IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of October 26, 2017

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Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

Faithful readers and WALLS, I’m writing and listening and learning history and, yup, Channel 772 on Beeline Cable TV. Just imagine it, faithful readers, there never used to be television!

Actually, in my growing years, our radio was on most of the day for Mémère Zelia to hear about favorite recipes. Her sitting time was devoted to Ma Perkins, the soap opera of the day! My, how our lives have changed. We neighborhood kids played until lunch-time, then nap time, then we’d repeat the ritual: play time and supper-time and bedtime.The men-folk would either carry their lunch-pails to work or be home at noon. Ah, memories of yesteryear!

Last week, WALLS talked about Skowhegan and Waterville downtowns changing and more changes are on the way, faithful readers!

It seems like the old world and the new are, again, on a collision course. So, does history really repeat itself, as we learned over and over in our history classes?

Everyone who knows me are aware of my singing. I sang for concerts, for Rotary Club in Skowhegan, for different clubs and, at 11 years old, was the youngest person in the Federated Church’s Senior Choir. Radio? Yes, as I studied singing with Roger Nye, of Fairfield, and he had a regular weekly program on an Augusta station. Yes, I sang classical music and nobody does that any more except with Andrae Riew’s Orchestra or the Metropolitan Opera (Yes, I sang with an opera star in college and was invited to audition at the Metropolitan, but how was I to live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and sing in New York City?)

O.K., I’ve wandered, but I did live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the Atomic City, as husband, Joe Denis, worked there after his graduation from Colby College. But, now we hear about another war…and an atomic one, at that. And all the while, Colby College’s campus is changing Waterville’s downtown. Hmmm, does history repeat itself, since Joe Denis’ class of ’52 was the first to graduate from the Mayflower Hill campus?

Well, faithful readers, it is time for you to think about all that WALLS has said today. Yes, next week, WALLS will make you laugh. WALLS, promises no more gloom, as Halloween is really a happy time!

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of October 26, 2017

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by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club reorganized for a new year on Saturday, October 14, at the Solon Fire Station with 12 members. Plans were made to attend County Achievement Night on October 27 at Kennebec Valley Grange Hall, in Madison.

Plans were also made to hold a family supper on Friday, November 3, at the Solon Masonic Hall.

For a fun activity the members painted pumpkins that were donated by the Seavey Farm, in North Anson.

They also made Nature Frames using silk from milkweed pods, different kinds of leaves and flowers.

After the meeting the members enjoyed apple cider.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, November 11, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station..

My many thanks to Eleanor Pooler, the leader of the Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club for always sharing their interesting meetings with us. It is always greatly appreciated. And many thanks also, to Eleanor, for her devotion to leading this great club!

I was very glad to receive an e-mail(which had been written while we were in Rangeley) so wasn’t able to get it in in time for the supper) My many thanks to Aryke Coombs for the e-mail that said, “We had our annual roadside cleanup on the morning of Saturday, September 30. We also have a spaghetti dnner and Luck of the Draw coming up on Saturday, October 28. There will be a door prize, the dinner, a Luck of the Draw, and a lot of fun to be had. Our local heroes, the members of our Solon Fire Dept., will be the waiters and waitress. The dinner and Luck of the Draw will be from 4 – 7 pm at the Solon Elementary School. The above was done by the Solon Fire Auxiliary. I was very happy to see the above e-mail to share with our friends, I have stressed before how much I would like to have news of what is being done.

We had a wonderfully relaxing week at the Rangeley Lakes Resort, it is a very nice peaceful place for a vacation. This year we were happy to have several visitors. Lief’s sister and brother-in-law, Judy and Elwood Ellis, of China Village, came up to see us one day. My brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Insowa Jones and their dog Wekow, came up from Farmington and spent Tuesday night with us, then we drove over to New Hampshire on Wednesday. (I could not get used to the fact that you don’t have to pay a sales tax over there, it was great!) On Friday, my daughter Mary and son-in-law Dave Walz came for a visit and we ate at the Red Onion. We were so happy to have visitors and…. we also had four-legged friendly visitors! One evening we arrived back to our cabin and there were two friendly deer waiting for us right on the lawn near the porch. They stayed around and visited for awhile, then slowly meandered off into the trees. Another day a deer came out on the road that leads to the main highway and walked along slowly ahead of us as if he was showing us how to get to the main road.

