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10/11/05 barbecuers to show respect for elders during "senior q month" Ardie A. Davis
A new Senior Q Coalition has declared October as International Senior Q Month. The purpose is “to raise awareness of the importance of our elderly as a national treasure.” According to organizers, “The concept is simple. Show people that later in life, they are still important to us.” The coalition members are the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the Iowa Barbeque Society, and the National Barbecue News. The scope of the project, they say, could be expressed as, “Leave no elder behind.” All citizens, including people who barbecue, are urged to show respect for elders in their community by treating them to a barbecue lunch or dinner during October. Aging is often compared to the four seasons, with springtime signifying infancy and winter signifying the final years. Senior Q Coalition members say that, “Every season is a good season to show respect for elders.” Autumn as a time to pay tribute to people in their “golden years” is especially appropriate. Prepared properly, barbecue is low in fat, high in protein, and easy to chew. The “slow and low” method of cooking barbecue at low temperatures for several hours renders much of the fat out and makes the meat tender and flavorful. Mike Tucker, Senior Q Coalition founder from Ankeny, Iowa, got the idea for Senior Q Month while visiting a relative in a nursing home. When he proposed the idea in an online barbecue forum, responses were immediate and positive. “This is a grassroots international effort,” Tucker said. “We are asking for volunteers from across the nation and globe to participate. Any selected senior citizen, individual, group, or other organization can be the target recipient.” Tucker urged people to be creative, working in partnership with nursing homes, care facilities, home-delivered meal programs, or the single elder down the street who lives alone. Anyone can participate in Senior Q Month. It’s as easy as bringing a barbecue dinner from a local barbecue restaurant to a neighborhood elder. Or groups, businesses, and individuals of any age can pay for a catered barbecue lunch at a senior center, retirement community, or nursing home. Barbecue restaurant owners are urged to get directly involved by offering special senior platters and senior discounts, catering free or discounted barbecue at a nonprofit place where elders gather to eat, or extending a discount to younger customers who take an elder to lunch in October. To encourage a global response to the inaugural year of Senior Q Month, the Senior Q Coalition will recognize exemplary individuals, businesses, organizations, and teams during the 2006 KCBS Awards Banquet Jan. 21 in Kansas City, Mo. To qualify for exemplary recognition, participants are encouraged to write an article about what they did to observe Senior Q Month and send it to Mike Tucker no later than Nov. 12. Articles may be sent by e-mail to SeniorBBQ@hotmail.com or by mail to Senior BBQ, 1313 SW Ordnance Road, Ankeny, IA 50021. Tucker is available by phone at (877) 841-7192, a toll-free number. Participants in Senior Q Month will be recognized in the December issues of the National BBQ News and the KC BullSheet if they submit an article by Nov. 12. Ardie Davis is a retired professional in aging, having worked many years for the Kansas Department on Aging. He is also known widely for his barbecue (both in print and by taste bud). He lives in Roeland Park, Kansas. © University of Kansas Medical Center, Center on Aging, October, 2005.
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