By Deborah Storey | Living 50 Plus On paper, Decatur’s Youth Services Department is supposed to address the “economic, social and educational challenges” of the city’s young people. That goal is great, but what really makes it work is a staff with loving hearts and compassion. One of those people is 55-year-old Shannon Shackelford. Shackelford has been at Decatur Youth
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By Erica Smith | Living 50 Plus David Perdew, 72, was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, but did not let that stop him from living a good life. “When I was young, I could do anything. I was invincible. You couldn’t stop me,” Perdew, of Somerville, said. “At 72, I am not invincible any longer. And your priorities change. You
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By Deborah Storey | Living 50 Plus A tiny train chugs its way through a Decatur backyard, past stumpy little trees and a small-scale mountain, then across a realistic miniature bridge. Mark and Barb Brown created this whimsical railroad as a way to share a pastime, enjoy the outdoors and basically just have some fun. The Browns’ railroad is roughly
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By Deborah Storey | Living 50 PLus Picture yourself homebound at age 80, with no close friends or local family. Lonely days stretch into uneventful evenings of TV and microwave meals. Every morning starts the same sad routine. But when a volunteer from the local Senior Companion program shows up at your door with a smile, there’s someone to talk
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By Jean Cole | Living 50 Plus Watch them practice for only a few minutes and you can see the Soulful Shakers dance troupe is full of women who have always been good dancers. They show off smooth, in-sync and sometimes sexy moves. Every now and again they snap open their hand fans to a beat of some jazzy blues
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By Jean Cole | Living 50 Plus Never underestimate an old man who knows tai chi. That was the message printed on Sid Braunstien’s optic orange T-shirt one recent Tuesday as he was teaching a class on tai chi at the Decatur Public Library. The slogan nails down Braunstien pretty well. He’s a big guy with a big voice. He
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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Every time Carol Montgomery hears about a local student with art hanging in the Huntsville Museum of Art, at the capitol in Montgomery and in Washington, D.C., a twinge of pride fills her heart. “I like to think that maybe I had a little something to do with that,” the 85-year-old Priceville woman
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