MEN’S CLUB
Over Sixty: Shades of Gray
BY HOWARD ARKIN
On Thursday, June 13,
the North Shore Towers
Men’s Club hosted authors
Barbara Paskoff and Carol
Pack who discussed their newly
published book Over Sixty: Shades
of Gray. Both Barbara and Carol
are Long Island residents from
Roslyn and Westbury, respectively.
Men’s Club President Arnie
Rabinowitz introduced the two
authors to one of the largest audiences
I ever remember seeing at
one of our events. I cannot be sure
that the use of the word ”Sixty” in
the book’s title and the average age
of people in the audience were in
perfect harmony. Looking around
the room I think “Seventy plus”
might have been more accurate!
Both authors touched upon
personal experiences ranging
from memory and hearing loss to
the importance of having a will--as
well as a good sense of humor. The
idea to write the book sprung from
Barbara’s realization that so many
things in our society were geared
to much younger people. Years
earlier, while reading a magazine
in a waiting room, she realized
that almost all of the articles and
advertisements basically ignored
our growing older population. It
made her feel as though she had
“disappeared.”
Barbara and Carol, who were
long-time friends, got together
and started talking to other aging
people. They began to explore their
own concerns and fears regarding
growing older. One issue that presented
itself to Barbara was the fear
that she might be suffering from
early dementia. She expressed this
anxiety to her own psychologist,
who explained it in very easy to
comprehend terms: If you go into
the kitchen and you can’t remember
why, it’s okay. However, if you go
into the kitchen and look at the
refrigerator and have no idea what
it is, you have a problem.
The story that resonated for me
the most was Carol realizing that
she was using the word “what”
more and more as her ability to hear
declined. I too found that for a long
period of time when people around
me would speak I was always saying
Men’s Club Treks to the Mets
BY HOWARD ARKIN
OPhoto: Howard Arkin n Thursday, May 23rd,
2019, the North Shore
Towers Men’s Club had a
trip to a Mets’ game, which now
looks to be an annual event. I
picked up my ticket in April and
immediately began thinking about
how I would get to Citi Field.
Driving was the logical way to
go, but then another idea came to
mind.
I would turn the clock back
thirty years when I was living in
Bayside. My method of transportation
back then was to first drive to
the Long Island Railroad Station in
Bayside, park my car (usually about
8 blocks from the station) and walk.
However, when I finally arrived at
the station, I realized that my 2019
legs weren’t as strong as my 1986
ones were.
The trip to Citi Field by railroad
was only about 10 minutes, costing
me only $10.00 for the Senior
Citizen Off-Peak fare. Parking
at Citi Field would have cost me
another twenty-five dollars. The
$15.00 I was saving amounted to
two Nathan’s frankfurters at Citi
Field. Can you imagine a frank costing
$6.75 each? Oh well! Yoenis
Cespedes has to be paid!
Walking from the station to the
stadium entrance, it looked as
though half the crowd was wearing
some sort of Mets paraphernalia.
Besides shirts, jackets, and baseball
caps, I could see one man dressed
in a complete Mets uniform. He was
either ready to watch or possibly
play in the game himself. This was
a far cry from when I saw my first
game in 1947 wearing a Brooklyn
Dodgers’ cap. I think it must have
cost seventy-five cents.
I arrived at game time and had a
great seat, behind first base, right
in between Arnie Rabinowitz and
Arnie Cammeyer. Naturally, our
conversation turned to sports.
Arnie Rabinowitz told us of his
exploits playing stickball on
Sterling Place in Brooklyn back in
the day. Unfortunately, his athletic
career did not go much further than
Sterling Place.
Arnie Cammeyer’s baseball
career, however, might have gone
further. When he was offered a
signing bonus of one hundred and
fifty dollars, his mother had convinced
him that his future might not
exactly be in baseball. The Yankees’
loss was to be the pharmaceutical
industry’s gain. Babe Ruth’s, Lou
Gehrig’s, and Joe DiMaggio’s
records would remain safe.
With the Mets leading 3-1 in
the seventh inning, I decided that
I would leave early and beat the
crowd. While waiting for the train
at Mets-Willets Station, a man listening
to the game told me that the
score was now 4-3, Washington. I
boarded the train in despair. The
Mets were losing, and I still had
that awful seven-block walk back
to my car.
When I arrived back in Bayside,
I looked into the Bourbon Street
Bar window right on Bell Blvd. and
could see that the Mets had won
6-4. I knew then and there that the
walk back to my car would be much
less painful.
Out to the ballgame!
Authors Carol Pack and Barbara Paskoff
26 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ July 2019