Marshfield Rolls a Strike with Bowling Bash

Saturday night, BreatheFree Marshfield hosted a bowling bash to celebrate their newly smoke-free city. Hundreds of people came to Rose Bowl Lanes to throw a few balls, even eight year old Flynn McQuillen. Flynn and his family helped Marshfield win smoke-free workplaces. You see, Flynn was born three months early, and his lungs will never fully develop. Doctors told his parents he should never be around cigarette smoke. They listened, even though bowling was a favorite family pastime for generations. Lonnie McQuillen, Flynn's mother, showed me the plaque on the wall with her father's name engraved on it. He was the second bowler to ever be inducted into the Marshfield Bowling Hall of Fame. Congratulations to the McQuillen family! All the BreatheFree Marshfield volunteers' hard work paid off, and now everyone can have a good time on the town together!
Again, congratulations to the people of Marshfield for their newly smoke-free status. To learn more about Flynn and his bowling heritage, read this BreatheFree Marshfield's flyer and read the Marshfield News Herald story about the bowling night.

Happy Mothers Day!

This post is dedicated to all mothers around the world! Here at SFW we are very dedicated to keeping everyone safe from the hazards of tobacco, especially our mothers! Unfortunately, not everyone shares this attention to women's health!

According to a study recently published by The Washington Post, the life expectancy for women is no longer growing. In fact, in 180 counties across the U.S. it is either declining or leveling off.

This must be stopped! Take a look at this women's tobacco fact sheet. If this information concerns you, please take any of the steps below to help reverse this devastating trend!

1. Share this information with legislators and women's groups and
organizations in your community who are interested in women's health issues.

2. Share this data with a local journalist who may be interested in
writing about the terrible toll of tobacco on women's lives. Connect the reporter with a local woman who has lost her mother to smoking or a woman who is struggling to quit. Putting a human face with the facts makes for a more compelling story.

3. Use the data to highlight the problem of smoking among women and the
need to help pregnant smokers quit.

4. Fight back against companies like R.J. Reynolds who are targeting young girls with "sexy" brands like Camel No. 9. For more information on how to expose this misleading advertising, visit www.CancerNo9.com.

5. Include this information in an op-ed or a letter to the editor.

Michigan Senate passes strong smoke-free bill

Today the Michigan State Senate passed a strong smoke-free bill. It had been bottled up for months in committee due to a lack of support from their Senate Majority Leader, but today he stated he was unwilling to stand in the way any longer when it was clear the votes were there to pass it.
The bill is headed back to Michigan's House (the equivalent of our State Assembly) for a concurrence vote. The House had earlier passed a version of the bill different than the one passed today - the 2 versions will need to be reconciled before the policy can head to the governor, who has stated she will sign the bill. (This same process recently played out in Iowa, resulting in them becoming the 24th state to pass a smoke-free restaurant and bar law.)
If Michigan's Legislature can agree on a single bill, they will become the 25th state to pass a strong smoke-free workplace law, putting Wisconsin in the bottom half of states in protecting workers and residents from secondhand smoke.

Smoke-free vacations continue... in New York City!

Since Liz posted a blog about her tropical getaway, I thought I'd continue the trend. I recently traveled to New York to visit my sister. While there, I caught a Broadway show, ate at many different types of restaurants, strolled through Central Park, frequented a couple pubs, navigated the subways, and visited the Natural History museum. A 100% smoke-free vacation! I enjoyed Patrick Stewart in Macbeth, delicious ethnic food, watching strange characters, a few glasses of wine, watching stranger characters, moon rocks and dinosaurs without encountering one person lighting up indoors. Next stop- Sunny California!

Leave us a comment and let us know about your visits to smoke-free destinations.

They Killed 8000

The FACT Movement (www.fightwithfact.com) kicked off a new campaign on Apr. 21 called "They Killed 8000." The 2-month campaign includes a TV commercial, MySpace ad and local youth activism. The focus of the campaign is to draw attention to the devastation the tobacco industry causes Wisconsin. 8000 Wisconsin residents die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. FACT is out to spread that message and to empower WI teens to fight back with FACT.

Below is a blog posting from Matthew M., one of the youth featured in the "They Killed 8000" TV commercial. Matthew is a 17-year old junior at Eau Claire Memorial and serves on the FACT Youth Board of Directors.

It seems ages ago (August 2007 to be exact) that I was at the FACT FINAL CHALLENGE in Madison that brought together 16 FACT members to help brainstorm ideas for the new "They Killed 8000" campaign. The FINAL CHALLENGE was perhaps the best FACT experience I've ever had, and one of the best times of my entire life. I met some amazing people, and made what I'm sure will be lifelong friends. In just two days, we managed to vote on one final idea, planned it out, created activisms and some street marketing messaging for the campaign.

Once the campaign theme and actions were created and decided on, the next step was the filming of the TV commercial.

One of the pivotal parts of the media campaign is the TV Spot. Let me set the scene for you: It's an eerie, desolate town filled with evidence markers showing where Big Tobacco struck, with five teens surviving, causing an uprising against Big Tobacco, and starting to recruit around the state for their cause.

When I found out that FACT was casting for a spot in this ad, I jumped at the opportunity and submitted an audition video. Four other FACT members and I were selected to star in the commercial. Oh yeah, by the way, the one talking to the camera, that’s me.

This campaign is much greater than a TV commercial. 36 FACT groups around the state will be engaged in FACT activism or FACTivism (cool word, eh?). These groups will be doing some cool things to spread the message about FACT and "They Killed 8000."

So why do I lend my voice to FACT and to this campaign? Two words: Big Tobacco! Big Tobacco companies such as Altria and Reynolds American - they're the bad guys. They're the ones I'm out to get. They're targeting me so I think it's only fair I target them.

Not only do they target me and other teens, but Big Tobacco knows their products kill people. Any business with any morals would pull their product if they knew they're killing people. Not Big Tobacco. They just want more and more money. That's why we launched the "They Killed 8000" campaign. We need to hold Big Tobacco accountable for the death and disease they spread throughout Wisconsin.

WE ARE SICK OF BEING TARGETS FOR THEIR LIES, DECEIT, AND CORRUPTION. WE ARE NO LONGER GOING TO STAND IDLY BY AND WATCH OUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, AND FAMILY DIE.

WE ARE GOING TO RISE UP AS ONE AGAINST BIG TOBACCO AND SHUT THEM DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL.

We're going to Fight with FACT.