Another day, we were doing a little shopping across from the Red Onion and heard some one over at the outside eating area call out, “Hey, Lief,” and we looked, and it was Ronnie Brown and several of his ATV friends having lunch there. We went over and talked with them for awhile.

And now for Percy’s memoir on Love: “Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.” (Unknown) and a question by Benjamin Franklin; “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life and love is made of.”

TECH TALK: Virtual Money – The next evolution in commerce

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ERIC’S TECH TALK

by Eric Austin
Technical Consultant

Commerce began simply enough. When roving bands of hardly-human migratory hunters met in the Neolithic wilderness, it was only natural that they compare resources and exchange goods. The first trades were simple barters: two beaver skins and a mammoth tusk for a dozen arrowheads and a couple of wolf pelts.

As people settled down and built cities, there was a need to standardize commerce. In ancient Babylon, one of our earliest civilizations, barley served as a standard of measurement. The smallest monetary unit, the ‘shekel,’ was equal to 180 grains of barley.

The first coins appeared not long after. Initially, a coin was worth the value of the metal it was minted from, but eventually its intrinsic value separated from its representational value. When the state watered down the alloy of a gold coin with baser metals, such as tin or copper, they invented inflation. With the introduction of paper money, first in China in the 7th century CE and later in medieval Europe, the idea of intrinsic worth was done away with entirely for a representational value dictated by the state.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, corporations took over from the state as the main drivers in the evolution of commerce. Then, in the 1960s, the foundations of e-commerce were laid down with the establishment of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The EDI defines the standards for transactions between two electronic devices on a network. It was initially developed out of Cold War military strategic thinking, specifically the need for logistical coordination of transported goods during the 1948 Berlin Airlift.

Worry about the security of such communication kept it from being used for financial transactions until 1994, when Netscape, an early browser technology company and the foundation of browsers such as Firefox, invented Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption, a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security for computers over a network. After this breakthrough, various third parties began providing credit card processing services. A short time later, Verisign developed the first unique digital identifier, or SSL certificate, to verify merchants. With that our current system for online commerce was complete.

So why is Internet security still such a constant worry? Part of the problem is embedded in the structure of the Internet itself. The Internet is first and foremost designed to facilitate communication, and its openness and decentralized structure is paradoxical to the financial sector, which depends on the surety of a centralized authority overseeing all transactions. Most of our existing security issues on the internet are a consequence of these diametrically opposed philosophies.

Cryptocurrencies are the result of thinking about money with an Internet mindset. Classified as a virtual currency, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin aim to solve a number of problems present in our current online transactional system by embracing the decentralized structure of the Internet and by lifting some novel concepts from cryptography, the study of encryption and code-breaking.

Introduced in 2009, Bitcoin was the world’s first virtual currency. Bitcoin tackles the security issues of our current system by decentralizing its transaction data. Bitcoin’s public ledger is called a ‘blockchain,’ with each block in the chain representing a financial transaction. The database is designed to prevent data alteration by building references to other transactions into each record. To alter one record, a hacker would need to alter every other record that references it in order to avoid detection.

And since the database is maintained by every computer participating in that chain of transactions, any data altered on one computer would be immediately detected by every other computer on the network. This ‘decentralized data’ concept eliminates the big weakness in our current system. Today, the control of data is concentrated in a few centralized institutions, and if the security of any one of those institutions is penetrated, the entire system becomes compromised.

