Atlanta Hawks Poetry Slam Contest & More

http://www.nba.com/hawks/community/Educational_Programs.html
Calling All High School Students!

The Atlanta Hawks Poetry Slam Contest is a shout-out especially to you, an invitation to your turn your thoughts into verse and speak them aloud. Enter the Atlanta Hawks Poetry Slam Contest and you could make it to the finals at the Hard Rock Café and take home a laptop computer, 32" flat screen TV, GPS system or autographed Hawks merchandise. The top winner will also perform during the halftime of the Atlanta Hawks game on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Don't delay, submit your entry today. Please see the attached documents for registration information and details: http://www.nba.com/media/hawks/Poetry_Slam_Official_Rules.pdf.

The deadline is November 15th.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. The ATLANTA HAWKS POETRY SLAM (“Contest”) is open
to all high school students in grades 9-12 as of the date the Contest begins, who attend high school within 75 miles of Atlanta and who are legal U.S. and Georgia residents.

More info. on Atlanta Hawks programs for students:

www.nba.com/hawks/community/Educational_Programs.html

Great Classes at the Oakhurst Garden!

www.oakhurstgarden.org

Oakhurst Community Garden Project
435 Oakview Road, Decatur, GA 30030
678 642-4977

Oakhurst Community Garden Project features indoor classroom space. To register, go to http://www.oakhurstgarden.org/classes.html.

Upcoming Classes:

Build a Beehive
Students will work together to assemble standard hives from an ordered kit. Instruction will also include hands on work with mounting foundations and frames. If the weather cooperates, the class
will also work with directly with the bees.
Sunday, November 1, 3-5 p.m.
$15 Garden Members, $20 non-members

Lasagna Gardening: Not Cooking, but Gardening!
This is not a cooking class or a gardening class that talks about growing ingredients for the perfect lasagna, but rather a method that requires no digging, no tilling, or removing your grass. It's true! Join Amy Hanlder in this hands-on class to learn about a nontraditional method of layering organic matter to create a rich bed ready to plant with greens for the fall and summer veggies next spring.
Saturday, November 7, 3-5 p.m.
$15 Garden members, $20 non-members

Create a Holiday Glass Dish
Join Brenda Griffith in this all ages class as you create a 7.5 inch round glass bowl using an assortment of colors. The glass will be slumped over a mold, fired, and ultimately you will have new bowl created by you just in time for the holidays. Class will take place at Brenda's studio at 2480 Memorial Drive. (4-9 year olds need to be accompanied by an adult, 10 and up can be dropped off.) Each session is limited to 8 participants/pairs.
Sunday, November 8, 1-3 p.m. or Tuesday, November 17, 6-8 p.m.
$35 for Garden members, $40 for non-members. Fee includes 1 bowl per
person/pair.

Cheap and Healthy Food
Come and learn techniques for saving money and eat dinner with Charli Vogt, RN, who loves doing anything that involves the kitchen. She will take you through the process of shopping, planning, preparing and eating the meal. Research has shown that you save money if you go to the store with a list. Each student will receive a grocery list, a planning form for a week of food, and recipes for 4 different meals that are easy, cheap and healthy. Plan to eat one of these meals with us. Use of the pressure cooker and slow cooker will be covered. Check out Charli's Website: www.CharliVogt.com.

Thursday, November 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
$25 for Garden members, $30 for non-members

Worm Compost: The Basics of Great Worm P--P!
Learn about the benefits of composting with worms. According to the EPA, approximately 10% of the waste stream is food and over 38% of the waste stream is paper. These materials can be used as food and bedding for a worm bin. It's easy, fun, odorless and produces a great soil additive! Class participants will learn how to house, feed, harvest and care for their own worms. Be prepared to roll-up your sleeves and make your own worm bin including the instructions and worms ready to start composting. From ages 6 and up, accompanied by a parent.
Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m.-noon
$35 for Garden members, $40 for non-members

