October is Chelsea Reads Together month, a four-week program dedicated to promoting the benefits of reading in the Chelsea community. Our theme this year is health and wellness. We are reading The Blue Zones, by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic fellow who traveled the globe uncovering the best strategies for longevity in the Blue Zones: places in the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives.

In his book he discloses the formula, blending unique lifestyle habits with the latest scientific findings to inspire easy, lasting change that may add years to your life.

We turned to Chelsea residents who have created their own unique formula for living long, happy lives. Silver Maples resident Hank Karner, 96, is an example of an active lifestyle that has kept him healthy and happy through the years. In 1942, he started working as a commercial pilot, and designed an exercise program that would help him pass his mandatory physical exam every six months.

Karner flew for 30 years as a B-24 test engineer at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti and then tested Fairchild C1-19's at Willow Run during the Korean War. He later started a flying school with a partner in Ann Arbor and went on to instruct all phases of aviation, spending 15 years as a chief pilot in corporate aviation at Willow Run and charting 11,000 hours in the air.

In 1970 at 55, Karner retired from flying and moved to northern Michigan with his wife, Garnie. Both fond of the outdoors, Karner and his wife built a home that fit its location in the northern woods. Karner spent summers fishing and boating and winters hunting and skiing. An avid downhill skier, Karner joined the ski patrol. This soon turned into a professional position that required him to patrol five days a week, a schedule he kept for eight years.

“I never hated to go to work a day in my life,” Karner said.

He doesn’t look at leaving his aviation job as retirement, but as going on to pursue a new career.

Karner has lived at Silver Maples for 10 years and still enjoys daily exercise and outdoor activity. He appreciates the exercise programs headed up by Shawn Personke, director of activities and public relations at Silver Maples, and regularly visits the Chelsea Wellness Center. He works on many projects and was instrumental in Silver Maples’ walking path development. Karner heads up the Nintendo Wii bowling team and is involved in many events including Happy Hour, the Harvest Art Market and rummage sale. 

Karner is known at Silver Maples for his tomatoes, which he grows on a friend’s land and brings in for residents. He owes his long life to being happy, loving his job, staying active and eating right. He stays away from red meat but enjoys seafood, lots of vegetables, a little red wine and dark chocolate. Helping others is very important to Karner. He enjoys helping bowlers improve their Wii bowling skills. But perhaps it’s his general affability and good nature that people respond and admire. Through this positive outlook, he encourages people to be involved, social and connected.

As illustrated in The Blue Zones, Hank Karner makes it a priority to put family first. He enjoys staying in touch with his nephews and every year heads up a picnic for 40 at his daughter’s home on Cavanaugh Lake. His story is inspiring and his lifestyle has mirrored many of the centenarians interviewed in The Blue Zones. Listen to Hank’s full interview at the Chelsea Reads Together website: www.chelseareadstogether.wordpress.com.