Are You Game?
These days, my friends are playing an online game called Words with Friends. In my humble opinion, my friends are really playing the game Words with People They Don’t Even Know.
This got me wondering: How do people meet one another offline anymore? It sounds so old-fashioned, but socializing offline has its merits. The Delaware Sports League (DSL) has figured something out. This statewide co-ed group for the over-21 crowd provides the opportunity for adults to get together, play sports games and make friends all while being in the same physical space. I know—it’s so 1912, not 2012.
According to president and co-founder, Bobby Downing, the DSL has been able to do this by focusing on the following three areas:
- Connection. Although the age span of a DSL member ranges from 25-45, it appeals to the young new working adult who wants to get out and meet people in the area. After games, teams have the option to go out to bars to socialize in a different setting as well as participate in other DSL programs.
- Activity. The DSL offers the chance to play games such as dodgeball, kickball, softball, Wiffle ball and even bowling. People are getting out and moving after work while connecting with others. The level of physical activity depends on what the member puts into it—for example, those playing indoor soccer can really build up a sweat.
- Community. DSL members who joined in their mid-20s have since fallen in love, got married and started families. Members who left when their children were little have returned not only for the social aspect but also to “get their groove back” and begin moving again.
Heidi Habel, an art director with Aloysius, Butler and Clark in Wilmington, has been a DSL member for five years.
“For me, the league has given me this core group of friends that I would not have met otherwise,” she says. “Every week, I know I get to go play a game that gets me up and about when I would be just going to the gym on my own. Gym can be such a solo event. Now I run to the game to get even more exercise in.
“What I like about it is that people are now playing sports that they didn’t get to play before, like in high school, when it was competitive. Now we all just play to have a good time.”
For Delawareans statewide, it’s great to know somewhere there is a Wiffle ball game going on that we can all join. It’s time to put our laptops down and go play Games with New Friends.
Sussex County Just Got Healthier
I recently took a bus trip to New York City, and while that experience is a blog post all its own, I was struck by how many hospital billboards I saw along the New Jersey Turnpike. I am no stranger to hospital marketing, having worked in the industry for a while, but the volume of the outdoor media was striking. It was a sharp reminder that hospitals are truly businesses and to be competitive they must advertise. It was the competitive nature of the messaging that really got me.
“We’re better!”
“No, we’re better!”
“We have awards!”
“Our doctors are better looking than their doctors!”
“Our da Vinci can beat up their da Vinci!”
Today’s healthcare consumers tend to see hospitals as advocates of health care, not necessarily single products. There is a valid expectation that hospitals, at their core, want to serve, help and heal. This summer, three hospitals in Delaware joined forces to do just that.
Beebe Medical Center, Bayhealth Medical Center, and Nanticoke Health Services have joined with nonprofit community resources to form the Healthier Sussex County Collaborative. Their mission is to work together to help improve the health and wellness of their county residents by focusing on initiatives such as diabetes education and breast cancer screening.
Diabetes: According to Delaware Health Tracker, between 2008 and 2012 the number of people in Sussex County with diabetes rose from 9.9 percent to 11.6 percent. Since obesity is a contributing factor to diabetes, it is critical to address the high percentage of overweight adults in the county.
Mammography: Sussex County has an incidence of breast cancer higher than the national average with 128.3 cases per 100,000 women. This initiative will focus on helping minority women age 40 and older to get screened.
By tackling issues such as these the collaborative will be able to address health disparities and community education needs that will inspire healthier behavior.
I am not saying you won’t see separate billboards for these hospitals, but when you do, just know they get it. Their partnership means they know we are all fighting on the same side. That should be a billboard all its own.
Hey La, Hey La, The Milkman’s Back!
We recently lost the legendary Andy Griffith. My friends were divided between being in complete mourning and wondering who he was at all. I have since re-evaluated all friendships.
What was so telling about Andy Griffith’s death was the high volume of comments in social media about the loss of Mayberry. This fictional town became iconic in the pop culture vocabulary for its portrayal of small town America. Andy Griffith played the sheriff of Mayberry. Simply put, he was the head of everything that was wonderful, simple and pure. Although many feel we lost the Mayberry vibe many years ago, I truly felt it was lost with the passing of Mr. Griffith.
Then, I read that a local creamery was offering a new home delivery service in Delaware. You know what that means? The Milkmen are BACK! Milkmen! It doesn’t get more Mayberry than Milkmen!
The Kilby Creamery in Elkton, Md., is now providing this service and I am curious. Just what are the health benefits to buying farm-fresh milk instead of the kind I buy in the store?
I did some research and found one key difference is that whole homogenized thing. Sure there are other factors such as how the cows are fed, but for this blog’s purpose I will stick with homogenization. Trust me, if I can understand this process, so can you, and I am even lactose-intolerant (which is, by the way, the only kind of intolerance I will tolerate.) Here goes:
• Non-homogenized milk: The milk from this dairy farm and many others is cream line milk that is non-homogenized and has that great nutrient-filled layer of cream at the top. This type of milk keeps the butterfat molecules in their natural state and enables them to travel with the liquid milk vitamins to the digestive system where they can release the nutrients to the entire body.
• Homogenized milk, without the separate layers, contains smaller molecules that may not be able to “glom” onto the vitamins and survive the trip to your digestive tract—the nutrients may get lost in the bloodstream and the body will then absorb them differently.
Research from the American Dairy Association supports that drinking milk from cows helps our bones, teeth, sleep quality and keeps our muscles from cramping. So by all means, drink up, regardless of where you bought the milk. It does do a body good. But in case you miss the good old days of Mayberry, just know farm-fresh milk contains some great nutrients and you can bring a little Mayberry back into your life—Opie will even bring it to your doorstep.
Through Aug. 15
Name Kent County High School Athlete Fall Physicals
Location Your local high school’s Bayhealth Wellness Center
Time By appointment
More info. Caesar Rodney High School Wellness Center: 698-4280
Dover High School Wellness Center: 672-1586
Lake Forest High School Wellness Center: 284-9291
Milford High School Wellness Center: 424-6120
Smyrna High School Wellness Center: 653-2399
Woodbridge High School Wellness Center: 337-9310
Polytech High School Wellness Center: 697-8402
Saturday, Aug. 4
Name The third annual Delaware KIDS Fund 5K
Location James Street Tavern, 2 W. Market St., Newport
Time 7:30 a.m.
More info. dekidsfund.org
Tuesday, Aug. 7 through Aug. 28
Name Christiana Care Living With Diabetes Program
Location Medical Arts Pavilion 2, Christiana Hospital campus,
4755 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark
Time 6-8 p.m. (four two-hour sessions on consecutive Tuesdays)
More info. 661-3000 (select option 3)
Saturday, Aug. 11
Name Boys of Summer vintage (1864) baseball game
Time 1 p.m.
Location Twin Lakes Brewery, Del. 52/Kennett Pike, Greenville
More info. diamondstatebaseball.com
Wednesday, Aug. 15
Name Sussex Survivor Social: Yoga for Relaxation
Location Parish Hall at St. Peter’s Church, 200 Second St., Lewes
Time 3 p.m.
More info. choldridge@debreastcancer.org, 644-6844
