Hot Topics in Foot Care
Dr. Tina Boucher
Podiatrist
Mar. 16, 2010

"If your feet hurt, everything hurts," noted Meriden Podiatrist Dr. Tina Boucher, who spoke to 58 Y's Men of Meriden on March 16. Using a PowerPoint slideshow to illustrate an assortment of clearly uncomfortable foot diseases, she first discussed the importance of proper footwear.

When purchasing walking shoes, do not rely on your previous shoe size (our feet get longer, wider and flatter as we age). Shop during the late afternoon, wear appropriate socks, bring any orthotics that you use, acquire shoes that fit the larger foot, and note that the shoes should not require "breaking in". See that they fit well at the front, back and sides, with a leather upper and a stiff heel with appropriate cushioning, and flexibility at the ball of the foot. Socks should be made of a natural/synthetic blend so that moisture is wicked away from the foot. And shoes for sports require special construction.

Although 40% of Americans suffer from heel pain at some point during their lives, Boucher said that walking as exercise can improve heart disease,  muscle strength and mental health. Most adults should aim to walk 150 minutes weekly (after approval by one's primary care physician). Using good shoes, doing warm-up exercises and using a pedometer also help to assure a valuable walking exercise. And because most falls occur in the home, partially the result of people removing their shoes, exercises to improve balance may be beneficial.

Boucher then proceeded to quiz the Y's Men about the symptoms of various foot diseases. These included plantar fasciitis (sharp pain in the heel with limping), bunion (painful bump on the great toe, usually requiring surgery), Tailor's bunion (small red bump near little toe), hammer toes (toes bent downward with pain and redness), and plantar wart (painful lesion with black dots on bottom of foot, resulting from a contagious virus).

Other conditions include Athlete's foot (itching between the toes or on the foot, resulting from a fungus), ingrown toenail (toenail pain, often with a local discharge), fungal toenail infection (nails become yellow, thickened and curled), gout (painful, swollen, and red big toe joint), and neuroma (with tingling in the toes and pain in the ball of the foot).

Uke Can Change the World
Jim & Liz Beloff
Ukulele popularizers and entrepreneurs
Mar. 9, 2010

Born in 19^th century Hawaii following the arrival of Portuguese fishermen who were also musicians, the ukulele (properly pronounced ook-oo-lay-lee) gradually grew in popularity until its peak years during and after WWII. In the post-war 1950s, TV icon Arthur Godfrey furthered the esteem for the ukulele, and some 9 million of these $3 plastic instruments were sold. But the instrument's popularity then fell into decline until the 1990s when the ukulele's delightful and easy-to-play qualities became rediscovered, led in no small part by Jim Beloff, son of Y's Men of Meriden member Marvin Beloff and his wife "Mike".

On March 9, Jim and Liz Beloff performed a concert for 64 attending Y's Men, singing and playing selections from their recent CD "Rare Air". Exhibiting a unique chemistry, they performed "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" with beautiful harmony and emotion, the theme song "Rare Air" with clever lyrics and dramatic pitch changes, and "At The Magic Laundromat" which blended lyrics by Beloff and music by Herb Ohta. Then followed "The Magic Islands", "The  Open Road" which was written by Beloff for actor Bill Macy on 24 hours notice for  his movie "Wild Hogs", and "Aging Gratefully" also written by Beloff for a friend about to turn 50 and which includes the haunting line "I finally made a friend of time."

Next performed were Stephen Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More", "Old In New Mexico" (a retirement song with words by Beloff, music by Lyle Ritz), and finally "The Glory Of Love" done as a sing-a-long with the Y's Men. The audience was wowed not only by the music but also by the affectionate give-and-take between these two performers. Interspersed among the selections was a brief commentary about their recent tour of Australia  ("where the  ukulele is "white hot"), giving workshops and performances across the continent.

Beloff  has written and published about 22 books, recorded two CD's of original songs, made two instructional DVD's, composed and performed a ukulele concerto with the Wallingford Symphony, travelled with his wife throughout the world to promote the ukulele, and has had a major role in re-establishing the popularity of the ukulele in this country and abroad. For information on the ukulele, visit fleamarketmusic.com.

