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Red Dress Divas
Forty of the 129 models participating in the Follow the Fifty Models of Heart Health campaign gather at Hyde Cultural Center with VOICES and Friends to rehearse for the Red Dress DIVAS Holiday Spectacular, coming to the Hyde on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. Photo courtesy of FTF photographer Anita Yost.
WOODSTOCK — Follow the Fifty: Models of Heart Health (FTF), the women’s heart health awareness and action campaign created by the Northeast District Department of Health (NDDH) in partnership with the HealthQuest Northeast Connecticut Coalition, is heading for a spectacular finish, according to FTF Project Manager Linda J. Colangelo.
Red Dress DIVAS show tickets are $20 each and are available at the Northeast District Department of Health in Brooklyn; Trink-et Shoppe and Danielson Surplus Sales in Danielson; Day Kimball Healthcare Center in Plainfield; DKH Philanthropy Office, Victoria Station Café, Wonderland Books, and WINY Radio in Putnam; and TEEG in Thompson.
“The models will debut their new heart-healthy looks and lifestyles at The Red Dress DIVAS Holiday Spectacular at 8 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Hyde Cultural Center in Woodstock,” she said. “This is what they have been working towards all year long and the show name says it all...because it will be nothing less than spectacular. It’s extraordinary what these models have achieved.”
In February of this year, NDDH received a $100,000 grant from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health to implement Colangelo’s brainchild – Follow the Fifty – so named because they hoped to recruit 50 women who lived or worked in northeastern Connecticut who would commit to lead heart-healthy lifestyles of the remainder of the year. “The recruitment phase attracted 185 women to the campaign, and if they recognized that they needed the help, there was no way we were going to leave anyone behind...so we redesigned the concept to be 50 teams of women instead of 50 individuals,” Colangelo said. “Along the way, there were models who left the initiative due to family and work obligations, relocations and health issues, but they continued to follow the campaign as community supporters. ”
With so many women, the show finale had to be expanded to two nights. One hundred and twenty-nine models will be joined on stage by the performance group VOICES and Friends for the community show, which is being produced by Broadway Live Productions.
David T. Panteleakos, owner of Broadway Live Productions and director for the DIVAS Holiday Spectacular, said, “These ladies have been on a remarkable journey, and we just can’t wait to bring their stories and success to the stage.”
The show storyline centers around The Grinchess, played by actress Jo-Ann Gallo. The Grinchess, the bitter ex-wife of the Grinch, leads a sedentary lifestyle and has survived on a steady diet of green eggs and ham and Who pudding, which makes her a heart attack waiting to happen. She is promptly adopted by “Ruby” a red dress brought to life by actress Alison Wiza, and is set upon the path of attaining a heart healthy lifestyle. Ruby has become the iconic symbol of the Follow the Fifty campaign and serves as a visual reminder of women’s heart health.
The beneficiary of the Red Dress DIVAS Holiday Spectacular is HealthQuest Northeast CT, a regional collaborative health and wellness partnership working to make northeastern Connecticut a healthier place to live, work, learn, and play. In addition to Follow the Fifty, HealthQuest partners have collaborated on the WriteSteps School Walk Initiative, a 10-minute start the school day with a walk program; Putnam’s Community Garden and Storywalk River Trail project; an on-line worksite wellness tool through the NE CT Chamber of Commerce, and a host of other health and wellness endeavors.
The HealthQuest Northeast CT Leadership Team includes: The Northeast District Department of Health, Day Kimball Healthcare, Generations Family Health Center, Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Plainfield Public Schools, Plainfield Recreation Department, Quinebaug Valley Community College, Representative Mae Flexer, Senator Donald Williams, Steven Townsend, Thompson Ecumenical Empowerment Group, Town of Putnam Economic & Community Development and WINY Radio. Efforts of the coalition are coordinated by the Northeast District Department of Health.
