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Service is what defines Doug Best’s life: serving his country, performing public service and serving up jazz.

Every Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon, listeners can tune in to KKSM-AM 1320 to hear everything from big band jazz and Dixieland to country and gospel on the “Doug Best Swings” radio show.

Best, a new Redwood Terrace resident, got his start in radio in 1950 and began hosting his own show in 1969. During his long career, he has interviewed some of the biggest names in music—Patti Page, Doris Day and Louis Armstrong—who would come through San Diego to perform in the city’s three ballrooms.

“It was very interesting to meet these people, especially for a guy who was born and raised on a farm in western Canada,” says Best.

A naturalized U.S. citizen, Best left Canada in 1946 after serving as a mid-upper gunner in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He flew night missions in a Lancaster bomber out of England. “I came through it unscathed,” he says.

Music isn’t his only interest. Best also served on the Escondido City Council for 12 years—two of them as mayor from 1978 to 1980. During his tenure, Escondido’s first major shopping center, North County Fair, and an auto park were opened. These ventures brought the city much-needed sales tax revenue. But one of Best’s favorite duties as an Escondido councilman was serving on a welcoming committee for the U.S. military, he says.

Best has served on the Redwood Senior Homes & Services board for 20 years. Last spring he moved to Redwood Terrace. “It’s really a beautiful place,” he says.

After cruising through her emails, The New York Times and Glendale News-Press, Royal Oaks resident Mary Ann Prelock likes to catch up on family news on Facebook.

“I’m primarily a lurker,” says Prelock in the latest issue of be.magazine. “I want to keep in touch with what my family is doing, all of whom live in the Midwest.”

Prelock is one of the many seniors who are joining Facebook and other social networking sites at a fast clip. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 33 percent of people 65 and older are using social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. That’s up from 26 percent in 2010 and 13 percent in 2009, the survey shows.

The attraction to social media is understandable. For many it’s the quickest and best spot to check out what children and grandchildren are up to. That’s become especially true for those who have family who are spread out geographically.

Read more about our residents’ social media experiences in be.magazine.