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Community Corner

Child Nutrition Focus of Inaugural 'Community Connection' Event in Greenwich

Fairfield County residents are invited to attend the first in a series of community lifestyle events sponsored by Greenwich Patch and Upper Crust Bagels featuring local experts on nutrition, fitness and parenting, at Upper Crust Bagel Co. on Sound Beach A

 

One day, four years ago, Greenwich resident Tim Armstrong, CEO of AOL and co-founder of Patch Media, was having breakfast with his children at in Old Greenwich when he had a brainstorm: Why not develop a network of hyper-local community websites, all interconnected, that not only deliver news stories written by seasoned editors, but which also engage readers with interactive features and promote user-generated content?

It was a bold idea that few, if any, local news media outlets — many of them still focused on the print side of the business at the time — had considered as part of their business model: With the power of the Internet, shouldn’t local news reporting be a collaborative effort between journalists and members of the community? Four years later, Patch Media has more than 500 hyper-local websites serving communities across the U.S.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This Fairfield County residents are invited to attend “,” a series of community lifestyle events featuring local experts on nutrition, fitness and parenting, at on Sound Beach Avenue — the “birthplace” of Patch Media.

The first of these events — to be presented monthly — will feature nutritionists Jeremy Boland, Traci Gwozdz and Kim Pearson, who will share nutrition and fitness tips for children.

Find out what's happening in Fairfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Boland, a physical education teacher in the Greenwich Public Schools, has been involved in the fitness industry for more than 10 years as a personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. He has extensive experience working with children but has helped people of all ages and physical abilities lead healthier, more active lives.

Boland holds a master’s in education in applied exercise science and is certified by the ACSM and NSCA.

Gwozdz, who lives in Riverside, is a certified health counselor and mother of five children. She received her nutritional training in health counseling at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is the only nutrition school integrating all the different dietary theories—combining the knowledge of traditional philosophies with modern concepts like the glycemic index, eating to alkalize the body and raw foods. She has studied with Andrew Weill, Deepak Chopra and Natalia Rose. She also holds a master’s degree in psychology.

Pearson is special education preschool teacher in the Greenwich Public Schools and a nationally recognized fitness competitor who was recently on the "Today Show." She is a group exercise instructor at NYSC in Stamford and at Equinox in Greenwich, teaching boot camp, body sculpting, core condition, kickboxing and total body conditioning. She also teaches multiple small group training classes. Pearson holds primary and personal training certifications through AFAA and ACE, in addition to certifications in Turbo Kick and PiYo. She has also taught a multitude of children's classes ranging from three years to 13 year olds.  She holds a master’s in education from Wheelock College and a master’s in special education from Simmons College.

Rob and Amy Guerrieri, owners of the Upper Crust Bagels in Old Greenwich for the past 17 years, recently joined forces with Greenwich Patch and have played in integral role in helping to launch “Community Connection.” Recently they near the store’s community bulletin board where locals catch up on Greenwich news, events and information using Greenwich Patch (which, by the way, recently celebrated its ). Patrons can check out events on the interactive calendar, or post their own classifieds, events and flyers while enjoying the shop’s delicious bagels, coffee and sandwiches.

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