Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 12 February '86 ^

'Being Ballooned Is The In Thing To Do' 1

By JACK SMYTH FISHING CREEK - Are you being ballooned for Valentine's Day? If you aren't, you better get with it. It's the in thing to do. At least that's the contention of Ida Genovese and Lisa Gavigan. a motherdaughter combo who run Balloon Boutique. Balloon Boutique, as the name suggests, sells balloons. Red balloons, green balloons, silver balloons, big balloons and little balloons. They even have balloons in the shapes of animals. But Balloon Boutique also sells something that's about as intangible as what goes inside a balloon: fun. good times. Holidays are great occasions for fun and good times, so more balloons are sold then than at any other time. Take Friday, Valentine's Day. For $20. Balloon Boutique will dispatch a bouquet of heart-shaped balloons to the person of choice, presumably a sweetheart, wife, husband, or someone special. THE BOUQUET WILL BE delivered by a messenger dressed either as a clown, or a giant heart. With the bouquet, comes a song: The Sweetheart is here to say Happy Valentine's Day. This bouquet is for the special occasion And here's what it is supposed to do: Brighten your day, Paint a smile on your face. And say Happy Valentine's Day to you. Flowers are nice and cards are too. But being ballooned is the in thing to do. You have just been ballooned by . While many people might associate balloons with New Year's, GenoveseGavigan have found that they sell more balloons on Valentine's Day than any other holiday. In their fourth year in business, the number of heart-shaped balloons they deliver each Feb. 14 has increased from 15 to 50. On Friday, they expect to be on the road in their van and knocking on doors from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. "Anytime you use flowers, balloons can be used over them." explained Genovese. "It's a unique way to say 'I love you.' " added Gavigan. Genovese and Gavigan got into what might be called an inflationary enterprise when they bought the business from Cherri McLaughlin, of Court House, who was getting ready to have a baby "In the back of my mind, I always liked balloons," said Genovese. "WE'RE BOTH FUN-LOVING, and this is a crazy business," said Gavigan. Customers include Lower Cape May Regional High School Band Boosters, which used balloons at football games , the American Cancer Society's Spring Fling; and Stone Harbor Yacht Club's Family Day celebration. Store openings are occasions that balloons can add a festive air to, the pair report. Weddings often make use of balloons, too. Gavigan said a recent bride in Cape May bought 100 pink and white balloons, placed 25 each in the trunks of four limousines that carried the wedding party, and released them by popping open the trunks outside the Top of the Marq in Cape May. If anyone thinks that ballons are a little too light weight for anyone to take serious;ly, Gavigan and Genovese attended a three-day siminar in Grand Rapids, Mi., last July that drew 2,500 balloon dealers. Sponsored by Unique Concepts, a balloon distributor, there were workshops and speakers "who showed us a lot of neat ideas we could use to increase sales," said Gavigan. Mother of two. Gavigan turned to balloons while she was in her junior year at West Chester State College in Pennsylvania. "I was tired of waitressing and working as a desk clerk," she said. Gavigan handles advertising for the business and is responsible for a recorded telephone greeting that customers sometimes hear urging them to "have an uplifting day." "I'VE ALWAYS BEEN creative, and I'm always trying things like that," she said. "You have to be unique and creative to teach, even more so if you teach Special Education kids."

Gavigan teaches at the county Special Services alternative school in Crest Haven. Genovese. a retired practical nurse, housewife and mother of four, is married to Gus Genovese. who owns the White ^ Dove and White Dove II, two large. |i refrigerated fishing vessels that operate I out of Cape May. Tanks of helium that contain 242 cubic j feet of the gas are used to inflate the I balloons. A conventional latex balloon re- g quires about "--cubic-foot of helium, and | balloons made of Mylar take one-cubic-foot of gas. In summer, when most ballons are sold. I Genovese and Gavigan use four tanks of < helium a week. ' If they are not exploded by a pinprick or < a lit cigarette, regular rubber balloons will \ fly for up to 15 hours. Balloons made of J Mylar foil will stay up a month. ' After Valentine's Day, the biggest demand for balloons comes on Easter, the Fourth of July, Secretary's Week in April, and Bosses' Day in October. Balloons Gavigan likes to deliver. But she draws the line on requests to deliver cream pies to the face as an additional greeting. "When I first started out, a man asked us to throw a pie in his wife's face," she said. "But that was the first and the last time. I'll never do that again. I never got it in her face anyhow. She ran around the room." room.

'OE' Item? (From page 1) like most county employes, got a 5 percent increase. Pepper probably will make less this year because less contracts expire. They are in addition, it should be pointed out, to the $57,750 that will be paid to County Counsel Harry A. Delventhal Jr. of Ocean City this year. Postage and professional fees together account for 77 percent of the freeholder OE. THE REMAINING 23 percent, about $56,000. goes for everything from Ireland coffee (the freeholder office drank $688.25 worth last year) to the various dues and subscriptions the freeholders pay, a $14,000 item this year. Those dues run the gamut from the National Association of Counties ($2,188 last year) to $8,000 for the . South Jersey Economic Development * District. An OE dues appropriation can be more significant than it seems. For example, the freeholders will hike their county Chamber of Commerce dues $1,000. to $4,000 this year. But the chamber had come to the board last May to plead fiscal crunch and request $7,500. Without it, chamber officials said, they would have to spend money put aside for a rainy day. An additional $1,000 won't buy too many umbrellas. FREEHOLDER OE also is the place the freeholder board reaches for items that don't seem to belong elsewhere. For example, this year's budget contains $17,000 for a consultant to study • iiigher education options with a focus on a community- college branch campus It makes up most of this year's $21,000 OE . increase. And just two weeks ago the freeholders • agreed to add. if necessary. $10,000 to the Coastal Counties' Committee legal fund to j fight offshore burning of toxic chemicals. Right now, there's no money for this in the proposed budget. If the freeholders feel i it may be necessary. OE will be hiked ; another $10,000 before the budget is ' adopted Feb. 25. I +

