Praised for its generous charitable contributions — over $100,000 in its first six years of existence — and lauded as one of the most popular events of its kind on the East Coast, the seventh annual Chip Miller Surf Fest will again take place at the 7th Street surfing beach in Ocean City on Thursday, July 29.

Sponsored by Fox Surf Clothing and Gear, and Ocean Minded beach footwear, the community-wide event features surfing contests for all ages (including the popular parent/child heat) and an after-party at Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point starting at 5pm.

Read the sidebar in this week’s cover story “Making Waves” for more information on the Chip Miller Surf Fest.

Qua Spa at Caesars Atlantic City

Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars Atlantic City recently unveiled a new “Spring Into Summer” promotion with savings of up to 30 percent on therapies employing organic seaweed to exfoliate, tone and heal the skin while washing away tension. The new promotion will be available from May 1-June 30.
All of Qua’s organic treatments are inspired by products from Seaflora, a Vancouver Island, British Columbia-based skincare producer that hand harvests wild and nutrient-rich seaweed from the cold, clean waters of the Canadian Pacific. All of the seaweed used in Seaflora products is certified organic by the USDA and the Organic Crop Improvement Association. Qua Baths & Spa is the first spa in New Jersey to offer Seaflora products and treatments.
The Spring Into Summer offer includes three new organic seaweed therapies: Qua Ocean Spray Body Renewal & Detoxification Therapy: a full-body treatment including exfoliation with rockweed and sea kelp scrub (Spring Into Summer rates: 50 minutes: $99, save $41; 80 minutes: $140, save $30); Qua Ocean Spray Organic Body Firming Massage: a firming massage that utilizes lymph-drainage massage techniques and a firming gel to remove and break down fatty tissue deposits and move toxins ($99, save $41); Qua Ocean Spray Organic Facial: a thorough facial using foaming Fucus seaweed cleansing concentrate to balance oil, clear blemishes and reduce skin irritants ($99, save $41). For more information, go here or call (609) 343-2400. — Jon Heacock

Ballamor Golf Club, the newest daily-fee golf club in southern New Jersey, will be the site of a unique American Red Cross Blood Drive in which people donating a pint of blood will be rewarded with a free round of golf at one of the most challenging, most spectacular and best-maintained golf courses in the Delaware Valley.
Donations will be taken on Tuesday, April 6, from 10am-4pm, at Ballamor Golf Club — located at 6071 English Creek Ave. in Egg Harbor Township.
The initial response from donors was overwhelming. The American Red Cross capped capacity at 50 when all donor spots were taken. However, the Red Cross recently added more equipment and people so that additional donors could be accommodated. This is the first time that Ballamor Golf Club has been open for the blood donation community event.
“Golfers know the difference between a good drive and a bad drive,” said Liz Norton-Scanga, Ballamor Golf Club’s director of marketing, in a release to the media. “But there is nothing more important than a Blood Drive to help save lives, create a new beginning for a cancer patient or a better tomorrow for a child with sickle cell disease.”
The American Red Cross mobile donation center will be set up in Ballamor Golf Club’s clubhouse. The free golf certificates are good for one year. Because of limited space, donors were asked to register for an appointment time at 609-609-601-6220, Ext. 6.

In celebration of American Red Cross Month, the Southern Shore Chapter of the Red Cross has partnered with Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation to offer American Red Cross Adult CPR training at the deeply discounted cost of $25 per person.
The Atlantic County class will be held at the Bacharach facility in Pomona on Saturday, March 27, from 9am-noon. To register or for further information, call Alison Murray at the Pleasantville Red Cross office at 609-646-8330.
Registration for class must be paid in advance. This offer is limited to the first 30 paid participants. If you want to learn the skills that could save the life of a friend, neighbor or family member in an emergency, please call the American Red Cross and take advantage of this special offer. Call today

The 12th annual Ocean Drive Marathon (ODM), hosted by the Ocean Drive Run Club (ODRC) will take place Sunday, March 28, starting 9am.
The marathon is held on a 26.2-mile point-to-point, U.S. Track & Field-measured and certified qualifying course that winds through the scenic barrier islands of Cape May County. Race packets and bib numbers for all competitive events can be picked up at the Wildwoods Convention Center, 4501 Boardwalk, from 10am-5pm at the ODRC Health and Fitness Expo on Saturday, March 27. Accompanying events include the OD 10-miler, OD 5K, and OD 1.5-mile fun run/walk.

To register, call (609) 523-0880, e-mail odmracedirector@comcast.net, or go here.
Below are the event particulars.

