Prime - March 2021

Prime - March 2021

AMONTHLY GUIDE TO STAYINGACTIVE MARCH 2021

Work from here Choose your view on a workation getaway

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PRIME Lost in Antarctica — and reunited 53 years later PAM KRAGEN The San Diego Union-Tribune‌ ‌I n October 1967, Navy meteorol- ogist Paul Grisham shipped out to Antarctica, where he worked as a weather forecaster for a sci- ence station and airport on Ross Island. Thirteen months later, he returned to his family in sunny California, but his wallet never left. down and ran me to ground.”

The team who found Grisham were Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, both of New Hampshire, and Bruce McKee of the Indiana Spirit of ‘45 nonprofit foundation. It was the third lost Navy item the trio have recently returned to families. Last year, Decato got upset when he saw someone’s personal Navy ID bracelet for sale in a shop. He decided to buy the bracelet and, with his daughter’s help, find the owner and return it. Lind- bergh found the Facebook page for McK- ee’s veterans tribute organization and he posted a notice online that helped trace the original owner. Before he retired six years ago, Decato worked for an agency that does snow cap research in Antarctica. When two wallets were found in the demolition at McMurdo last month, Decato’s former boss remem- bered the bracelet story and shipped both wallets to New Hampshire in hopes they could do some more detective work. Once again, Lindbergh reached out to McKee, who contacted Gary Cox of the Naval Weather Service Association, of which Grisham is a member. The second wallet belonged to a man named Paul Howard who died in 2016, but his family was grate- ful to receive it. “If it was my dad’s possessions, I would have treasured it as I think they will,” said Lindbergh, whose grandfather served in the Navy. “It was a feel-good thing to do and both my dad and I have gone to bed thinking that another family was as happy as we are. My grandpa would be so proud and my dad is proud to have things in their rightful places.” Looking back on the 13 months he spent in Antarctica, Grisham said it was an un- usual, memorable and sometimes tedious experience that he most remembers for the

Recently, the now 91-year-old Grisham was reunited with his long-lost billfold, which was found behind a locker during the demolition of a building at McMurdo Station, the southernmost town on Earth. Inside the recovered wallet was Grish- am’s Navy ID, his driver’s license, a tax withholding statement, a recipe for home-

NELVIN C. CEPEDA , SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE‌ At their home in San Carlos on Feb. 3 in San Diego, Paul Grisham and his wife Carole Salazar look over his wallet and the items that were inside when he lost it back 1968.

made Kahlua and several items other so- called “ice rats” who worked at the station might recognize. There was a beer ration punch card, receipts for money orders sent to his wife for his poker winnings at the station, and a pocket reference card with instructions for what to do in the event of an atomic, biological or chemical weapons attack. There was never any cash, as there was nothing to buy at the station. The brown leather wallet arrived by mail in good condition with all its contents in- tact following a weeks-long journey of emails, Facebook messages and letters be- tween a group of amateur sleuths working to trace its owner. After 53 years, Grisham said he can’t even remember losing his wal- let on the continent he calls “The Ice,” but he’s grateful for the efforts that enabled its return. “I was just blown away,” said Grisham, who lives in San Carlos with his wife of 18 years, Carole Salazar. “There was a long series of people involved who tracked me

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unremitting cold. The average daily tem- perature was 25 degrees Fahrenheit, but in the winter months, it dropped as low as -65 degrees during his stay. “Let me just say this, if I took a can of soda pop and set it outside on the step, if I didn’t retrieve it in 14 minutes it would pop open because it had frozen,” Grisham said. Raised in Douglas, Arizona, Grisham enlisted in the Navy in 1948. He started out as a weather technician, then moved up to weather forecaster and was pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant in Ant- arctica. His job took him to duty stations in Guam, Hawaii and Japan, and he served twice aboard aircraft carriers in the Pacific. He spent four years aboard the USS Bennington in the 1950s and ‘60s, and a two-year stint on the USS Hancock during the Vietnam War. He was onboard the