Beyond creating a secure financial transaction system for the World Wide Web, another goal of cryptocurrencies is to reduce or even eliminate financial fees by removing the need for a middleman overseeing the transaction. Since no centralized banking authority is necessary to track transactions, many of the costs associated with the involvement of banking institutions disappear. This has made Bitcoin the preferred currency for moving money around the world, as it can be done with a minimum of bureaucratic fees. Western Union currently charges 7-8 percent transfer cost per $100. For migrant workers sending money home to their families, that’s a big hit.

With no personal, identifying information recorded as part of a Bitcoin transaction, it provides a level of anonymity not possible with our current system. However, as pointed out by MIT researchers, this anonymity only extends as far as the merchant accepting the transaction, who may still tag transaction IDs with personal customer info.

The anonymous nature of Bitcoin transactions is a boon to the security of consumers, but it presents a real problem for law enforcement. Bitcoin has become the favored currency for criminal activity. Kidnappers frequently insist on payment in Bitcoin. The WannaCry virus that attacked 200,000 computers in 150 countries earlier this year required victims to pay in Bitcoin.

The value of Bitcoin has steadily increased since it was introduced almost 10 years ago. In January 2014, one bitcoin was worth $869.61. As I write this in October 2017, that same bitcoin is valued at $5,521.32, an increase of more than 500 percent in just three years. With approximately 16 million bitcoins in circulation, the total current value of the Bitcoin market is almost $92 billion. The smallest unit of Bitcoin is called a ‘satoshi,’ worth 1 millionth of a bitcoin.

WannaCry isn’t the only cyberthreat to leverage Bitcoin either. Since Bitcoin is designed to reward computers which keep its database updated with new bitcoins, some malicious programmers have created viruses that hijack your computer in order to force it to mine bitcoins. Most people are not even aware this has happened. There may simply be a process running in the background, slowing down your PC, and quietly depositing earned bitcoins into a hacker’s digital wallet.

The benefits to be gained by this revolution in commerce – security, anonymity, and the elimination of the need for a financial middleman – are great, but the risks are not to be dismissed either. Even as the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies provide the consumer with greater security and lower costs, it creates a haven for criminals and makes it more difficult for law enforcement to track cybercrime.

Whether Bitcoin sticks around or disappears to be replaced with something else, the philosophy and technology behind it will transform the financial sector in the decades to come. Our current internet commerce model is a slapdash attempt to stick an old system onto the new digital world of the Internet and cannot last. The road to a new financial reality is bound to be a rocky one, as banking institutions are not likely to accept the changes – and the recession of their influence – easily. But, as shown by the recent Equifax hack, which exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans, maybe trusting our financial security to a few, centralized institutions isn’t such a great idea. And maybe cryptocurrencies are part of the answer.

I’m Just Curious: Marriage history

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by Debbie Walker

Last year I fell in love with almanacs! I had no idea they had so many useful, interesting pieces of information. My friends were surprised when I started buying the latest almanacs. But even I was surprised when I bought the hard bound 2002 issue, I was so hoping for some other interesting articles and I was/am happy! I was more than pleased when I saw the article about brides, then and now!

I am looking forward to sharing the information with you. Let’s get started…

The Marriage History touches on several different areas of “weddings.” The article was in the 2002 almanac, written by Robert B. Thomas. It was written as “Wonderful Weddings” by Christine Schultz.

There were a few quotes, one was by Ben Franklin: “Keep your eyes wide before marriage, and half shut afterwards”.

Mae West left the following saying: “A man in the house is worth two in the street.”

“Popping the question” used to be the big question and was presented to the dad of the future bride. All present would have held their breath awaiting the answer. Now you are more likely to see the question written in the sky or their faces on the screen at a big game. Dad’s answer is not necessary these days.

There is talk about prenuptial agreements in a lot of the couples, especially more advanced professionals. Needless to say there are probably a great many of conversations.

The day of the week for the wedding celebration has some interesting history. In New England Wednesday was the luckiest day for weddings and Friday (hangman’s day) was the unluckiest. Now dates may be determined by the anniversary of their meeting, possibly their grandparent’s anniversary and some just so the bride can marry in June. (I still don’t know why June is “the big month.)

