Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Dawn Jacobs

Reveille Camper: Dawn Jacobs 

Camper In: 2013

Dawn's Heart Story: My dog, Thomas, makes it easy to stay fit & heart healthy. He needs to go out and I enjoy walking him in all seasons.  I got a Fit Bit for Christmas and joined a 10k step a day challenge.

I know many people hate winter and say it is too cold to exercise outside.  I say there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. 10k steps per day is about 4.5 miles. I was surprised how easy it was to clock that many steps on my long dog-walking days.

I have a walking partner that I meet at 5:30 AM, 3 days per week. We easily log 3 miles in about 50 min before the sun is even up and still get to work on time.

Thomas is 9 yrs old and still very much a puppy at heart.  He is in great shape for a dog his age.  And he has a girlfriend on our walks, Lila (a labradoodle who he adores!)  

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Gail Migliozzi

Reveille Camper: Gail Migliozzi

Gail's Heart Art 

Camper In: 2013

Gail's Heart Story: I’ve lost a special uncle to heart disease and seen other family members, friends, and colleagues suffer from the effects of unhealthy habits. I’ve worked with many people over the last 20 years to help them improve their heart health because it’s such a central piece of the wellness puzzle. Taking small, realistic steps that stick by just increasing physical activity in your daily life can make a real difference in improving your heart health! Unfortunately, we’ve engineered movement out of lives which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Did you know that our sedentary lifestyles make our risk of a heart attack about the same as smoking? During heart month search “sitting disease” at www.heart.org to learn more about reducing your risk!

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Janet Penn

Reveille Camper: Janet O. Penn from Livingston, NJ

Camper In: 2008 - 2013

Janet's Heart Story: My Father passed from a heart attack. My story is simply that I still miss him...

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Bonnie Drumm

Reveille Camper: Bonnie Drumm

Camper In: 2012 & 2013

Bonnie's Heart Story:  I started a new career a year ago offering permanent cosmetic services to women. I work in Binghamton NY and Windham Maine. I have been doing some cancer clients who have lost their facial hair to chemo. The client, Shirley in the photo is one of my clients suffering from cancer, but she is a survivor. I did her brows and eyeliner. Shirley has just find out she must have chemo again…..Please keep her in your heart.

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Marie Greengrass

Reveille Camper: Marie Greengrass from Ontario, Canada

Camper in: 2012 & 2013

Marie's Heart Story: My heart submission is “not your traditional quilt square!" Heart health has touched my life as it has many others. I have been very lucky to keep important people in my life around for extended periods of time. My mother and in-laws are well into their 80’s and my father lived until he was 92.  Both my mother and my father-in-law have dealt with serious heart health issues in the past and are here today because of the extraordinary advances science has made in treating and preventing heart disease. I “wholeHEARTEDLY” support the GO RED campaign!  Let’s keep the beat going...

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Denise Marcelt

Reveille Camper: Denise Marcelt from Charleston, SC

Camper In: 2011 & 2013

Denise's Heart Story: I lost my dad to heart failure in 1985. He was young man of 53 and I wish we new then what we know about living heart healthy!!!
Additionally, my 12 year old Maltese had heart failure 2 years ago and survived! His cardiologist put him on a regime of heart medicine, which he continues to this day. With lots of love, the right diet and his great spirit, he is thriving and back to almost normal!!! He is a happy, playful doggie.

Black History Month Spotlight: Andrea Gayle-Bennett

In celebration of Black History Month, Camp Reveille is excited to spotlight long-time Reveille camper, Andrea Gayle-Bennett.  Andrea has been a Reveille camper since 2009 and is coming back to camp this summer! 

Andrea joined the national guard in 1983 as a Physician Assistant and currently serves as the Deputy Commander of Clinical Services for the Medical Command.  In September 2012, for the first time in the 376 year history of the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MA ARNG), Andrea was promoted to the rank of colonel (COL). Andrea is now the first African-American Colonel in the 377 year history of the Massachusetts Army National Guard!  

Congratulations Andrea, we are so proud of you! 

Gloria Cohen's Heart Health Spotlight: I Can't Believe We Didn't Help Her

Reveille Camper: Gloria Cohen from New York

Camper In: 2009 - 2012

Gloria's Story: 
Gloria Cohen is a Reveille camper and she is also the mother of Elise Silvestri, who many of you have gotten the pleasure of meeting at camp over the years. Through Elise's years of work with Camp Reveille and Joan Lunden, Gloria has heard the heart health pitch many times and felt that she was well aware of the signs of a heart attack. Yet when faced with the reality of seeing a friend experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack, to her surprise she didn't react - and neither did anyone else in the room.
Gloria is part of a theatre group that meets regularly, it is made up of well-educated, savvy women. When Gloria recounted this story to me, she was utterly shocked and dismayed that this happened right in front of their eyes. Here is Gloria's story:

One day we all got together to rehearse an upcoming play, when Addy, the star of the show (who is always ready for her close-up) suddenly laid down on the stage. She told us that she was nauseous and that we should go ahead and rehearse without her. We all stopped and expressed our concern but she assured us that she was fine and no one needed to call anyone. So we continued rehearsing and Addy took a seat in the audience. At one point someone took her to the ladies room where she began to retch and broke out into a drenching sweat. We all whispered about taking her to a hospital but she said that she was not in any pain. An hour went by and the rehearsal was over and Addy relented that she felt bad enough that she would let someone drive her car home. I followed them to Addy's house and was planning to go in with her but she said,"no need, go home."