Gluten-Free Desserts for the Holidays
Learn to make Gluten-Free Desserts that your guests will prefer over the others. Taught by Charli Vogt, RN, MN, MPH. Charli has a private practice in mind/body medicine in Decatur. Her enthusiasm for helping people be well through food is evident in her classes. Students come
back to learn again and again. In this hands-on class be ready to cook and to sample what we make. Bring containers to carry home samples, (if we don't eat them all). www.CharliVogt.com
Thursday, November 19, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
$30 for Garden members, $35 for non-members

Winter Sowing a Perennial Garden
An innovative way to successfully start plants from seed without the expense of an extensive lightstand or even a greenhouse! Using plastic containers and the freeze/thaw cycles of winter....find out more by joining Glynis Ward in this fun and educational class. Native and
non-native perennial seeds, soil and supplies are provided, you bring as many clear and opaque recyclable containers as you would like: milk jugs, soda, water or juice bottles, plastic food tubs with lids, clear take-out "hamburger" boxes.
Monday, November 30, 7 - 9 p.m.
$20 Garden members, $25 non-members

Upcoming Friday Free Soccer Clinics

Please note per GA Soccer rules, this clinic is is only available to children who are not registered with another GSSA Club.

Free Soccer Clinics open for boys and girls 8 years old through 14 years old, at Ebster Field for the following dates:

5 to 6:30 pm, Friday, Oct 30th

5 to 6:30 pm, Friday, Nov 6th

5 to 6:30 pm, Friday, Nov 13th

This is a great opportunity for all Decatur Rec soccer players to get some free professional coaching by Atlanta Spurs FC Directors. Just bring yourself and be ready to have some fun!

For more information, please contact Matt Holmes, 910-916-2773.

Ebster Field is on Electric Ave. off of West Trinity Place, behind the Ebster Rec. Center and Decatur Police Dept.

Please note per GA Soccer rules, this clinic is is only available to children who are not registered with another GSSA Club.

Safe Roues to School - Stretch Your Neck (Like a Turkey) and Look, Left, Right, Left Again

From Greg White, 678-553-6543, Assistant Director of Decatur Active Living and manager of our SRTS program:

Stretch Your Neck (Like a Turkey) and Look, Left, Right, Left Again

What were you always taught about crossing streets? Likely it was “Look both ways.” But, like so much in school these days, kids are now learning something a bit different. In Pedestrian Safety Education, they learn a little chant:

STOP! Look Left! Look Right!
Look Left Again,
And Over Your Shoulder
At every road edge.

It’s pretty simple, but there’s a lot in it to help keep your child safe – and there’s much more than “look both ways.” Here’s why.

1)The Road Edge -- What’s a “road edge”? It’s any place where the “walking space” meets the motorized traffic space. It could be a curb, the place where a trail meets the street, the meeting point of a sidewalk and a driveway, or the edge of a car in a parking lot. It’s important that children be aware of this change from a pedestrian-safe environment to one that is built for motorized traffic. They should be able to identify this change as an “edge” so they know what to do. Again, an edge is not just a street corner – it’s every place where we, as pedestrians, may encounter motorized traffic.

2)STOP! - Adults often forget about the “stopping” part, assuming it to be a natural thing to do. But children need to hear it over and over: the first thing they must do when they come to any type of road edge is STOP! The edge is where they need to observe, assess the situation, and make a decision about whether to move forward. It doesn’t do much good to start looking for traffic when you’re in the middle of it!

3) Look Left ! Look Right! – Many children have difficulty learning the concepts of left and right. These words may be harder for children to understand than “both ways,” but learning left from right is a very useful skill. Many teachers show children the “L” trick – when holding out both hands with thumbs at a right angle to the hand, the left hand will form an “L.” The Left Right Left chant gives young children a reason and an opportunity to practice this from an early age.

4) Look Left Again – This means look MORE THAN both ways! Traffic closest to pedestrians will be coming from the left . While looking to the right, traffic may approach from the left, so pedestrians need to check to the left again before stepping out.