I did get a chuckle about a couple of the wedding gifts:

  • A bottle of Jim Beam and two glasses. (Wonder about the meaning here!)
  • A yard ornament that reeked of mothballs, from and older couple who are family friends. It must have been a “re-gift” from their own wedding.
  • A life-sized statue of a sea gull. Where do you display such an item? In a dark space in the closet where no one else will find it!

I got a kick out of the subject of “Maids of Honor” and “Best Men.” It used to be an unmarried “maid” and we now have gone all the way to the bride’s best friend being a “male” or her “dog.” My how things have changed!

There is a lot more information available if you are interested. Once again I hope this is enough. I’m just curious if you have any strange wedding traditions. I’d like to hear. Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com: Marriage. Don’t forget to check out our website!

REVIEWS: Singer: Yvonne Elliman; Conductor: Antal Dorati

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Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by Peter Cates

Yvonne Elliman

If I Can’t Have You; Good Sign
RSO, RS 884, seven-inch vinyl 45 record, recorded 1977.

Yvonne Elliman

Yvonne Elliman (1951-) first raised the goosebumps on my arms during a chance hearing of the then newly-released Jesus Christ Superstar, back in November 1970, via a friend’s set, followed shortly by the purchase of my own copy. However, it would be played so often during the next several months that I grew so sick of it I couldn’t listen to it for at least 30 years (A similar experience occurred with my copy of Carole King’s Tapestry. I still can’t stand Tapestry but I can rehear JCS occasionally now with fresher, more mature ears!)

If I Can’t…. is a superb number composed by Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibbs, or the Bee Gees, and performed with finesse by Elliman but the flip side, credited to the very gifted team of Carole Bayer Sager and Melissa Manchester, left me cold !

This year, as Elliman was preparing for an appearance in Guam, she was arrested for the possession of marijuana and other drugs and is still in custody!

Mozart

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music)
Linz Symphony; Antal Dorati conducting the London Symphony; Mercury SR 90121, 12-inch stereo LP, recorded early ‘60s.

Antal Dorati

Antal Dorati (1906-1988), along with Herbert von Karajan, Leopold Stokowski, Arthur Fiedler and Eugene Ormandy, were the five most prolific conductors when it came to the number of recordings bearing their names, in each case, well above six hundred. Of course, there is no way I can hear all of them; also, the ones I have heard over the last 50 years have inspired mixed reactions from boredom to riveting. But, during the last two years, I have developed an interest in his conducting, as far as a thorough reconsideration of the recordings I didn’t like earlier and an eagerness to hear ones I don’t own.

I experienced this change of heart when I read a piece on the Maestro in which the record reviewer Richard Freed discussed how Dorati’s consistently high standards and thorough musicianship had borne fruit in every recording the critic had heard thus far. I found it especially edifying because I had always enjoyed Freed’s individualistic discernment, combined with a voracious determination to hear every classical record coming his way. And Dorati was the only conductor who could do no wrong in his eyes.

Secondly, a group has sprung up in England that is determined to release every studio and live recording bearing Dorati’s name, whether it be the rarely heard 7th Symphony of Alan Pettersson or six different Berlioz Symphonie Fantastiques; they have developed a catalog of formidable size and temptation. If I were 40 years younger, I would make a mad attempt to collect it all!

The Mozart 36th, or Linz, Symphony is one of my half dozen favorites of the Austrian genius. Its leisurely lyrical outpouring of the sweetest melody is unequaled by #s 35 and 38-41, as special as they are. Dorati’s rendition is both leisurely paced but rhythmically incisive.

The accompanying Nachtmusik is a very popular work elsewhere but, unfortunately not one I have liked much in recent years; however, Dorati conducted a most satisfying performance that has me enjoying its beauties once again.

