Atlantic City Weekly and its parent company, Review Publishing, will be a Bronze Sponsor for the 51st Running of the Atlantic City Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 15. As a Bronze Sponsor, Review Publishing will provide listings in the “online events calendars” section of the Atlantic City Weekly, Philadelphia Weekly, and South Jersey Review publications; provide blog postings on all three papers’ Web sites, and provide regular updates on the Atlantic City Central blog site. Additionally, AC Weekly will shoot, edit and run a four-minute video of the highlights of its Web site and on YouTube.com after the event.
Pick up a race application at the Milton and Betty Katz Jewish Community Center, 501 N. Jerome Ave. in Margate, or click here for an online registration form. All races start 8:30am Sunday, and include the Marathon (26.2 miles, and a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon), the Half Marathon (13.1 miles), the 10K (6.2 miles), the 5K (3.1 miles), the Maria Berenato Kugel Walk to benefit the Alcove Center for Grieving Children and The Fred Spano Kids Fun Run.

On Monday, Sept. 14, employees of aviation-related activities at Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) will give of themselves at the airport’s annual blood drive in partnership with the American Red Cross.

Employees working at the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration Tech Center, the New Jersey National Guard 177th Fighter Wing, the United States Coast Guard Air Station and the Transportation Safety Administration Training Center will donate blood from 10am-4pm.

“The annual blood drive is our way of remembering the tragic events of September 11th, and providing a way for personnel at the airport to do something positive in honor of those who died and those who worked to save victims,” says Bart Mueller, executive director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority (the owner/operator of ACY), in a release to the media.

Pamela Grites, executive director of the American Red Cross Southern Shore Chapter, said that her organization’s goal is to increase collection from this annual event by 25 percent.

“This event is a meaningful way to commemorate September 11th and contribute something positive to our region,” says Grites in the release. “We value the commitment and contribution of the Atlantic City International Airport and employees of all of the aviation facilities there.”

La Fontana Restaurant in Margate will be hosting a dinner concert featuring singer/songwriter and NBC-TV 40 news anchor Michelle Dawn Mooney (pictured left) this Sunday, Aug. 30. The event begins 7pm and a donation from the proceeds will benefit Gilda’s Club of South Jersey — a cancer support group based in Linwood. The cost is $44.95 per person, and guests will have their choice of entrees that include Chicken Marsala, Veal Scallopini, Tilapia Livornese, as well as several delectable appetizers, pastas, soup or salad, a beverage and dessert. For reservations or more information, please call (609) 822-7460.

Charly’s Dream and Striding 4 Strength are banding together in the fight against breast cancer. The two non-profit groups are sponsoring a “Family Fun Day” on Sunday, Sept. 13, at Christina’s Restaurant & Bar, inside the Vienna Inn, 920 West White Horse Pike in Absecon. The event will include arts & crafts, face painting, games, good food and music from KOOL 98.3 FM. “We are reaching out for support, and we are asking if you will help us in our fight with a donation,” says Jacqui Brown of Charly’s Dream. “All proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund.”
The event will take place from 11am-5pm. Call Brown at (609) 204-8493 or Mary Stamelos of Striding 4 Strength at (609) 404-9083 for more information.

On Oct. 3 & 4, 2009 the 29th annual MS City to Shore biking event will take place to raise funds for the National MS Society’s pledge to make the world free of the disease.

Interested cyclists can register through Aug. 27 for$45 and for $50 until Sept. 18.

For more on what the MS City to Shore biking event is all about, check the Web site here.

Check out our latest acweekly.com presentation, featuring a very unique sound therapy available in Galloway Township. It is hoped it will be open to the public this summer. Are you stressed?

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 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

In my first Hump Day Report for this blog on April 22, I talked about my lifelong struggle with obesity, about my attempt to stem the tide with a weight loss surgery, a gastric lapband procedure, and the fact that I have lately been putting on weight again. I tried the Diabetes Detour diet for six weeks. I liked the diet but I was still not losing any weight.
When you’ve been doing all the right things with diet and exercise and you are still not losing weight, you go from frustration, to anger to despair to my current state, WTF. I’m eating what I want, when I want and screw the exercise. I wish I was not spinning out of control, but I really needed a break from doing the right thing, especially since doing the right thing was getting me exactly nowhere.
Well, that’s not completely true. According to my latest blood work, my cholesterol and triglyceride levels are good and I’m controlling my diabetes without medication. My A1c is 6.6. So there’s that on the plus side.
Right now I’m trying to reverse my tailspin with a little light reading. One night while watching Bill Maher on HBO, I found a guest on the show, Dr. David Kessler, intriguing. The former FDA commissioner, who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, he has now turned his attention to why obesity is out of control in America. His book, The End of Overeating, dives into how sugar, fat and salt are dominating our food choices and rewiring our brains to want even more.
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This just in from Atlantic County health officials in response to 40 confirmed cases of Swine Flu in 5 states. including New York, Texas, Ohio, Kansas and California:

The Atlantic County Division of Public Health is advising residents to take precautions after the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 40 confirmed human cases of the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus have been found in 5 states, including California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas. Only one of the patients identified was reported to have been hospitalized and there are no reported deaths in the U.S. at this time.

The federal government issued a public health emergency on April 26 following the increasing number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Mexico that have resulted in more than 100 deaths and thousands of illnesses in that country. Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by a type A influenza virus. Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans, however, public health officials have determined that this strain of swine flu virus spreads from human to human.

