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Saturday, March 17, 2012 – Daily News 7A Glory Days & maturity HACKENSACK, N.J. (MCT) — Once Libbie Lindsay first put on her Girl Scout uniform in 1925, she never wanted to take it off. The oldest living Girl Scout in northern New Jersey, Lindsay, 99, of Lyndhurst, still keeps the khaki knee-length jacket and matching ranger hat in pristine condition. Her mom was homebound with a weak heart, and her father, the town's sewage superinten- dent, didn't want his daughter out without adult supervision. Being a Scout was her ticket to a wider world. She could hike nine miles with her troop from Lyndhurst to Garret Mountain Reservation. She landed her first of many jobs with the Scouts as a camp bugler. "You could be strong, and didn't have to depend on anybody," said Lindsay, who was a record-setting track star in high school and competed at the 1936 Olympic Trials in discus. The Girl Scouts, who marked their 100th anniversary Monday, are still an integral part in the lives of North Jersey girls: One in five girls participate, double the national average. For Lindsay, who also turns 100 this year, it's a celebration of the 87 years she's been Scouting, the best friends she made and the thousands of girls she influenced as a troop leader. "On my honor, I will do my best for my country. I never drank, never swore," said Lind- say, as her long, wrinkled fingers gripped a small jewelry box with the collection of Scouting pins she's earned. In the century since the first group of 18 girls met in Savan- nah, Ga., the organization's core values and purpose have remained unchanged. Founder Juliette Gordon Low believed that girls should gain life experi- ence in the outdoors and in their communities and have opportu- nities to lead. The first Scouts learned how to set a table for four and tie up a robber with an 8-inch cord. Today, in addition to traditional badges such as cooking and baby-sitting, girls can earn badges in website design, entre- preneurial skills and water con- servation. Shanell Pommells, 12, is a member of a troop that meets in the basement of Paterson's Sec- ond Baptist Church. Like Lind- say, she became a Scout to try new experiences. Her favorite memories include volunteering in the food pantry at the Father English community center, planting roses and attending lifestyles Girl Scout, 99, recalls traditions, values of 100-year-old group and later African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Native Americans. In 1956, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. praised mixed-race Girl Scout troops as a "force for desegregation." From the beginning, Low, the MCT photo Libby Lindsay, 99, pictured on March 7, is the oldest living Girl Scout in Bergen County, NJ. She joined the organiza- tion at age 12 in Lyndhurst in 1925 and is a member of the Order of the Evergreen, for Girls Scouts over 40. camp — which is like Shangri- La for Girl Scouts. "You learn how to be indepen- dent, work well with others, and later on in life it will be with you," Pommells said. That flexible and pragmatic attitude can be traced to the ori- gins of Girl Scouting. "Even at the beginning they were quite open, and what I think is most important, they were willing to have a national organi- zation but allow it to have a local flavor," said Susan Miller, a his- torian at the Rutgers Center for Children and Childhood Studies. Girl Scout troops quickly sprang up in ethnic communities, serv- ing Jewish girls in Philadelphia, founder, set a strong precedent that girls could do anything that boys can do. She had her girls chopping wood, building fires and erecting tents out of pon- chos. The early leaders of the Boy Scouts, founded in 1910, disapproved of their counter- part's unfeminine activities and threatened to sue the organiza- tion in the 1920s for trademark violation, including use of the word Scout in the name, accord- ing to Miller. "They very much objected to thinking about Scouting in gen- eral as something girls could do," Miller said. Robert Baden-Pow- ell, founder of the worldwide boys Scouting movement, envi- sioned his Scouts as active, adventurous and possessing the survival skills of a soldier. Those traits were the exact ones Low wanted for her Girl Scouts. She never backed down, and the Boy Scouts eventually dropped their complaints. "She wanted to claim this vig- orous idea of Scouting for her girls," said Miller. If you enjoy coffee, then go ahead and drink it Q: I gave up coffee years ago because it made me too jittery, but my husband still drinks coffee — sometimes four or more cups — every day. I've always been under the impression that too much caffeine is bad for your health. Is there harm in drinking so much coffee? Are there any health bene- fits from drinking it? A: It's true that coffee has its good qualities and not-so-good qualities. In excess, coffee, and more particularly, caffeine, can cause problems for some people; nervousness, rapid heart action, heartburn and excessive urination head the list. But study results keep coming that suggest coffee does have some health ben- efits. Recently , researchers report- ed that coffee drinking is associ- ated with lower risks of depression, lethal prostate can- cer and stroke. There are also