5) Over Your Shoulder - It’s very important to check for turning vehicles before stepping into a street or driveway. Just like car drivers and bicyclists, pedestrians need to scan over their shoulders to see what may be coming from behind them and possibly turning into their path.

(Note: These concepts apply to bicycle-riders, too: STOP! Look left, right, left again at the end of driveways and at stop signs. )

This pedestrian skill is a fundamental one, we are highlighting this skill through our Safe Routes to School program, and we encourage you to practice it as much as you can whenever you walk with your child. To add a little fun this month, you can call it the Turkey Walk --- strut like a turkey, and at a road edge, STOP!, and do a little “gobble –gobble.” Then, s-t-r-e-t-c-h your neck, look left, look right, look left again, and then over your shoulder. Once your way is clear, strut on and do it over and over again. Children need the practice, and mixing it with a turkey strut will make it just that much more memorable! (And of course, please keep reminding them throughout the year, long after this November’s Turkey Days are over!)

Oct 29 - Save the Date: Emory's Bike to Campus Day

http://bike.emory.edu/

Save the Date: Bike to Campus Day - Oct 29

Show support for cycling as a commuting choice by biking to campus on Thursday, October 29.

Bike Emory is encouraging everyone who lives, works, learns and plays in the area to cycle to your campus to promote the cycling culture in the community.

In the morning, riders will meet for a group ride in front of Bicycle South, located at 2098 North Decatur Road, at 8 am where free breakfast foods will be provided. A short ride will depart at 8:30 am and will take riders down North Decatur to Clifton Road.

Before the ride a $25 Bicycle South gift certificate and cycling gear will be awarded to the cyclist with the longest commute and all riders can enter to win an additional $25 Bicycle South gift certificate.

A link to the flyer for the event is HERE. Please distribute electronically to your cycling networks.

We hope to see you there!

For more details visit the event page HERE.

Oct 29 - DeKalb co-hosts event on eating healthy for less

From the AJC:

DeKalb co-hosts event on eating healthy for less

By Shelia M. Poole

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

3:31 p.m. Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Trying to eat healthy on a limited budget?

The Georgia Coalition for Physical Activity and Nutrition and the DeKalb County Board of Health's Office of Chronic Disease Prevention will host an open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 29 at Saint Philip African Methodist Episcopal Church's Family Life and Administration Center, 240 Candler Rd.

The event will introduce the coalition's "Share Our Strength's Operation Frontline", in DeKalb. Operation Frontline is a nutrition education program.

Bren Herrera, a self-taught personal chef, will be among the speakers. She is the editor of the food blog, Flanboyant Eats.

Oakhurst Female Walking or Running Club!

Now Every Tuesday and Thursday

Oakhurst Female Walking or Running Club, Cost: FREE ADMISSION, DISTANCE: UP TO 5K your pace- for beginners or advanced. When: October 27 & 29, 2009 Date: Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:45PM to 8:00PM, Walk/ Run Starts: at 7:00PM. Location: In front of One Step at A Time For additional information please contact ona@OakhurstGA.org.

Sherina Clough, President

Oakhurst Neighborhood Association

---

email: ona@oakhurstga.org

web: http://www.OakhurstGA.org

Nov 14 - Run for Justice 5K Run/Walk in Oakhurst

http://www.rungeorgia.com/runforjustice.html

2009 Run for Justice

Saturday, November 14

Join us in Oakhurst for a 5-K run and walk to benefit Atlanta Legal Aid Society.

Meet in front of One Step at A Time, 650-B East Lake Drive, Decatur, GA 30030.

Parking is available next to the storefront.

- Awards will be presented to overall female and male; to overall master female and male; and to the top finishers in five-year age groups from children to masters.

-Preregistered law firms and corporations with the greatest percentage and/or numbers of runners will receive awards.

-The run follows a well-monitored course that passes through the beautifully tree-shaded neighborhood of Oakhurst.

-All participants will receive a colorful long-sleeved 100%-cotton T-shirt.