Hancock in April 1975 during the fall of Saigon, when the ship’s flight deck crews had to push empty helicopters overboard to make room for new ones touching down with evacuating U.S. military per- sonnel and refugees. In between those shipboard assign- ments, Grisham was assigned duty in Antarctica as part of “Operation Deep Freeze,” where the Navy provided logistical support to civilian scientists on the frozen continent. At the time, Grishamwas in his mid-30s and married with two toddlers.

is covered with ice up to 10,000 feet thick, but McMurdo Station is one of the few places that sits on an exposed landmass of volcanic rock. During Antarctica’s sum- mer months, which are our winter months, Grisham said there were as many as 1,100 workers at the station. But during the Antarctic winter, the onsite staff shrunk to 180 because sea ice and sub-freezing temperatures make travel and supply runs impossible. During the winter, all of the food was canned and workers passed the time play- ing cards, chess, the backgammon-like game of acey-doucey and bowling at a two-lane alley. His sole luxury was a daily after-work martini. Once a week he talked to his wife, Wilma, via a voice relay through two shortwave radio operators. The year’s highlight was a morale-lifting visit from Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand mountaineer who crestedMt. Ev-

erest in 1953. He’d traveled to Antarctica that year for a climbing expedition.

In 1977, Grisham retired from the Navy and settled in Monterey, where Wilma passed away in 2000. A year later, while vacationing in Paris, he met Salazar, who lost her husband, Gil, in 1995. They struck up a conversation on the bus to Orly Air- port and five weeks later he came to visit her in San Diego. They married in 2003. McKee, with Indiana Spirit of ‘45, said he’s delighted to know that Grisham was pleased at the return of his wallet. An Air Force veteran himself, he knows the value of military mementos. “I have a deep love for those that serve and their stories,” McKee said. “Something such as an old wallet can mean so much to someone with the memories that item holds.”

“I went down there kicking and scream- ing,” he said.

Grisham said it’s hard to grasp the vast- ness and remoteness of Antarctica. It’s the size of North America and the journey to get there by ship from New Zealand is 1,100 nautical miles. Most of Antarctica

Paul Grisham said it’s hard to grasp the vastness and remoteness of Antarctica. It’s the size of North America and the journey to get there by ship from New Zealand is 1,100 nautical miles.

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WORK FROM HERE

Choose your view on a workation getaway

KATHY WITT Tribune News Service‌ ‌W

orking 9 to 5 looks completely different these days, thanks to remote work. As much as some people embrace it, others are tired of looking at the same four walls. Well, what if those four walls opened to views of white sand beaches and palm