-%• Dtiru Waul PRIZE WINNER — Letitia (Letty) Parks, left, activity director and art instructor at the Cape May County Care Center in Swainton. admires a prize-winning tempera batik painting by resident Helen llerse. Originally a right handed painter. Ilerse learned to paint with her left hand after a stroke. The painting won her 2nd place at the Stone Harbor Civic Club Annual Aid Show last summer. Parks, a graduate of the Museum School of Philadelphia and a StoneTlarBorPHident. said the center would appreciate any

donations of art supplies and volunteers for crafts or entertainment. AARP to Hear About Stroke Prevention

OCEAN CITY - Each year approximately 500.000 people have strokes; half never recover. "Most of these people could have avoided a stroke with proper monitoring." said Dr. Frederick Nahas. a general and vascular surgeon who recently open ed the area's first outpatient stroke prevention and non-invasive vascular testing offices in Somers Point and 605 Route 9 South in Court House. Nahas will address a combined county AARP meeting 1 p.m. Feb. 21, at the Ocean City Music Pier. The topic of his speech will be "Stroke Prevention: Today's Reality." Warning signals often precede a stroke, according to Nahas. They include numbness. tingling or weakness in ^an arm. leg or one side of the face, temporary blindness in one or both eyes, memory loss or difficulty with speech. "Dizziness, drowsiness, nausea or vomiting also may occur before a storke." he said "These attacks may be very brief, often lasting just a few seconds, but they should not be ignored. People should call their doctor or get to an emergency room as soon as possible when such symptoms occur." WHO IS MOST likely to have a stroke? People with high blood pressure or a history of heart trouble are particularly vulnerable People who are overweight, get little exercise, or have diabetes also have increased chances of stroke "Two-thirds of all stroke victims are 65 years-old or more." Nahas said. "However, no one is immune from the possibility of a stroke For example, stroke in newborn infants is a major cause of cerebral palsy " "In the case of senior adults, it is wrong for them to pass off stroke symptoms as something that will go away and not return." he said. "More often than not. ' the gamble results in stroke." Stroke prevention methods have been significantly advanced in recent years by the advent of nob-invasive testing techniques Before this technology became

available, the oqly way to diagnose medical conditions that could lead to stroke was by invading the body with arteriography or angiography "Such testing carries with it the risks of bleeding, infection. heart attack or even stroke." Nahas said. "These risks are small, but nevertheless the risks should not. be takbn unless absolutely necessary " Non-invasive testing involves using ultrasound equipment to scan the vascular system and analyze the condition of the arteries. The scanner gives a blood flow analysis using Doppler techniques. The testing is done as ar. outpatient, which means no hospitalization is required. "When you consider that about 60 percent of all strokes th6t occur are caused by carotid artery disease, you can see how valuable and important non-invasive testing is." Nahas said "WHAT WE'RE looking at. just in this aspect of stroke prevention alone is. the potential to diagnose and prevent 300.000 of the 500.000 strokes that occur each year. And. it's painless, low risk and immediate analysis that is life-saving." According to Nahas. once a doctor discovers disease which can cause stroke, he has several options He can treat the problem with medication and observation or he can recommend an arteriogram and possible reconstructive surgery. "Whatever the doctor decides, the important thing to remember is that the doctor was able to diagnose a problem and deal with it." he said. "There are too many strokes occurring in this country when they could be prevented. It's senseless to walk around as a potential stroke victim when you can find out in about an hour if you are at risk." Medical statistics indicate that the cosis involved with , stroke are astronomical. There are hospital charges for room, operations, testing and medication. There are doctors' fees. Then, if the victim lives, there are rehabilitation costs such as physical therapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, etc. ■Comprehensive, non-in-

vasive cerebral vascular testing costs about $400." Na"has said "But when you compare that with the costs of a stroke, where the costs may be upwards of $I0.(XX). there's little room for comparison. "It's a very small price to pay for life Many hospitalization plans realize this and pay for the testing. Even if they didn't, would you rjsk having a stroke to save a few hundred dollars?" "IT'S LIKE having a minor toothache and staying away from the dentist." Nahas said Eventually, the toothache gets worse and you end up -losing the tooth. With stroke symptoms. if you stay away from the doctor, you could lose your life or become permanently disabled "Many strokes can bi» prevented with the use of non-invasive testing Such prevention is the key to a better quality of life And. we don't have to pay a lot in • time. pain, inconvenience or money to reap the benefits " Nahas is a lifelong area "*■ resident . he was raised in Margate He attended Atlantic City High School and graduated in 1964 His college career began at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Engineering where he received his un dergraduate degree in elec trical engineering After a stint with General Electric. Nahas moved on to Temple University Medical School and did his internship and residency at Temple University Hospital. He returned in the area to set up his practice in 1978 and now has offices in Ventnor. Somers Point and 605 Route 9 South, Court House. 1 r m FREDERICK NAHAS Ml)