Stride August 2014

August 2014

Meet four individuals who exemplify what it means to be a hero.

team

meet the

meet the MEAGAN PITTELKO

EDITOR

TEAM

A

lthough it’s technically the last month of summer, August is also my favorite month of the summer. August means warm temps and my family’s annual trip to the cabin. It means that summer is coming to an end, so you better milk every single day for everything it’s worth.

Every month, Spotlight Media brings you Stride, Fargo Monthly, Bison Illustrated and Design & Living Magazine. Here are the people who make these wonderful mags.

This August, though, is very different from those past. won’t spend gearing up for school of any sort. Instead, I’ll spend it packing for the next chapter in my life: an exhilarating, terrifying and quickly approaching move to Colorado. Wish me luck, okay? I also want to wish all of you new college students luck, though, as you get ready to begin your own adventures.

MIKE

JESSE

TRACY

TIFFANY

KRISTEN

MICHAEL

HEATHER

PAUL

AMBER

MEAGAN

BOUGIE

ANDREW

SARAH

JOE

BRENT

CODEY

NICOLE

GEORGE

LISA

NICK

All excitement and worries aside, I’m proud to introduce you to our August issue of Stride Magazine, which features some truly incredible people.

This month, we tell the stories of those who serve our community on Their effort, perseverance and dedication is humbling and inspiring, and we want to thank them for all that they do for the FargoMoorhead area.

In addition to that, I got the chance to speak with an individual who is actively recovering from addiction. Hearing his story — which is full of seemingly insurmountable trials and tribulations — and understanding hopeless of situations. You are all stronger and more resilient than you know, so just remember not to give up on yourselves.

Humans of Fargo returns this month, with new, exclusive interviews check out the creative, quirky people living in your community.

Overall, this issue of Stride has illuminated members of our community individuals serving our community to the mere individuals that make up our community.

Meagan Pittelko 2

Stride • August 2014

To learn more about the team at Spotlight Media and our four magazines, go to spotlightmediafargo.com

Stride is published 12 times a year and is free. Copies are available at over 1,000 Fargo-Moorhead locations and digitally at fmspotlight.com.

AUGUST 2014

Publisher

Spotlight Media LLC. www.spotlightmediafargo.com President/Founder

Mike Dragosavich Editorial Director

Andrew Jason Editor

Meagan Pittelko Graphic Design

Sarah Geiger, George Stack, Nicole Smart Research/Contributors

Meagan Pittelko, Amber Morgan, Ashley Sornsin, Julie Garden-Robinson Copy Editors

Andrew Jason, Lisa Marchand, Amber Morgan

SPOTLIGHT MEDIA General Manager

Brent Tehven

Marketing/Sales

Tracy Nicholson, Paul Bougie, Kristen Killoran, Paul Hoefer Circulation Manager

Codey Bernier Administration

Heather Hemingway Web Developer

Nick Schommer Digital Content Marketing/Social Media

Tanya Weets Photography

J. Alan Paul Photography, Tiffany Swanson Delivery

Chris Larson, George Stack, Payton Berger, Hal Ecker

™

Spotlightmedia

CONTACT 502 1st Ave N Ste 100 Fargo,ND 58102 701-478-7768 info@spotlightmediafargo.com

Stride Magazine is published by Spotlight Media LLC. Copyright 2014 this periodical may be reproduced without written permission of Stride Magazine & fmspotlight.com. Stride Magazine & fmspotlight.com will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions found in the magazine or on fmspotlight.com. Spotlight Media LLC., accepts no liability for the accuracy of statements made by the advertisers.

CONTENTS

8

19 What’s For Dinner?

Nutrition Specialist Julie GardenRobinson explains how you can make meals a little bit easier on your family this summer.

12

Humans of Fargo Humans of Fargo creators Kaytlin and Nicole gave us a handful of exclusive interviews to share with you.

19

Local Heroes Stride talks with individuals in the area who work daily to keep our community safe and healthy.

