Reader Theater is used throughout grade schools to help students improve their reading skills, but at Lighthouse it gives adults a chance to act out, become more involved and release their inner child.

The focus is on reading the text with expressive voices and gestures. The actors at Lighthouse have that part down pat, using voice inflection and humor.

At a recent performance, Delores Forester played the part of a doctor and came equipped with a hat, a meat thermometer as a prop and band aids, which were actually gum, that she passed out to audience members.

“I was in drama in high school,” said Forester. “I like the human interaction. I’m sort of a drama queen.”

The play the group read was “The Boy who was Followed Home,” adapted from a story written by Margaret Mahy.   Collins called the adaptation “The Man who was Followed Home.” The readers were anxious to perform as they trooped in holding props and stood in a child’s rubber swimming pool.

Loretta Okonek said she liked meeting new people and making new friends, and Hazel Nute said the play was “new and different.  A lot of fun.”
After the play, amid applause from the audience members, Collins said, “The production crew exceeded my expectations and provided all the props.”

Collins enjoys the interaction as well and added, “We just laugh at our own silliness.”

More Information: Being a ham is perfectly acceptable but if you don’t want to act, you can also be involved in staging, rehearsal and the performance.  Reader’s Theater meets on Tuesdays from 12:45 to 2 p.m.  Everyone is welcome.  No acting experience necessary.  Call Michele for more information 591-5080.

[nggallery id=6]

Joan Cronk by — November 23, 2011 in Spotlight
Faces of heroes

Ret. Col. Joe Jackson (center) signs books at Tyee Park Elementary in Lakewood.

For 25 years, Tyee Park Elementary’s  exuberant music teacher, Tracey Lundquist has packed the school’s tiny auditorium with uniforms of every type.  Most children’s events don’t draw the kinds of crowds that covet seats and force people to stand outside looking in doors or windows but at this tiny school in Lakewood, sailors sit cheek to jowl with Marines, airmen and soldiers as students from every ethnic background give enthusiastic and heartfelt thanks to active duty military and American veterans of every war since World War II.

The 56th Army Band opened the event on Nov. 3 with “Soldiers of Swing” and then the children launched into songs specific to the eras of various military retirees, starting by honoring the Pearl Harbor survivors with “Remember Pearl Harbor.”  Lundquist drew a parallel between the attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11, 2001.  “Boy and girls,” she said, “None of you will remember, but for the rest of us, we will never forget.”

Lundquist told her audience that children often ask her what a veteran is.  She tells the children, veterans are America’s Treasures.

Larry Todd served as a Radioman on the USS Pennsylvania at Pearl Harbor. Todd said he was just getting ready to play football when the alarm sounded they were being attacked.

One veteran at the event was Col. Joe Jackson.  A video introduced Jackson with a story of his most daring rescue.  He joked afterwards, “I’m kind of sorry you showed that video.  It scared me all over again.”  Jackson, who served his country in three wars, earned the Medal of Honor in 1968 for a daring rescue of a combat control team at Kham Duc, South Vietnam. He’s famous for his letter home that day that began, “Dear Rosie, I had a very exciting day today.  Someday I’ll tell you about it.”  Every year since Lundquist started the program, this American hero has spoken to Tyee Park children about what it means to be a citizen, how important it is to use their schooling to be educated and active voters and how they must participate in the process.  He told them, “Country is not made up of earth and water.  It’s made up of people.  You have a certain responsibility.”  When you’re young, he said, you’re responsibilities lie in making your bed, telling the truth and obeying your parents.  “As you grow older, responsibility changes to participating in government and voting.  It’s about preserving the freedom,” he finished, “that other people have gained for you.”

Michael Reagan, of the Fallen Heroes Project spoke about his foundation’s mission to honor the American Fallen Heroes.  He presented the school with a framed image of an American eagle and then surprised Lundquist with her own portrait.

The sad note to the day came when the children paid tribute to Former Joint Chief of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, who died this summer.  For years, the retired general and his wife have participated in the Veterans Day celebration.  Children, who had just begun to learn to read, have each year been able to brag about their ability to pronounce a name that twists most adults’ tongues in knots.