Give The Gift Of Music For The Present Of A Lifetime

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For Your Health

 (NAPSI)—This year, you can make singing holiday songs extra special—when you bring the joy of music home by purchasing a piano.
Here are four reasons having a piano in your home is a gift that keeps on giving.
1. Playing music is good for your health. Even though you’re sitting down, playing the piano is a workout all its own, and offers different physical and physiological advantages to players of all ages. For instance, regular piano playing sharpens fine motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination. Research suggests that piano lessons for older adults have an effect on increased levels of human growth hormone, which slows the adverse effects of aging. Bringing music into your life can also reduce heart and respiratory rates, cardiac complications and blood pressure and increase your immune response. Studying piano has even been shown to amazingly improve memory—particularly verbal memory—and build good habits such as focus and perseverance, diligence and creativity.
2. Playing music can be good for your career. Music has been an important part of the lives of many highly successful people, from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hedge fund billionaire Bruce Kovner to filmmaker Steven Spielberg. A number of such high achievers say music opened up the pathways to creative thinking and sharpened their qualities of collaboration. It improved their ability to listen and gave them a way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas with the power to focus on the present and the future simultaneously.
3. Playing piano can make you happy. The piano has been an unparalleled outlet for those seeking to decompress, express their creativity and simply have fun. Plus, studies show that people who make music experience less anxiety, loneliness and depression. In many adults, playing the piano was the most effective activity for reducing cortisol levels related to stress.
4. Playing music is good for your family. For 200 years, the piano has been considered a part of the heart of a home, bringing together family and friends, and strengthening communities with the joy of music. It’s something the whole family can cherish together, at any age and any season.
To help you bring music into your home, you can download the Steinway & Sons Piano Buyer’s Guide at www.steinway.com/buyersguide. It shows how to select the size and style of piano that’s right for you—from new to certified pre-owned to suit just about any budget—and how to locate an authorized dealer.

IF WALLS COULD TALK, Week of October 21, 2017

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Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

Oh, WALLS, there is so much to say today that you’ll certainly keep our faithful readers busy for a bit.

O.K., get right to it as, maybe, some folks don’t remember the history of The Town Line. Yes, WALLS, you have promised a bit of history, something new and in-between and today, you sure are keeping that promise. However, before you get started, please remind our proof-reader that a lot of spelling mistakes were made and your column is read over and over before it is sent to the editor.

Speaking of the editor, I found a history of The Town Line that was written by Lea Davis who was the editor of The Town Line newspaper that published a book entitled Community Cooks from 1997 to 1998 and the copy that I found is Volume 4! The next page, which was written in November 2003, thanked “all of the dedicated volunteers and staff members who participated in the preparation of this book. Special thanks to Roland Hallee for his artwork.” So, borrowing the title from our TV program that is featured on BeeLine Channel 11…Now You Know! Oh, how do you know all of this, WALLS? Well, there are photos and write-ups of the cooks and the recipe submitted by each follows at the bottom of the page. And, how did I find all of these goodies’ recipes? Well, I was looking at my many cookbooks and low and behold, guess who bought this one. You are so right, I did, a long time ago. There are probably nearly 80 wonderful cooks in the book, so word count doesn’t allow my naming everyone, but surely, those of you who contributed remember it well.

Now, hopefully time will allow WALLS to tell you what he did last evening. The Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce was invited to a wonderful evening at Sacket and Brake Survey Office for Business After Hours. Frankly, this was a very special evening as Jason Gayne, executive director, had invited several candidates for Maine government offices to speak to us who attended. What a wonderful event it was! Yes, I’m very proud to have seen the large gathering of folks who ‘wanted to know’, but WALLS, you know I was proud to see granddaughter Danielle, who is president of the Skowhegan Chamber, plus her husband, Kevin Dubois, and my great-granddaughter, Sydney, there. Wonderful! That they show their support for Chamber, too.

Oh, before you close, WALLS, make sure to tell about Chris Perkins’ calling from California. He and Clare are out of harm’s way with regard to fires, but he will soon return to the safety of Maine and is happy that he lives here. Chris, we’re glad you live here, too, and are the host of Keeping Pace on Bee-Line Channel 11!