30

The Survivor: A Story of Addiction, Loss and, Above All, Hope

Local Heroes

30

Recovering addict Todd Boggis opens up about his journey from childhood to adulthood and tells Stride how drugs changed his life forever.

38

The Streets Are Alive The streets of Fargo-Moorhead truly come alive this summer as local Fargoans encourage each other to live healthier lifestyles. Stride has the details.

40

The Survivor

Ashley’s ABsolutely Amazing August AB Workout Self-proclaimed fitness nut Ashley Sornsin shows you how to whip your abs into shape this August.

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Get Involved Email info@spotlightmediafargo.com with your story ideas.

Check out fargomonthly.com for additional stories.

Find us on Facebook by going to facebook.com/fmstride.

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Stride • August 2014

The Streets Are Alive

eat smart

Julie Garden-Robinson Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D.

Julie is a professor and Food and Nutrition Specialist with the NDSU Extension Service.

What ’s For Dinner?

Homemade freezer meals remove the guesswork.

W

hen you arrive home after work, errands or other activities, is a flavorful dinner waiting in your slow cooker for you? Or does the prospect of chopping, measuring and waiting for the food to cook propel you toward the nearest drivethru? Or maybe you pick up your phone and speed-dial your favorite pizza place?

Consider making your own “convenience foods” at home.

With some planning, you can save money and have a supply of your favorite menu items. To get started, next time you make spaghetti sauce, chili, lasagna, meatballs or soup, prepare a double batch. Divide the food into meal-sized quantities based on your household size and freeze.

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Stride • August 2014

Why Freezer Meals?

Having meals in the freezer helps prevent the, “What’s for dinner?” dilemma. You have the main course ready to heat and serve. All you need to do is add a few items – such as a salad, fruit and milk – to have a balanced meal.

Preparing several meals at a time and freezing them has several advantages. If you have food ready to pop in the oven or slow cooker, then you are less likely to eat out. Although eating out may be a welcome treat, meals in restaurants often cost three or more times the cost of preparing them at home.

Restaurant meals might also be higher in calories and sodium than home-prepared meals.

If you prepare your own “convenience food” at home, you maintain control over the ingredients. For example, you can use reduced-sodium or

reduced-fat products if you prefer. If you like enchiladas with less “zing,” you can adjust the spiciness of the salsa you use to create them. If you have allergies to certain foods, you can leave them out of the recipe.

Expedite the Freezer Meal Process Try “meal exchanges.” This works like a holiday cookie exchange. Prepare an extra recipe of a casserole and exchange it for one a friend prepared. To expedite home food preparation, you can set up an “assembly line” and encourage other household members to join in the fun of creating some meals. Turn on some music to energize the cooking crew.

eat smart

Here’s a tasty recipe that makes use of peppers and onions fresh from a garden, farmers’ market or grocery store. You can prepare it right away in a slow cooker or freeze it for up to three months for best quality:

Chicken Fajitas Freezer Meal 2 green peppers (cut into strips) 1 onion, cut into strips 3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (frozen or thawed) 1/2 c. chicken broth 1 taco seasoning packet (reduced sodium) 1 tsp. chili powder ½ tsp. paprika 1 tsp. salt

To freeze: Place all ingredients in a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag, lay flat and press out air.

Place in the freezer. When ready to cook, thaw in a refrigerator for 24 hours.

To cook: Place thawed food in a slow cooker on low for five to six hours. Heat to an internal temperature of at least 165 F. When done, shred meat and serve on tortillas. Cool leftovers promptly in shallow containers and refrigerate or freeze within two hours.

Makes six servings. Each serving has 100 calories, 1.5 grams (g) fat, 13g protein, 7g carbohydrate, 1g fiber and 350 mg sodium.

Keep things moving smoothly with these tips: • Gather freezer containers

or freezer bags, marking pens and other supplies you need. You might prefer to use disposable foil pans, especially if you are exchanging meals with friends.

• Check which ingredients you already have and then create a detailed shopping list that combines the ingredient amounts from all your recipes.

