Need to Know
Medical Aid in Dying
CO-AGE, an advocacy coalition led by the Georgia Council on Aging, has set their priorities for the upcoming 2024 state legislative session. An important one is Medical Aid in Dying (MAID). A MAID law would allow older Georgians with a terminal diagnosis to choose, if desired, a path that will allow them to die with dignity and save their families from a lengthy, painful, and expensive process. CO-AGE plans to support a bill asking for a Joint Study Committee. For more information on the topic, go to gcoa.org; Georgians for End-of-Life Options (gaelo.org); deathwithdignity.org and compassionandchoices.org.
Good to Know
Volunteer opportunities
Following an article on volunteerism in our Summer issue, we invited readers to list volunteer opportunities at the end of the online article. Here are some various listings where you can use either your brain or your brawn.
- Athens Oconee CASA needs volunteers to work with children in foster care. CASAs are specially trained adults appointed by the court to improve a child’s experience in foster care when reunification with their family isn’t likely. For more information, email BLANK
- Oconee Clean and Beautiful is seeking volunteers to remove the invasive plant Eleagnus from Heritage Park. The work is scheduled for late October through February, about two days a month for three hours. The work involves cutting the plant and spraying it with herbicide. Volunteers should be fit hikers. Contact barsanti@bellsouth.net if you would like to be put on the notification list.
- The AARP Tax-Aide program needs volunteers to assist the public with preparing and e-filing their tax returns. You would work two to three half days per week as a preparer or a facilitator during February, March, and April. Training and certification take place in December and January. For more information, contact Richard Kraus at krausricardo@gmail.com.
- Sandy Creek Nature Center offers a variety of volunteer opportunities from trail or garden maintenance to animal care or trail guides. Find out more by calling or emailing Kate Mobray (706-613-3615; kate.mowbray@accgov.com)
Get the Most from Your Long-Term Care Insurance
If you have a long-term care insurance policy, the actions you take immediately after a health-related event, such as an accident, illness, diagnosis, or injury, are vitally important should it mark the start of a long-term care journey. Here’s what to do first:
- Request the most up-to-date policy documents so you’re clear on what’s covered and what’s not.
- Ask about the elimination period, which is the time that must pass after a benefit trigger occurs but before you start receiving payment for services.
- Find out about the claim filing process, including documentation required.
Waiting too long to start using your long-term care benefits may mean you end up paying more in premiums than you receive in benefits. Kimbrough Law
Boom article turned into a book
Billie Sargent, a three-year Athens resident, wrote a cover story for Boom in 2021 about her cross-country bicycle trip in 1986. It was a delightful read about encounters with small-town America and the physical challenges she and her husband/photographer, Bob Hatchell, both 40 at the time, had over their three-month journey on the country’s back roads.
Now she has published it as a hardback book, which includes many more photos, commentary, and maps as well as a section on their subsequent 1987 bicycle trip around parts of Great Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, and Portugal. Despite many flat tires on their Moulton bikes, they made it back unscathed. Billie had kept all her journals and Bob’s excellent photos, which she has turned into this enchanting page-turner. Find it on Amazon – The Road to Now Here: 2 Cyclists, 2 Continents, 2 Years.
Fun to Do
Two music festivals this month
Music lovers are in for a treat. October features two outstanding music festivals, including Porchfest, benefitting Historic Athens on Oct. 16 and the 38th annual North Georgia Folk Festival Oct. 7. Between the two there will be over 200 musical performances. More details on p. 17.
Lyndon House opens new exhibitions.
A grand reception is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 10, 6 – 8 p.m. at the Lyndon House Art Center to showcase four new exhibits, including the 8th Collegiate Paper Art Triennial, a national showcase featuring 138 artworks highlighting the talents of 83 students from 17 colleges and universities.
Also on display will be The Image Moves: New Film and Video Work by Athens Artists; the wooden assemblages of Ato Ribeiro that reference strip-woven kente cloth and black quilting traditions, and Maquettes by Abraham Tesser. Maquettes are the scale models in wood used as drafts or “drawings” for bigger pieces.
UGA Theatre fall production
Set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic war, Mother Courage and Her Children follows the resilient and enterprising Mother Courage as she traverses and scavenges war-torn landscapes, profiting from the ongoing conflict while providing for her three children in Bertolt Brecht’s timeless critique of war, capitalism, and the strength of values in the face of untold adversity. The preview performance is Nov. 9 with other dates, Nov. 10, Nov. 15-18, and Nov. 12 & 19 in the Fine Arts Building, 255 Baldwin St. For times and ticket information, go to ugatheatre.uga.edu.
Sorority House of the Dead
It’s 1987 and the sorority sisters of Delta Pi Sigma are looking for new blood. Three newbies to the rush party discover the sisters are “like, totally vampires.” This goofy, gory, glorious homage to the horror movies that ruled the video stores of the 1980s has it all: Big hair! Broad shoulder pads! Buckets of blood! Show Dates: Dec. 8-10 and 14-17 at Town and Gown Theater, 115 Grady Ave. For times and ticket information, go to townandgownplayers.org.
