Tag: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Not Meant To Be Alone

Steffie, as has been well established, is away at college. Helaine took this weekend and joined a friend from Texas, seeing Rick Springfield concerts in the Midwest. I am holding down the fort at home.

The house has grown eerily quiet since Steffie left. It is even more quiet now.

I got home from work last night, changed out of my suit and went downstairs to play poker, watch TV and put off bedtime. ESPN Classic has begun running old episodes of ARLI$$ and I tape every one.

I didn’t get to bed until after 5:00 AM. I have no willpower when it comes to going to sleep.

My boss asked if I would work today and knowing there would be post-Rita explanations necessary, I said yes. Without that, this would have been a totally purposeless day. As it was, it was only partially purposeless and very, very quiet.

That’s it. It’s too quiet.

I’ve said this before, but even when we’re not chatting, having Helaine and or Steffie around the house is reassuring. It doesn’t make sense, but the house is different even when I’m downstairs watching TV and Helaine’s upstairs, hours into sleeping.

Tomorrow morning I get up early for the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation “Walk to Cure Diabetes” (that’s a lot of capital letters). This is one of the most rewarding charity events I’m involved in all year. How can you say no to something that affects so many kids and their families?

By Sunday afternoon, the solitude returns. I’m sure there’s something worthwhile to do. I’m sure I’ll never be self motivated enough to do it.

Oh – My Toe

How do you know if you’ve broken your toe?

After I slammed mine into the side of the bathroom cabinet&#185, I started writhing on the floor in pain. That seems to be sign number one.

Swelling, which began almost immediately, is probably sign two.

To me, the clincher was when Helaine asked me to look at the toes in question. Instead of being parallel, they were making a “V”. It looked something like the intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue in Times Square.

I pushed the toes back together with the ‘pinky’ toe making a snap sound as it went back into place.

They are currently taped together. It is my understanding toes don’t get professionally set after they break. Tonight, I am the physician pro se.

&#185 – This cabinet has been in our bathroom for 15 years. I should know where it is. If asked, I will claim to my dying day, it jumped out at me.

Blogger’s note: This morning, while at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation kickoff breakfast, Steve the doctor called. He was looking for computer tech support… and I asked about my toe. Maybe it’s not broken after all. Possibly it was only dislocated. It still hurts like crazy. Not my week for pain.

Walk to Cure Diabetes

I wish I could remember how my involvement with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and their yearly Walk To Cure Diabetes, began. I don’t. It has been over 10 years, I’m sure of that.

When I started helping, I didn’t know too much. I knew the word diabetes – not really what is was. Is that wrong?

Many civic and charitable organizations try to associate themselves with local radio and TV personalities. It’s a good, cheap way to get additional publicity. No one says that, but everyone knows it.

On the other side of the equation, lots of radio and television personalities try to associate themselves with civic and charitable organizations. There are a zillion reasons, some altruistic and some not.

Basically, I look at my job, realize I’ve got it good and wonder what I can do to show my gratitude.

What was unforeseen to me is how captivating and motivating my association with JDRF has been. In essence, a child doesn’t have diabetes – his family does. Everyone’s life changes, though none more than the diabetic.

Even with diabetes under control, you’re checking your blood by sticking yourself 5, 6, 10 time a day. If you’re lucky, you can use an insulin pump. If not, there are injections.

When you’re small your parents give the shots. As you grow older, it’s your responsibility. That’s a hell of an obligation for a teenager trying not to stick out in a crowd.

And then there’s the statistic that says the life of a diabetic is shortened by 15 or so years.

Anyway, the more I became involved, the more I wanted to be involved. Everything I read tells me a cure is close. I’m not a doctor, but I believe it’s true.

As this years walk approached, I asked at work if I could use our helicopter. It helps bring more visibility to JDRF… and it’s good for the station too. There were 4,000 walking in North Haven and another 4-500 in Niantic.

After some rain last night, I was pleased to see the forecast hold and the Sun come out. I woke up early and drove to Chester where the copter is based. It was chilly at 7:30 – I worried if I should have brought a jacket.

At Chester Airport, Chopper 8 is parked on a small trailer. It’s true. The pilot takes off and lands on a little trailer, not the ground. I climbed in the front with pilot Dan Peterman. Our photographer, Jim Bagley sat in the back with all the video gear.

It was a quick flight to Anthem Blue Cross in North Haven, the site of the first walk. I did a quick live hit on our morning news and we landed.

If you’ve never been to an event like this, it’s tough to explain. The Blue Cross campus was crawling with people of all ages.

I said hello and took pictures of and with as many people as I could. Around 10:00 AM the walk got underway and I made my way back to the helicopter for our trip to Niantic.

The Niantic crowd was smaller, more intimate. We were able to land he copter in a much more conspicuous place. Dan folded the doors back and we let people walk up and take a close look. Most people never get that chance and the copter is a big draw, especially with kids (and dads).

I went back to shooting and taking pictures.

Within the next few days I’ll have a better idea how JDRF did financially, My gut tells me this was a good year.

Now, here’s the payoff. We do this every year. But if we’re really successful, we’ll never have to do it again. It’s happened before. Polio was cured with research paid for a dime at a time. Maybe diabetes is next.

