Newspaper Page Text
Odell Smith, 86, Role
Model For Seniors
By D. J. LAAN
Staff Writer
Odell Smith acknowledges
that some folks might consiéer
her a “senior citizen” since she
celebrated her 86th birthday in
December.
However, don’t tell Mrs.
Smith that she is “old” because
she might challenge you to a
mile-for-mile walking contest!
The spry octo§enarian
walks about three miles daily,
regardless of weather conditions.
“Walking keeps me
healthy,” Mrs. Smith said with a
twinkle in her eyes.
In addition to her daily
walks, she visits the Chattooga
County Senior Center most days,
garticnpating in Bingo games, a
ake-off or whatever other event
might be scheduled at the cen
ter.
Her most recent project has
been sewing a wedding ring quilt
top, which she plans to quilt be
fore summer.
ACTIVE
Lavoid “Smithie” Smith, her
late husband who was a used car
salesman, died in 1987.
For more than 60 years,
Mrs. Smith has been living in
Summerville.
“My husband and I were
looking for a job when we came
here,” she said, “and we found
jobs and a town to live in that we
really liked.”
During those early days, the
couple did a little home farming
but their primary source of in
come came from working in lo
cal cotton mills.
“I was a spinner and my
husband worked in the ware
house,” she said. In 1947, their
only daughter, Janet, was born.
“She’s a Colbert now and
she lives in Kennesaw,” Mrs.
Smith said.
RETIRE
She worked in different cot
ton mills for 25 years.
“I retired but I found myself
getting bored, so I applied for a
job at the Lyerly rug mill,” she
said. She worked for seven more
years and decided to retire at 62.
She said she plans to “hang
around Summerville” until she’s
at least 100 — that is, unless the
Lord calls her home before then.
For 42 years before her
husband died, she took care of
him.
“He had Alzheimer’s Dis
ease and he needed constant
care,” Mrs. Smith said.
INDEPENDENT
She said has always been
somewhat independent.
“Before my husband be
came ill, he wouid 50 up north a
lot, buying cars and I was pretty
much on my own as far as repairs
and keepinithe household run
ning smoothly,” she said
Mrs. Smith’s said she
learned carpentry skills and
made most repairs on their
home, includin& painting, clean
ing gutters, landscaping and fgtz:r
dening. She still does most of her
own work at 86.
Mrs. Smith recently came
down from the roof after clean
ing leaves out of the gutter.
“Oh, honey, she said, clean
ing a few leaves out and adjust
ing the gutter, that’s no big Jeal,"
she saié looking down from the
tog rung of a 14-foot extension
ladder.
EXERCISE
Mrs. Smith said she spends
most of her days outside in
physical activity when weather
permits.
“In the sprin% and summer,
I'm busy with a full garden,” she
said. “When I'm not plowing or
cultivating the garden, I might be
burning my trash and limbs that
fall down. I have to rake the
leaves, mow the lawn and I try
to do a little painting on my
house every year.”
She daily walks three miles,
which has become a health ritual
to her.
“Walking never hurt any
one,” she said. “It helps keep you
spry. It keeps the muscles in
good shape and helps with cir
culation.
Mrs. Smith said she encour
ages the other members at the
Senior Center to walk as much as
they can.
She doesn’t set an alarm
clock but says she wakes up most
days around 4 a.m.
“As long as I keep active
during the day, I sleep all right
but if a day comes when I'm lazy,
Idon’t sleep good at all,” she said.
She goes to bed near 9 p.m. daily.
BOLD
“I've never been afraid when
I'm out walking,” she said. She
said she’s “very capable” of tak
ing care of herself.
“I don’t need Meals on
Wheels, which the Senior Center
provides,” she said. “I just like to
go over for the comgany. So I
rive to the center when I have
time.”
At 86, she still has a valid
Georgia driver’s license. Quite
often, she drives to Kennesaw to
visit her daughter.
“People always seem to be
surpnseJ' that I'm still driving at
my age, but my vision is fine and
I consider myself to be a good
driver,” she said.
