The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Cover Stories

“I Did it!” A Look Back at the 2015 Sunrise Day Camp Walk

by

team jordan

By Zarah Kavarana

A little girl clings on to her mother’s hand as the two cross the finish line at the third annual Sunrise Day Camp fundraising walk-a-thon, SunriseWALKS. “I did it!” she beams, one by one high-fiving camp counselors and event helpers. In her excitement, the blue bandana tied over her tiny bald head nearly knocks off.

Over 120 participants arrived at the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds in Pearl River early on Sunday, June 14 for the walk, showing their support for Sunrise and its children. Nearly $110,000 was raised at the event.

Sunrise-LayoutSunrise Day Camp is the only day camp in the world for children with cancer and their siblings. It functions just like any other camp, making traditional activities like arts and crafts, swimming and sports available to campers in a safe setting where they can meet children their own age who have endured similar struggles.

Children ages 3 1/2 to 16 years are invited to attend–completely free of charge. Sunrise is able to absorb a $6,000 fee per camper by hosting multiple fundraising events, like SunriseWALKS throughout the year.

“I think that it’s really important to understand that cancer bankrupts families,” said Sunrise Camp Director and Associate Executive Director of the Rosenthal JCC, Sandy Haft. “It crushes them not only emotionally, but economically.” With every dollar raised, Sunrise is able to ease some financial burden for families of children with cancer and simultaneously create some normalcy in their lives.

The camp runs for 7 1/2 weeks, but each child’s schedule is flexible based on their personal medical needs. Sunrise staff is always understanding about campers missing a day if they don’t feel well or have doctor’s visits scheduled. Two nurses are on site every day, ready to care for campers appropriately, and a team of friendly counselors facilitate activities to make the experience enjoyable.

Sunday’s event kicked off with a delicious breakfast catered by Bristal Assisted Living to energize participants before they embarked on a one-mile walk around the campgrounds. Carnival style games and bouncy houses welcomed back walkers. There was free popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream for all to enjoy, while a DJ kept the crowd dancing.

Mother of three Sunrise campers, Lakaya Sewer, was chosen to be the speaker for the event. She lost her job soon after her oldest son, 15-year-old Ky-mani was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago. Since then he has undergone surgery, but surgeons determined that his tumor was better off left in because of its position, afraid that taking it out might bring on other issues.

Ky-mani is taking life day by day. His mother says that Sunrise has become an important part of his life, having met many friends and received the support of camp leaders. She noted that Sunrise Day Camp has not failed to let her down either.

“For me, being pushed into the cancer world was really hard because you no longer feel like you’re living a normal life,” said Sewer. “Sunrise is a big, giant family with people who understand my story. It gives me peace that I’m not alone in this.”

Michele Anastasia also attended the event with her two Sunrise sons, four-year-old Giancarlo and eight-year-old Santino, who was diagnosed with Leukemia in early 2014. After a year of endless hospital visits, he is accepting treatments well and progressing nicely.

Just four days before camp started last year, Anastasia’s home burned down and the family lost everything. Sunrise was quick to step up, providing them with t-shirts and taking care of the kids’ lunches and snacks on camp days. “After last year, everything’s a piece of cake,” said Anastasia. “But it’s comforting to come here and know that everyone has a story of their own. Sunrise has been there and will be there for all of us.”

“The work we do here is not a labor of love,” said Haft. “It’s truly love.” For more info, visit sunrisedaycamp.org

Zarah Kavarana is entering her senior year at Boston University.

Connection, Passion and Respect for Individuality

by

Chappaqua-September-36

By Matt Smith

As the familiar AC/DC lyric tells us, “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock ’n’ roll.” But, as we’ve also been told, you’ve got to start somewhere. And for any kid with a deeply rooted passion for rocking out, it seems like New York Rock Academy, the summer program offered within local music school Music in Chappaqua, is just the right place to do that!

Since 2004, the camp has allowed children aged 8-18 the unique opportunity to hone their skills playing an instrument–or try their hand at a new one–and prepare for their rock star future in a friendly, welcoming environment. “The individual is encouraged here,” says Music in Chappaqua Director Janet Angier. “We don’t want to put our stamp on you. We want to bring you out of yourself.”