trees, layers of snowcapped and forested mountains or so many acres of rolling pastureland you feel you’ve (happily) fallen off the grid? Shake up the workaday routine by running away to one of these workation destinations. (As long as you get the job done, what does the boss care – or does the boss even need to know?) Cali beach pad steps from the ocean The easy-breezy elegance of the private Cottages at Lido House, arranged in country club-style ambiance on the Balboa Peninsula, is a magnet for stressed-out execs whose work/life balance has been upended by the pandemic. Part of Marriott’s peerless Autograph Col- lection of distinctive independent hotels, the five three-story hide- aways, each named after local islands and given a custom-curated designer interior, celebrate that effortless, iconic sensibility for which California’s Newport Beach is famous. The Balboa Cottage is described as having a “retro-playful aesthetic (that) joins California effervescence with East Coast sensibility.” The Bay Cottage, a Newport-meets-Nantucket haven, reflects a “jet-set perspective infused with contemporary décor.” Each sumptuous yet homey cottage has plenty of room to stretch out and relax and enjoy the good life or plug in and get to work in an inspirational setting with a beachy vibe. Enjoy dinner at the Mayor’s Table, the onsite restaurant plating seafood delectables inspired by the Pacific Ocean. Sip handcrafted cocktails at Topside, the only rooftop venue in Newport Beach. Ame- nities include swimming pool, Boost Spa, marina and those beautiful white-sand beaches, beckoning just steps away. www.marriott.com Norman Rockwell meets the ski slopes of Vermont The covered bridges and spotted dairy cows add an idyllic and bucolic touch to Stowe, Vermont, the ski capital of the east. Consid- ered the quintessential Norman Rockwell small town with its church steeples, red barns and charming antique shops, it feels like a simpler time and place, one perfect for getting your balance back. Located in the Green Mountains at the foot of Mount Mansfield – Vermont’s highest peak – Stowe is a winter playground with Nordic and cross-country skiing, dogsledding, fat biking, sleigh rides and snowmobiling. The perfect work-away-from-home for these activities and more is Topnotch Resort. The clean, minimal design of the guestrooms and suites encourages focus for a business-before-play mindset while Topnotch’s two- and three-bedroom Resort Homes are an ideal solution for large fami- lies looking to get away and still spread out. With open floor plans, mountain views, granite kitchens, designer baths, fireplaces and more, accommodations are both roomy and cozy, designed for equal parts entertainment and relaxation as well as work. When the workday ends, there’s the Topnotch Spa for a massage or facial. You’re not going to get this at home. www.topnotchresort.com

TOPNOTCH RESORT VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌ Winding down after work looks a little different when work takes place at a ski resort like Topnotch in Vermont.

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Historic hemp farm in Kentucky countryside Tune in to a historic two-bed- room log cabin; peace out on 1,000 acres of rolling Kentucky pastureland on Mt. Folly Farm, an official Kentucky landmark. Located in Winchester, about 20 miles east of Lexington, it is equipped with Internet plus ground floor library, workspace – even an empty filing cabinet. The cabin has all the amenities of an office, without actually being an office. That’s because it’s an off-the- grid hideaway on a working organic hemp farm, one where guests are free to hike, stroll, bike and go birding and, depending on COVID regulations, help with planting the farm garden and feeding the goats. The cabin offers views all around, from the front lawn with it large oak trees to the goat hol- ler to the greenhouse and farm gardens to the granary where farm owner Laura Freeman and her crew stone-mill corn and grain. Just yonder is Laura’s Mer- cantile at the Crooked House, a farm store stocked with Laura’s Hemp Chocolates, Homestead Alternatives Hemp Tincture, heritage grains from Mt. Folly and other regional specialties, available to guests and operated on the honor box method. Inside are equipped kitchen and modern bathrooms, dining room and family room. Antique furnishings help tell the story of the cabin’s history. www.visit- winchesterky.com Futuristic Lakeshore loft with Chicago city views Just wow. The Extreme WOW Suite at the W Chicago-Lake- shore is 1,600 square feet of drop-dead fabulous. Tricked out with urban design elements, its expansive windows over

MT. FOLLY FARMS IMAGES‌ The Historic Log Cabin at Mt. Folly Farms in Winchester, Ky., lets stressed-out workers feel like they’ve gone off-grid. Inset: Laura Freeman invites remote workers to trade in their work space for 1,000 acres of rolling pastureland of her Mt. Folly Farms.

TOPNOTCH RESORT VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

Inspirational scenery like the mountains that surround Topnotch Resort in Vermont surely make one more productive working remotely.

MARRIOTT VIA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE‌

That view! Masterfully designed, the Cottages at Lido House, Autograph Collection make the idea of remote work extremely appealing.

