Seniors prove age is no barrier to achievement
By Marcy Horwitz CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer In his 80s, Elton Beverly helped found the Shepherd's Center of Chesterfield. The library branch in Chester is also named after him.

The key to a successful old age, the experts say, is to keep busy.

These Chesterfield seniors are more than busy. They're living proof that elders can lead active, productive lives at 80, 85 and even 90 years of age.

Read on to see how your senior friends and neighbors continue to play a part in the community - despite their age.
Elton Beverly
Age 89
Chester

If Elton Beverly's name sounds familiar, you probably hold a Chesterfield County library card. The Elton Beverly Library at Chester - indeed, the entire Chesterfield County Library System - is a monument to Beverly's volunteer efforts going back to the 1970s.

Beverly arrived in Chesterfield some 50 years ago. ("Route 10 was just a two-lane road then. There was only a stop sign where Route 10 meets Route 1," he recalls.) A chemical engineer, he worked for Allied Chemical in New York, Europe and Iran before he was transferred to Chesterfield, where he eventually worked as a consultant. He retired at age 78.

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Olivette Robinson became certified as a yoga instructor at age 70.

Retirement gave Beverly more time to devote to his favorite charities, like the Red Cross, the John Rolfe Players and the Chesterfield Center for the Arts. His involvement with Chester Presbyterian Church directly led to the founding of the Shepherd's Center of Chesterfield.

Shepherd's Centers are interfaith community based organizations that bring seniors together to help other seniors and the larger community. Chesterfield Presbyterian's thenpastor, having heard about the concept, appointed a task force to study the possibility of establishing a local chapter. Beverly headed that task force and the Shepherd's Center of Chesterfield opened its doors in 2001.

The Shepherd's Center of Chesterfield offers handyman assistance, transportation to medical appointments, and help with grocery shopping, among other services. Beverly chairs the organization's finance committee.

Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Marshall Jones has been an active volunteer with the AARP since 1983 and currently serves as a community coordinator with the group.

"He is a gold mine," says Tricia Wolfe, the center's executive director. "I lean heavily on him for advice."

Beverly, a member of the county's Senior Hall of Fame, has a treasured possession from his boyhood back in his native state of Colorado. It's a plaque that he's been hauling around now for over 70 years. He quotes the lines he first learned as a twelve-year old: "There is no limit to the good a person can do if he doesn't care who gets the credit."
Olivette Robinson
Age 82
Midlothian

Back in Brooklyn, Olivette Robinson was running a successful daycare center when a friend suggested that she try a yoga class.

"I liked it!" says Robinson, and she soon became a passionate devotee of the Sivananda style of yoga. In 1994, she became certified as a teacher. She was 70 years old at the time.

Robinson, who relocated to central Virginia in 1998 to be closer to her brothers, lives in Midlothian, where her reputation as a yoga instructor continues to grow.

Robinson teaches at the YMCAs in Midlothian, Manchester and Powhatan. At one point, she was teaching at the Chester YMCA and Brandermill Woods as well.

Robinson's schedule gives new meaning to the phrase "active senior."

"We have a saying in the yoga community: The body is as young as the spine is flexible," says Robinson.

Sivananda yoga, a form that emphasizes stretching (as opposed to breath control or balance), is suitable for just about anyone, says Robinson.

"It's relaxing, and it's strengthening," she says, and it promotes flexibility. For those who are still hesitant, Robinson also teaches chair yoga.

There comes a time, though, when it's time to quit relaxing and start moving. That's why Robinson started teaching Silver Sneakers classes at the Manchester YMCA. Silver Sneakers is a program that combines physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programming so that older adults can take better care of themselves.
Marshall Jones
Age 87
Chester

Many retirees are members of AARP, the service and advocacy group for persons over the age of 50. But Marshall Jones' involvement with AARP is a little more intense than most.

Jones has been an active volunteer with AARP since 1983, when he advocated on the national level for issues of concern to seniors.

As a member of AARP's state legislative committee, Jones helped prepare legislative agendas and background papers. He talked with legislators from nine Virginia districts. He's proud of what AAPR was able to accomplish on some issues, like insurance for long-term health care.

As volunteer district director for AARP, Jones had responsibility for an area that stretched from the James River to Farmville to South Boston to Greenville County. He was a volunteer for Congressman Eric Cantor when Cantor was first elected, but redistricting eliminated that opportunity.

Jones has served as program chair and vice president on AARP's board of directors. These days, he helps AARP with special projects as a community coordinator.

"They had to give me a special title because I was getting along in years," he jokes.

In addition to his work with AARP, Jones volunteers with the Chesterfield Senior Council, the Chesterfield County Council on Aging and other local groups. He is also a member of the county's Senior Hall of Fame.

Issues like long-term health care are an abstraction to some people. Not so for Jones. He is the primary caregiver for his wife, Vetrie, to whom he has been married for 61 years. She was disabled by a stroke in 1997 and relies on a wheelchair to get around.

In recent weeks, she underwent major surgery. Jones takes it all in stride. "I have a good support system," he says, simply.

Jones was a country agricultural extension agent before his retirement; he still derives great pleasure from his garden. He's especially proud of the more than 50 varieties of azaleas he's developed. "I won't sell them," he says, "except at an AARP yard sale."