However when Addy got into her house and still did not feel well, she decided to look on the internet for the symptoms of a heart attack. That's when she realized that indeed she may well be experiencing the symptoms of a heart attack. When we all heard the next day that Addy had been having a heart attack right in front of our eyes, and that we all went on with play rehearsal, I think we were all stunned. How could that have happened?

When we heard this story, we couldn't help but wonder if we would have done anything differently. Here we are, preaching about heart health and trying to educate women about the symptoms of a heart attack, yet this scenario could truly happen to any of us. Hopefully after reading Gloria's story you might feel a bit more prepared if you ever found yourself in a position like Gloria did. We can be more alert, more cautious, and prepared to take action when needed. When Gloria's friend Addy said she needed to go home to make dinner for her husband, everyone just went along with it. That's where we, as women, have to change. Just because our symptoms might appear subtle, unlike men who normally experience a crushing pain in the chest, we always need to be cautious.

Here are the warning signs of a heart attack from the American Heart Association: 

• Chest discomfort that lasts more than a few minutes or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.  
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body – symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach 
• Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort. 
• May include breaking out inn a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness 

Source: heart.org

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Heidi Snow

Reveille Camper: Heidi Snow

Camper In: 2013

Heidi's Heart Story: I lost my grandmother to sudden cardiac death when I was 9 and she was only 65 and I miss her every day. Now my family embraces all the emerging helpful tools and knowledge to protect and guard our heart health available from our doctors and online.  Our generation is so lucky to know how important it is for our hearts to keep active, eat right and avoid habits like smoking!

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Erica Azarigian

Reveille Camper: Erica Azarigian

Camper In: 2011

Erica's Heart Story: Here I am with Mindy Beyer (she's on the left) who was my bunk mate at camp in 2011 and is a Heart Disease Surivor.  We have stayed friends ever since camp and since then, we have both become Moms. She wanted to walk in the American Heart Association walk this past spring, so I went to Maine to walk with her and her family and friends. Mindy made our team shirts which as you can see have hearts on them :) We are hoping to attend camp in 2014!

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Joy Marshall

Reveille Camper: Joy Marshall

Camper In: 2013

Joy's Heart Story: This is a paper quilled heart with a butterfly in the middle.  It represents "Always in my heart" with a butterfly because when my husband passed away last year butterflies seem to show up when I think of him, especially when I go to his grave site.

Heart Month camper Spotlight: Lindsay Weinberg

Reveille Camper: Lindsay Weinberg

Camper In: 2007 - 2014

Lindsay's Heart Story: I never really thought about heart health until I started working for my mother, Joan Lunden. Her mission in her ice and career is to help motivate and educate women to live happier & healthier lives. She speaks about heart health and how to live a healthy lifestyle. Now, I think about my health in a long-term way everyday and about my heart health and longevity. I know methods of prevention and detection and this helps me lead a healthier life so that I can protect myself now and for my future. 

Heart Month Camper Spotlight: Marni Rosenblum Latman

Reveille Camper: Marni Rosenblum Latman

Camper In: 2011

Marni's Heart Story: A healthy heart and a healthy life go hand-in-hand! Be proactive to take care of yourself emotionally & physically to live a longer life.

Reveille Readers February

Reveille Reader:  Hannah Wurzel

Reveille Camper in: 2008

Hannah's Pick: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz'

Hannah's Review: I first fell in love with the author, Junot Diaz' in high school when I read his short stories collection - Drown. He's just so unique. Dominican American guy who writes complicated characters that are sooooo real and interesting. His writing is all over the place with very "real" ghetto language and then super refined and beautiful "author" writing. It is a more "edgy" book and contains some scandalous language and characters.

Book Description: The novel's main character, Oscar de Léon, is an overweight "ghetto nerd" from a family of Dominican Republic immigrants now living in New Jersey. Oscar's dream is to be successful and to find love, but because of the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations his dreams become harder to achieve. 

Reveille Reader: Joan Lunden

Joan's Pick: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Joan's Review: I just finished reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and loved it. A co-worker recommended this book as "the best book she ever read". Thankfully I picked it right up and was not disappointed. Amazing murder mystery with rich characters and suspenseful plot twists. I seriously couldn't put it down. I'm sad it ended. I'm going to look for another book by this author. He is amazing! I highly recommend this read!

Book Description: A murder mystery novel about childhood friends Jimmy, Sean and Dave who unexpectedly reunite during the investigation of Jimmy's oldest daughter, Katie's murder. Sean's a police detective on the case, gathering difficult and disturbing evidence; he is also tasked with handling Jimmy's (an ex-convict) rage and need for retribution.

Recommendations from my Twitter-sphere...

Reader: Nicole R. Trevino 

Nicole's Pick: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

Nicole's Review:  The book was made into a movie and is scheduled to hit theaters this June. You will not want the book to end. 

Book Description: The story is narrated by Hazel, a sixteen-year-old cancer patient who is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she meets and falls in love with Augustus Waters. Augustus is a sixteen year old ex-basketball player amputee.

Reader: Steven Sherwood 

Steven's Pick: The Chosen by Chaim Potak

Steven's Review: I enjoyed reading this novel because it was about something completely foreign to me. It takes place during the 1940s in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY and is set against the backdrop of historical events: the death of President Roosevelt, the end of World War II, the revelation of the Holocaust in Europe, and the struggle for the creation of the state of Israel. It allows you to see how different worlds exist within just a few blocks of each other. It is one of my favorites.

Book Description: The Chosen is a novel that follows main characters Reuven Malter and his friend Daniel Saunders as they grow up in Brooklyn, NY. Reuven and Danny meet for the first time as rivals in a baseball game between their school teams.The two become best friends over time despite the vast difference in their upbringings.