-Running strollers and dogs welcomed! Top finishers receive an award!

$20 Pre-Registration through November 6

$25 Registration after November 6

For more information, call 404-327-7738 or visit http://www.rungeorgia.com/runforjustice.html.

Saturday - Beat the Street for Little Feet 5K

Pete the Cat is back for the third annual Beat the Street for Little Feet!

3rd Annual Beat the Street for Little Feet!
Feet of all sizes are welcome! Join Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool families for a Saturday morning of running and fun on October 31, 2009 at 9AM in Candler Park. The race will include not only a 5K with special jog stroller division, but also a 1-mile race for younger participants, and a “fun run” for our community’s youngest runners. Stick around for the FREE post-race Children's Festival with live children’s music, a costume contest, face painting, food, and loads of festivities for the kids. And for all you “Pete the Cat” fans, award-winning local artist James Dean has created another one-of-a-kind race T-shirt for the event. This year, Pete and kittens are in costume!

5K in beautiful Candler Park of Atlanta

Saturday October 31, 2009 at 9 a.m.

Single and double jog stroller division, one mile race and fun run for younger participants

Post-race children’s festival with live music, face painting and costume contest!

Pete the Cat race t-shirt for ALL PRE-REGISTERED RACERS (by October 18, 2009) designed by award-winning artist, James Dean

Bring your worn out athletic shoes and we’ll recycle them through Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program

We cannot guarantee you a t-shirt on race day unless you pre-register!

On-line registration available here and on ACTIVE.COM. In-store registration available at Big Peach Running Company.

Nov 19 - Mason Mill Park Master Plan Public Information Update Meeting

The City of Decatur is located in DeKalb County Commission District 2. Mason Mill Park is designated as the "regional" park for Commission District 2.

Mason Mill Park Master Plan Public Information Update Meeting
From District 2 Commissioner Jeff Rader: The Mason Mill Park Master Plan Public Information Update Meeting will take place Thursday, November 19th at 6:30pm at the Avis G.Williams Library located at 1282 McConnell Drive, Decatur, 30033.
www.commissionerrader.com

Busy Weekend in the CoD

There are many active events for the active citizens of Decatur this weekend. Check out the Decatur Minute blog for more info. Get in some exercise by walking or bicycling to these easily accessible events!

Saturday - Pumpkin Carving Contest at the DRC

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Saturday, Oct. 24th • 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore St.

Clean and carve your pumpkin for Halloween! Dress for the event and join the fun. For more information, please contact Lee Williams, 678-553-6551.

www.peds.org - Golden Shoe Awards Celebration

Join PEDS for the 10th annual Golden Shoe Awards Celebration.

The Golden Shoe Awards honor pedestrian-friendly
projects, programs, and people.

Tuesday, Nov. 10th
6:00 - 8:00 pm
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
435 Peachtree Street (map)

Meet the people who are making metro Atlanta walkable.
Enjoy delicious appetizers, beer, wine and great walking music.


Tickets: $15 in advance; $20 at door.
Get your tickets online through Nov 15.

Become a new member of PEDS for just $30 and get one free ticket.

Pedestrian Safety Tips for Halloween

Pedestrian Safety Tips for Halloween

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center offers the following tips for safety-related and general interest stories surrounding the upcoming Halloween holiday weekend.

Guidelines for safe walking at Halloween

1. Parents and Adults Should be Involved

Young children need a parent or other adult to go trick or reating with them. There is no magic age when children are old enough to walk alone. Parents need to judge when their children are mature enough to go without an adult.

Review crossing safety rules with children. Tell them to:

• Even when adults are looking, always look for cars for yourself.
• Stop at the curb and look left, right and left again for traffic.
• Wait until no traffic is coming and begin crossing. Keep looking for traffic until you have finished crossing.
• When crossing the street at an intersection, obey traffic signs and signals and look for yourself to see if cars are coming. Look left, right and left and then behind you and in front of you for turning cars.
• Walk, don't run across the street.

