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110 FITNESS AND ST. ELIZABETH’S MEDICAL CENTER HOSTING 2ND ANNUAL PARKINSON’S DISEASE SYMPOSIUM FOR VETERANS, FIRST RESPONDERS AND CAREGIVERS AT FLORIAN HALL

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Please join St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center’s Department of Neurology and 110 Fitness for this informative, FREE event. Registration is required and seating is limited so please register today to reserve your space!

Date: Friday, March 20, 2020
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (complimentary breakfast will be provided) Place: Florian Hall, 55 Hallet Street, Dorchester, MA 02124
Registration: Please register by March 13th at
semc-parkinsonsevent.eventbrite.com
or by calling Keith J. Ciccone, BS, LPN at (617) 789-3320

DORCHESTER, MA…February 12, 2020

On Friday, March 20th from 8am-1pm at Florian Hall in Dorchester 110 Fitness in partnership with St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center’s Department of Neurology will host the 2nd Annual Parkinson’s Disease Symposium for Veterans, First Responders, and Caregivers. This event is free and open to the public – all are welcome!

The 2nd Annual Parkinson’s Disease Symposium for Veterans, First Responders, and Caregivers will focus on the connection between Parkinson’s Disease, military service, first responders, and the frequency in which we see veterans and first responders diagnosed with PD. Attendees will be provided with an abundance of information as well as resources available to help them live their best lives with Parkinson’s Disease.

The symposium will feature presentations by prominent members in the Parkinson’s healthcare community as well as noteworthy members of the military. Attendees will hear from: Okeanis Vaou, MD, Movement Disorder Specialist, Director, Movement Disorders and DBS, Steward Medical Group/St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center; Brett Miller, Physical Therapist, Owner,  110 Fitness, Retired US Army Combat Medic; Secretary Francisco Urena, Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Veteran, United States Marine Corps; Anna DePold Hohler, MD, FAAN, Movement Disorder Specialist, Chair, Steward Medical Group, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Former Major, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, WA; Irene Piryatinsky, Ph.D. Clinical Neuropsychologist, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center Affiliated Neuropsychological Assessment Clinic, Chip Maury. Director of Liaisons

Attendees will enjoy a singing of the national anthem as well as a presentation of the colors by a color guard. A complimentary breakfast will be provided and participants will have a chance to visit vendor tables to learn about important resources available to them.

The 2nd Annual Parkinson’s Disease Symposium for Veterans, First Responders, and Caregivers is currently sponsored by Strongbridge Biopharma and Medtronic.

Brett Miller, owner of 110 Fitness, physical therapist, and retired US Army combat medic understands the importance of hosting a symposium specifically addressing the needs of veterans and first responders with Parkinson’s Disease. “We have seen the research and data that shows these populations are at an increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease. We also see it every day at 110 Fitness as many of our members with Parkinson’s are veterans or worked as first responders for many years. We work closely with the Neurology department at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center to ensure veterans, first responders, and their caregivers are equipped with the knowledge and tools to fight back against Parkinson’s Disease.”   

Dr. Hohler Quote

The 2nd Annual Parkinson’s Disease Symposium for Veterans, First Responders, and Caregivers is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by visiting semc-parkinsonsevent.eventbrite.com or by calling Keith J. Ciccone, BS, LPN, Nurse Specialist, Department of Neurology, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center at 617 789 3320.

About 110 Fitness

110 Fitness is an inclusive fitness and wellness center for all people. Easily accessible, located on Weymouth Street in Rockland off exit 14, 110 Fitness offers wellness programs for people with Parkinson’s Disease, boxing and cardio fitness programs for adults and children, adaptive boxing programs for children with disabilities, as well as yoga, tai chi, acupuncture, massage, art programs, and craft workshops, all for adults and children, including personal training and conditioning.

110 Fitness is the first of its kind inclusive wellness center for individuals afflicted with disease and/or a developmental or physical disability. The mission of 110 Fitness is to leave no person behind so that they may reach their full potential physically, mentally, and spiritually by inspiring them to give their 110% effort in order to find the greatest balance in their lives. By combining physical exercise with ancillary mindful and wellness programs our members are provided with all the supports necessary to “Be 110”.

GBVC Housing Resource Network Meeting

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MONDAY NOVEMBER 25TH, 2019 GBVC Housing Resource Network Work Session
MONDAY NOVEMBER 25TH, 2019 GBVC Housing Resource Network Work Session
Members of the Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative Housing Resource Network are invited to a work session at Brighton Marine Monday, November 25, 2019 from 2:30-4:00pm. We will review all the participant groups and housing & shelter services available for service members, veterans and their families. The draft agenda is: Welcome and Introductions Collect Organization Names and Programs  Discuss gaps identified by the GBCVS Network Our vision is for veterans living in Greater Boston to be served by a connected and supportive network of organizations working together to enrich their lives.
Send RSVP to bobnotch@brighton-marine.org
Please note that parking may be limited due to construction on campus. Use of public transportation is highly encouraged.  MBTA Green Line B – Boston College is 1/2 block away.

