We’re all familiar with those lucky “Snowbirds” … the folks who take flight shortly after the first frost and return to Central Indiana just as the first crocus shows its blooms.

Indy Creative Aging chats with a couple of those folks to see how things are going this year … and we’re interested in hearing from others! If you know a  Snowbird, tell them we would love to hear from them … send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it !

Indy Creative Aging takes cardiac health to heart ... and a reminder that while men and women have equal risks of heart disease, the symptoms may differ between the sexes. Ladies, please, do not blame that fatigue on "getting old" or windedness as "out of shape." Give yourself a Valentine and make an appointment with your physician.

The statistics are impossible to ignore. According to the American Heart Association, heart disease remains the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States, claiming the lives of approximately 18,000 Hoosiers each year. In fact, more women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined.

Heart disease doesn’t discriminate, attacking men and women in equal measure. The symptoms of a heart attack may not always look the same between the two sexes, but in either case, knowing the warning signs can mean the difference between life and death.

While those experiencing vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration may feel very alone, the reality is you are in a growing population. According to Macular Degeneration Research, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation, this visual impairment affects some 11 million people in the United States, and that number is expected to double by the year 2050.

When veteran news anchor Mike Ahern began his broadcast career at WISH-TV, the world – and the industry – was much different.

For starters, he wondered how they were going to “fill” 30 minutes of air time during the evening news. The staff numbered slightly more than a half dozen. There were no “live” shots as everything had to be filmed in the field and brought back to the studio for processing. At least the competition was slim – only four television stations were on the Indianapolis airwaves in 1967. During the course of 37 years, Mike Ahern became the friendly face that delivered history as it was made and provided the lead in to “Uncle Walter” (aka CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite) during some of the most poignant moments of the 20^th Century.