Listener Lowdown

Adele S. is a vibrant 84-year young listener from Overland, Missouri. She was born on a farm in Arkansas and was raised in a large, blended family of fourteen brothers and sisters. Adele enjoyed normal eyesight as a child and when she was not performing all the chores that accompany farm life, she loved playing with her numerous brothers and sisters. In the summer, she recalls cutting green hickory sticks and pole vaulting over the creek, and in the winter, using the big scoop shovel to sled down the hill. Adele commented, “I’ll never know how I didn’t break my neck!”

When Adele was sixteen, she moved to St. Louis to help take care of her aunt’s three small children. She later met and married her husband and they raised three children of their own, two daughters and a son. Two grandchildren followed, then two great-grandchildren. About twelve years ago, Adele was diagnosed with ischemic optic neuropathy, a medical condition involving loss of vision from damage to the optic nerve due to insufficient blood supply. This condition did not affect Adele’s positive outlook on life or her activity level. One of the first things she did when her eyesight began to diminish was to request a radio from Minds Eye Information Service. It is her constant companion. She especially likes listening to the
grocery and drug store circulars so she can shop the sales. In addition, she enjoys the stories on the Bookworm Program.

Over the past 84 years, Adele has maintained her energetic lifestyle. She walks one to two miles every day, weather permitting, and when the rain or cold keeps her indoors, she rides her stationary bike. She believes in keeping busy. Recently, she climbed a ladder and cleaned her gutters. She still scrubs her kitchen floor and not too long ago, tackled the installation of a wax paper and aluminum foil dispenser on the wall. When asked how she does it she said,“Oh, I can still manage ok. It just takes me a little longer to get things done.”

Adele is grateful for the information that Minds Eye broadcasts throughout the day. “Without my programs, I’d have a hard time getting the information I need to shop and stay informed about community events. I don’t know what I would do without it.”

Program SPOTLIGHT

A group of programs that are among the most popular shows we air are the Grocery Store and Department Store ads. Shopping ads have been a part of our programming from the year the station went on the air. Our listeners needed to know what was on sale at grocery and department stores and that information was not available to them on radio or television except in very brief commercials.

The Grocery Store ads air three times a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Our volunteers read the sales ads for Schnucks, Dierberg’s, and Shop ‘n Save stores, along with Aldi’s when it is available. If for any reason this program doesn’t air, we always hear about it from our listeners.

Since there are so many department stores, we have two separate shows for those ads. One is for Target and Kmart, which is heard three times a week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday . The second program is for the ads from Sears, J.C. Penneys, and Kohls, and is heard Monday and Tuesday.

A third retail store program consists of ads for Walgreens and CVS pharmacies and is heard three times a week on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday.

Some volunteers say they find these shows hard to do but others really enjoy them and have fun with them. Readers who do these shows know that they are guaranteed to have an audience.

AMD Blurs the Future
of Millions of Americans

Imagine not being able to see the face of your spouse or children or trying to sink a golf putt by looking at the hole through only the side of your eye. Fifteen million Americans deal with this harsh reality brought on by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) everyday. It is expected that within the next 20 years, that number will triple.

AMD is the largest cause of vision loss among those fifty-five and older and affects nearly 35% of Minds Eye Information Service listeners. MD generally results in slow, center vision loss, which affects a person’s ability to read, drive, and do other things where clear, sharp center vision is necessary. Though AMD does not cause total blindness, it can reduce the center vision to a point where a person has little enough vision to be declared legally blind.

The exact causes of AMD are unknown; there are factors that lead to a higher risk. Advanced age is the leading risk, followed by genetics, poor diet, smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, light skin or eye color, and exposure to
UV light. Visiting your eye doctor regularly is the best way to maintain overall eye health. In addition, eye doctors also recommend maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and not smoking as ways to reduce your risk of AMD. Though there is currently no cure for AMD, there are promising treatments to slow and possibly stop or reverse vision loss for some people in the early stages of the disease.

February is AMD Awareness Month. For more information about AMD, go to www.amd.org and talk to your eye doctor about your risk factors.

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