Blogger’s note – I took a lot of pictures… I mean a really huge number of pictures. As usual, they’re in my gallery.

Back on the Radio

When I was a teenager in high school I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up – I wanted to be a disk jockey. And sure enough, when I got myself tossed from college (or the ‘accelerated dismissal program’ as I like to call it), radio is where I went.

It was a reasonably good career working at some of the classic stations of the AM radio era, being program director of what was known as an ‘underground station,’ and doing mornings in Philadelphia. I miss it all the time. Any time I run into a radio person here in Connecticut I offer to do some fill-in work.

They smile, but seldom call. I’ve done a few talk shows on WTIC and it was like a fix to an addict.

Today I had the opportunity to be on the radio and in a situation I had never experienced before. I was one of three guests on a Sunday morning public affairs show which was taped for Star 99.9 and WPLR.

This all has to do with my involvement in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I have been their celebrity spokesperson for 11 years – though I’m not sure what that job actually entails. JDRF is a wonderful organization. I feel touched every time I do something on their behalf. And, their Walk to Cure is coming up in early October.

The program was taped at the Cox Broadcasting studios in Milford. It was the most corporate radio facility I had ever been in. Everything was neat and clean. The equipment looked like it was all working. There were no slovenly disk jockeys yelling at the top of their voices!

It seemed too sterile to really be radio.

The station’s lunch room seemed sanitary, as if you could eat there. How is this possibly radio? Certainly it is not radio as I knew it, where your clothing choices were always promotional t-shirts and jeans.

Every time I write about it, I wonder why I miss radio so much… and when I’ll be back on?

My Most Valuable Skill

This morning, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation held the kickoff for their annual “Walk to Cure” program. I’m the honorary chairperson… though I really don’t know what that means. I do know that I go to the walk and attend a number of their events through the year. I always get up, say a few words and try to be a motivator. And, of course, I talk up the organization on-the-air.

The folks who run our local chapter appreciate my efforts and always make sure to tell me. That’s enough for me.

I’m thrilled to do this. It’s really a privilege to have a television station to ‘give’ to charity. I think (and everything I’ve read says) JDRF is a fine organization that spends their money well and probably will find the magic bullet which will stop Juvenile Diabetes.

Every year, at one of the meetings, a diabetic child will get up and talk about pricking his finger to draw a drop of blood, many times every day. There are stories of injecting insulin at school or a party or wearing an insulin pump around the clock.

Often parents will tell the story of how they discovered their child had diabetes. It’s never a fun story. It often includes terror and a trip to the Emergency Room.

How can I not be motivated? If what I do helps, even a little, every second I’ve spent with them will have been worth it.

Having said all of this, this morning’;s breakfast was scheduled for 8:00 AM. I usually don’t get to bed until 4:00, so it was very early. And, of course, I don’t just roll out of bed and voila, I’m at the venue. There’s showering and driving too. An 8:00 AM breakfast is a 6:45 wake up.

But, as I said, I have a very valuable skill. I can sleep in shifts or nap on command with few ill effects. I’ve fallen asleep on airplanes before we’ve begun to taxi, just to make the trip seem shorter.

This morning, at the breakfast, I had two small cups of coffee. Even with that, I was back in bed and back to sleep well before noon. When I finally got out of bed at 1:30 PM, I was ready to go.

When I tell people about this, they are often jealous. I wonder how many people actually try to nap? They probably just say they can’t and live with the consequences without ever trying.

It’s a great skill to have.

I’m Not That Nice

A few months ago, Elizabeth McGuire (no Lizzie McGuire jokes, please) asked if she could interview me for Hartford Magazine. Never the shy one, I said yes.

I have just read the article, and can now guarantee, I’m not anywhere as nice as she portrayed me. I am grateful, however, she lied on my behalf.

Only part of the article was on the magazine’s website, so I retyped it to place here on my site. Other than changing the spelling of my daughter’s name, and my length of service at WTNH, I’ve left it as is.

Hartford Magazine / February 2004

WTNH weatherman Geoff Fox doesn’t mind being call a weather geek. In fact, he finds it flattering. Fox loves the scientific process of predicting and forecasting the weather. “I’m the kind of guy who does like to look at lists of numbers, charts and gr4aphs. It’s a different math puzzle every single day, and no matter what you do, you’re presented with another math puzzle the next day,” Fox says.

Day after day for the past 19 years at WTNH-TV, Fox has pored over the maps, graphs and charts; analyzed the data; and then translated the information into “plain English” for his viewers. Fox gets two to three minutes during evening newscasts to tell viewers how the weather on any given day is likely to affect them. Without being asked, he answers dozens of questions such as, “Should I wear a raincoat, start that outdoor project or cancel that backyard picnic?” Fox says many viewers listen critically to his forecasts, and they hold him accountable when he’s wrong. “Believe me, people can be tough if you are wrong – and they should be, because other than the Psychic Friends Network, there aren’t too many people who come on television and predict the future for a living,” Fox explains.

