Trivia time with the Eagles

You've heard it said, "It's not what you know; it's who you know." On Friday it could be both. You are invited to come to the Eagles Aerie #3775, corner of Spring and Bessie streets in Cape Girardeau and bring your friends (smart or otherwise). We are having a Trivia night with the proceeds going to the Prescription Drugs for Seniors program and the Alzheimer's Association. Each entity will receive one-half the proceeds.

There will be a fried chicken dinner that starts at 5:30 p.m. and desserts, drinks and snack food served throughout the evening. The real fun starts at 6:30 when we start the Trivia questions. Ten rounds of 10 questions each, with prizes for first, second and third place winners. We will have door prizes, basket raffle and lottery tree, plus for you really lucky folks, a 50/50 drawing.

Teams are made of eight people. If you don't have eight team members, we will assign tables until all are filled. The cost is $20 per person.

The prescription drug program assists seniors who are having a difficult time paying for their prescription drugs. We know seniors who are taking their medication every other day instead of every day as prescribed, or breaking their pills in half because the medicine is just too expensive. Some do not fill their prescriptions because they need to pay their rent or buy groceries instead. The Eagles statewide have determined that this is just not acceptable. They chose prescription drug assistance for seniors as their statewide charity for the 2009-2010 year. Due to their efforts, more than $40,000 has already been raised to assist seniors statewide in this project.

We are so grateful to them and so are the seniors who have been assisted thus far. One person in our area called us for assistance. He is on disability and has a Medicare Prescription Drug plan but the deductible is $310. He was prescribed a very expensive drug, but he had no means of paying the deductible. He was distraught and called us as a last resort. When he was told that with the assistance from the Eagles program we could help him get the medicine he cried and was so very grateful.

The Alzheimer's Association has been around for a long time assisting people who have the disease and their caregivers. The outreach coordinator for our area is Lisa Hicks 1-800-273-3900. Money at the state and federal level is getting very tight, making it more difficult for these programs to give assistance. There are services available but without money to fund them many times we have to say no or have them put on a waiting list to providing assistance.

For $20, you can help make a difference in your world and have a great time doing it. Join us for a really fun night. Call Rhonda at 335-3331 or Pam at 979-2218 for reservations. We need to know how much chicken to fry!

Age Spots is a regular column in The Best Years, the Southeast Missourian's monthly magazine devoted to the senior population. Find TBY in the Southeast Missourian the first Monday of each month.