2. Cross Safely

Choose the safest routes to walk.

• Pick places where there are sidewalks or paths separated from traffic if possible.
• Look for well-lit streets with slow traffic.
• Remind children to watch for cars turning or pulling out of driveways.

Limit the number of street crossings. Avoid crossing busy or high-speed roads.

3. Be Visible

Think visibility. Wear bright colors, use retro reflective materials. Carry flashlights. In bad weather, visibility is even more important.

Choose homes that welcome Halloween visitors. Look for well lit driveways, walkways or paths to the front door.

Do a costume check. Can the children walk easily in the outfit? Make sure the masks or head gear allow the children to see clearly what is around them. Be sure they can safely negotiate steps on dimly lit walkways.

When taking a group of kids trick or treating:

Have a good ratio of parents/adults to children. For young children, consider 1 adult for every 3 children.

Arrange the adults so that there is an adult in the front and one in the back. This is to prevent children from getting ahead or lagging behind the group.

Plan how to cross streets:

• Avoid busy, high-speed or multi-lane roads.
• Give children exiting the street room to enter the sidewalk area.

Remember children are not miniature adults.

• They often act before thinking.
• They have one-third narrower side vision.
• They can't judge speed.
• They are shorter than adults and can't see over cars and bushes.

Make sure the children understand what is expected of them. Have a plan for dealing with disruptive kids.

Messages for Motorists:

Drive slowly through residential streets and areas where pedestrians trick-or-treating could be expected.

Watch for children darting out from between parked cars.

Watch for children walking on roadways, medians, and curbs.

Enter and exit driveways and alleys carefully.

At twilight and later in the evening, watch for children in dark clothing.

---

Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

730 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Campus Box 3430
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3430
Phone: 1.877.925.5245
Fax: 919.962.8710
www.walkinginfo.org
www.bicyclinginfo.org

DeKalb Neighborhood Summit

For more information, go to OneDeKalb.com.

Music in the Garden This Sunday

Don Fay and George Eckard of "The Unusual Suspects" acoustic musicians
2 to 4 pm, Sunday, October 25th

Woodlands Garden, 920 Scott Blvd., Decatur 30030

Woodlands volunteer guides on site. Maps and student educational booklets available if you prefer to tour on your own. Bring your friends and family, but please leave Fido at home. Woodlands is open the last Sunday of every month from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Sundays in the Garden for the remainder of 2009 are Sunday, November 29, and Sunday, December 27.

http://www.decaturpreservationalliance.org/woodlandsgarden/

Oakhurst Female Walking/Running Club

Let's Get Physical!!!

Oakhurst Female Walking/Running Club

Cost: FREE ADMISSION

DISTANCE: UP TO 5K your pace- for beginners or advanced

Starting:October 20 & 22, 2009

Date: Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:45PM to 8:00PM # Walk / Run Starts: at 7:00PM

Location: In front of One Step at A Time For additional information please contact: ona@OakhurstGA.org

Sherina Clough, President

Oakhurst Neighborhood Association

web: http://www.OakhurstGA.org

Children Events This Week - Magical Mornings and Pumpkin Carving!

Pumpkin Carving Contest

10:30 to 1:30 pm, Saturday, Oct. 24th, Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore St. Clean and carve your pumpkin for Halloween! Dress for the event and join the fun. For more information, please contact Lee Williams at 678-553-6551.

Magical Mornings • For City Resident Children 2 to 5 yrs. old

Don’t miss out on the fun. Entertainment from storytelling, animals and magic. Groups of 10 or more must make reservations and pre-pay. For more information, please contact Lee Williams at 678-553-6551.

11 am, Wednesday, Oct. 21st • Chetter Galloway (African storyteller) Registration #545030-02

11 am, Wednesday, Nov. 18th • Queen Glitter (storyteller) Registration ##545030-03

Please visit our Playbook page online for more info. on Decatur Active Living prgrams and events!