Why Peking Duck
is an Endangered Species
Ken White
Ph.D. Chemist and Y's Men Member
Mar. 2, 2010

It's quite a privilege these days to be invited to speak in the People's Republic of China. So when retired Ph.D. chemist Ken White received a request to present a lecture on Agricultural Chemistry in the U.S. at a Shanghai conference, he accepted and went with his wife Lorraine during Sept. in 2009.

Using a PowerPoint presentation on March 2, White addressed 63 fellow Y's Men of Meriden and first described his experiences in Beijing. Photographs included the famed Olympic "bird's nest" stadium and "water cube" aquatics building, as well as the Olympic village with the Dragon Tower building. Unable to reach the enormous Tiananmen Square (due to preparations for celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Republic's birth) or the Forbidden City (due to time constraints), White enjoyed a typical Chinese meal, complete with the five traditional beverages (beer, white soybean juice, red soybean juice, wine and tea).

Day 2 carried him to Badaling for a visit to the Great Wall, mostly built during the 1400s and 1500s for defense by rulers of the Ming Dynasty and stretching more than 5000 miles. Pictures at the Ming Tombs showed statuary, topiaries, vases and thrones, along with the coffins of the emperor, his empress and his mistress. On Day 3, a visit to the enormous Summer Palace in Beijing featured the remarkable artwork accomplished by a single artist over a 26 year period.

Day 4 found White in Tianjin, home to Nanking University and the National Pesticide Research Center where he gave the first of his three lectures. This city sported a proliferation of new buildings and bridges, including a bridge with a fully functioning Ferris wheel at its center. And then on to ultra-modern Shanghai where he spoke at a symposium and visited the 94^th floor of a skyscraper for dramatic photos of the city below. Photos in Old Shanghai displayed statues, rock gardens and moon gates, along with the convoluted "Bridge of Nine Turnings", designed to foil evil spirits who can only go in straight paths. A dinner with friends was served on a traditional "Lazy Susan", complete with special delicacies such as jellyfish.

Wildlife is my Passion
Peter Picone
Wildlife Biologist
Feb. 23, 2010

The Passenger Pigeon is now extinct, with the last member of its species dying at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1904. Formerly an abundant gregarious species ranging over the greater part of North America in innumerable flocks, it has disappeared forever.

Speaking to 65 Y's Men of Meriden on Feb. 23, wildlife biologist Peter Picone described his passion for protecting the animals which share our earth. He noted that "the only thing we have in common is our world and its wildlife," a situation not always present during England's history when the king "owned" all the wildlife of the realm.

Picone showed photographs of bald eagles which have returned to the Quinnipiac River basin after an absence of 100-200 years due to cleaner water and the regrowth of Connecticut's forests which previously had been cleared for farming. An intriguing photo of a bobcat, dragging a 150 lb. road-kill deer into the woods, bore witness to the return to our state of this species (as well as bears). And he displayed a dramatic photo of monarch butterflies, lighting on Connecticut conifers prior to a migration of thousands of miles.

Picone recently purchased a six acre cornfield which he and his family have converted into a wildlife sanctuary, first plowing and clearing the existing vegetation and replacing it with native species of grasses such as ironweed, little bluestem and Joe-Pye-Weed. Care has been taken not to introduce any invasive plants (which generally were imported from a distance, often overseas) such as autumn olive and oriental bittersweet. An array of wildlife is already enjoying this newly created habitat, although sometimes fencing around plantings is required to protect them from destruction by deer.

Another success in providing a better habitat for our fauna is represented by wild turkeys, reintroduced into Connecticut in1975 and now numbering more than 35,000. Indeed, we all must be proactive to prevent another 1904 ecological disaster. Having fished, hunted and hiked in Connecticut's forests, fields and waterways his whole life, Picone has authored numerous publications, the most recent being "Wildlife Is My Passion" printed in 2008.

Photo: bobcat