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Futuristic Lakeshore loft with Chicago city views

Just wow. The Extreme WOW Suite at the W Chicago-Lakeshore is 1,600 square feet of drop-dead fabulous. Tricked out with urban design elements, its expansive windows overlook either cityscape or Lake Michigan from 22 floors up above Chicago’s hustle-bustle Loop neighbor- hood. Signature king-size W bed, semi-private dressing salon, custom-built wardrobes, two full baths and in-room soaking tub. Gorgeously equipped kitchen, fully stocked bar and pol- ished gathering space for drinks and so much more – all dressed up in sleek décor with pops of color, curving couches, luxury linens and plump pillows. The suite is ready for indoor play with retro arcade game and flatscreen TVs and to get down to business with USB outlets and high- speed Wi-Fi. The hotel offers a fitness center and heated indoor pool, the restaurant, CUR- RENT, serving European cuisine with local flair and multicultural flavors, and a gathering hotspot called the Living Room, known for craft cocktails and DJ music. www.marriott. com Bed and breakfast on Natchez’s scenic bluffs Known as the Bed and Breakfast Capital of the South for its more than 40 bed and breakfast and historic inns, Natchez, Mississippi, is home to the Clermont Bluffs Bed and Breakfast, a charming enclave for spiriting off to work with an inspired view: that of the bluffs overlooking the mighty Mississippi River. Not only that but this Victorian-era home, picture-perfect with its estate setting, also takes in the bottomlands, a network of deep crevasses where pre-Europeans encamped on the river- banks, fishing and hunting. The large luxurious rooms were designed to blend modern comfort and historic charm. Each room has a king bed, brand new tile bath- rooms, comfortable sitting space for in-room relaxation, smart TVs, fine linens and ample pillows. www.clermontbluffs.com Author and travel and lifestyle writer Kathy Witt feels you should never get to the end of your bucket list; there’s just too much to see and do in the world. Contact her at Kathy- [email protected], @KathyWitt, www.kathywitt.com.

CLERMONT BLUFFS BED AND BREAKFAST IMAGES‌ Located on the Natchez bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, Clermont Bluffs offers the peaceful seclusion of an estate while still being an easy walk to Main Street.

The fabulous urban design elements and stunning lake views of the Extreme WOW Suite at the W Chicago- Lakeshore help frazzled remote workers feel energized.

MARRIOTT IMAGES‌ On the to-do list at the Extreme WOW Suite at the W Chicago-Lakeshore: a soak in the designer bath.

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Rock on, 50-somethings: Kids dig your ‘oldies’ too

outside of my dad’s sewing lady’s house and he was inside getting his clothes from the sewing lady. And there was a thunder- storm, and I was in the car terrified, and ‘Take My Breath Away’ was playing.” Carlson thinks the late 20th-century Top 40 hits had a special advantage that hasn’t been nearly as true since music audiences began to splinter in the ’90s. “If you think about the music of the ’80s, it’s really the last monoculture of music where everybody was listening to the same music,” he said. Carlson’s 98.1/1410 morning show stresses the somewhat lighter side of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s songbook. Then he plays the era’s harder-edged rock later on 100.7. “Obviously, the goal of programmers is to allow the listener to hear what they want to hear playing in that car for the five, six, seven, eight minutes that they’re in it,” he said. But if their 2021 kids are riding along, chances are better they’re not whining for Mom and Dad to change the station like Mom and Dad probably did with their own parents. Radio industry research backs that up, Carlson says. So does his experience with his own three daughters, the youngest of whom is in sixth grade and the oldest in college. “I’m telling you, if some of those old (1980s) Tears for Fears songs come on, they know them. And they like them,” he said. “I think that says a lot about the ’80s. It wasn’t just a fad. They were onto some- thing. They found a way to appeal to the masses. And it hasn’t been done since. Frankly, I don’t think it was done before.” Think about one of the hottest pre- COVID-19 rock acts, Queen + Adam Lambert, with the “American Idol” star fronting the late Freddie Mercury’s band- mates in front of roaring crowds of all ages. There’s one thing we’d tell our kids that our parents and grandparents who once dug the big bands would tell us: The 18-year- old in you never really dies. Maybe we can stay young together.

