Community News 49
Ponte Vedra Recorder · September 24, 2015
Sunbonnet
Sue sparks
creativity
Bonnie Talley
Quilt Lady
When I started the Christmas “Nutcracker Ballet” wall hanging in January,
2015, using Sunbonnet Sue as my main
character, Emily Cole, a talented quilter
in the Ocean Wave Quilters’ Guild,
received a jolt to her creativity and
started her own Sunbonnet Sue project.
Emily has a niece who lives in
London. The niece has a little 2½ year
old girl named Scarlett Ava Fitzgerald.
Since Fitzgerald gives her a Scottish
heritage, Emily has dressed Sunbonnet
Sue as a Scottish lassie complete in the
traditional Fitzgerald plaid costume.
Emily has spent the last nine months
designing this lassie in many costumes
and circumstances to entertain the little
one for many years to come. This is
truly an heirloom quilt for the Fitzgerald family made for them by their loving Aunt Emily.
When I started the Ocean Wave
Quilters’ Guild in 2003, Emily Cole was
my choice for the first President. She
kept the group going and helped to
get many Hospice quilts made those
first years. The Guild has 40 members
now. They have made hundreds of
Hospice quilts in the past twelve years.
Their efforts for making the Heart Pil-
lows for Hospice every Valentine’s Day
at the “Work Your Heart Out Day” at
The Plantation, have been phenomenal. They have distributed thousands
of these pillows to the Hospice Centers
of North Florida.
Anyone wishing to help with these
worthy projects should attend an
Ocean Wave Quilters Guild meeting
the 2nd Friday of any month at 10:00 0
12:00 at the Players Community Center
on Landrum Lane off Hwy 210 behind
the Shell station.
Ones of you who are working on
the Sunbonnet Sue Christmas project should be encouraged to finish
the “Nutcracker Ballet” wall hanging
before Christmas. I, for one am taking
my project with me on a trip. I shall
work on it while traveling. I love to
have handwork to do while sitting on a
plane or a bus. I meet so many people
while doing this. Most ladies can’t resist walking up to me to ask, “What are
you making?” This opens the conversation and usually ends up with my encouraging them to take up quilting as
a great past time. Several times I have
met quilters on cruises who would join
me on deck in the afternoon during
our days at sea. Quilters are known for
their friendliness and love of helping
others to learn their art.
Quilting is not known as a craft
anymore. It is truly an art form. When
you see the excellent quilts that are to
be exhibited at “Quilt Fest” in Jacksonville beginning Sept. 24th through
Sept. 27th at the Prime F. Osborn III
Convention Center at 1000 Water St.,
9:00 – 5:00, you will agree with me on
this point.
Hope to see you there! Happy quilting!
Do you have a non-financial retirement plan?
There are two trends I have noticed that significantly impact retirement planning. First, people
are retiring on average at around age 60 versus
our parents who retired at about age 65. Second, people are living about 10 years longer, on
average, than people did 25 years or so ago. The
combination of these two trends results in a retirement period that is 25-3035 years long versus 10 years
a couple decades ago. This
has created a financial challenge of immense proportions
for many people but it also
creates a personal challenge
that often is overlooked.
Planning for retirement is
more than just making sure
Ric Schilling
the finances work; it also
Guest Columnist
means planning for an extended period of time not
consumed by work. Whether we like it or not,
work consumes a majority of our waking hours
during the bulk of our adult lives so we have
limited time in which to do other things. When
work stops, we feel a sense of relief that the burden of work has been lifted, but … at the same
time, many may experience a sense of being lost
because we no longer have the structure and time
commitment that work required. Having a few
days away from work is a blessing; never working
again may, for many, be a curse.
I frequently see with retirees — they are still
vibrant and in good health; they just often lack
activities or events that provide meaningful socialization and human interaction. I know lots of
people who love to golf and do so on a regular
basis three times a week. I often wonder, do they
really love golf that much or do they just lack
other interests. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE golf
(most days anyway) as much as the next person
but not enough to spend three days of the week
at it in my retirement years.
What is your non-financial retirement plan?
Have you thought about doing something you
have always wanted to try; taking classes at
the local community college and/or community
center, taking on a part time job that provides
satisfaction or volunteering at a church, school or
non-profit organization?
While each person has different intere sts, all
of us have a need to feel relevant at every stage
of life, to feel that who we are and what we do
matters. Think about those things that you would
love to learn or have always wanted to try. Do art
or cooking classes interest you? Does volunteering at your local library sound like fun? Would
tutoring children (or adults) sound rewarding
to you? Have you always wanted to take piano
lessons? What about starting or joining a book
or garden club? Does volunteering for Sea Turtle
Patrol sound exciting? The possibilities are nearly
endless!
Obviously, we help guide our clients through
the financial strategies of retirement but we also
discuss and often help guide them through the
non-financial aspects of retirement as well. Both
are ultimately very important in retirement planning.
Keeping the mind, body and spirit engaged and
active is key to a long and healthy life.
* Always check with your doctor before beginning or changing an exercise or activity routine.
Frederic “Ric” Schilling is a Florida native, born in Jacksonville, Fl. Ric is President of Senior Guardians of America, a
local North Florida firm specializing in tax reduction, long
term illness planning, asset protection, probate avoidance
and life income planning. Ric is a National Speaker and
Advocate on Senior Issues and has been featured by the
Florida Times Union and WJXT, TV-4 in Jacksonville as an
authority on Estate Planning and Retirement Issues. Senior
Guardians has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau
and is a member in excellent standing with the National Ethics Association. Contact Frederic : 904-371-3302 or 888-8913381 Please visit: www.seniorguardian.com
This article is not intended to give tax or legal advice. Securities offered through Center Street Securities, Inc.(CSS),
a registered Broker-Dealer and Member of FINRA & SIPC.
Senior Guardians is independent of CSS.