12th Ocean Drive Marathon
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Marathon- 9 a.m.; Start: Beach Avenue, south of Perry Street in Cape May City, Cape May; End: JFK Boulevard and The Promenade, Sea Isle City
10-Miler- 9 a.m.; Start: Beach Avenue, south of Perry Street in Cape May City, Cape May; End: 18th Avenue and The Boardwalk, North Wildwood
5K Run- 10 a.m.; Start/End: JFK Boulevard and The Promenade, Sea Isle City; Turn-around at 69th Street and Pleasure Avenue
1.5-Mile Fun Run/Walk- Begins when final runner in 5K finishes; Start/End JFK Boulevard and The Promenade, Sea Isle City

Absecon Lighthouse, New Jersey’s tallest and the country’s third tallest, is naming March, “Climb for Our Cause!”  month. For just a $7 admission to climb ($5 for seniors, $4 for children), you can help keep Absecon Lighthouse shining through a challenging financial crisis.  Absecon Lighthouse invites all residents of South Jersey to participate and make this campaign a roaring success. It is possible, through small increments, to raise funds —  one climb at a time. So, join us for a climb in March and have a blast as you get exercise, see the best views of Atlantic City, and support a worthy cause. For more information call  (609)449-1360 or go here. The lighthouse is located at  31 So. Rhode Island Ave. in Atlantic City, and is open to visitors Thursdays through Mondays, 11am-4pm.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

By my calculation, I’ve lost six or seven hundred pounds over the years, usually in 50-pound blocks. This means, of course that I have also gained the weight back. Two years ago, I decided to have weight loss surgery and had a gastric lapband placed around my stomach. The idea of the band is to create a small pouch at the top of your stomach. When this egg-sized portion of your stomach is filled, the theory is that you are no longer hungry and therefore you lose weight. The band is tightened with a saline solution periodically, to maintain your weight loss.

That is the theory anyway. It never really worked for me. While it curbed my hunger somewhat, it never allowed me to be satisfied with a small amount of food, and I had complications that led to several emergency room visits.

So here I am two years later and I’ve regained all the weight, fueled by frustration, anger and a WTF-nothing-works mentality. Most morbidly obese dieters have been there, done that.

My knees are killing me and I’m back on diabetes medication (that I was able to stop taking after the surgery), but on a brighter note, I’m finally on the other side of my regain binge. So what’s next? Where do I go from here on my weight loss journey?

Well, for one thing I am going to listen to my doctor. He was happy with the modest 40-pound weight loss that I maintained for two years. Therefore, instead of dreaming of a Biggest Loser-sized 150 pound weight loss, I’m going to shoot for losing 40 or 50 pounds.

My current diet of choice is the F-Plan, a high fiber diet that was popular in the mid-1980s, based on the book by Audrey Eyton. I was on it before and lost weight.

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William J. Marino, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey (HFNJ), announced on Tuesday, Dec. 29, that more than $1.9 million in grants was awarded to 96 organizations in 2009, including 38 organizations in the fourth quarter.
Among those receiving fourth-quarter grants from the HFNJ were the South Jersey AIDS Alliance in Atlantic City, which received $15,000 to support its Healthy Relationships Plus Program, and the South Jersey Cultural Alliance in Pleasantville, which received $7,500 to support its Arts for Students Project. The Healthy Relationships Plus Program uses intervention in a small group environment to help build the skills needed to disclose HIV status to family, friends and partners, and also teaches safe sexual behaviors. The Arts for Students Project provides disadvantaged students in Southern New Jersey with quality arts experiences, enabling students in grades K-12 to attend symphony concerts, theatre, dance performances, arts and cultural exhibitions.
“I am proud to announce that since the Foundation’s inception in 2004, it has awarded nearly 500 grants totaling over $18 million to charitable organizations across the state,” says Marino in a release to the media.

During the 1960s, ’70s and early ’80s, a group of highly skilled, civic-minded people organized and produced a telethon for the local chapter of the March of Dimes. At its highest point, the telethon was the biggest winter event in Atlantic City, and was billed as the most successful telethon, per capita, in the United States.

Members of that unique team have reorganized to produce a telethon for the Insulin Support Fund, which provides insulin and other diabetic-related supplies to those in the greater Atlantic County region that either do not have insurance or cannot afford the life sustaining medicine and supplies. The Fund is administered by AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.

The Insulin Support Fund 2010 Diabetes Telethon will take place Saturday, March 27, from 10am-10pm at the East Tower of Trump Plaza Casino Hotel, Mississippi Avenue and the Boardwalk. The telethon will be produced and directed by marketing executive Richard Helfant and entertainment executive Michael Tully. When not wearing their “telethon hats,” Helfant is executive director/CEO of Lucy the Elephant, and Tully is vice president of Specialized Productions, Inc. — a full service media company located in Allentown, Pa. (more…)

Last month the area’s four Island Gym & Fitness locations — Ventnor, Absecon, EHT and Northfield — collected donations for the Food Bank of NJ through special promotions. This month the organization is channeling its energies toward helping the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves’ annual Toys for Tots Foundation.
Throughout December, each Island Gym location is offering a free class to a non-member if that person brings a new, unwrapped toy. The Toys for Tots campaign collects new toys to be distributed to economically disadvantaged children at Christmas.
All four fitness clubs will offer the “bring-a-toy, take-a-class” option from Monday through Friday, Dec. 7-11. On Tuesday, Dec. 15, the Northfield location will host a two-hour (6-8pm) “Zumba for the Children” fitness class in which all new-toy donors can attend the class for free. Those who do not bring toys will be charged $15, and that money will go toward buying new toys. (more…)