Group Photo

And it looks like that’s just what they’re doing! At the start of a given session, which runs for one week, from Monday to Friday, students are divided into bands based on age, taste in music, and playing ability. In keeping with the idea of individuality, songs are picked based on camper preference. “We try to give [the kids] some creative freedom on what songs they play,” comments Camp Director Danny Golub. “With this kind of music, having a connection to the song just makes the passion of learning so much better.”

Once their songs are picked, students begin practicing toward a final concert, to be performed at the end of the week, at MTK Tavern on E. Main Street in Mount Kisco. These concerts, open to the public, are another integral component of the Rock Academy that Golub thinks makes the program so unique. “Most bars don’t let you play in them until you’re 18 or 21,” says Golub. “So, it gives kids a real rock ’n’ roll experience that they wouldn’t [otherwise] be able to have.”

Boys in ConcertDuring the camp day, in addition to preparing for the Friday performance, campers partake in music workshops covering a variety of topics–voice, rhythm, music history, and songwriting, to name a few–and a weekly music project, which may include helping to arrange an a cappella version of a song or creating a mashup of some favorite tunes. Each child also receives daily lessons on at least one instrument of their choosing.

Golub notes that the reason the camp’s program is all-encompassing is to prepare the kids for the full reality of a rocker’s life, from every angle, reiterating: “It’s not definetly not just about the music here.”

“We look at every aspect of performance,” he continues. “We encourage them to dress well on Fridays, [we ensure that] they’re playing to the crowd, that they have stage presence. We also talk about marketing and making logos and…banners each week.” Ultimately, “we try to make it a full experience that’s as close to what being in a band would be like.”

And that “full experience,” in addition to having fun and rocking out, includes dealing with conflict, compromise, and other life skills that arise while forming a band. “Being in a band is like having a family,” states Golub. “Specifically,” adds Angier, “they learn how to be team players, and how to give and take. [They’re learning how to] listen to each other, [and] learning how to meet a deadline.” Often times, students in these bands form deep friendships as the week goes on. They tend to come back for the following weeks, wanting to learn and create more with these new friends.

Luckily, the fun doesn’t have to end with the end of summer. Music in Chappaqua offers a Rock Workshops program, which allows students to work in bands throughout the whole school year. Rock Workshops students get to showcase their work in an abundance of shows across Westchester and Manhattan–in restaurants, music venues, charity events and more.

Girls in ConcertStaying with the same band for a season, or even a whole year, gives children a realistic perspective on the team building to be done later in life. The friendships formed here are just as rich as those in the summer. Many bands after years of working together at Music in Chappaqua stay together with hopes of succeeding in the professional music world.

Let’s bring all this opportunity back–into a single week of summer. So, with all the skills that are being taught during a camp session–both within performance, and within life–what’s the biggest takeaway the kids have at the end of the week? “I think kids learn how to support each other,” says Golub. “[And gain] a little bit more confidence than [they had] when they started.” And it works. Comments one student, after a performance, “I feel like I can take on the world!”

The two directors also noted–and celebrated–the camp’s wide diversity, both musically and geographically. “We’ve had several kids come from the city,” says Angier. “Danny has a student from Florida, who comes up [to Chappaqua] for a three-hour lesson once a month. One of our students even comes from Japan!”

On the subject of music diversity, Golub expresses that while he supports each student’s individual music preference–emphasized by allowing each of them to choose their own songs–he recognizes the benefits of exposing students to the preferred music style of their peers, as it broadens their music library. “These kids are helping each other listen to good music,” he says. “Not all parents necessarily listen to music, and a lot of these kids come here and are hearing new bands and new music that they would have [otherwise] never heard, had they just had to play classic rock.” Adds Angier, “You get kids from all sorts of backgrounds, bringing all sorts of ideas.”

With a unique program customized to each student that’s capped off by a real-live performance and an eclectic, diverse group of students who all go on this journey together, what else could this A+ rock ’n’ roll mecca have up their sleeve? “The greatest thing about the school is the faculty,” boasts Angier, with a smile. “They’re incredibly embracing the kids…they really want [them] to succeed. They’re the top teachers in the business.”

