Sooner or later, it happens to all of us. An injury changes the regular routine of life, or an illness pops up to put a severe crimp in our passions.  Possibly a life-changing disability forces us to give up a once vigorous lifestyle. These changes to our physical being, whether temporary, or permanent, cause us to re-think our activities, and adapt to a new normal.

Quechee resident Gail Seaver knows all to well how an illness can disrupt one’s life, and dramatically change a lifestyle.  A diagnosis of a rare form of cancer, followed by surgery, and chemotherapy, proved to her that life is an evolving series of unexpected occurrences. But when traditional medical procedures were not effective in eradicating the disease, Seaver chose not to merely accept her fate, but found other, emerging holistic treatments to combat the illness, help return her health, and give hope.

There are many options, and many alternatives, when attempting to recuperate from an injury or illness. One local source devoted to inspiring a holistic lifestyle, and help those dealing with physical setbacks, is the Strong House Spa in Quechee.

For over 25 years, Sheila Armen (along with co-owner Shelly Yusko) has operated Strong House, offering a wide range of health inspiring services to clients.  Dedicated to helping those with chronic pain and injury, Armen says not only do the professionals at Strong House work to correct problems, “We help to prevent injury,” she says.

Help with physical issues are far from the only form of help provided here; relaxation techniques that work to put the mind at ease, through processes such as meditation, also take place. Armen says, that stress is a major factor in both physical, and emotional problems. Referring to our seemingly easier lifestyle resulting from modern technology, Armen makes the point that “Life is hard, even when it’s easy.”

“Mental tension causes physical stress,” Armen adds.

Working to relieve stress, and find peace through mind relaxation, has proven important to Gail Seaver. Meditation, and classes stressing mindfulness, is an important component in her recovery plan, she says.

Assessing physical problems, resulting from a specific trauma, or from a chronic pain condition, is key to putting together a plan of recovery, and avoiding further injury. Quechee’s Dr. Randy Schaetzke, says it is important to go beyond merely treating a client’s symptoms. “It’s important to go after why they have the symptoms,” he says. Dr. Schaetzke, a chiropractor who incorporates many forms of wellness in treating his clients, says that a symptom such as a chronic sore back may very well result from an issue originating from another part of the body, such as the neck, or lower extremities. He relates the story of a client coming in with symptoms of painful, numb legs; yet the solution to the issue was correcting a problem with the client’s neck.

This tactic of treating the body as a whole unit, with interconnected parts working together, seems to make a great deal of sense in a recovery plan. Sheila Armen stresses the importance of skin care in one’s overall health. The skin is our largest organ, Armen says, and many negative entities can invade our body through the skin.

What we put in our bodies for sustenance is a great example of this interconnected system with which we function. Proper hydration, eating healthy, whole foods, and augmenting a diet with proper supplements can all help in recovery, and reduce the likelihood of future illness. Restoring good bacteria in the gut, and eliminating bad carbohydrates and sugar from a diet are important health considerations, says Dr. Schaetzke. “Processed white sugar is a poison,” he says.

When surgery and chemotherapy did not prove to be an option for helping Gail Seaver, she turned to local research scientist and nutritionist Dr. Laleh Talebian for help in putting together a diet and nutrition plan. Dr. Talebian is a strong advocate for illness prevention through proper eating; her mantra is “I am what I eat.”

Seaver says her nutrition plan devised by Dr. Talebian included the elimination of dairy, grain, and sugar, while relying on foods such as non-GMO, grass fed meats, vegetables, and wild-caught fish. “It was hard at first,” says Seaver of the eating plan, but the results proved impressive.  After starting the regimen, she noticed her pain diminished, and upon later medical exams, there were indicators that the tumors had stabilized, and even reduced.

As often happens, Seaver says that after a while, she strayed a bit from the new eating regimen, but noticed the results. “I didn’t feel as well.”  Realizing this strict diet was making positive changes in her overall health, she returned to following it more carefully than ever. “It’s now a lifestyle for me,” she says.

This points out to an important aspect of recovery, or rehabilitation from illness or injury; making it a full time commitment. Spending a few hours a week at a gym, or involved with treatment at a facility such as the Strong House Spa is important, but so is continuing that commitment at home, or on the job. Dr. Schaetzke says he gives his clients homework; that being following the proper dietary and exercise procedures he recommends, while at home.  Armen says that those working with the various treatment options at Strong House “leave with self care,” which extends to their daily lives.  As Gail Seaver points out, the recovery treatment process needs to become a lifestyle.

Both Sheila Armen and Dr. Randy Schaetzke say they see all manner of clients facing struggles. With an aging population, Dr. Schaetzke says many that come to him for help are dealing with injuries from years back. “Old injuries come back to haunt us,” he says.

