Serving Our Seniors Magazine: Jan - March 2023

SWAT: SENIORS WITH ATTITUDE & TENACITY Castalia resident, Glen Tetzloff, age 81, has an aunt who is 108 years old. “She is my Aunt Mina and lives independently, in Columbus with her daughter, who is age 71, She still does housework, too. She folds their laundry and she does the dishes. Mina was a bartender in Port Clinton all of her life. She worked multiple places, such as the Port Clinton Moose Lodge, VFW and she ran her own bar, known as Lamars, in Danbury Township. Glen described her as very friendly, very out-going and very funny. “She has always been that way and she still is. She told me, ‘If you want to live as long as me, you better keep pouring ’em down.’ She still drinks her beer and will be 109 on August 9, 2023.” When Glen asked her, “What is your secret for longevity,” she replied, “Continue to raise hell.” It’s clear that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…. Glen is age 81 still plays in a rock n roll band, formerly known as the Lounge Lizards . They lost one of their members in the group and now call themselves, The Trio . He has been performing for 31 years. He is a lot of fun, too! In 2014, Glen and his band posed for Serving Our Seniors “Smiles Calendar,” which was one of our fund-raisers nine years ago. Leslie Korenko: Author and Entrepreneur Leslie Korenko, age 74, became an entrepreneur and an author in later life. She wrote her first book at age 65. In retirement, she became an author, learned how to publish her books and how to market her books on Amazon, as well as on her website. Living proof that you are never too old to learn new things. She never intended to become an author. She said, “It was going to be a picture board explaining some of the pictures that we commonly see, the activities that took place at village hall and how we use it today. Then it got out of hand,” she said as she laughed. She relied on newspaper articles she discovered at the Sandusky Library. Back then Kelleys Island residents would send letters to the newspaper for publishing, which recapped what was going on, on the island. She also went to the records section in the court house for court cases, birth and death records. When all was said and done, she had probably 7,000 pages of transcribed Kelleys Island history. This gave birth to her first book was, Kelleys Island the Courageous, Poignant and often quirky lives of Island Pioneers. “I was taking all of these pieces of history and putting them together to paint a picture that people can read. It’s basically, all of the islanders’ words and I just gave them a voice.” She has authored a series of books, which can be found at www.kelleysislandstory.com or on Amazon and on Kelleys Island at the various island festivals coming up in the summer of 2023. 23