To boot, most of the staff is made up of camp alums, which only strengthens their relationship with the current campers. “The counselors want to give the kids the same experience they had when they came here [as campers],” adds Golub. “And they can do that, ‘cause they went through it.”

Kids must also be psyched to hear that the alums have enjoyed success with their bands in the real world. “We’ve had quite a few teachers and students make pretty successful careers of playing rock music,” comments Golub. Additionally, some bands formed at the camp have won county-wide competitions, such as Battle of the Bands.

It all aligns with Golub and Angier’s mission statement for the camp:
“We pride ourselves on having good teachers and keeping students in the program as long as we can.” Considering the high success rate of counselors and alums, mixed with the large percentage of returning campers that come from all around the world, there’s no question they’ve been triumphant in their mission. And to that, we say, aptly: Rock on.

Music in Chappaqua is located at 225 N. Greeley Avenue in Chappaqua. NYRA camp sessions are offered weekly, from June to August, for seven weeks in a row.

For more information, please visit www.musicinchappaqua.com

Matt Smith, a graduate of Skidmore College, is a regular contributor to The Inside Press.

New Rabbi Appointed at Pleasantville Community Synagogue

by

image001Rabbi Julie Hilton Danan succeeded Rabbi Sameth this summer as the new Rabbi for Pleasantville Community Synagogue, a trans-denominational synagogue known for Joyful Judaism serving 20 Westchester towns over the last 18 years. Rabbi Danan received rabbinic ordination after five years in the ALEPH Rabbinic Program. She was a student of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi of blessed memory, the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement.

Since then, she successfully led two congregations: Congregation Beth Am (Reconstructionist) in San Antonio, Texas; and Congregation Beth Israel, in Chico, California.

She has extensive experience in Jewish Education at all levels, as well as leadership in interfaith work and dialogue, including the Celebration of Abraham in Chico, bringing together hundreds of Muslims, Christians, and Jews to learn about one another’s faith and also to get to know one another as neighbors.

In addition to her rabbinical studies, Rabbi Danan earned a Ph.D. in Hebrew Studies, specializing in Rabbinic Literature and Culture, from the University of Texas at Austin. Rabbi Danan grew up in Texas, lived for several years in Israel and for 12 years in Northern California.

Based on her love of nature and the outdoors, she recently started a creative website: Wellsprings of Wisdom, www.wellspringsofwisdom.com, designed as a virtual retreat center built around Jewish symbols from nature.

Rabbi Danan is also the author of The Jewish Parents’ Almanac, reflecting her experience as the mother of five children.

Rabbi Danan is married to Avraham Danan, a Moroccan-Israeli who loves and teaches Piyut (traditional Moroccan Jewish liturgical song). They are delighted to be closer to most of their five grown children and two young grandsons on the East Coast and Midwest.

Visit shalomPCS.com for more info about Rabbi Danan, the Hebrew school, Shabbat services and adult programming at PCS.

New Castle Seeks to Offer Empty Nesters More Good Reasons to Stay

by

panel shot best

By Grace Bennett

And then one day, my kids both flew the coop, and I joined the ranks of the “Empty Nest.”

But here I am, going on 19 years of residency in my hometown of Chappaqua–just like a full 55 percent of the community who reside here without children in the School District. One long-time friend returned to the excitement and convenience of the city; saying goodbye was painful for me! Another conversely wishes to slow down, perhaps, and is exploring a warmer climate in a community where taxes are more manageable. Others have opted to stay; still others are on the fence.

Like many of my peers who continue to pay New Castle taxes, we are often asked and sometimes even ask ourselves: Why do we stay? Why should we stay? What incentive and resources does New Castle offer its empty nest and more senior resident community?

So it was with great personal interest that I thought I’d explore any available answers to these questions by attending and covering one of a recent series of “Roundtable Discussions,” hosted by Town Hall this summer at The Chappaqua Library. This one was called: “How to Keep Empty Nesters in the Community.”

