The visit was 2 weeks early so the plan to practice standing on one foot with eyes closed and recalling random words hadn't begun. I was wrong, I should have been practicing all year long to be in shape mentally and physically for the NHATS Research annual visit. About 9,000 people are participating in the National Health and Aging Trends Study around the country. We were selected randomly, so learning there were other rural and small town Oklahomans enrolled made me proud of their openness to research. We are a representative group of people who made it to Medicare-age and our answers to the interview questions help researchers understand trends in health and functioning as we age.
Taking time with each of the questions asked this year gave me time to reflect on my current health status which brought to mind people my age or older who are struggling to do the simple movements I am finding natural and painless. I value the opportunity to age, and reported like the majority of older adults to feel younger than my actual age.
Gary Ice has got to have some of the credit for encouraging me and so many others in the community to get moving, and keep moving. Imagine the steps people are taking they never dreamed they were capable of doing which is truly moving us forward. Many are running and biking together, though he won't know of the private moments he has inspired in others like myself to get started on their own. There ought to be a question on the NHATS interview about positive change that may have occurred during the last year and see who these people are who are creating this kind of movement around the country.
Planning continues for the 18th National Environmental Tar Creek Conference which will be held September 13 & 14th at the Miami Civic Center with the Northeast Oklahoma tribes co-sponsoring. Sixteen years ago at our annual conference, LEAD Agency received a Technical Assistance Grant from the EPA which allowed us to hire a technical advisor to read through the volumes of information on the Tar Creek Superfund site and reducing them into readable fact sheets community members could understand. LEAD Agency chose not to apply for another TAG, but have requested EPA's Technical Assistance Services for Communities Program (TASC).
Our organization's National Environmental Tar Creek Conferences allows the community to hear current updates from EPA, state and tribal efforts on our superfund site. Updates are important, but timely input from community is important, too. The TASC is a program which will allow community members to become even more informed about the progress and process of the planning of the future of this site being conducted by EPA. The next piece of the work is called Operable Unit 5 and will deal with the entire Spring River and Tar Creek watersheds stretching to Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. Beginning this TASC program now will actually allow community leaders to be involved before decisions are made and presented for "public comment." By the "public comment" time it is actually too late to have meaningful input.
LEAD Agency is hosting a meeting this week at our office at 223 A. St. S.E. to meet the technical assistance contractors and learn about this process. Seating is limited, so please call 918-542-9399 if you are interested in learning more about the program or would like to attend. Would hate to have you say years from now, "TISK TASC, wish I had gotten involved or said something way back then, when there was a chance to be heard."
Taking time with each of the questions asked this year gave me time to reflect on my current health status which brought to mind people my age or older who are struggling to do the simple movements I am finding natural and painless. I value the opportunity to age, and reported like the majority of older adults to feel younger than my actual age.
Gary Ice has got to have some of the credit for encouraging me and so many others in the community to get moving, and keep moving. Imagine the steps people are taking they never dreamed they were capable of doing which is truly moving us forward. Many are running and biking together, though he won't know of the private moments he has inspired in others like myself to get started on their own. There ought to be a question on the NHATS interview about positive change that may have occurred during the last year and see who these people are who are creating this kind of movement around the country.
Planning continues for the 18th National Environmental Tar Creek Conference which will be held September 13 & 14th at the Miami Civic Center with the Northeast Oklahoma tribes co-sponsoring. Sixteen years ago at our annual conference, LEAD Agency received a Technical Assistance Grant from the EPA which allowed us to hire a technical advisor to read through the volumes of information on the Tar Creek Superfund site and reducing them into readable fact sheets community members could understand. LEAD Agency chose not to apply for another TAG, but have requested EPA's Technical Assistance Services for Communities Program (TASC).
Our organization's National Environmental Tar Creek Conferences allows the community to hear current updates from EPA, state and tribal efforts on our superfund site. Updates are important, but timely input from community is important, too. The TASC is a program which will allow community members to become even more informed about the progress and process of the planning of the future of this site being conducted by EPA. The next piece of the work is called Operable Unit 5 and will deal with the entire Spring River and Tar Creek watersheds stretching to Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. Beginning this TASC program now will actually allow community leaders to be involved before decisions are made and presented for "public comment." By the "public comment" time it is actually too late to have meaningful input.
LEAD Agency is hosting a meeting this week at our office at 223 A. St. S.E. to meet the technical assistance contractors and learn about this process. Seating is limited, so please call 918-542-9399 if you are interested in learning more about the program or would like to attend. Would hate to have you say years from now, "TISK TASC, wish I had gotten involved or said something way back then, when there was a chance to be heard."
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