As we sit at the kitchen table in Fox’s spacious Hamden home one recent afternoon, Fox explains to me that advances in computer technology have increased weather forecasters’ ability to develop more accurate forecasts. Suddenly, Fox excuses himself and leaves the room. Moments later he’s back with his laptop computer. There begins my tutorial on weather patterns. A map with curvy lines shows barometric pressure, one with splotches of color shows precipitation, and a pretty blue graph shows, well I’m not sure what that one showed, but it sure is colorful! Though much of what Fox explains is lost on my unscientific mind, his main point isn’t: The mathematical calculations and other technical information computers offer weather forecasters are essential tools of the trade. Like blueprints to contractors, or EKG printouts to doctors, computers make it easier for weather forecasters to be correct more often. “We can get more detailed information about what the atmosphere is doing… why it’s doing it… how it’s doing it…”

But once Fox comes out from behind the computer, he is able to deliver important information in an easy-to-understand, conversational manner. And he just about always throws some humor into his forecasts, often catching his co-anchors off guard. “I’ve always been the guy who told the jokes and made funny little remarks. And I think I have good timing,” says Fox.

Fox honed his timing during his 11 years as a morning-radio personality in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Buffalo. In 1980, Fox became the host of a Buffalo TV magazine show at WGRZ-TV. That’s where he became interested in weather forecasting, applied for a weekend weather position, and got the job. Fox realized meteorology was an area in which he could use his math and science skills. Fox says he was always good in those subjects and was even on the school math team as a kid growing up in Flushing, Queens, NY.

Even though Fox says he scored higher than 700 on the math portion of the SATs, he tells me he was not a very good student, especially in college. “I was in the accelerated dismissal program at Emerson.” he jokes. In fact, he flunked out the first time he attended the Boston college that specializes in communications.

He is now, however, getting straight A’s in his course work to become a certified meteorologist. He’s enrolled in a distance learning program at Mississippi State University. But most of what Fox needs to know to get a degree in meteorology he already knows.

After years of on-the-job training and watching New England weather patterns, Fox has a pretty good track record of predicting the weather. A classic example of getting it right was his forecast for the so-called “Storm of the Century” (as some television promotion departments dubbed it) that took aim at Connecticut the first weekend of March 2001. Most of the computer weather models were indicating the strong possibility of at least three feet of snow with blizzard conditions. But Fox didn’t think they were correct. He had been using a different computer model (maintained by a major university) during the 200-2001 winter season, and it had been extremely accurate. So, Fox was pretty certain the site’s calculations on heights, temperatures and pressures in the atmosphere were reliable. He stuck with his prediction that the storm would bring mostly rain, sleet and perhaps a few inches of snow. “If you’re confident in your abilities, you have to give what you think is best, in spite of the pack,” he says. Fox’s news director at the time questioned the accuracy of his forecast but then decided to trust it. Gov. Rowland, however, put his faith in the blizzard forecasts and practically shut down the state. The “Storm of the Century” never materialized. Fox would later write an Op-Ed piece for the New Haven Register that he was “hurt” by an article in that paper, which led readers to believe that all area forecasters got it wrong.

That’s not to say, however, that Fox gets it right all the time. Even after 20 years in the television business Fox says he is still “incredibly bothered” when his forecasts don’t bear out. “there will be times when I wake up on a Saturday morning and I will be upset that it’s sunny. If I said it’s gonna rain, than a rainy day is much nicer than a sunny day.” Fox has been know to apologize to his viewers on the air when one of his forecasts has proven incorrect.

In the family room of Fox’s house, the fireplace mantel is crowded with pictures of his 16-year-old daughter Stefanie, in various stages of childhood and Fox’s wedding pictures. Fox and his wife Helaine recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Next to the mantel, behind the glass door of his entertainment center, Fox displays his seven shiny gold Emmy awards – meticulously lined up in a row. He earned those awards for weather and science reporting. Along with his work at WTNH-TV, Fox has hosted a show called “Inside Space” on the SciFi Channel and has been a fill-in weathercaster on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Fox says he would like to do more work for ABC because the experience was “cool.” He’d also like to host a game show but says those jobs would be in addition to his work at WTNH-TV.

When Fox isn’t working, he spends his time with his family, maintains his Web site(www.geofffox.com) with his daily postings and plays Internet Poker. Fox also does charity work, and his favorite charities include the March of Dimes and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Fox sums up his feelings about the charity work and accurate forecasts this way” “Look, I’m not living in a hovel. I’m not driving a ’65 Pinto, and the reason I have whatever success and nice things I have is because of the people of Connecticut, so I feel there’s an obligation to give something back.”

JDRF Walk

I like Theodore Roosevelt. I especially like his concept of “The Bully Pulpit.” He felt, if you have a stage, use it for the public good. And so I try, as best I can, to help out charitable organizations.

For nearly ten years I’ve been associated with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I’ve put in a lot of time and effort and feel the results have been very worthwhile. I’m only upset that this year, because of Hurricane Isabel, I haven’t been able to give as much in the way of on-air plugs to the JDRF Walk, being held this Sunday.

There was a nice mention in The New Haven Register this morning.

Fund-raiser helps fight juvenile diabetes

NORTH HAVEN