Over the course of an animated 90-minute discussion and exchange of ideas, the nine member panel, led by Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein, addressed different questions ranging from whether a tax reduction for residency here beyond the school years is possible to the cultural and educational resources that provide the incentive to stay in the first place. “Our goal is to help make people whose kids are not in school here still feel like they are an important part of our community,” noted Greenstein, early in the forum. And later: “We want people to be happy to stay here past the 12 to 13 year plan.”

“We are more than just great schools and we have lots to offer residents at every stage of their lives. We must have services and activities for residents of all ages: multi-generational living enriches our community.”

“We are competing with 55 and over communities that offer many activities. We need to offer those same activities. Let’s face it: We pay a lot in taxes. That’s the price of world class schools. But, we also need to offer world class community activities. Our empty nesters should have calendars full of arts and cultural events and recreational activities right here in our community.”

To that end, Greenstein told panel attendees that the Wallace Auditorium at Chappaqua Crossing could be the venue for more Chappaqua Orchestra, theater and dance programs. A new Culture and Arts committee is forming to address the best use of that new town resource.

“55% of residents don’t have school age children,” stated panelist Jeffrey Mester, board member of the Chappaqua Central School District; Mester is recently divorced and a soon to be empty nester himself. “I have 18, 19 and 20 year olds,” he noted. The big draw to being here for Mester? “They (the kids) come back!” he noted wryly. And then, more seriously: “It’s truly my ties to the community. It’s not about the higher or lower taxes.”

Still, Greenstein offered: “I feel strongly that if you are going to stay here and continue to pay the taxes, then we need to provide activities that make it worth it.

One member of the audience asked Mester that the School District retain residents’ email addresses for correspondence after the kids leave too and not automatically end correspondence. “The school depends on everyone’s taxes to support it,” noted Chappaqua resident Judith McGrath. “The schools need to take additional responsibility to be more proactive.”

best audience roundatalbe

Mester agreed that is a good idea and also encouraged those attending to contact the District Clerk for information on how to stay involved with the schools. “Participation with seniors is great,” he said, “such as through a pen pal program with fourth graders or simply coming in to discuss your experiences.” One audience member also noted that continuing educational offerings had become predictable and inquired why a language studies teacher at the high school, for example, couldn’t offer a course. Mester noted that action would require allocating funds to pay teachers (who are in contract) to also offer more vibrant continuing education.

One common theme that emerged during the evening: It’s impossible to pigeon hole empty nesters…their means and their expectations for the town can vary, considerably.

For example, not all empty nesters wish to downsize; some will even upsize, as long time Chappaqua residents Bonnie and Gerry Golub did to make their home an inviting place for their children and grandchildren to come visit and stay over. Panelist Bonnie Golub, a real estate agent with William Raveis, is a proponent of a gradual lowering of the tax base to make staying for many residents across the board more attractive too.

The question of taxation is for Albany, maintained Greenstein. “They give us a chance to provide certain exemptions as a local option: senior star exemptions, veterans, volunteer fire fighters, ambulance, etc. We take advantage of every tax exemption they offer to us,” he said. “As far as town charges for things like refuse, we can give discounts to seniors and we do. But, we cannot just give a tax reduction: this is Albany’s decision.”

A tax break notwithstanding, Golub also suggested that the school district actively encourage its students to provide voluntary community service to area seniors. Twenty hours of community service by young people to our seniors before graduation would be a wonderful way to give back, she noted.

Panelist and town Social Worker Carolyn Merkin reminded the audience of multiple efforts in New Castle to ease the burden for our seniors including home delivered meals programs and the volunteers who drive seniors every day whether to and from shopping and doctor appointments or offer to help at home for tasks ranging from help paying bills to arranging for at home care services.

One panelist, Steve Biren, who downsized to a home in Riverwoods, said the amenities of the sought after complex and his own active involvement there keeps him happy. He said that despite the attraction of a place for example, like Naples, Florida, for seniors, he stays here, because “it’s a cohesive community. That is a plus.”

rob with group best

Pamela Thornton, director of the Chappaqua Library, and Cassie Ward, director of the New Castle Historical Society (NCHS), were on hand too to summarize the plethora of activities and packed calendars each of these local institutions have available for everyone from toddlers to empty nesters and seniors. (Many in attendance agreed that integrated activities, i.e. those involving many age groups, were highly desirable.) Hundreds of volunteer opportunities are available not only at the Library and the NCHS but at churches and synagogues and not for profits around town; Ward also said that a central database of all events and programming around town would be extremely helpful.