By TODD VON KAMPEN [email protected] Editor’s note: The writer will turn 57 in April. If you’ve seen 1985’s “Back to the Future,” you know how Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), rock guitar in hand, introduced Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” (1958) to his 1955 audience: “This one’s an oldie, but, uh ... well, it’s an oldie where I come from.” Well, 1985 McFly didn’t get a chance to rock out for anyone in 2015 in the 1989 sequel “Back to the Future Part II.” But what song might he have introduced the same way? “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)? “Don’t Stop Believin’ (1981)? “Beat It” (1983)? Even Huey Lewis’ “The Power of Love” (the first movie’s No. 1 theme song)? Do you newest “seniors” — the ones who turned 55 in recent years — feel old yet? Guess what: Now our songs are the “old- ies.” That’s mind-blowing when you think about the pop “oldies” on the radio in the ’70s and ’80s and how today’s middle-agers usually thought about them. We’re talking pre-Beatles — the ’50s and early ’60s — when rock was an infant and stations featured bubblegum ballads, lush movie themes and copycat orchestras’ cov- ers of them all. Dr. Johnny Fever, played by actual ’60s DJ Howard Hesseman on the 1978-82 come- dy “WKRP in Cincinnati,” captured the re- action with his weary, bored introduction to “the Hallelujah Tabernacle Choir with their beautiful rendition of ‘You’re Having My Baby.’” But when new program manager Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) said WKRP was changing to Top 40 rock — immediately — Fever vengefully dragged the needle across the “elevator music” and cried out: “All right, Cincinnati, it is time for this town to get down!” The sound was night and day. Those “new” hits that Top 40 radio played six days a week and Casey Kasem played on Sundays

Todd von Kampen/The North Platte Telegraph When he announces 1970s, ’80s and ’90s hits on two different Eagle Communications radio stations (KOOQ 98.1 FM/1410 AM and KRNP 100.7 FM), radio personality Scott Carlson, 42, finds himself playing the songs he himself heard growing up in North Platte.

“oldies” on 1410. “All the music we play (now) on 98.1, I lis- tened to as a kid on 97.1,” Carlson said. Because FM stereo became widespread in the ’70s, today’s “oldies” have long sound- ed in the car like they do in living rooms or headphones. Not so with AM, the original “monau- ral” radio broadcasting method — and the place where pre-Beatles music mostly went in the 1970s. “I think the fact that they called it ‘oldies’ summed it up,” Carlson said. “That’s what you heard it described as — ‘old people’ music. ... “And I think part of that is the fault of the radio industry, because if you think about it, the new sounds were on FM stations with that FM quality sound and the oldies stations were on the AM side of the dial.” Carlson thinks the ’70s and ’80s hits en- dure in part through music’s power to take people back to when or where they heard a particular song. He enters the time machine whenever he hears Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” the love song for Tom Cruise’s and Kelly Mc- Gillis’ characters in the 1986 movie “Top Gun.” “I was deathly afraid of storms as a child,” he said. “To this day, when ‘Take My Breath Away’ comes on, I can remember sitting

had a beat. They had power and energy. They felt young. Are they really “oldies” now? Or is it just us? Well, it’s definitely us. But North Platte native and radio personality Scott Carlson has good news: Your kids love them. “It’s not a turnoff to them,” he said. “It doesn’t make them feel like they’re hang- ing out with Grandma and Grandpa or the old Mom and Dad. Everyone’s in the music together.” Carlson, 42, won’t be qualifying for “senior discounts” for a while. But he’s playing his own boyhood soundtrack when he plays ’70s, ’80s and ’90s hits twice a day on Eagle Radio stations in North Platte. Carlson, the son of Larry and Linda Carl- son of North Platte, does the 5-10 a.m. morning show six days a week on KOOQ (98.1 FM/1410 AM). You’ll also hear him on Eagle’s “classic rock” KNRP (100.7 FM) during the 2-7 p.m. “afternoon drive.” He has some theories about the genera- tions’ views of late ’60s, ’70s and ’80s songs as radio programmers moved them from “current” to “recurrent” (the recent past) and then “classic” (today’s term for “old- ies”). When today’s “classic rock” was new, it mostly played on FM stereo stations like Eagle’s KELN — still a “current” rock sta- tion — while KOOQ was playing older

SOCIAL SECURITY PLANNING FOR WOMEN

every $2 in benefit above that level. Your full retirement age is based on the year you were born.