Sheila Armen finds clients come to her facility with a variety of issues, from chronic pain, to sports injuries, to medical conditions such as MS and Parkinson’s disease. Though the wellness treatments offered through Strong House may differ from medical treatments offered by physicians at hospitals and in private practices, Armen says she and the various treatment specialists at Strong House maintain a good joint relationship with area medical professionals, who have a good deal of respect for the work done at the Strong House Spa.

Eric Emery met Andrea Chula while attending Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. After graduation, the couple married and moved to Denver. Eric’s father had recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, and instead of settling in New Hampshire they decided to go live someplace new before their careers and family made that more difficult. Both avid skiers, they chose Denver because they wanted to spend some time “skiing in the powder in the Rockies.” When not on the slopes, Eric worked in sales for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Andrea worked as a pre-school teacher at the Cerebral Palsy School of Colorado.

They didn’t stay away for too long. It was when their first child, Ayela, was born that led to thoughts of moving back home after seven years away. Home for Eric and Andrea would always be in New England. Eric grew up in Hanover, New Hampshire, and Andrea’s parents were in Northfield, Massachusetts, where she grew up. The question of where exactly was up for conversation.

Eric credits Andrea with decisively choosing Quechee as the nest for their family. The couple looked all over the Upper Valley, finally deciding that Quechee was the best place to settle. They purchased their home in 2011. Eric says that considering the amenities of the community it made sense for a family of four. Sports are important to Eric and Andrea, they were both ski racers in high school and college, so the camps, clubs, and groups available to the children through The Quechee Club was especially enticing to the young parents. Having a ski hill right in the community was the perfect scenario. “Ayela and Jayce already love skiing and are great golfers,” says Eric.

Eric and Andrea have comfortably settled into the area as well. Eric works in sales at Townline Equipment, a successful, locally run business in Plainfield, New Hampshire, that sells and services new and used tractors and construction equipment. Andrea works from home as an independent consultant for Arbonne, a vegan health and wellness company. Ayela is going into third grade at the Ottauquechee School, and Jayce will start Kindergarten there this year.

“We love the Ottauquechee School. It’s an amazing public school. Our children are happy there. We like the teachers and the other parents. We have good friends whose kids go to school next door at the Waldorf School. Our kids can meet up with their kids after school and play on the athletic field or go to the Quechee Library. This just adds to the sense of community for us,” Eric says.

The Emery’s take advantage of everything that Quechee and Woodstock have to offer, especially the Quechee Balloon Festival held over Father’s Day Weekend, says Eric. “This is such a unique event. There’s nowhere else around here that has something like this.”

Getting involved in the community

Eric joined The Quechee Club’s Winter Sports Committee in 2017, and is eager to be an active member of the community to “make sure that younger, year-round members have a voice and opinion in winter activities.” Eric is adamant that the reputation that some have of Quechee lacking something of a community is not true and he promotes the idea of his family’s decision to buy in Quechee and raise their kids here. Eric hopes to support even more kid-centric activities to further attract young families to visit, engage at the club, and maybe fall in love with the place.

“The Quechee Club, and especially the Recreation Department, is doing a phenomenal job incorporating kids and family into club events. I’ve seen this change since we first moved here,” says Eric. And Eric points out other changes that continue to make this area appealing. “The whole Route 4 corridor is really developing; there are more restaurants, grocery stores, and coffee shop options.”

“For us, the biggest draw to Quechee is the sense of community. This is not just a resort or a seasonal destination. It’s a real community. Our family takes advantage of all four seasons and what they have to offer for the whole family. That’s why we chose Quechee to call home,” says Andrea.

Making it a family affair

The Emerys have felt and seen the Quechee charm do its thing. Two years ago, Andrea’s parents, Karen and David Chula, bought a home right next door to the grandkids, and are living there full-time. Living in Northfield, Massachusetts, the Chula’s came for visits, and like Eric and Andrea were drawn to the area, and – both avid golfers – the golf courses. David is now one of the golf-course rangers.

Their move here has made the home nest in Quechee more complete than Eric and Andrea could have thought possible. The Emery’s won’t be leaving anytime soon, the family only plans on deepening their connections and commitments to their unique community.

Je me souviens… “I remember.” The motto of Canada’s Quebec Province appears on license plates and welcome centers at the border. Penned in 1883, the lines continue, “I remember/ That born under the lily/I grow under the rose.” It’s so true! Quebec City’s 400+ years of history as a settlement began under the fleur-de-lis of France and grew under the rose of Britain. The French language and culture are strong in Quebec, and crossing the border by car, after a short drive up I-91 from Quechee, it’s easy to feel as if you crossed the ocean.