Ronni Diamondstein, a resident of the Chestnut Oak Ridge condominiums in Chappaqua, joined the panel to represent New Castle residents who have never had children in the schools here (nor necessarily plan to). She said she lives here because Chappaqua “is a beautiful town” and that her location at the end of North Greeley Avenue makes walking to the train, going shopping locally and getting involved in a variety of community organizations easy to do. She also mentioned a group (and programming) for empty nesters at Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester.

brittneyAs for me, I’m totally psyched to hear if the new culture/arts committee might bring more adult programming to Chappaqua. I have found condo living (at Old Farm Lake, New Castle’s largest condo community) an absolutely reasonable option for single me with grown kids, and know how fortunate I am given the limits in downsize options. In general, I find the area teeming with work and creative opportunities and possibilities that with just a little more free time, I look forward to exploring more thoroughly. So, for now, and into the foreseeable future, New Castle, without question, remains my beloved home.

Greenstein acknowledges the shortage of homes to downsize to. “Many residents love their homes and their routines. They enjoy their lifestyle, cherish their friends and ties to the community. They have no desire to leave the community. However, it would be nice if we were able to offer them options to downsize in the community. This is an area where we can do a better job.”

The town-initiated Roundtable Discussions, which began with a forum on “What Prospective Home Buyers are Looking for” will continue through the fall–first with a September 10th panel addressing “Volunteer Opportunities for Young Adults.” An October panel will address: “Enhancing our Business Districts.”

Grace Bennett is Publisher and Editor of The Inside Press: Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk Magazines, and most recently produced a guide for the Town called Inside my New Castle:
Welcome to our Neighborhood.

President Bill Clinton Goes to Bat for Tina’s Wish

by

President Bill Clinton… on the Brilliance behind 
”The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation 
for Ovarian Cancer Research”

By Grace Bennett • Photos by Beatrice Moritz

President and neighbor Bill Clinton with Andrew Brozman
President and neighbor Bill Clinton with Andrew Brozman

The story of The Honorable Tina 
Brozman Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research (better known as Tina’s Wish) began well before President Bill Clinton generously took to the podium at the Waldorf Astoria this spring to accept the inaugural Tina’s Wish Global Women’s Health Award.

Of course, it was certainly monumental to the efforts of Tina’s Wish, and to Tina’s family, the Brozmans, to have Bill Clinton, their neighbor and 42nd President of the United States, at different junctures express a profound optimism about the increasing availability of state of the art cancer care but also lament the lack of early detection systems. Most importantly, President Clinton would continuously commend Tina’s Wish as a unique foundation for its remarkable efforts toward creating a collaborative research effort that appears to offer such a promising chance at finding an early test for the detection of ovarian cancer.

Clinton: “Thanks to this consortium we have a chance to solve the early detection riddle…We can make it so that 100 percent of people recover and live normal lives…it is the finest network of creative and intelligent minds imaginable.”

The story truly begins, however, with one cancer victim’s acute frustration–Tina Brozman’s. “Recently, I was asked yet again if I’m angry about having cancer,” Tina wrote (about six months before she passed). “I’m not angry about the disease. But I am dismayed and yes, angered that it wasn’t diagnosed sooner, when perhaps the treatments would have been more effective.”

 Clinton: “Ovarian cancer is a terrible scourge…It’s crazy that we can’t detect this early.”

Tina Brozman, former chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and a devoted wife and mother of three, died on June 26th, 2007, at the age of 54, after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. Immediately post her diagnosis, Tina underwent major surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and later multiple rounds of chemotherapy. She fought her battle against the cancer while still engrossed in an exceptionally high profile career and spending precious time at home with her beloved husband Andrew (Andy) Brozman and three children. At the same time, Tina would steadfastly share her wish with multiple colleagues, said Andy.

Nick Brozman found a moment to chat with President Bill Clinton, too.
Nick Brozman found a moment to chat with
President Bill Clinton, too.