On Sundays mornings, Mrs.
Smith rarely misses a service at
her church in the Mountain View
community near Trion.
GOD
She gives credit to God for
her good%\ealth.
“I never smoked cigarettes
or drank alcohol and I sure never
did drugs as some folks do to
day,” Mrs. Smith explained.
She said she thinks eating
naturally helps people’s health.
For most of her life, she has
grown the food she eats and
canned the excess. Her diet usu
ally consists of %]recn beans, corn,
peanuts, squash, okra, tomatoes
and potatoes.
“I don't eat a lot of meat.
Every now and again, I'll fix a
little meat but I'm not like the
people who think they have to
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Staff Photos By D. J. Laan
GARDENING IS HER LOVE
Mrs. Smith Grows, Preserves Food
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or more information or to register for any -
‘JT of the February events, call %
i FMC’s Health Line at (706) 802-2845 or CENTER
4 1-800-677-1536. First class health care... Close 10 home
have meat at every meal,” she
said. “I'm not sure that's very
healthy.” Mrs. Smith said some
might call her a vegetarian.
SWEETS
“Now, I do have to have m
sweets sometimes,” she said wn.f‘r,
agrin.
Not long ago, Mrs. Smith
won a baking contest at the Se
nior Center for one of her special
desserts she dubbed “That
g_ar!‘ged (coconut-pineapple)
ie.
She learned to cook from a
combination of advice from her
mother and trial and error, as did
many young women.
o thinfi the trial and error
is the best teacher,” she said.
MILLENNIUM
Mrs. Smith said she has
been unconcerned about enter
ing the new millennium next
Jan. 1 or the Y2K computer soft
ware problem that was predicted
to occur this past Jan. 1.
“I figure if I could survive
back in the '4os and 'sos, I could
survive in 2000,” she grinned.
“After all, I can recall living with
out a lot of these luxuries that
people have today.”
She said she’s looking for
the return of Christ.
“When He comes, I'll be
gone and those folks left won't be
seeing me here on earth any
more!” she said.
The first people Mrs. Smith
said she plans to see when she
moves on to heaven, will be her
husband, mother and father.
In the meantime, she plans
on walking her three miles every
day and staying alive.
TODAY’S WORLD
She said the state of the
world today is “deplorable.”
People don't care about oth
ers and sometimes for their own
well-being, either, she said.
“So many people live their
entire lives working at jobs to
survive and they drink and do
drqu," she asserted. “Why? Liv
ing life is so much more than just
surviving from dag; to day.”
She said she attended
church most of her life but
doesn’t think most people attend
church today.
“People say they are Chris
tians but many of them aren’t
ready to meet the Lord,” she said.
She said most people think
about religion in terms of some
thing they will get into “later” in
their life.
“Knowing God is something
that you experience every deg' -
not just on Sunday,” she said. “I
can talk to the Lord right here in
my living room and He hears my
prayers just like He was sitting
across from me in the flesh,” she
said.
CHALLENGE
On a secular level, she said,
“I want to challenge all seniors
who read this to get out and ex
ercise. You candoitand I can tell
you that you'll feel better when
youdo.”
She mentioned the Senior
Center as a good place for seniors
to visit and get involved in activi
ties.
Floyd Medical Center’s
February“ Wellness Events
" Windwood * Community Hospice Care » Floyd Rehabilitation Center » Floyd Home Health Agency o Centrex Primary Care Network e Family Practice Center
Sunday 2o Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
R SR T
6
|
Expectant Parents
Marathon Weekend
1-spm |
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
73
20
American Girl Doll Event
10am & 2 pm
Heritage Hall
Please call the Floyd
Health Care Foundation
for more information at
802-2221.
97
She said she’s aware of so
many people who sit in their
house all the time.
EXERCISEhDAILY
“Pretg'soon,t e sitting is all
they can do because they‘%re let
their bodies go to waste,” she
contended. “And, this advice is
really for young people too. Sit
ting around too much and not
exercising is not healthy.”
