Reflections

By Trish • July 1st, 2011

Published in baystateparent magazine In December 2009, Britney Gengel, 19, of Rutland MA, was home on winter break from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Brit was excited about her upcoming school mission trip, “Journey of Hope to Haiti” with international relief organization Food for the Poor. Britney told her parents that she was thinking about changing her major from Communications to Human Services. “The three of us talked, heart-to-heart,” Britney’s mom Cherylann recalls. “We said, ‘Brit, you’ll know, when you come ..read more

As a mom of four, I have planned, plotted and put on literally dozens of birthday parties over the years. Almost all of them have been hosted at the best party place in town – our backyard. We’ve had Thomas the Tank Engine parties. We’ve had Elmo parties. We’ve had a Cinderella ball. We’ve had Star Wars parties, from Return of the Jedi to A New Hope. Our backyard has morphed from the Aussie Outback to the Wild Wild West with ..read more

George Chmiel Goes the Extra 155 Miles for Children’s Growth Disorders Video credit; Chris Lusher with permission from RacingThePlanet Ltd: George Chmiel’s Aussie Adventure I’ve met a lot of contagiously crazy, enthusiastically energetic, over-the-top inspirational people in my running circles, but I have to say that George Chmiel beats them all. George blows away any idea of self-imposed physical limits. “Just say no” is not a phrase in his vocabulary. His can-do mindset is mind boggling. And his compassion for ..read more

Published in the Metrowest Daily News and the Westborough News It’s the holy grail. The brass ring. The oldest, the notorious, the elite, the famed. The magical, mythical Boston Marathon. And I was running it. Just saying “I’m training for the Boston Marathon,” gave me a smug, self-satisfied feeling. I won’t lie. No matter that I was a charity runner, had the flabby breasts-tummy-thigh-thing going from bearing three children in five years. I dreamed of that moment in April when I ..read more

Author Jeff Kinney Talks about Wimpy Kids, the Kinney Family Published in baystateparent Magazine, Memphis Parent and Baton Rouge Parent While famed Wimpy Kid character Greg Heffley is always scheming ways to notch up his popularity at middle school, his creator Jeff Kinney of Plainville, MA is having no trouble getting noticed these days. Jeff’s wildly popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book series have consistency topped the New York Times Bestseller list for children’s books. In 2009, Kinney ..read more

Watch the 2010 New Bedford Race Video Some runners choose their races based on distance. Or notoriety. Or the terrain, the location, the cause, or maybe the color of the T-shirts. I didn’t choose to run New Bedford for any of these reasons. I chose it because it was an official “Boston Marathon” team run for our Alzheimer’s Run for the Memory team. I also signed up because I checked the weather on my iPhone and ..read more

I recently had the opportunity to see a press screening of the movie, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” with my two youngest kids, Caleb and Joel, as well as  interview Wimpy Kid creator Jeff Kinney. I am sworn to silence about the movie. No spoilers will spill out of my mouth. But let me just say I can’t wait to see the movie again. And when Book Five of the series comes out? I’ll be there in line, with ..read more

Last week, I flew down to Key West to spend a quiet weekend with my husband. I left behind four kids and four-degree weather in Boston. Our plan was to relax by the pool, soak up any precious sunshine that came our way, and pretty much do nothing. That all changed when I arrived at Key West, and decided to try to share a cab ride from the airport. Always the enterprising one, I spotted a woman and asked her if she ..read more

www.flickr.com/photos/boston_aids_africa/sets/72157623224331526/show/ Two months ago today, I was in Port-au-Prince, our last day of a 7-day humanitarian trip with World Vision. We had spent the majority of the week in the Central Plateau town of Hinche, to see how World Vision was helping the poorest of Haitians with basic healthcare, schooling for children, community agriculture, emergency relief and food distribution (in partnership with USAID). While in Port-au-Prince, we stayed at La Villa Creole in Port-au-Prince, toured the city, got our ..read more

Published in The Westborough News, November 19, 2009 WESTBOROUGH – Westborough residents Trish Reske and Tom Slicklen visited the Caribbean nation of Haiti earlier this month with a precious cargo: Soccer balls. And if you don’t think soccer balls would mean much in a country beset by widespread poverty, Reske would tell you otherwise. “Kids there will bunch together plastic bags and play soccer with that,” she said. “To get a real soccer ball – it’s like Christmas.” Reske was in Haiti from ..read more