reports of possible protective effects against illnesses ranging from Parkinson's disease to dia- betes to some types of can- cer. balance out. Here's a run- down of how coffee is thought to affect various medical conditions: Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. — Alzheimer's disease: Some evi- dence suggests pro- tection against beta-amyloid plaque that may have a role in caus- ing Alzheimer's. — Cancer: Studies sug- Caffeine has been stud- ied more than any other ingredient in coffee. But coffee contains literally a thousand different sub- stances. And some of these lesser-known substances may be responsible for healthful effects in various parts of the body. In fact, some studies show caf- feinated and decaffeinated coffee have similar effects, which suggests that some- thing besides caffeine is involved. It gets complicated, though. Caffeine and some of the other substances in coffee seem to have their good and bad sides. Cof- fee's overall effect may depend on how much the positive and negative effects Your tax experts 32 Years Plus Experience "Enrolled to practice before the IRS" Open Year-Round New Clients Welcome www.lassentax.com Enrolled Agents: Rose Hablitzel, EA Rex Cerro, EA (530) 527-8225 208 Elm St., Red Bluff All major Credit Cards accepted gest a lower risk for some tumors (endometrial, aggres- sive prostate and estrogen- negative breast cancers). Antioxidant and anti-inflam- matory substances could be responsible. — Diabetes: Regular use is associated with lower risk, and high intake (three to six cups a day) seems to have a greater effect. Protec- tion may come from factors that affect insulin and blood sugar levels. — Heart attack: Coffee drinking increases some factors (homocysteine) associated with higher risk. But one to three cups a day has been linked to a small decrease in risk. — Liver disease: Coffee drinking is associated with lower levels of enzymes that indicate liver damage and James W. Tysinger, Jr. M.D. Eye Physician & Surgeon Fellow American Academy of Ophthalmology We accept Medical, Medicare & most Insurances Office Hours: Tues-Wed-Thurs 8am-4:30pm Mon & Fri 1pm-4:30pm For Emergencies, After Hours, Week-ends, Call 530-567-5001 345 Hickory St. Red Bluff Tel: (530) 529-4733 Fax: (530) 529-1114 inflammation. — Parkinson's disease: Studies show a 25 percent decrease in risk for coffee drinkers. The effect is small- er in women. — Stroke: Three to four cups a day is associated with lower risk. But chance of a stroke may increase immediately after intake, particularly among infre- quent drinkers. — Migraine headache: The caffeine in coffee helps ease migraine headache in some people by narrowing the expanded blood vessels in the brain that cause migraine pain. Caffeine can also be a performance enhancer, strengthening muscle con- traction and offsetting effects of physical exertion. But, especially in the short term, it also has negative effects, which include rais- ing blood pressure and increasing levels of homo- cysteine, insulin and possi- bly cholesterol. Coffee drinkers con- cerned about cholesterol weren't happy about some early study results showing that coffee seemed to increase cholesterol levels. But the bad news turns out to be not so bad, because the cholesterol-raising effect seems to be limited to unfil- tered coffee. There is a twist, however. Cafestol and kahweol, the two cholesterol-raising ingredients in coffee, may also have some health bene- fits. The research is in the preliminary stages, but they could have some anti-can- cer effects and be good for the liver. Switching gears to the antioxidant benefits of cof- LASSEN MEDICAL GROUP Expands Red Bluff Urgent Care to 7 days a week. www.lassenmedical.com 2450 Sister Mary Columba Drive (530) 527-0414 GOLDIE'S ANNUAL FUNDRAISING DINNER HOSTED BY THE COMMUNITY CENTER AUXILIARY, INC. Sunday March 18th 11:30 - 2:30pm Baked Ham or Oven Fried Chicken $8.00 per person $4.00 children 10 & under fee, explanations for the connection between coffee and lower rates of heart dis- ease and diabetes point to chlorogenic acid and other antioxidant substances. But chlorogenic acid might be another coffee ingredient with a split per- sonality. Along with caf- feine, it seems to push up levels of homocysteine, which has been associated with atherosclerosis. Coffee isn't a great source of vitamins and min- erals, but it contains some, and a few that we should be getting more of. A cup of coffee contains about 7 mg of magnesium, which is a drop in the buck- et, but because we don't eat enough fruit, vegetables and whole grains, a cup of cof- fee or two can help. Potassium, another com- ponent of coffee, helps the body by offsetting some of the harmful effects of sodi- um. At about 116 mg per cup, coffee's contribution toward the 4,700 mg that we're supposed to get daily is small but still helpful. Research has debunked many early concerns about coffee, but more studies are needed to nail down possi- ble health benefits. For now, it's a matter of personal preference. If you're some- one who feels jittery or experiences other side effects from coffee, switch to another beverage. But if coffee goes down well, there is no medical reason to cut down. It's a message many of us will drink to. Tickets are available at the door