If he was the primary breadwinner, if he can, wait to age 70 to take his social security to maximize the benefit. For every year that you delay the benefit up to age 70, your benefit will increase by about 8% per year. Once you start your benefit, it only goes up by the cost of living, for example, 1.3% in 2021. The decision of when to take your social security is a personal one that affects both of you, not just one. Because women usually outlive the gents, that means that the higher benefit will be paid to the surviving spouse for the rest of his/her life. If a woman takes her benefits too early, those monies can be reduced by up to 30% if you file at age 62. Check out your benefit amounts by going to www. SSA.gov, go to retirement planning and enter your information. You can see what your benefits for both of you would look and can see what your benefits would be at different ages. Spousal benefits are about 50% of his benefits so you can see which is the higher benefit amount based on his work record or on yours. You’ll be able to select whichever one you want. Once a spouse dies, only 1 social security check will continue, the lower of the two will get turned off. For example, Joe and Margie had 2 social security checks coming in, his for $2000 and hers for $1000 per month. Once Joe passed away, Margie was able to

continue Joe’s check but hers was eliminated. That resulted in a third of her income being eliminated. Now she had to try to live on $2000 per month. Many families are getting life insurance to fill the gap. That’s part of the planning ahead, it’s less expensive if you get it at age 50 or 55 rather than waiting until retirement at age 65. It’s even more concerning for single women. If you’ve never been married or were married less than 10 years, you don’t have access to spousal or survivor benefits. Men usually make at least 30% more than women so your benefits will be based only on your income. Are there any other income streams besides social security in your retirement? Have you been putting away money for your retirement in a 401K or investment accounts? Once you stop working, you may want to put some of those funds into an annuity what will pay out for the rest of your life so you’ll ensure that revenue stream continues. You may have to continue to work past 65 and try to wait until 70 to maximize your social security income. Again, every year that you wait gets another 8% bump in monthly benefit. If you choose to work while receiving Social Security benefits before you reach your full retirement age, your benefits can be reduced if you make more than $18,240, you’ll lose $1 for

Year of Birth 1943-54 Age 66 1955

66+2 mos. 66+4 mos. 66+6 mos. 66+8 mos. 66+10 mos.

1956 1957 1958 1959

1960 +

67

Please do some planning. Social Security was never designed to be the only income stream in retirement but I see too many women trying to survive their retirement on $800-$1000 a month. If you are 65 or older, blind, or disabled with limited income and with limited resources, you may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In addition, you may get “extra help” paying for your Medicare prescription drug plan paying for monthly premiums, deductibles, and copays. Both of these would be available by applying through Social Security. You’ve got some homework to do. Know what your future income streams look like to make adjustments if necessary ahead of your retirement. Don’t wait until you get surprised at 65. If you’d like to visit with Rebecca Nordquist at Phares Financial, call 308- 532-3180. The office is located at 319 East B Street in North Platte.

By Rebecca Nordquist, RD, MHA, CLTC

As we think about the Day of the Woman this month, let’s highlight an issue that many men or women don’t think about. Yes, there is a difference in retirement planning for men vs women. The life expectancy is longer for women, 86 years compared to 84 for men. Consequently, the planning needs for women should focus heavily on longevity and creating lifetime income streams after her spouse has passed away. Social security is a lifetime income stream and usually replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Many couples just assume that when hubby retires and starts to get his social security, she should start taking hers too. Not so fast! Social Security planning should be starting 10-15 years before retirement.

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