“It was her idea,” said Andy wistfully, in an interview inside a contemporary, glass door studio Andy had built to complement his 1960s house, where he and Tina raised a family and where he now lives alone with his black lab Jerry (the remaining lab of four that the Brozmans had raised together), though with regular visits from his three grown children. “This remains home to me,” said Andy, an empty nester.

“It’s very grounding. The kids are very happy with me here. They enjoy having me up in Westchester and know the place is still here. I’m here to stay as long as I work in the metropolitan area.”

Since 2006, Andy has been a financial restructuring lawyer at Clifford Chance, a global law firm employing 2600 lawyers, 300 in New York City. “We basically represent banks facing difficult problems. The issues get very complex which requires a lot of creative thinking.”

It was impossible not to conclude that the same creative thinking was at work as Andy eventually took the reins on seeing Tina’s wish to fruition.

Outside the glass doors, the back woods were alive with birds chirping and the rustle of tree leaves from a gentle wind blowing. Although mid-April, winter had not quite turned to spring in earnest but it was still a private place projecting a sense of peace. The studio, which Andy designed with a local architect, has served as a refuge for him on this lovely property situated in Chappaqua, close to the Armonk border.

A Consortium is Born

In the months before her passing, Tina approached a group of her friends about starting the Foundation–the mission, to find an early detection screen for ovarian cancer, was formalized after her death. Relationships Tina and Andy had fostered throughout their careers all served to help establish Tina’s Wish, which would come to not only raise dollars for research but also coordinate and fund the most effective model possible for research to detect ovarian cancer early. Auspicious beginnings: Paul Cleary, the Dean of the School of Public Health at Yale, whose late wife was a partner of Tina’s at Bingham, was integral in helping get the Foundation off the ground. The first fundraising event, in 2008, was held in London and hosted by INSOL, the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals, which Tina was involved with before she passed.

tina logoIn 2013, after over six years of raising initial funds and providing grants for early detection research, Tina’s Wish created The Tina Brozman Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium, bringing together scientists from different institutions to work together to advance research into the early detection and prevention of ovarian cancer. In the spring of 2014, Susheel Kirpalani, partner at Quinn Emanuel and Chairperson of the firm’s Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group, donated $100,000 to seed a consortium grant in honor of his mother who died of ovarian cancer. It is one of the first ever consortium grants to benefit ovarian cancer.

According to President Bill Clinton, it was almost unheard of for a private foundation to create what the Brozmans have created.

Clinton: “It is a testimony to Andy’s family that Tina’s Wish has emerged as the third largest funding source dedicated to the detection of ovarian cancer.”

The consortium is comprised of six teams at five major cancer centers–Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania Ovarian Cancer Research Center and Yale School of Medicine/Yale Cancer Center (which has two teams). The researchers are pooling intellect and their specific knowledge bases to successfully break new ground in the early detection of ovarian cancer. (To understand how the consortium “works,” see further below for: “Collaborative Science toward a Test.”)

“I now think we’ve got some of the best scientific minds and institutions pursuing this,” said Andy. “We want to make sure we are converging as much great science as we possibly can.”

Clinton: “The most important thing you have done is to organize a co-operative network.”

Love and Two Fledgling Attorneys

A future world with early detection for ovarian cancer is the essence of Tina’s Wish. I asked Andy for some background about their relationship. He related that he met Tina at Anderson Russell, a law firm in the city, where she was a fledgling bankruptcy lawyer, and he, a fledgling litigator.

“Tina asked for help on one of her bankruptcy projects and her practice area turned out to be much more interesting than mine,” said Andy, with a smile.

Tina, who had grown up in Mamaroneck, “saved me from Long Island,” Andy said, grinning again. The couple was “nomadic at first,” moving to White Plains, then to Larchmont, before settling in Chappaqua. “We wanted land and quiet,” said Andy.

Andy describes proudly how he and Tina created a happy home for their family: Nick, 31, who today runs his own promotional marketing firm and married a Greeley classmate, Amanda Eshghi; Alix, 27, is a lawyer in New York City; and Wallis, 27 (the girls are identical twins), who has become the face of Canine Companions for Independence, the country’s largest service dog organization.

