PaseAfe______________________________________________ lìorthuxì» © b s e rtie r_____________________ _______ August 2 4 .200s Fitness: A Fountain of Youth continued photo hv I saiah Bot ie /T he P ortland O bserver Local resident John Olmstead attends a vigil in northeast Portland supporting Cindy Sheehan, the mother o f a son killed in Iraq, who has taken the face o f the opposition to President Bush's actions in the war in Iraq. War Opposition continued from Front to leave temporarily with a vow to return. But "Camp Casey,” named after Sheehan’s deceased son, lives on, with many military families still sticking around in protest. Two Oregon mothers traveled to the Texas last week to join the C raw ford vigil. Lynn Bradac of Portland and M ichelle DeFord of Salem both had sons that died in Iraq. They planned to stay in C raw ford for a w eek. At least 1,866 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. Volunteers Build Playground Club Apologizes for Racist E-mail (Oregon LiquorControl Commis sion) inspector told me in private make downtown Portland streets that blacks belonged to Northeast safer, while offering patrons of any Portland, not downtown. I was fu ethnic origin or background, as wel 1 rious with this statement and I as musical taste, a safe place to thought he was racist. After see enjoy themselves and have a good ing the violence of last Sunday time. We would rather close our night, I owe an apology to that doors than to jeopardize the pub inspector. They do belong to Northeast Portland and they need lic.” The original e-mail from Makboul not to be encouraged i n any way to was as follows: "One time, an OLCC come downtown.” continued from Front Barbara Brooks (from left), president of Beach Elementary School's PTA, Darcy Olsen of the All State Foundation and Dlenny Roca of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids were among approximately 75 volunteers who built a new playground Saturday at Beach Elementary in north Portland. The “Little Hands” playground replaces an outdated wooden play structure that did not meet current safety guidelines. The construction was funded by a $70,000 grant from the Allstate Foundation. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver from Front forward to 13 more years with their family and friends. Staying fit helps c o u n te ra c t the fact that you lose 50 p e r cent o f your stren g th and 75 percent o f yo u r pow er betw een 35 and 70 years o f age, a c c o rd ing to the In tern atio n al C o u n cil o f A ctive A ging. “ E v e r y th in g j u s t s lo w s dow n. But if y o u ’re w orking at it, these th in g s w o n ’t break dow n as q u ic k ly ,” W ilson said. “ I t’s about the q u ality o f life, g e ttin g to p la y w ith th e ir g randkids o r take a w alk w ith th e ir w ife. If I can get them to eat m ore n u tritio u s food and exercise, I can easily get so m e one out o f taking blood p re s sure m e d ic in e .” As the fastest grow ing d e m ographic in the fitn ess c o m m unity, people over 55 are g a r nering m ore atte n tio n from the gym s they atten d . Since 1987, the p o p ulation o f o lder health clu b clien ts has sky ro ck eted 343 percent. M aking sure an o ld e r c lie n t is w ell cared for includes d e tails such as “try in g to take aw ay the o b sta c le s o f com ing into the gym , w alking them through aqua cla sse s, o r m ak ing sure th e y ’re co m fo rtab le talking to anyone on the flo o r,” said S hannon M ay, sp o k e s person for 24-H our Fitness. In a society w here obesity is becom ing a way o f life, it’s becom ing even m ore im portant to be aw are o f the b en efits o f fitness to lengthen a lifespan. S tudies show even w alking the dog for 30 m inutes a day can cut the risk o f diab etes in half, as w ell as shed pounds. W orking out alo n e can be d iffic u lt m o ti v a tio n -w ise , w hich is why b e longing to a gym and w orking out w ith a friend or personal tra in e r helps. G ym s can also be in tim id a t ing for seniors w hen everyone around is younger, in-shape and determ in ed . But M ay says this isn ’t necessarily the case w ith her com pany. “ I t’s fitn ess for e v e ry o n e ,” M ay said. “ A nytim e you w alk in, you see som eone young, old, fit, trying to get fit. Ju st go and talk to som eone, talk about w hat y o u r g o a ls are, w h e th e r you have an anxiety. A tra in e r p ro vides a p erso n alized ro u tin e .” M ay re ite ra ted that m aking sure each in d ividual is at ease w ith th e ir w orkout is o f utm ost im p o rtan ce because everyone has p a rtic u la r aches and pains they m ight be d ealin g w ith. “ M aking physical a ctiv ity a part o f th e ir life is a m a z in g ,” M ay said. “ It helps w ith any thing from keeping bone m ass, balance and sta b ility .” A nd for people like R oberts, securing a balanced, stable and long life is already becom ing a reality. For m ore in fo rm atio n , visit w w w .24hourfitness.com . Lottery profits help pay teachers’ salaries * FUNDED SINCE: 1995 ir -Il J e re l B e tz , S cience Teachbr, p Salem, Marion County Oregonians value education, which is why Lottery profits is allocated to Oregon's schools this year. The mi «U. they consistently make choices to support Oregon's schools - from helps pay teachers' salaries, build and repair buildings, buy textbooks donating th e ir own tim e and money to fund in d ivid u a l projects and fund other essential services. Lottery games have generated to dedicating Lottery profits to K-12 education. In 1995, Oregonians over $4 b illio n fo r education, economic development, state parks passed a constitutional amendment th a t allows L o tte ry p ro fits to and watershed enhancement since 19 ■ r *■ t-1 help fund public education. As a result, more than $22 0 m illio n In 20 Years of Doing Good Things OREGON LOTTERY Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.