Oct 24 - Decatur Electronics Recycling Day

Decatur Electronics Recycling Day
FALL 2009 Event Scheduled for October 24, 2009

Decatur High School Parking Lot
(Corner of N. McDonough Street and Howard Avenue)
>Click for 2007 Photo Highlights

TV's will be recycled for $10 cash only with exact change.

Don't throw away that old cell phone, camera or PC component! Save it and recycle it on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at Decatur's Fall Electronics Recycling event. This semi-annual event has been hugely successful at diverting electronic equipment from landfills, where they may contaminate soil and water. Batteries will be accepted.

TV's will be recycled for a minimal fee of $10 cash only per TV set with exact change. There is no charge to recycle other items.

The event takes place Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Decatur High School Parking lot, on the corner of N. McDonough St. and W. Howard Avenue. Electronics dropped off that day will be sorted and disassembled into raw materials or cleaned for re use.

In addition to electronics, any metro area resident can also drop off batteries of any type.

Volunteers assist in unloading items.To volunteer, please contact Sandy Johnson at 404-377-5571.

Early drop offs are not possible.

For additional information call Sean Woodson, 404-377-5571

Electronic Equipment for Recycling: See updated list for items that will be accepted at the Fall 2009 Event

Almost anything with an electrical cord can be recycled at the event EXCEPT microwave ovens, furniture, light fixtures, household appliances, lamps, vacuum cleaners..

We will recycle for free: Desktop computers , Telephones, Mini-towers, Telephony equipment, Laptop computers, Adding machines,Monitors, Calculators, Servers, Typewriters, Workstations, Label makers,Keyboards, Copiers, Mice, Fax machines, Joystick game controllers, Answering machines, Printers, Printer cartridges, Digital cameras , Zip drives, Batteries, Speakers, PDAs, Pagers, VCRs, Hubs, DVD players, Routers, Cable converter boxes, Scanners, Remote controls, Digital projectors, Stereo equipment ,UPS units, Radios, Main frames, Portable CD players, Component parts, Portable game players, Cables, GPS receivers, 3-in-1 devices, printer/copier/fax machines., Electric lawn mowers and garden equipment, any kind of Battery.

We will recycle television sets for $10 exact change.

http://www.saferoutesga.org/

On September 17th, the newly designed Georgia Safe Routes to School Resource Center website was unveiled: http://www.saferoutesga.org/

The site was developed through an interative process inclusive of review from key stakeholders, including parents and educators. The www.saferoutesga.org site was designed to serve as a key resource for schools to use in accompaniment with guidance from their School Outreach Coordinator. Included on the website is a list of current GA SRTS Resource Center Partner Schools and Friends of the Resource Center; downloadable marketing support materials, such as punch cards, stickers and flyers; an up‐to‐date event calendar; and the Resource Center’s newsletter Wayfinding.

Wayfinding was provided to key stakeholders and to the School Outreach Coordinators for distribution locally and to school district officials. The inaugural issue included both administrative information (like contact data and short bios for each of the School Outreach Coordinators), as well as key features. Readers will get an overview of the SRTS program, information on International Walk to School Day, a list of Partners and events, and a welcome letter from the Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner, Vance Smith, Jr.

Centerlines - Bike & Pedestrian News

Centerlines - News and more from the National Center for Bicycling & Walking

THE NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL SCENE
Walk21 NYC Debriefing Report
American Idle Book Tour Continues in Washington DC
APBP's Professional Development Seminars At Walk21
Bicycle Commuting Trends, 2000 to 2008
Survey: Retailers Value and Support Bike Advocacy
Learn by Example from Award Winning SRTS Program
APBP Lifetime Achievement Award...and More!
Walk Score Walkability Tool to Go Open Source
UK Speed Limiter Firm Aims to Target Motorists
Free Webinar: Advocacy Strategies for Bike/Ped Proponents
Day of Climate Action: 2,250 Events, 152 Countries
APBP Webinar: Bike and Ped Signs, Markings and Experiments