David and Brenda Barrell, and Chet and Debbie Marcus, drove to Quebec (we Americans call it Quebec City) in July of 2017 during the visit of the Tall Ships to this beautiful port city on the St. Lawrence River. The Vieux-Quebec quarter (Old Quebec) is beautiful and bustling in summer. The streets of this UNESCO World Heritage site are lined with quaint stone houses, shops, and bistros. Every Quebecois wants to be outside in the summertime, and nearly every café and restaurant has charming tables with bright umbrellas and awnings. In the Place Royale and along the riverside boardwalk, street musicians provide splendid entertainment. It’s clear that every Quebecois also has a super green thumb. Window boxes, hanging baskets, and planters all bursting with colorful flowers adorn every building, balcony, wrought iron gate, and public park.

The Chateau Frontenac – our home base for three days – looms over the Place Royale and Vieux Quebec like a castle and is particularly beautiful when lit up at night. This iconic hotel is currently operated by Fairmont Hotels and is a wonderful place to stay. It’s a very short walk to the Funicular tram, which takes passengers from the Haute Ville (Upper Town) down to the Basse Ville (Lower Town) along the waterfront. Winding streets and stairways also provide travelers with myriad options to descend, climb, and explore these neighborhoods. Wearing good shoes is a prerequisite as most streets are paved with 400-year-old cobblestones.

The Tall Ships

We descended by the Funicular to reach the Tall Ships docked along Quebec’s extensive inner harbor as well as riverside quays. Dozens of sailing vessels from all over the world

made this trip, which visited ports all along the eastern coast of North America in 2017. The Quebec port of call coincided with the official 150th Anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. We were able to board several ships and chat with the crew members. The U.S. Coast Guard cadets, all officer candidates, of America’s stunning Tall Ship, Eagle, were very engaging as they described their summer course of sail training. One gal told us her record for climbing the 147-foot main mast was about 8 minutes. Yikes! It’s a long way up on a tiny rope ladder.

The most impressive ship was the nearly 400-foot, four-masted Esmeralda from Chile, which attracted throngs of visitors to touch and feel the magnificent mahogany and brass fittings and chat with the young and beautiful Chilean crew.

Other Sites to Visit and Food to Enjoy

Go to Quebec for the food! There are hundreds of restaurants and cafés. We dined at Chez Muffy in L’Auberge Saint Antoine. Located in what was a quayside maritime stone warehouse, Chez Muffy’s original 18th-century wooden beams and stonewalls provide plenty of atmosphere. “Farm-to-Fork” cuisine is their motto, and the four of us were treated to a dining experience that will be right up there near the top of “best meals we have ever had.” Our breakfasts and lunches at the Frontenac were as memorable for the food as well as the views of the St. Lawrence.

Quebec is steeped in history. Samuel de Champlain is credited with founding the original settlement in 1608 where the St. Lawrence River narrows. A fortress grew on the high bluff on the western shore, and the Citadel there figured prominently in Quebec’s colonial history. Visitors can stroll The Plains of Abraham, site of the great Battle of Quebec in 1759, which spelled the end of French rule over eastern Canada. British influence abounds in The Citadel, which is considered today to be an active Canadian military installation, as well as a museum. If you time your visit just right, you can watch the colorful “Changing of the Guard” ceremony with redcoats aplenty.

Don’t miss the nearby Parc de la Chute-Montmorency. The Montmorency River drops 276 feet over a cliff into the St. Lawrence River – visualize an extra 100 feet to the Quechee Gorge. We viewed this spectacular waterfall from the sturdy suspension bridge over the falls – take a deep breath, and just do it – and from a series of staircases that wind down the side of the falls to a viewing platform at the bottom.  We watched as several folks took the death-defying trip across the falls on a zip line. It only cost $20 Canadian to try, but we said, Merci, non!”

We had a great adventure in Quebec. We can’t wait to plan our next visit over the northern border because, like the Quebecois, “we remember.”

The next time you see Joe O’Donnell around the Quechee Green, you should probably stop and shake his hand. If you know Joe, you were probably going to do that anyway, but this time around you should ask him about his self-published book, Deadly Codes: A Gallagher Novel, and the feature-length film Bent that’s based on his book. Joe’s gregarious and positive nature makes him truly enjoyable to interact with, and his excitement is contagious.

Previous to attending the premiere of a movie based on his own novel, Joe had already worked a highly reputable career in pediatric dentistry. He went to school in his home state of Pennsylvania and then Boston, specializing in pediatric dentistry. In 1972, Joe was appointed to the faculty of Tufts University where he was an associate clinical professor of Pediatric Dentistry. In 1976, Joe founded the Tufts Dental Facilities for Special Needs Individuals, a statewide program that he considers the greatest accomplishment of his career. Before this program, special needs individuals found it difficult to obtain dental care from community dentists who often did not have the training or facilities to meet their special needs. With the help of a grant to Tufts from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Joe established a teaching program for dental students and post-graduate residents at Tufts as well as six clinics throughout Massachusetts, all of which had equipment and facilities specifically designed to expedite the delivery of dental care to persons with disabilities. Also, Joe opened his own pediatric dental practice in Winchester, Massachusetts, in 1974, and later expanded his practice to open a satellite office in Reading, Massachusetts, in the 1990s.

