Facebook celebrated its 15th anniversary in February. It astounds me that it’s been around that long since I’ve been a Facebook user for at least 10 of those years. I grew up in the internet age, so technology trends and social media have always been like a second language to me. I have apps for Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn on my smartphone, even though I use them considerably less often than Facebook. While I don’t believe I spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook, my handy Screen Time feature on my iPhone disagrees. This led my co-worker and me to give up social media for 10 days. It was hard at first—not because of separation anxiety, or FOMO (fear of missing out)—but mainly just because it was a habit. I’d wake up in the morning and open Facebook without thinking. Once I was awake enough to realize what I was doing, I’d close the app immediately. It’s also hard to avoid Facebook when you’re searching for information about an event, or a restaurant’s hours, or when you work for a senior news magazine.

In this month’s Boomer Beat, Melanie Wiseman sought out to find what baby boomers thought of social media, specifically Facebook. While some see the benefit for businesses or reconnecting with old friends, others called it addictive, considered it a privacy threat or a complete waste of time.

I’d say all of the above are true. I’m happy to say that I didn’t really miss Facebook and I can easily survive without it, but I still haven’t really kicked the habit.

Volunteer of the Year Each year, the BEACON honors dedicated Grand Valley volunteers who make our world a better place. Nancy Schmidt, the winner of this year’s Volunteer of the Year award, was chosen by BEACON readers who were inspired by her dedication to Zippity Do Dogs agility club and the many other causes she volunteers for. Read more about her volunteer efforts on page 8.

BeaconFest Thank You The Grand Junction BeaconFest was a huge hit! Thank you to all of our readers, sponsors, volunteers, entertainers, seminar speakers and door prize donors for making this year’s fair a success. We loved seeing all your smiles! See if your photo made it into the paper and which vendors attendees chose for the Senior Choice Awards.

Happy Mother’s Day! My mom is one of my favorite people in the world. Where would we be without moms? Give your mom a hug and thank them for loving you and never giving up—no matter how difficult you made it for them!