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of October 19, 2017

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by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, dear friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

This column is being written early because we are going on our yearly vacation in Rangeley. Have been thinking seriously lately about the definite need for PEACE in our troubled world!… and so, hoping to get some of you, who read this column each week, to think about being a peacemaker.

Confucius had some wise words on how to start: Peace in this world: “When things are investigated, then true knowledge is achieved, when true knowledge is achieved then the will becomes sincere, then the heart is set right (or then the mind sees right); when the heart is set right, then the personal life is cultivated, then the family life is regulated; when the family life is regulated, then the national life is orderly, then there is peace in this world.”

Make Peace: As citizens, we have a large responsibility . Our daily lives,, the way we drink, what we eat, have to do with the world’s political situation, Every day we do things, we are things, that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our lifestyle, our way of consuming, of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive. (words by Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step).

Eleanor Roosevelt had some good advise back in her time; The basis of world peace is the teaching which runs through almost all the great religions of the world. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Christ, some of the other great Jewish teachers, Buddha, all preached it. Their followers forgot it. What is the trouble between capital and labor, what is the trouble in many of our communities, but rather a universal forgetting that this teaching is one of our first obligations.

And now some thoughts from President John F. Kennedy: Building Peace: “But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace, in the hearts and minds of all of our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.”

More thoughts from people in the past longing for peace in our world, President Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Lasting Peace, I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of the way and let them have it.”

Become a Peacemaker: Each day you are provided many opportunities to practice peacemaking. St. Francis wrote. “For it is in giving that we receive.” By giving peace you will receive peace, and after you are at peace, your problems all dissolve . By becoming a peacemaker you are literally providing yourself with a remedy for all your anxious moments. Today be on the alert for any opportunity to become a peacemaker. Words by Wayne W. Dyer, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem.)

I really like this one by Abraham Lincoln for his Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865. “With malice toward none, with charity for all…let us strive on to finish the work we are in…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

I am going to use two of Percy’s memoirs in this column because he truly believed in peace! (Working Together: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much, words by Helen Keller.)

And…”Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me; let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.” Words by Sy Miller and Jill Jackson, 20th-century songwriters.

There I go, dreaming again! I was afraid that would happen after the fact that this column and little paper reached out and reunited two brothers after 50 years….But amazing things happen, and wouldn’t it be great if the above words inspire some of you to become peacemakers and help to settle the mess this world is in? I shall pray on it!

AKC announces Junior Rally showcase launch

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TRAINING YOUR PERFORMANCE DOGTRAINING YOUR PERFORMANCE DOG

by Carolyn Fuhrer

The American Kennel Club (AKC) the world’s largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, has announced the launch of Junior Showcase events meant to promote and increase youth participation in the sports of agility, obedience and rally.

The Mid Coast Kennel Club of Maine is planning to hold a Junior Rally Showcase at their Obedience/Rally Show on Saturday and Sunday, April 13 and 14, 2018. This show is held at Mt. Ararat High School, in Topsham. To be eligible for a Junior Showcase event, the handler must be under 18 years of age the day of the trial. The Junior Showcase is open to all breeds including dogs listed with the AKC Canine Partners. All dogs must be eligible for the classes in which they are entered.

The purpose of a Junior Showcase is to provide a low stress mentoring environment with comradery in a relaxed atmosphere to assist the junior handler to achieve their goals.

Junior handlers entered in Junior Showcase events will be permitted to have a mentor walk with them during the exhibitor walk through times.

Mid Coast Kennel Club will be offering a Junior Showcase in Rally Novice A and B.

Rally trials are a sport and all participants should be guided by the principals of good sportsmanship both in and out of the ring.

Rally trials demonstrate the dog has been trained to behave in the home, in public places and in the presence of other dogs in a manner that will reflect credit on the sport of rally at all times and under all conditions.