75 Years Since the Greatest Amphibious Invasion in History!

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Message from Remember My Service President, Sharlene Wells Hawkes
Over the weekend, my 21-year-old son, Jacob, suggested we watch Saving Private Ryan again. We did, and those first minutes don’t get any easier to watch, no matter how many times you see the movie. It’s real. But this is an important movie to my son. When he was 10, the whole family went backpacking through Europe and we spent one day at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. When we returned to the States, Jacob really wanted to see the movie that we had talked about, which I thought was way too graphic for him that age. He didn’t give up though—he really wanted to understand why that cemetery meant so much to us. After he saw the movie, he told me, “I want to go back there again,” because this time, he would understand.
So when he was 15, just the two of us went over. This time we spent three days in Normandy, exploring Sword Beach, Utah Beach, Saint–Mere-Eglise, Pointe du Hoc, and, of course, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. After we spent a few hours in the visitors center, and walking all over the sacred grounds that include 38 sets of brothers buried together, we found the path that led down to Omaha Beach through the thick foliage (I understand that path has now been closed). As we neared the beach, still working through dense brush, I heard unexpected sounds of laughter, and children squealing as they played in the surf. I was surprised—I guess I thought that Omaha Beach should be treated like hallowed ground just like the cemetery. “Shouldn’t the families be more respectful here?” I asked our guide. She smiled and simply said, “That is the sound of freedom. That’s why so many men died here.” We wandered on the beach for a while, picking up small rocks to take this piece of costly history home with us. Jacob filled a small bottle with sand, just like he had seen one soldier do in the movie.
I asked Jacob this week what he remembered most about that day, and he said the beach, the bunkers, the cemetery with all those names on the wall of the missing, and the huge bronze statue, the “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” Everything about that day is burned into his memory and mine. After we left Normandy, we travelled to Krakow, Poland, to spend a day at Auschwitz, where the reason and need for D-Day was horrifically illustrated and proven.
That was an unforgettable experience to share with my son, and I share those memories here because in about a week, on June 6, we will all be honoring and remembering one of the greatest military achievements of all time, and the greatest amphibious invasion in history: the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
In 2007, Secretary Bob Gates spoke at the American Cemetery. Following are some excerpts:
On June 5th, 1944, a mass of men and ships the likes of which the world had never seen set sail from across the Channel. An intelligence officer later described the awesome sight. “The vast machinery of invasion had started to move, inevitably and relentlessly. It was exhilarating, glorious, and heartbreaking.”
For those who were here, the next day, June 6th, unfolded as if it were a lifetime. Men who had only recently felt the warmth of their families now felt the frigid waters of the English Channel and the lonely sands of a war-torn, windswept beachhead. Men who had just a few months earlier been boys in the midst of adolescence suddenly found themselves traversing a warren of lethal obstacles on beaches named Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
Here, at what came to be known as “Bloody Omaha,” the allied offensive faltered and almost failed. Bad intelligence, bad weather, bad luck—they all conspired against the landing forces.
In its horror, the scene was breathtaking. One GI said that the first men on the beach tumbled “just like corncobs off of a conveyor belt.” Another described Omaha as nothing more than “the dead and dying and the people coming in to replace them.” That day, the blood of the dead and the dying turned the seas red.
We build memorials like this to remind us of the past. So that successive generations will know the enormous cost of freedom. So that our children and grandchildren will never forget the stories of those who fought here. So that the passage of time and the thinning of their ranks will never dim the glory of their deeds.
One of our key RMS team members, Elise Norton, and her husband, Matt, are actually heading over to Normandy this week to attend the ceremonies in person. I’m so jealous. They have a great reason to be there: Matt’s grandfather, John Norton, was a paratrooper on D-Day, and later became a three-star general. “I’m looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere, surrounded by veterans and this significant history,” says Elise. “I especially want to walk on Omaha and Utah beaches. This is important to our family, let alone our country.”
If you want to know about D-Day events in your area, please visit this website that has a massive list of events taking place: www.dday-anniversary.com
The last thing I saw as I walked out of the visitors center in 2013 was this quote on the wall that beautifully emphasizes America’s cause-driven fight for right:
“If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest it could be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest: all we asked…was enough…soil in which to bury our gallant dead.”
— General Mark W. Clark
I close with a shout-out to my family’s WWII veterans: my dad, Robert Earl Wells (still walking briskly every day for an hour at 91 years old—he was in flight training when the war ended); Uncle Walter Walser (Army Air Corps); Uncle Roy Walser (Army Air Corp, a Pearl Harbor survivor, and just recently died at age 98); Uncle Stan Walser (Navy Air Corp, 95 when he died), and my Uncle-in-law Bill Clark (a member of the Flying Tigers who was shot down and evaded capture).
Please remember to tune into the news on June 6—you won’t want to miss the “D-Day Squadron” flyover of dozens of C-47 Dakota transports. It won’t be the 800 or so aerial armada that filled the skies 75 years ago, but it will be an impressive reminder!
Warm Regards,
Sharlene
801-860-6820