Locally, Atlantic County health officials are working with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and health care providers to increase surveillance of influenza-like illnesses found throughout the county. Currently, there are no reported cases of swine flu in New Jersey.

The symptoms of swine flu in humans are similar to the symptoms of regular seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

Spread of this swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is thought to occur in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

“The best thing you can do to prevent exposure to illness and protect yourself and your family is to take regular flu precautions and practice proper hygiene,” stated Atlantic County Health Officer Patricia Diamond.

Health officials recommend taking the following precautions:

• Covering coughs and sneezes with tissues and disposing of them properly

• Frequently washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water

• Staying home if you are sick

• Seeing your physician if illness continues

Residents should also continue to monitor updates from health officials. For more information about swine flu and current recommendations, visit the Atlantic County Web site at www.aclink.org/publichealth or call the Division of Public Health at 645-5935.

My mother has COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) from years of smoking. She grew up in the thirties and forties when smoking was more than acceptable and the tobacco companies were keeping the dangers of inhaling toxins to themselves. On a good day she only has to take three breathing treatments with a nebulizer; on a bad day she takes five.
Atlantic County smokers looking to quit for good this year are in the company of 875,000 other NJ residents and President Obama. In New Jersey, approximately 1.15 million residents – or 17 percent of adults – smoke. Of that number, nearly 76 percent want to quit, yet without seeking help only a little better than 10 percent succeed. Many of them will try to quit alone, ultimately relapsing without the support of medical professionals and other quitters. To help improve the odds of success, the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services offers a variety of free and low-cost programs, which work to reduce tobacco use among residents.
One service, NJ Quitcenters, offers a customized, face-to-face approach to quitting on a sliding fee scale. It combines intensive individual or group counseling, with the supervised use of nicotine patches, gum and inhalers. The local NJ Quitcenter is located at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, providing services to Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean Counties (Call 653-3440). Clients can purchase over the counter nicotine replacement therapy products at a reduced cost.
In addition to the Quitcenters, the state offers NJ Quitline – a free, telephone-based counseling service – and NJ QuitNet – a free, online service with information, counseling, chat rooms and online peer support and encouragement. If you don’t have on-line access call NJ Quitline at 1-866-NJ-STOPS.

It is estimated that 23.6 million people in the United States have diabetes. For people who have no insurance or are uninsured, the diagnosis can be a death sentence if they can’t afford their insulin. This is the main reason that the late Soundra Usry Hollingsworth (who died of diabetic complications), and the late Perry T. Helfant co-founded the Insulin Support Fund.
Now, members of the team that for many years produced the highly successful March of Dimes Telethon in our area are reuniting to present the Insulin Support Fund 2009 Diabetes Telethon taking place this Saturday, March 28, from 10am-10pm in the Tropicana’s Carousel Room. Money raised from the telethon will help the Insulin Support Fund provide insulin and other diabetic related supplies to those in the greater Atlantic County region that either do not have insurance or cannot afford the medicine and supplies they need to keep their diabetes in good control. Keeping your diabetes in check can help avoid the complications of the disease, which include an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, blindness from diabetic retinopathy and diabetic nerve disease, which can lead to amputations.
Preparing to write this, I thought about my former AC Weekly colleague Pete Yard, a longtime freelance contributor to our publication and until his death in September, the listings editor. Pete had diabetes and had been taking insulin regularly. Unfortunately, his diabetes eventually kicked in with the multiple complications that often come with the territory. He was 54.
My own diagnosis of diabetes came eight years ago during a routine eye examination. I walked out of the doctor’s office and burst into tears. It can be terrifying, overwhelming news.
The telethon will be produced and directed by marketing executive Richard Helfant and entertainment executive Michael Tully. Helfant is the brother of Perry Helfant, and the Executive Director/C.E.O. of Lucy the Elephant. Tully is vice-president of Specialized Productions, Inc. of Allentown, Pa. Also on the team is Atlantic City Weekly founder and publisher Lew Steiner, another longtime M.O.D. veteran.
The show will be televised on Comcast Channel 2 throughout all of Atlantic County, as well as parts of Cape May and Cumberland counties. It will be streaming on the Internet at insulinsupport.org.
Acting as hosts of the program will be former NBC40 news anchor and owner of her own public relations firm, Lisa Johnson; local attorney, Jeffrey Wilson; the “singing lifeguard,” Jim Craine, and Lucy the Elephant board member and special events coordinator Jason Tell.
The telethon will feature performances by talented youth from the area in the morning, a celebration of gospel music and choirs midday, and casino and professional talent during the late afternoon and evening. Commentary from area physicians will also be featured. Pledge phones will open at 10am. The pledge phone number is 609-348-6400. Visit here insulinsupport.org to make a donation online or mail your donation to: Insulin Support Fund, PO Box 5310, Atlantic City, NJ 08404. All major credit cards will be accepted. Donations are tax deductible.

Here are some highlights from the performance schedule for the telethon.
10am: Jim Craine, “the singing lifeguard”
2-4pm: various area gospel choirs
4pm: Beth Tinnon
4:15pm: Eddie Morgan & Rek’d 4 Jazz
4:30pm: Blanche, “the singing waitress”
5pm: Sherrie Gold
7:15pm: Ken Jeremiah
7:30pm Tru (Sal Angelo group)
7:45: Bianca Ryan
8pm: AC Weekly editor Jeff Schwachter
8:15pm: Suzie Neustadter
8:30pm: Tribute to Tony Mart’s
9pm: Becky Orsatti
9:45pm Jim Craine to close the show