UPCOMING EVENTS

We have 20 tickets to a Tiger Game, Thursday, June 3rd 1:05 game against Cleveland, we will car pool to save on cost, see Mike for reservations.

Mike Rybicki has a trip to Holland on May 4^th including 90 min. in town and 2 hours at the tulip farm and Buffalo ranch.

We have reservations at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth for May 19 (Wed.) at 2 PM

June 7^th we have scheduled a speaker from Blue Cross to speak about Medicare.

The company that we have been using for our trips is now on the web their site can be found at:

http://www.rybickitours.com/   

SICK LIST

Let us remember the following in our prayers:

Helen Carpenter

Marcel Nicholas

Pat Farrugia

Jacquelyn Tyll

Dan Jakobiak

Joanne Jakobiak

Joanne Gray

Harold Potter

Let us also remember

Lou Magnatta  who passed away in April.

MAY BIRTHDAYS

So how can you keep your knees agile and pain-free?

Move more
"I know it sounds counterintuitive, especially if your knee is sore, but the most important thing for knee health is to be active," says Leigh Callahan, Ph.D., an associate professor with the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina. A knee that isn't used stiffens; the muscles around it start to atrophy, and because these muscles would otherwise absorb some of the shock that moves up the leg with every step, a stiff knee has to take on more of the body's weight than a supple one.

Strengthen your thigh muscles
In a 2009 study of 265 men and women with knee osteoarthritis, Mayo Clinic researchers found that those with the strongest quadriceps (thigh muscles) had less knee pain and better physical function than those with the weakest. But there's a right way and a wrong way to build those muscles. If you're an avid gym-goer, avoid the leg-extension machines, Kenny suggests. "They put far too much stress on the knee joint," he says.

Stretch regularly
Maintaining flexibility is important, especially in the muscles and tendons that connect directly to the knee, such as the hamstrings and the quadriceps. If these tissues become overly taut, they can pull the knee out of alignment.

Lose the weight, finally
Losing as little as 5 percent of your body weight can dramatically reduce your chances of developing knee arthritis, the most common cause of knee pain, according to the authors of a study presented last November at a meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

Take glucosamine/chondroitin
Many doctors recommend taking 1,500 milligrams (mg) of glucosamine and 1,200mg of chondroitin daily to strengthen aging cartilage. Their use is controversial because no studies have proven they work. But no studies have found a downside, either. "I firmly believe that this helps," Nicola says.

Get to the doctor—pronto—if your knee is swollen
Likewise, a rattling, grinding noise, or a feeling of gravel moving around inside your knee, should prompt a visit to the doctor. These can be early warning signs of damaged cartilage. Fortunately, several techniques have been developed in the past few years to repair worn cartilage, including autologous chondrocyte implantation: a surgeon suctions out some of your living cartilage cells, grows millions of copies of them in the lab, then reinjects them into your knees. The technique is new—and is best used on tiny areas of worn cartilage. But researchers believe so-called tissue engineering could one day offer relief even for those with full bone-on-bone arthritis.

If your doctor recommends surgery right away, seek a second opinion
"I personally think there's more knee surgery being done these days than is warranted," says Kenny, himself a retired surgeon. Several major studies of arthroscopic surgery to remedy sore knees have found little or no benefit. Physical therapy, as well as anti-inflammatory medicines, can be just as effective—and less invasive.

BIRTHDAYS ON  MAY 1^ST.

