VNA Wrapped Its 90th Anniversary

With A February 3 Breakfast Celebration

By Shannon Hicks

When it was organized in 1918 — during the time of a raging influenza pandemic and a pressing need for local skilled nursing care — The Newtown Visiting Nurse Association was designed as a private, nonprofit organization to provide skilled nursing services to all residents of Newtown regardless of age, illness, or ability to pay. The push to organize the VNA, which was spearheaded by Edith Mitchell (and with editorial and front page support from The Newtown Bee and then-publisher Allison Smith), a group of residents gathered in the town’s grange hall, elected officers and appointed a board of directors with one member for each school district.

Then began the never-ending job of raising money for the public health services the VNA has always been committed to provide for Newtown.

Ninety years later, current and former members of Newtown-VNA gathered with friends and supporters of the association (which now works closely with its neighbors in Bethel and Danbury) for an anniversary breakfast event. Angelo and Renia Marini welcomed nearly three dozen people into their restaurant, Sal e Pepe, on February 3 for the celebration.

Attendees ranged from past and current board members and past presidents, including Margareta Kotch, Sally Schwerdtle, Mae Schmidle, Becky Smith, and Mary Tietjen, to those who are members of Newtown Health District, from which the VNA also receives major support these days.

The event also included the presentation of two proclamations from First Selectman Joseph Borst. The first was to commemorate Newtown VNA’s 90th anniversary and the second was to recognize February as Women’s Heart Health Month.

“This is a very, very special occasion,” Mae Schmidle said to open the reception. Seated next to current VNA President Anna Wiedemann, Mrs Schmidle offered many of the comments and recognitions during the brief program on Tuesday. “It’s not often that we have a 90th anniversary event, and it’s a real pleasure to have all of you with us this morning.

“Over the years the VNA has been a very special organization and has done a lot of special things in this town,” she continued before naming those who were special guests and ongoing supporters of the health based group. Among the people Mrs Schmidle called “good friends to the VNA” were Dr Bob Grossman, Dr Della Schmid, Dr Thomas Draper, Dr Robert M. Jarrett, First Selectman Joe Borst, Selectmen Paul Mangiafico and Herb Rosenthal, Probate Judge and former VNA board member Margot Hall, The Newtown Bee, Bethel VNA Executive Director Judy Malin, Danbury VNA President Mary Ann Faraguna (who was represented by VNA financial officer Brian Carney), Edmond Town Hall employees Tom Mahoney, Marcy Becker, and Clark Caplan, former state representative Julia Wasserman, Danny Haines, Charles Speidel, and Children’s Adventure Center director Rose Luizzi. Each of these people were given a gift from the VNA: a six-inch pewter plate with an inscription commemorating the 90th anniversary.

“These are our angels. These are the people who help make us what we are,” Mrs Schmidle said.

During 2008 the VNA offered a series of free monthly programs, continuing its mission of offering health care to all residents of Newtown. Programs included a women’s heart health program in February, hearing tests in March, cholesterol screenings in April, skin cancer screenings in May, a cardiovascular health walk and talk event in June, eye screenings in July, meningitis vaccinations in August for entering-college freshmen, a lecture on total joint replacement in September, an “EZ-Pass” flu clinic in October, and a lecture on sleep disorders in November. Many of the presenters of these programs attended Tuesday’s breakfast.

“There are a lot of people in this town who have been the support, the backbone of our VNA,” Mrs Schmidle said. “We offer a huge round of thanks to all of you.”

Sobering Facts

As breakfast was placed in front of attendees and prior to a board meeting that was also planned for Tuesday morning, guest speaker Dr Robert Jarrett was invited to the head of the table for a presentation.

Considering February is the highlight of the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign (Friday, February 6, is this year’s Wear Red Day), the cardiologist was the perfect speaker for the VNA this month.

According to Dr Jarrett, 459,000 Americans die every year due to cardiovascular disease. Contrary to popular opinion, he added, a large — and growing — percentage of that number is women.

“One woman dies very minute of cardiovascular disease,” he said. “Women are less likely to go to a doctor with symptoms of chest pain. And even when they do, doctors will sometimes ignore classic symptoms.”

Dr Jarrett said cardiovascular disease is a serious threat to women not only as a disease, but also because of what he sees as an “absence of knowledge.” Women need to know, and not ignore, classic symptoms of angina. They cannot allow delays in diagnosis because of their age or gender.

“Time is muscle, meaning the more time that goes by the more likely it is you’re going to lose muscle strength in your heart when you’re having an attack,” he said.

Risk factors that affect heart health include smoking, lack of exercise, diet, and cholesterol. After introducing that last factor, Dr Jarrett spent a few minutes discussing The Jupiter Trial, the results of which were released on November 30 and have created quite a buzz in the medical world. The results of the trial, which was sponsored by Crestor creator AstraZeneca, are being read as the opening of a dialogue that says the use of statins could become more widespread.

“It’s a very exciting time,” said Dr Jarrett. “We’re going to have to relook, completely, at what we call ‘normal’ cholesterol levels.”

“He was a great speaker,” said Dr Bob Grossman, one of Tuesday’s guests, said of Dr Jarrett. “He’s a great doctor. He talks to you, not at you or over you.

“Women need to stand up for themselves,” he added. “If they start feeling pain in their chest, and it doesn’t matter how old or young you are, you have to tell your doctor ‘I want this test and that test.’ Give them specifics. And if they dismiss your concerns, blow them a kiss and go find another doctor who will take care of you.”

In addition to his Brookfield-based practice and his association with Danbury Hospital, Dr Jarrett is the co-founder of Hearts Around the World. The non-for-profit organization, created in August 2008 by Dr Jarrett and his wife Menoo Afkari-Jarrett, is dedicated to providing cardiovascular education in Third World nations.

Dr Jarrett spent part of his time speaking on Tuesday about the conditions he has seen not only since the creation of One World, One Mission, but of the settings and quality of care he has found while donating his time in such countries for more than 20 years. Dr Jarrett has spent the last three years focusing his efforts on a 1,400-bed hospital in Saigon.

Hearts Around the World has promised to sponsor teams of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, and technologists who will travel to other nations with the goal of teaching their physicians the latest therapies and surgical techniques in the fight against cardiovascular disease.

With that in mind, Dr Jarrett mentioned that his organization would be holding its first fundraiser in April. A breakfast fundraiser is being planned for Tuesday, April 7, from 7 to 9 am. Tickets are $40 per person, with table and upper level sponsorships available. For details about Hearts Around the World and the fundraiser call Menoo Afkari-Jarrett at 733-3222 or visit Hearts-AroundTheWorld.org.

Anna Wiedemann, the current VNA-Newtown president, was impressed with Dr Jarrett’s presentation.

“I thought he was wonderful. I hadn’t seen him before, but he was phenomenal. He had a sense of humor and he had bedside manner, and then some,” Ms Wiedemann, who is thinking about attending Dr Jarrett’s fundraiser this spring, said Tuesday afternoon. “His talk was great, especially since it is Heart Health Month, and because there are so many issues, including the differences in how men and women are treated medically. It was a great morning.”

Mrs Wiedemann also praised the efforts of Becky Smith and Mary Tietjen. Ms Smith was the president of VNA when the group began approaching and then celebrating its 90th anniversary, and Mrs Tietjen was at the time the immediate past president.

“Becky really was part of the original group that planned the 90th anniversary,” Ms Wiedemann pointed out, “and she and Mary have been continuing with a lot of the event planning for the past year.”