Settling in Quechee

It was in the ‘90s that Joe bought a condominium in Quechee before his wife, Ronney, had even visited: that’s how positive he felt about the place. After having golfed in Quechee with friends over several years, Joe always thought Quechee would make a great location for a second home – a weekend getaway with golf, skiing, swimming, and other activities. One weekend, while his wife, Ronney was in New York visiting her family, Joe drove up to Quechee somewhat spontaneously to look at real estate and get an idea of what type of properties were available.  After looking at six different places, Joe was preparing to leave when the realtor’s cell phone rang with news of a condo that had just come on the market. A few hours later, Joe had to make a somewhat uncomfortable call to Ronney and explain that he had just bought a property in a place she had never been or seen. Joe jokes that lunch at Simon Pearce helped seal the deal for Ronney, and she even discovered her own enjoyment of golf with the help of Andy Prosowski. Director of Instruction at The Quechee Club. The O’Donnells have taken lessons from Andy every summer since.

Beginning his writing career

In 2008 while lounging on a beach, Joe turned to Ronney and said that he was “thinking of trying something different” – he wanted to write a novel. During his years at Tufts, Joe did a lot of the usual writing expected of a faculty member:  case reports, journal articles, grant proposals, letters of recommendation, etc., but he had never attempted creative writing. The Dean asked him to write a eulogy for a deceased faculty member and liked it so much that it was published in the Tufts Journal, and urged Joe to consider doing more writing. Joe put together some thoughts for a fictitious story based on his five real estate partners who were in the process of dissolving their mutually beneficial partnership. Fatal Gamble, his first novel, is based on the premise that strange things began happening to the individual members 25 years after the dissolution of their partnership. The main character, a Boston private detective, named Gallagher, is hired to investigate a series of unsolved murders. And, if you’re the type who likes a book with an unexpected ending, Joe has written a second novel, Deadly Codes: A Gallagher Novel, which features Gallagher, the main character of Fatal Gamble.

Joe’s books are self-published, and he jokes about the reactions of the many literary agents that have turned him down citing that he’s a dentist, is too old, and has no creative writing credentials.

From novel to movie

By 2010, Joe had two self-published novels that relatively few people had read, and even fewer had bought. Ronney’s cousin gave Joe’s books as a Christmas present to a friend in New York. The friend, in turn, sent them to an acquaintance in Hollywood. Long story short, they ended up in the hands of Academy Award winner Bobby Moresco (best original screenplay for Crash – Best Picture 2004). He was so taken with the idea of the Gallagher character in a film noir style movie that he got in touch with Joe, and they met at Legal Sea Foods in Boston. “It was like being touched by a bit of magic and a huge stroke of good luck,” Joe says. The dream dinner ended with a reality check, Hollywood style: Moresco’s best advice was to tell Joe to go out and raise a million dollars for development money to get the project off the ground.

Raising one million dollars was a daunting task, but Ronney’s cousin and Joe found friends and business people who read the novels and were eager to partner in the project.  Over the next six months, Bobby Moresco wrote the screenplay based on Deadly Codes, and the search began to find a production company and a sales team to launch the screenplay to the screen. However, as Joe found out, movie projects, in particular, those that are independent films, are painstakingly slow with many ups and downs along the way. In 2016, nearly eight years after Joe published his first novel, and six years since he met Moresco, Joe received another unforgettable phone call. The production company AMBI Films, was in discussions with Moresco about another film, was interested in the Gallagher project, and a deal was made. The movie, Bent, was cast with Karl Urban as Gallagher, and Sofia Vergara and Andy Garcia in the other two prominent roles. Finally, but still unexpected overall, Joe got to travel to Italy to be on the set and watch his book being made into a movie in just 30 days. “For me, seeing the characters I created come to life on the screen was a thrill beyond description,” Joe says. Bent was released to select theaters in March 2018, and you can watch it online via video on demand through multiple websites.  The film has been released in Europe in more than thirteen countries including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy, among others.

I’m not going to fill you in on the movie so that you have to watch it before the O’Donnells are in Quechee again this summer. Now retired from his career in dentistry, Joe and Ronney return to Quechee in June from their home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Their granddaughters: Alessandra, Shira, and Hasana, will be attending summer camps at The Quechee Club while grandparents, Joe and Ronney, work on their golf games with Andy. Joe is an exceedingly friendly and approachable person, plus he tells his story with more fun and more interesting anecdotes than I could fit here. The good fortune, magic, and hard work it took to turn a self-published book into a feature-length film (actually, the budget was only $5 million – so it’s considered a low-budget film) is a novel-worthy tale in itself, and Joe’s a great storyteller.