She said she doesn’t go to
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THAT “DANGED” PIE
Mrs. Odell Smith Holds Winner At Bake-Off
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7
Becoming A Parent
Class VI
i 6-Bpm
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
74
Diabetes Education
Program
12:30 - 1:30 pm
Coosa Family Medicine
Becoming A Parent
Class VII
6-Bpm
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
27
' Bereavement
Support Group
3-5 pm
Community
Hospice Care
For more information
about this event call
Hospice at 232-0807.
28
Bereavement
Support Group
3-5 pm
Community
Hospice Care
For more information
about this event call
Hospice at 232-0807.
Walks 3 Miles Daily, Grows Own
Fe 00(], Attends Church R egu]ar] 'y
doctors very often.
&0 go to the Chattooga
County Health Department and
have screenings here and there
but ! try to stay clear of those
doctors,” she said with a laugh.
She has a mammogram and Pap
smear done every year.
“Especially for senior ladies,
setting those diagnostic tests
oneis reallly important and you
can iet help with that at the
health department,” she said.
7 |
' Windwood |
| Aftercare Groups
6 pm
| Windwood Hospital |
| 306 Shorter Ave. |
38 |
| |
. Big Kids & Babies
i 10 am |
| FMC’s Main Lobby
; Registration Required |
|
| |
.T‘,, e ———————— - ?
11 5 ADHD Parent
j Support Group |
| 7 pm s
’ FMC First Floor |
| Conference Room |
' Insulin Pump |
. Support Group |
‘ 7 pm 5
FMC Community |
J,_Pffl@_insfyfli}sm_;_
22 |
|
1
Windwood |
Aftercare Groups 1
6 pm
Windwood Hospital |
306 Shorter Ave. |
| |
29
Windwood
Aftercare Groups
6 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
9 Natural Childbirth
Mother Nature's Way
Class V
6-Bpm
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
AA Meeting
8 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
9
Alanon Meeting
8 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
AA Meeting
8 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
70 AA Meeting
. Bpm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
Alanon Meeting
8 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
23 AA Meeting
8 pm
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
Alanon Meeting
| 8 pm
~ Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
3
Midlife Momentum
Women'’s Information
Network Inc.
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Coosa Valley Tech
Board Room
[Call 234-8483 for details.
10
' Midlife Momentum
Women's Information
_ Network Inc.
5:30 - 7:30 pm
| Coosa Valley Tech
Board Room
Call 234-8483 for details.
77 ADHD Adult
Support Group
‘ 7pm
‘ FMC First Floor
. Conference Room
Prospective Parents
4 7 pm
| FMC's Main Lobby
94
. Midlife Momentum
| Women's Information
' Network Inc.
' 530-730 pm
| Coosa Valley Tech
5 Board Room
|Call 234-8483 for details
Wouldn't it be great if you could find a reliable source to answer your
health questions? Well now you can. Just io to Floyd Medical Center's
web site at www.floydmed.o? and click on Laurus Health.com.
Laurus provides easy-to-understand health information about
illnesses and conditions, prescc;irfion and over-the-counter drugs
medical tests, advances in medical treatments, halm living and self
help resources through its web site and 24-hour call center, whose
number is 1-800-4-Laurus.
,
The Summerville News, Thursday, February 3, 2000 —
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ODELL SMITH CLEANS GUTTER
Resident Is Handywoman At Home
4
Emotions Anonymous
11 am
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
11
Emotions Anonymous
11 am
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
78
Emotions Anonymous
11 am
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
29
Emotions Anonymous
| 11 am
~ Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.
5-B
9
Expectant Parents
Marathon Weekend
9 am™ 4 pm
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
72
Sitter Saturday
845 a- 1 pm
FMC Community
Building Auditorium
|
79 i
American Girl Doll Event
10 am & 2 pm
Heritage Hall
Please call the Floyd
Health Care Foundation
for more information
at 802-2221.
26
Family Education:
Behavioral Health Issues
10 am
Windwood Hospital
306 Shorter Ave.