Community activist Esther Landa will be the keynote speaker for this year's Utah State American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) conference Sept. 18 at Utah Valley State College.
The conference, "Turning Longer Lives Into Better Lives," will also feature a variety of sessions on aging and retirement issues, according to conference chairwoman Barbara Vance, a professor of family science at Brigham Young University.The conference will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre (level 2) on the UVSC campus. The $5 registration fee will include a box lunch. To register, contact the AARP Salt Lake City office at 561-1037 or the Aging Department in Utah Valley at 377-2262. Parking will be available in Lot J adjacent to the Student Center.
The conference is open to anyone age 50 or older, including Utah's 150,000 AARP members, as well as others concerned with issues of aging and retirement, said Vance.
The recipient of three honorary doctorates, Landa has been involved in numerous state, national and international conferences and committees, including the Salt Lake County Community Action Program, the White House Conferences on Families and Children and the U.N. Decade for Women Conference.
The octogenarian has been known to wear running shoes everywhere, even to the symphony, which not only keeps her comfortable but helps her maintain an active life that includes swimming or walking at least once a day.
Break-out sessions at the conference will address financial planning for the retirement years, coping with physical changes, health care reform, working outside the home before and after retirement and marital and family relationships.