These are the women who have adopted heart healthy lifestyles since joining the Follow the Fifty Campaign. They will debut their news looks and lifestyles at the Red Dress DIVAS Holiday Spectacular: Kelly Belanger – Dayville; Irene Bessette – Plainfield; Elsie Bisset - Voluntown/Danielson; Heidi Blackmar - Pomfret Center; Carrie Blackmar – Putnam; Paulette Blagburn – Putnam; Melissa Bonsall – Brooklyn; Sandy Boucher - Pomfret Center; Christina Bourquin – Canterbury; Mary Boyce – Moosup; Lisa Briere – Dayville; Jane Brown – Putnam; Pamela Brown - East Woodstock; Michele Buccieri - East Killingly; Merrilee Buckley – Danielson; Elizabeth Buzalski – Thompson; Mary Ann Champney - East Woodstock; Linda Charron – Danielson; Deborah Corey – Foster, RI/Putnam; Colette Cote – Brooklyn; Lauren Cremers – Woodstock; Leigh Ann Cumberland – Putnam; Holly Jo Dalby – Thompson; Julie Dalpe – Dayville; Natasha Darius – Danielson; Roberta Davis – Sterling; Joye DeAngelis – Sterling; Jackie Desabre - Pomfret Center; Lisa Desmarais – Dayville; Karyn DiBonaventura - Pomfret Center; Cindy Donall - Oneco/Danielson; Deanne Duclau - Danielson; Brenda Dvoryaninova - N. Grosvenordale; Linda Edmonds - Danielson; Kristine Enos - Danielson; Nancy Ernest - Sterling; Joanne Fagan - Pomfret; Lisa Faucher - N. Grosvenordale; Donna Faucher - Putnam; Vicki Favreau - N. Grosvenordale; Delia Fey - Putnam; Susan Foster - East Woodstock; Amy Franklin - Dayville; Shirley Gerrish - Putnam; Kathleen Goebel - Moosup; Brenda Goyette - Putnam; Mary Gunderson - Woodstock; Linda Harris - Pomfret Center; Sarah Heminway - Pomfret Center; Darlene Hill - Plainfield; Diane Holowaty - Danielson; Mamie Horstmann - Hampton; Kim Houle - Brooklyn; Melissa Jameson - Woodstock; Linda Jarmolowicz - N. Grosvenordale; Elizabeth Jenkins-Donahue - Voluntown/Putnam; Rachel Johnston - N. Grosvenordale; Aurele Kamm - Central Village; Tina Kerouack - Brooklyn; Kathleen Knapp - Putnam; Louise Labbe-Fahy - Putnam; Tina Lajoie - Brooklyn; Ruth Laliberte - Moosup; Jennifer LaTour - Danielson; Sara Laughlin - Thompson; Deborah LeCompte - Sterling; Audrey Lefevre - Danielson; Marion Lewis - Putnam; Dawn Libby - Pomfret; Virge Lorents - Dayville; Kathleen Lundy - Eastford; Celeste Lussier - Putnam; Christine Mailhot - Dayville; Amy Maranda - Grosvenordale; Jean Marcy - Woodstock; Valerie May - Pomfret Center; Judy Mecca - Danielson; Kim Mitchell - Brooklyn; Marie Mongeau - Putnam; Alma Morey - Putnam; Dawn Morin - Woodstock; Toni Moumouris - Brooklyn; Maureen Nicholson - Pomfret Center; Pam Olson - Thompson; Julie O’Neil - Moosup; Cindy Parsons - Brooklyn; Lisa Parsons - Danielson; Tammy Pelletier - Plainfield; Janice Perry - N. Grosvenordale; Audrey Place - Putnam; Leslie Poitras - Chepachet/Putnam; Kerri Price - Danielson; Rebecca Radcliffe - Pomfret Center; Melissa Randolph - Danielson; Michelle Rawcliffe - Woodstock; Michelle Redner - Putnam; Betty Ribaudo - Plainfield; Janet Richmond - Woodstock; Brandy Ritchotte - Moosup; Nancy Roberts - Danielson; Lorielle Robidas - Danielson; Denise Roireau - Putnam; Micci Roy - N. Grosvenordale; Danielle Sadowski - Danielson; Pamela Santerre - N. Grosvenordale; Elizabeth Santerre - N. Grosvenordale; Sandra Savoie - Woodstock; Bernadette Schuster - Danielson; Marion Sheehan - Moosup; Cherie Sirard - Woodstock; Francine Sisson - Dayville; Elaine Smith - Brooklyn; Robin Smith - Woodstock; Donna Sohan - Woodstock; Susan Starkey – Southbridge, MA/Brooklyn; Louise Taylor - Thompson; Rebecca Theriaque - Plainfield Jennifer Thompson - Danielson Karin Tourtellotte - Woodstock Laurie Trudeau - Putnam; Elaine Turner - Putnam; Chris Vargas - Pomfret Center Delpha Very - Thompson; Kat Voght - Dayville; Sharon Wakely – Hampton/Killingly Donna Whittenburg - Eastford Stacy Williams - Brooklyn; Bonita Woodward - Dayville Cynthia Wright – Dayville.