Richard Moats served in World War II in the 3rd Infantry. He was in 10 campaigns including four major ones. At 92, he still fits in his uniform.

Unfortunately, the school has chosen to end the widely popular program that introduced the children to veterans of Pearl Harbor, the Tuskegee Airmen and thousands of active and retired veterans from every war since World War II.

Bonnie Dickson by — November 11, 2011 in Spotlight
Opening gateways between two different worlds

Dr. Mike Spiger unloads a temporary storage container of larger medical equipment to prepare for shipping the equipment to Morocco. Photo by Bonnie Dickson

Things, as we all know, get improved or replaced on a fairly regular basis.  The cars we all drive don’t suddenly expire at the end of four years but many people choose to replace them with a newer model, different color paint or improved options after just that short period of time.  If we want to get a new vehicle, we take the old vehicle if it’s still in good condition to a car dealer and we “trade it in” for the newer vehicle.  Well think about this.  What happens to things that aren’t quite as fun when the people who own them want something new?  What happens for instance when the dental chair is tired and doesn’t look so good with the new carpeting or wall color?  What happens when catheters, yes catheters aren’t used and a doctor retires and closes shop?  What happens when something that was manual comes in a new electric version?  What happens is it goes to Gateway Medical Alliance (GMA).  Or at least it probably should.

In the early 50s, Michael Spiger was an Air Force brat whose father was stationed in Morocco.  He developed a love for Morocco that continued into adulthood and visited it several times. There’s a medical need in Morocco but the country’s laws don’t allow foreigners to practice medicine there.  In 1997, Spiger, now Dr. Spiger, collaborated with several Moroccan friends to send a shipping container of medical supplies and equipment over.

Spiger quickly realized that managing this new operation required full-time dedication and so in 1995, Spiger retired and he and his wife, Anne, launched what would become GMA.  They ran their operation out of their home for 10 years but now own an office on Canyon Road in Puyallup.

About 20 dedicated volunteers, mostly retirees, meet at a warehouse once a week and do inventory processes; sorting and packing donated medical supplies. “It doesn’t come like this,” said Del Platter, meaning the neatly stacked, sorted and shrink wrapped pallets that line the warehouse.  He and his wife Irma have volunteered at GMA for 11 years.  “Mike and Anne came to our church and asked for volunteers for Morocco.  We got stuck in our hearts.”  He added, “We went to Morocco once and worked at the other end.  It’s really an eye opener.  I think everybody should go overseas once.”  On their trip they saw a little girl with disabilities.  “We stopped at an intersection and interviewed the mother.  You looked at the little girl and you just…” he sighed and held his heart, “melt.  That trip was very satisfying.  The only trouble is it gets in your blood and you want to keep going back.”

On this end, once they have around 900 cartons, the volunteers pack a 40-foot shipping container to send to Morocco.  Each container contains roughly $300,000 worth of donated equipment and supplies.  GMA ships a container every three months.

GMA partners with Moroccans in everything.  They work with charitable organizations over there to distribute the equipment and in the process the organization builds relationships.  “We want to break down stereotypes that Muslims have toward westerners and in turn we get to learn about them,” said Spiger.  “It really is a people-to-people organization.

“We love them.  We want them to know we care.  We act as a catalyst to improve the lives of the poor and the underprivileged,” he said.  “These gifts go to university hospitals where we can bring poor people to them (the hospitals) and they do surgery on them.”  In addition to shipping supplies and equipment, GMA sponsors physical therapy centers, short-term dental clinics, community health education, fire fighter exchanges and share medical expertise with teaching hospitals.

While the majority of their equipment and supplies come from hospitals and government organizations, GMA also has needs for adult diapers, bandage materials, the previously mentioned catheters and other personal supplies.  “The high tech stuff can’t go out to the outskirts ‘cause they don’t have facilities,” said Del Platter.

“We like wheelchairs and walkers particularly,” added Spiger.  They also have a relationship with Children’s Therapy Center in Puyallup and “they give us children’s equipment when they (the children) outgrow them.

If you would like to learn more about GMA, go to their website, www.gatewayma.org.

Bonnie Dickson by — October 26, 2011 in Spotlight