Fifty Plus Advocate

By Mike Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts Consumers are now two steps closer to having meaningful protections from identity theft. The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently passed An Act Removing Fees for Security Freezes and Disclosures of Consumer Credit Reports (H.B. 4241 and S.B. 2304), and the Senate has now referred the bill to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, awaiting recommendation. On behalf...

Some drivers follow a route along one of the highest roads in the world. Others steer their car through a much lower setting which hugs an ocean coastline at sea level. Then there are journeys that take people through some of Mother Nature’s most magnificent handiwork.

Billerica/Revere – Artie Januario of Billerica understood that he was destined to ultimately follow his family’s tradition of becoming a pharmacist back when he played football as team captain at Immaculate Conception High School in Revere and graduated in 1973. However, he was unaware at the time that he’d concurrently headline as a stand-up comedian at clubs nationwide.

Scituate - Thousands of miles from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Scituate-native Ricky Pyne (59) is getting ready for his next gold medal quest. Ricky, who has Down syndrome, has competed in the Special Olympics for the past 50 years.

Northborough – Fred and Barbara Kohout are no strangers to a ski slope. They have enjoyed the winter sport for most of their lives, and have shared their love of the sport as certified ski instructors at various ski resorts for 20 years. They also have volunteered their time at a number of adaptive ski programs, and have been instrumental in the Waterville Valley Adaptive Sports (WVAS) Learn-to-Ski weekend in New Hampshire, which started three years ago.

Jamaica Plain – Back in 1996 - in this newspaper - Christopher Gussis, 89, first read that there were clinical trials in need of volunteers in the Boston area. He had retired and recently moved from New Jersey to Jamaica Plain with his wife Jane.

Peabody – When singer George Lyons of Peabody began performing in the mid-1970s, his vocal style was frequently compared to the crooning of Frank Sinatra. Since the entertainment legend passed away in 1998, Lyons has kept Sinatra’s memories and music alive on New England stages.

How many people do you know that play the Scottish fiddle? Well, Arlington resident Barbara McOwen plays just that and lots more. With her husband Robert, McOwen moved from California to Massachusetts in 1979 with a B.A. in Music from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ten years after becoming Bentley University’s first female president, Gloria Cordes Larson, 67, is scheduled to step down at the end of this academic year. Her future is unclear, but no doubt it will be as rewarding as her past.

By Alain Valles, CRMP, MBA, CSA, Managing Director, Helping Hands Community Partners, Inc. “If you give it out in slices it comes back in loaves.” As a for-profit owner of a mortgage company, I’ve had the good fortune of arranging thousands of home purchases, refinancings, and reverse mortgages over the past 30 years.  At all times I have served as an...