SALISBURY – The classic film “African Queen” hit American movie theaters the year I was born, 1951. The film tells the story of a strait-laced spinster missionary in the African Congo (played by Katherine Hepburn) and a gin-swilling tugboat captain (Humphrey Bogart) who team up to sabotage a Nazi warship anchored hundreds of miles downriver. The constantly bickering odd couple sneak past German fortifications and deadly rapids and eventually find themselves stuck in a mucky swamp. With the boat’s motor broken, Bogart must get in the water and physically pull the boat through the weeds. Climbing into the boat for a short break, he and Hepburn are horrified: he’s covered with leeches. As Hepburn powders and plucks off the parasites, Bogart utters one of my favorite lines in any film: “If there’s anything in the world I hate, it’s leeches! The little devils!” But it quickly becomes apparent that if Hepburn and Bogart are going to reach their goal, Bogart must climb back into the water and carry on. A shadow passes over his face – one of resignation, fatigue, duty, and love (because of course by now he and Hepburn have fallen in love), and he gets back into the fetid water.

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SALISBURY  – Nearly one in four North Carolinians is providing care for someone aged 60 or older. And nearly half of those are caring for someone who has some degree of dementia.

Many of these caregivers are stretched to the breaking point and need some support. Trinity Living Center, a program of Lutheran Services Carolinas, has been providing just that for many years through its adult day program in Salisbury.

Later this summer, local caregivers who need some relief will have another option. Trinity Living Center is entering into a new partnership with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury to open a half-day group respite program — the first in the community — called Trinity Living at St. John’s.

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SALISBURY — Joan Palmer directed the people in the semicircle with her to raise their arms and breathe in deeply.

Then on the release down toward the floor, she wanted them to give their best belly laugh possible. So it was up, breathing; down, laughing. And after you do this a few times with people all around, you really start laughing and feeling better.

There’s something funny about Laughter Yoga — and that’s the point.

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SALISBURY —  Purple balloons adorned downtown sidewalks and storefronts Wednesday as a group of local residents sought to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease.

The “Paint the Town Purple” campaign involved participants placing purple and white balloons throughout downtown. It attracted representatives from multiple elder care facilities in the area and Billy Constangy, the district director for U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson.

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