Poster promotes older workers
9/28/2002
By Jonna Lorenz
The Capital-Journal

A poster depicting seven Kansas workers is being displayed throughout the nation as part of an effort to dispel a negative perception of older workers.

Bold Glory is an image of seven workers holding up a large American flag. The poster includes the words Bold Glory, Tested, Tried True, Older Americans Ready to Work.

The poster was designed by Toni Wellshear, older worker programs coordinator for the Kansas Department of Human Resources, and Ardie Davis, commissioner of outreach and marketing with the Kansas Department on Aging, as part of an KDHR Older Worker Task Force project.

"Everybody we show it too they just say how beautiful it is, and it makes me cry when I look at it," Wellshear said. "It has really been quite an experience. I think it's going to make a wonderful marketing tool for us."

The Kansas Department on Aging, the Kansas Department of Human Resources and the Kansas Department of Transportation all were involved in the project, Wellshear said.

The U.S. Department of Labor sent the poster via e-mail to labor departments throughout the nation in observance of Older Workers Week, Sept. 22-28.

"Yesterday I came in and I had messages from Idaho, Ohio, California, the National Bureau of Elder Affairs, Indiana and Connecticut, just bragging about how beautiful that poster was and what it meant," Wellshear said during an interview earlier this month. "It has gone so much further than I thought."

The poster was displayed during the sixth annual Older Workers and Employer of Older Workers Awards Ceremony at the Topeka Civic Theater on Tuesday.

Wellshear said the idea for the poster came during a workshop led by Chris Keeshan of Unlimited Potential. Members of the Older Worker Task Force used magazines to come up with ideas for posters. Wellshear saw the image of a young model with an American flag wrapped around her. She said she never liked the term old except in referring to the flag as old glory. The phrase and image were adapted to create Bold Glory.

Kansas workers age 56 to 100 who are featured on the poster are Helen Brockman, of Manhattan, a hostess for Kansas State University; John Sharda, senior mentor with the Mentoring Works! program from Southeast Kansas Area Agency on Aging; Ray Thompson, construction worker for JE Dunn Corporation, of Topeka; Joe Gomez, captain with the Topeka Fire Department; Maureen Nave, part time clerical worker for the Kansas Department of Human Resources; Jennie Baron, owner of Rosa's Mexican Restaurant; Ed Frehe, a Kansas farmer.

Jonna Lorenz can be reached at (785) 295-1294 or jlorenz@cjonline.com.

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Bold Glory, a poster created to help dispel
negative perceptions of older workers
features, from left, Helen Brockman, of
Manhattan, a hostess for Kansas State
University; John Sharda, senior
mentor with the Mentoring Works! program
from Southeast Kansas Area Agency on
Aging; Ray Thompson, construction worker
for JE Dunn Corporation, of Topeka; Joe
Gomez, captain with the Topeka Fire
Department; Maureen Nave, part time
clerical worker for the Kansas Department of
Human Resources; Jennie Baron, owner of
Rosa's Mexican Restaurant; Ed Frehe, a
Kansas farmer.
Submitted

Chris Keeshan Associates, Inc.
PO Box 3839 
Topeka, Kansas 66604
(785) 633-0969