All contestants in a class are required to perform the same signs in substantially the same way so that the relative quality of the various performances may be compared and scored. The judge tells the handler to begin, and the dog and handler proceed at a brisk pace through a course, designed by the rally judge, of designated signs. Each of these signs provides instructions regarding the next skill that is to be performed. The dog and handler move continuously throughout the course with the dog under control at the handler’s left side. There is a clear sense of teamwork between the dog and handler both during and between the numbered signs.

Rally provides an excellent introduction to AKC Companion Events for new dogs and handlers and can provide a challenging opportunity for competitors in other events to strengthen their skills. AKC Rally is a companion sport to AKC Obedience. Both require teamwork between dog and handler along with similar performance skills.

In the Rally Novice classes all signs are judged with the dog on leash. Rally Novice A & B have 10-15 signs (Start and Finish not included) with a minimum of three and a maximum of five stationary exercises.

Mid Coast Kennel Club of Maine holds Rally practice Monday nights at 5:30 at North Star Dog Training School in Somerville. Juniors pay $5.00 per class and Adults pay $10 with all proceeds to the Mid Coast Kennel Club.

Not sure? Come and watch one Monday night!

For more information, e-mail Kathy Duhnoski at kduhnoski@myfairpoint.net. Or call Kathy at 691-2332.

And to learn more about Rally, go the AKC website at www.akc.org Rally Regulations

Carolyn Fuhrer has earned over 90 AKC titles with her Golden Retrievers, including 2 Champion Tracker titles. Carolyn is the owner of North Star Dog Training School in Somerville, Maine. She has been teaching people to understand their dogs for over 25 years. You can contact her with questions, suggestions and ideas for her column by e-mailing carolyn@dogsatnorthstar.com.

Get Back On Your Feet—Tips For Running At Any Age

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(NAPSI)—Running can seem like a daunting workout no matter your age. It takes an impressive amount of dedication to run long distances. However, 66-year-old Barbara McGirr did not let that deter her. Starting at the age of 62, McGirr set her sights on completing her first half marathon. After only six months of training and a lot of hard work, she achieved that goal.

Running can seem like a daunting workout no matter your age. It takes an impressive amount of dedication to run long distances. However, 66-year-old Barbara McGirr did not let that deter her.

Taking advantage of the free fitness membership she received through the SilverSneakers program offered by her Medicare plan, McGirr started her training by walking to build up endurance. From there she started running small increments and gradually increased over time to reach her ultimate goal. Now, even after retirement, McGirr continues to compete in 4K and 5K races.

Her inspiring fitness journey was recently recognized by SilverSneakers as she was named the national winner of the SilverSneakers Richard L. Swanson Inspiration Award, which honors older adults who improve their health through fitness. Running has greatly improved McGirr’s quality of life, and she shares that it helps keep her body and mind in shape.

If you are interested in running and improving your health, SilverSneakers offers the following tips:

• Talk with your doctor: You’re never too old to start running, but it’s always good to check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise routine.
• Get the proper gear: Invest in a good pair of shoes. Consider getting fitted at an athletic store to keep your feet comfortable.
• Start slow: Start with brisk walks and then slowly transition to running. Running for one minute, then walking for one minute is a great way to build stamina.
• Set manageable goals: Take it easy at first and listen to your body. If running a longer distance is your goal, work up to it gradually—walking for a few weeks, then intervals of jogging and walking. Before you know it, you’ll be running with ease.
• Don’t skip the cooldown: Always cool down with a slow walk and lots of stretching to reduce recovery time.

SilverSneakers partners with more than 13,000 participating fitness locations and wellness centers, giving members access to the site’s basic amenities, including weights, treadmills, pools, etc., as well as specialized SilverSneakers exercise classes led by certified SilverSneakers instructors. The program is offered at no additional charge through the nation’s leading Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare Supplement carriers and group retiree plans.

For more information, to check eligibility or enroll, visit www.silversneakers.com.