REGIONAL AND LOCAL ACTIONS
New Jersey Counties Push 'Walking School Buses'
El Paso (TX) Studies Walkable Neighborhood Research
NCBW Helps Fairhope (AL) With Complete Streets Work
Ohio DOT Staffers Walk to School in Chillicothe
New Jersey Groups Call for Complete Streets Policy
Beaver Valley (CO) Walk to School Day Starts Something
Lexington (KY) Addresses Complete Street Design
Gilbert (AZ) Kids Observing Walk to School Month
D.C.'S Union Station Bike Station Opens
Utah DOT Saves $$ by Sending Staff to TRB Gathering
Stanford Football Fans Bike in Record Numbers

THE RESEARCH BEAT
U.S. Kids Take in 165 Cal/Day More than They Expend
Univ. of N. Alabama Hosts Childhood Obesity Prevention Pilot
City Corner Stores: Obesity Enablers?

Decatur Fire Dept. - October is Fire Prevention Month

October is Fire Prevention Month!

Fire Safety Month is meant to help teach the community about safety. Below are some great safety tips which the Decatur Fire Department has complied.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Fire Station No. 1: 404-373-5092

Safety Reminders

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home,

inside each bedroom, and outside each sleeping area.

Test smoke alarms once a month.

Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.

Make a home fire escape plan with your family.

Locate two exits out of every room and an outside meeting place.

Know the emergency number for your fire department.

Practice your escape plan twice a year.

When the smoke alarm sounds, get outside, and stay outside!

Burn Notice

Keep hot foods and liquids away from edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.

Be careful when using curling irons, ovens, irons, lamps, heaters.

Just Right!

Remember to test the water before placing children in the bath tub.

Cool a Burn

Treat a burn right away. Put it in cool water for 3-5 minutes. Cover with a clean, dry cloth.

Remember that if the burn is bigger than your fist, or if you have any questions, to get medical help right

away.

Safety in the Kitchen

Remember to stay in the kitchen when cooking.

Keep things that can burn (potholders, towels, and paper) away from the stove.

Create a three foot safety zone for children when cooking.

Electrical Check

Check electrical cords to make sure they are not damaged.

Heating Reminders

Keep space heaters 3 feet from anything that can burn.

You should always turn off space heaters every time you leave the room and before going to bed.

Never use an oven to heat your home.

Match and Lighter Safety

Teach children to tell an adult whenever they find lighters or matches.

Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet.

Candle Caution

Remember to put out lit candles when you leave a room.

Stay three feet away from burning candles.

The Vitality Compass

Created by Blue Zones and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, the Vitality Compass is an interactive tool based on more than 300 peer-reviewed national health studies. Using your answers to a series of questions, the compass calculates your biological age, life expectancy, Blue Zones years, and extra years of life you could add if you optimize your lifestyle.

Take the compass today to find out your score, then participate in the Vitality Project's "6 Weeks to Longevity" beginning September 8 to learn how you can add years to your life. You can then retake the Vitality Compass to check your progress at the completion of the six weeks.

Step 1: Take the Vitality Compass

First, you will need to register to become a member of the AARP Online Community. Once you are registered, use your member email address and password to log in to the Vitality Compass.

Once you are logged into the Vitality Compass, you will be asked 36 questions, which take only a few minutes to answer and will never be shared or made public.

When you finish answering the questions, you'll get four scores in addition to your calendar age.

• Your biological age calculates your body's age given your current habits.
• Your life expectancy indicates how long you're expected to live.
• Your Blue Zones years are the number of years you have gained or lost given your current behaviors.
• Your extra years of life are those you could add if you optimize your lifestyle.

After you have reviewed your scores, click "Save and Continue" under the "Extra Years" box on the far right.

You can then enroll in the Vitality Coach®, which offers personalized emails to help you make healthy changes to your lifestyle.

If you have technical issues with the Vitality Compass or Coach, please call 1-888-OUR-AARP or send an email to member@aarp.org for assistance.