Growing up, the Brozman kids excelled in sports. The schedule was hectic but “Tina loved all of it,” said Andy. “She was game for anything. We used to love going to races and to games.”

Wallis competed in the NY State High School Ski Championship while at Greeley, while Alix became MVP her senior year on the Greeley Girls’ Softball team. Nick was a Little League player and an avid skier; indeed, the entire family would take off regularly for ski vacations in Stowe, VT.

Food also was a big focus for the family. “Our lives centered around the dinner table,” Andy said. “Tina was a great and innovative cook and before she died she put together cook books of the kid’s favorite recipes and gave each one a copy.”

Clinton: “The challenge is how to get a detection system out to everyone, to maximize the impact of dramatic scientific advances.”

Rearing its Ugly Head

In 2005, Tina began to experience “the typical diffuse, unremarkable symptoms of ovarian cancer,” Andy said. “She started feeling bloated, had intestinal problems. She visited a series of gastroenterologists and gynecologists, and no one thought to consider ovarian cancer.” A long time internist took a sonogram and discovered the cancer. The tumor had already spread to other organs in the abdomen and the surgical goal was to rid Tina of most of her tumor. But the survival prospects were poor…she was dependent on chemotherapy to get rid of the remaining, but still very aggressive, tumor. “The cancer typically mutates; what works for a while, stops working,” said Andy. “After chemo, she ran out of options.”

“Tina was such an insightful person,” noted Andy. “But knowledge of ovarian cancer in both the lay and medical populations was so poor that no one thought there was anything wrong. Even today, there’s not enough awareness. In contrast to breast cancer, where early detection, awareness and survivors abound, ovarian cancer simply does not receive enough attention. There are so few survivors, which translates into few advocates for the cause and much less awareness in the general public’s consciousness.”

But today, with all the rapid advances in human genome sequencing, in particular, an early detection system is more urgent than ever.

Clinton: A woman who had sequenced her genomes had advanced stage pancreatic cancer, three years later, she is still alive…Advances are happening in ways that will take your breath away…This thing is running like a freight train, but people are being held back by lack of detection.”

The high profile event with Bill Clinton as keynote speaker, which took place on April 14, offered a dramatic opportunity to raise additional funds to expand the depth and breadth of grants that Tina’s Wish can make, 
said Andy.

A mutual friend, Bill Brandt, who is very active within the Democratic Party, and also a very strong supporter of Tina’s Wish, helped pave the way. “I spoke to Brandt about the global women’s health award event and how Bill Clinton would be an obviously wonderful honoree, and the rest is now history.”

Inside the Waldorf, and mingling amongst previous donors and new supporters, the Brozman family members were not unlike any other family excited to meet the former President. When Nick met Clinton, said Andy, they didn’t talk about Tina’s Wish, initially. Nick told Bill Clinton that he used to wash his car at the local car wash. Clinton said he remembered Nick, too. “It was a nice moment,” 
he said. “We all come from the same small town.”

Grace Bennett is the publisher and editor of Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk Magazines.

 

TWedited-10_NEW
President Bill Clinton with Judge Cecelia Morris

“Don’t Stop Thinking 
About Tomorrow”

To elucidate the honor to President Clinton from Tina’s Wish, Cecelia Morris, Chief Justice of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, recalled the Fleetwood Mac theme song that was used during Clinton’s campaign.

Included in her comments to those gathered:  “In his first year in the White House, President Clinton was directly touched by the ravages of cancer when his mother, Virginia, was diagnosed with breast cancer…

  • While President, he established the National Action Plan on 
Breast Cancer.
  • In 2005, President Clinton helped launch the Virginia Clinton Kelley Fund to honor the memory 
of his mother.
  • In 2012, he was named the honorary chair of Breast Cancer Deadline 2020, which seeks to end breast cancer by January 1st of that year. As we now know, breast cancer and ovarian cancer are linked.  The same genetic mutations that put a woman at risk of developing breast cancer may also increase her risk of developing ovarian cancer…”

And in keeping with the theme song, Judge Morris segued from describing his earlier support for breast cancer research to citing the establishment of and successes of the Clinton Foundation since leaving the White House. “To date, the Clinton Foundation has helped to improve the lives of more than 430 million people in 180 nations.”  She noted, in particular, that the Clinton Foundation’s initiatives are driven by the power of creative thinking and collaboration.

