Presidents' Meeting: The Presidents' Meeting on March 12th in Stratford was hailed as a great success by all who attended. It was decided that the Federation should bring club presidents together once a year and that the day should be informal. They enjoyed the guest speaker, Senator Percy Downe , and encouraged us to have a guest speaker at future meetings such as this. Senator Downe spoke to us about the Guaranteed Income Supplement (G.I.S.) and about the fact that many seniors on P.E.I. are eligible for this supplement but are not receiving it because they have not applied for it. He left us with an important message: In order to be eligible to receive the G.I.S., it is necessary for seniors to file an income tax return. Speaking of which, please note that help is available for seniors in completing their tax returns. Volunteers have been organized in a number of centres across the Island. This information is available in another article in this edition of the Voice.

As I write this report, I am on a plane from Ottawa en route to P.E.I. after spending three days at the ALCOA in Motion conference (Active Living Coalition for Older Adults). I was there representing Canadian Pensioners Concerned as the Federation is a division of this group. Those in attendance represented Canada from east to west. It is amazing the wonderful work on prevention and research on healthy aging that is taking place across Canada and especially in Atlantic Canada. We do not need to take a back seat to anyone. I was very impressed with the new research on cardiovascular disease particularly for women regarding signs and symptoms of heart attacks. For example, there is a strong emphasis on the need for us to take charge of our own health and encourage our doctors to act now rather than to play the wait-and-see game, especially in the area of strokes. It is the first signs that require action.

An important thrust of the conference was Ageism and the ways it is manifested in today's society. The following information is so important that I want to repeat it word for word in this report:

Examples of Ageism (discrimination based on age):

- Mandatory retirement based on age
- Birthday cards that joke about aging
- Retirement and adult communities that exclude children/families
- Things we say and do that exclude children/families
- Things we say and do that express inaccurate beliefs about aging
- Few older actors and actresses on television and in movies
- Community centres that offer only youth and adult programs
- Sports facilities access for the elite athletes only
- Physicians who prescribe drugs first, not active living

- Ads aimed at older adults for Geritol, dentures, adult diapers, life insurance, and not for racy cars, fashion, sports equipment, or health club memberships

Ways to attack Ageism:

1. Make active older adults visible and important.
2. Educate and foster more positive public attitudes about aging.
3. Advance social/health policy to provide incentives for active living at all stages of life.
4. Involve older adults in all aspects of community recreation, planning and civic affairs.
5. Consider the full spectrum of older adult interests and needs in program design.
6. Promote inter-generational activity.

Until next month, remember "Just because I am an old apple tree doesn't mean I grow old apples." (Anonymous)