1771 George Guest composer
1825 George Inness US landscape painter ("Delaware Water Gap")
1830 Mary Harris Jones [Mother Jones], hell-raiser
1839 Chardonnet inventor (rayon)
1898 Eugene R Black US, President of World Bank (1953-62)
1905 Nikolai Tikhonov Soviet PM (1980-85)
1907 Kate Smith Greenville AL, singer (God Bless America)/Philadelphia Flyer luck charm
1910 Cliff Battles Akron OH, NFL hall of famer (Braves, Redskins)
1916 Glenn Ford Québec Canada, actor (Cade's County, Big Heat, Midway)
1916 Jack Parr Canton OH, TV host (Jack Paar Show)
1917 John Beradino Los Angeles CA, actor (Steve Hardy-General Hospital)
1922 Louis Nye Hartford CT, comedian (Steve Allen, Happy Days)
1925 Malcolm Scott Carpenter Boulder CO, astronaut (Mercury 7-Aurora 7)
1927 Greta Andersen Denmark, 100 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-1948)
1927 Harry [Harold George Jr] Belafonte New York NY, calypso singer (The Banana Boat Song)
1929 Sonny James [James Loden] Hackelburg AL, rocker (Young Love)
1933 Joan Hackett East Harlem New York NY, actress (Defenders, Another Day)
1939 Judy Collins Seattle WA, singer (Send in the Clowns, Both Sides Now, Clouds)
1942 Stephen Macht Philadelphia PA, actor (Joe-Knots Landing, Cagney & Lacey)
1943 Joy Harmon St Louis MO, actress (Cool Hand Luke)
1944 Rita Coolidge Nashville TN, singer (Higher & Higher, We're All Alone)
1946 Jerry Weiss New York NY, rocker (Blood Sweat & Tears)
1946 Joanna Lumley Kashmir India, actress (Ab Fab, On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
1946 Nick Fortune [Nicholas Fortuna], rock bassist (Buckinghams Chicago)
1946 Tony Ashton rocker
1947 Carlos Ward rocker (B T Express)
1948 James Wise US soul singer (Archie Bell & the Drells)
1954 Ray Parker Jr Detroit MI, rock guitarist/vocalist (Ghostbusters-Who You Gonna Call?)
1956 Byron Stewart Baxter Springs KS, actor (Warren Coolidge-St Elsewhere)
1957 Paul D Ronney Los Angeles CA, ScD/astronaut (STS 83 alternate)
1957 Steve Farris rock guitarist (Mr Mister)
1958 John Diehl Cincinnati OH, actor (Detective Zito-Miami Vice)
1959 Eddie Johnson NBA guard/forward (Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers)
1970 Alex Van Pelt NFL quarterback (Buffalo Bills)
1970 Allen DeGraffenreid WLAF wide receiver (Scotland Claymores)
 

IT HAPPENED ON MAY 1^ST.

1551 Council of Trente resumes
1707 England, Wales & Scotland form UK of Great Britain
1840 1st adhesive postage issued
1841 1st  wagon train leaves Independence MO for California
1844 Samuel Morse sends 1st telegraphic message
1867 Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration
1873 1st US postal card issued
1883 "Buffalo Bill" Cody put on his 1st Wild West Show
1884 Moses Walker became 1st black player in the major league
1889 Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)
1891 Cy Young pitches 1st game played in Cleveland's League Park Cleveland Spiders 12, Cincinnati Redlegs 3
1901 Detroit Tigers commit 12 errors against Chicago White Sox
1901 Herb McFarland hit 1st grand slam in the American League
1908 World's most intense rain shower (2.47" in 3 minutes) at Portobelo Panamá
1919 Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages
1920 Babe Ruth's 1st Yankee homerun & 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds
1926 Satchel Paige makes pitching debut in Negro Southern League
1927 1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways)
1931 Empire State Building opens in New York NY
1935 Boulder Dam completed
1937 FDR signs act of neutrality
1939 Batman Comics hit the street
1940 140 Palestinian Jews die as Germans  bomb their ship
1940 The 1940 Olympics are cancelled
1941 General Mills introduces Cheerios
1943 Food rationing begins in US
1943 German plane sinks boat loaded with Palestinian Jews bound for Malta
1944 Messerschmitt Me-262 Sturmvogel, first operational jet aircraft (twin-jet fighter), makes 1st flight
1948 North Korea proclaims itself People's Democratic Republic of Korea
1951 Mickey Mantle's 1st homerun
1952 Mr Potato Head, introduced
1959 Floyd Patterson KOs Brian London in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
1960 Russia shoots Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane 1961 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba
1961 Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba
1962 JFK authorizes Area Redevelopment Act (ARA)
1965 91st Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker on Lucky Debonair wins in 2:01.2
1967 Elvis Presley & Pricilla Beaulieu wed in Las Vegas
1971 Amtrak railroad begins operation
1984 Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1986 Bill Elliott sets stock car speed record of 212.229 mph
1986 Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap
1991 Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan pitches record 7th no hitter (beats Toronto 3-0)
1992 New York Rangers win their 1st ever 7th game of a playoff (vs New Jersey Devils)
1992 Rickey Henderson steals his 1,000th base
1994 Charles Kuralt retires as CBS newsman

1997 Toni Blair elected PM of UK