In a phone interview post the event, Judge Morris lauded the president for “a deep understanding of the organization and what we are trying to do. He offered mesmerizing remarks, continuously returning to the collaborative efforts and initiatives of Tina’s Wish.”

 Collaborating Toward an Early Test

Thanks to funding from generous donations to Tina’s Wish, leading researchers at five major U.S. cancer centers have an opportunity to synergistically discover a test for early detection of ovarian cancer. “With the rapid pace of biomedical research, it makes little sense to work in a vacuum; there’s much greater synergy in a collaborative project,” said Ronny Drapkin, M.D., Ph.D.,* director of the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “The concept of team science has evolved. The truth is that no one can really do this on their own.”

Ovarian tissue specimens for the Consortium are obtained with consent from patients undergoing surgery. “The goal of treatment (upon diagnosis of ovarian cancer) is to remove all visible tumor so that only microscopic cancer remains and is hopefully more responsive to chemotherapy,” explained Douglas A. Levine, MD, FACOG, FACS,* who heads the Gynecology Research Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering. “The patients are our partners in our research,” Dr. Levine noted too, “in that they have shared their specimens. We obtain and share the specimens in the most safe and ethical manner.”

The specimens are being collected from Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Memorial Sloan Kettering into one tissue bank for study by six research teams–the collection from several locations is done to eliminate bias (biomarkers for a 35-year-old African American woman may be very different than one from a 70-year-old white woman, for example). The specimens are ones of “high grade serous carcinoma,” the most common and most clinically challenging form of ovarian cancer.

Applying diverse skills and research methods, “We are all crunching data examining the same samples in search of biomarkers,” said Dr. Drapkin. 
A biomarker is any clinical parameter that signals cancer is present. “For instance, it could be a radiographic image, a tissue biopsy, or a blood test; we compare the DNA, blood and tissue proteins between normal tissues and matched tumor tissues in search of a biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer.”

“Our strength is that we can integrate our various methods and find ways that the biomarkers interact,” said Dr. Levine. The researchers engage in a monthly conference call and in an annual meeting to evaluate the data from each center; a key goal is to characterize the tumor’s characteristics and also search for whatever might be unique to all of them. With the Consortium just in its pilot phase, the researchers are hoping to gather some 30 tissue samples in the next few months, “a big enough number,” said Dr. Levine, “to evaluate variability and genetic subsets.”   –Grace Bennett

*Both Dr. Levine and Dr. Drapkin are Tina’s Wish funded researchers and part of the consortium grant. Dr. Levine is also Chair of the Tina’s Wish Scientific Advisory Board.

Ovarian Cancer’s Toll

With all the attention surrounding Angelina Jolie’s brave decision to undergo surgery to remove her ovaries, now is a great time to shine light on the staggering statistics about ovarian cancer and the desperate need for an early detection screen. Slightly over 60% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease when the five-year survival rate is only 27%. Those diagnosed in Stage I/II have a five-year survival rate of 92%. Diagnostic tools for early detection are critical to changing the global impact of this disease and Tina’s Wish is looking to solve this on a local, national, and global stage.

 Upcoming Tina’s 
Wish Fundraisers

Upcoming events for Tina’s Wish include an annual medical symposium this month. “It is an event I’m very proud of,” said Andy Brozman. 
“It brings all the research teams together in-person to discuss the state of the research they are working on collaboratively. After that closed door meeting, our donors have the opportunity to hear the Consortium researchers speak about their work at a cocktail event.” Also taking place this month, the Tina’s Wish Junior Committee will host its annual Summer Cocktail Event at a salon on Madison Avenue, where owner Alessandro Mangerini used to take Tina to a private area to cut her hair after her diagnosis. The Foundation’s 7th Annual Benefit Dinner will take place in September in the Whale Room at the American Museum of Natural History. More information about the foundation, research efforts and events can be found on www.tinaswish.org

 

remembering-tina