• Organize your workspace

and assemble the tools and equipment you need.

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Stride • August 2014

• Slightly undercook pasta in casseroles that you intend to freeze.

• Place the food in a gallonsize freezer bag, lay flat and remove excess air. Flat packages can be stacked easily. Label with the contents and date. You can use freezer bags, freezer containers or heavy-duty foil or freezer wrap.

• If you cook the food

completely before freezing, chill it quickly by dividing it into smaller portions. To

speed chilling, you can place the cooked food in well-sealed containers and let it stand in an ice bath in your sink.

Perishable food should spend no more than two hours at room temperature.

Learn more about freezing food by visiting:

ag.ndsu.edu/food and clicking on “food preservation” then “freezing.”

Humans Fargo

people

OF

Thanks to the work of Kaytlin Dargen and Nicole Mendoza, Fargoans are being represented as the quirky, emotional, silly, deep and unique human beings that they are. Inspired by the viral Humans of New York project, Dargen and Mendoza created Humans of Fargo. Check it out at facebook.com/humansoffargond.

This month, we got an exclusive set of photos and interviews from the girls.

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Stride • August 2014

“Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?”

“Nothing quite compares to when I found out that my dog Lulu ran away. Thankfully we got her back a couple days after. I know a lot of people aren’t as lucky as we were.”

“My minor in African American studies, in a way, opened me to the banjo and other music outside the realm of hip hop and soul. The banjo was actually a concept that came over with the slaves. It’s an African instrument. Slaves used it along with percussion to accompany hymns and jigs.

One of the major reasons it became dissociated from the black community in the blues era was because of the racist blackface minstrel shows. So yeah, in a way, playing banjo for me is experiencing my early roots.”

THE HAPPIEST OF HOURS

4 - 6 P M

&

9 - 1 1 P M

people

“What’s the biggest struggle you’re facing right now?”

“Well, I was just crowned Miss North Dakota so I’m about to go on to compete for Miss America.

It’s a big responsibility; you’re at a national level speaking for more people than just yourself.

It’s an incredible opportunity that I’m cognizant of. ‘Struggle’ may not be the word I would use, however. In the least negative way possible, I’d call it a burden of responsibility.”

“What are your plans for after Miss America?”

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Stride • August 2014

“Hmm…” “I work at a marketing firm and our arts department just recently moved to a different studio, which is like a block and a half away from the firm.

We go back and forth a lot, so out of the spirit of trying to inspire people to get out and about and doing active things, we bought a bunch of used bikes off of Craigslist. I was the one who got to take them all home and take them apart and paint them in my front yard, actually. I’m happy now that little project is done, but the process was quite the mess.”

“Would it be easier to ask what the worst memory was?”

“That’s easy! We were at Disney World and we both had to pick different sleds for this ride, but I picked the sled that Hannah wanted. So we had to take a picture in front of the sleds, but Hannah didn’t want to be in the picture because I stole her sled, right? So as we were about to take the picture without her, she ran at me full force and tackled me into a bush.”

“How old were you two?”

“Ten? But honestly the exact same thing would have happened even if we just went last week.”

OF

“I will be going on to law school to attain my Juris Doctor, and I’m also planning on going back for my PhD so I can teach law, which is something I could see myself doing long term. Government and policy or international affairs are all things that pique my interest. That’s what I have for educational goals, but as far as personal goals, there are a lot of places I would like to see in the world. Not just for pleasure, but for professional and academic purposes. I’d like to return to the Middle East and learn Arabic as well.”

“What’s the best memory you two have together as twins?”

To serve one’s community requires passion and commitment. These four local heroes exceed these qualifications and remind us why we are proud to call ourselves members of the Fargo-Moorhead community.

By Meagan Pittelko & Amber Morgan Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography

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local heroes

firefighter 22

Stride • August 2014

Ron Guggisberg

firefighter Ron Guggisberg

Guggisberg is stationed at the Fargo Fire Department with the special operations truck.

He was stationed there due to his specialty in technical rescue. The station responds to calls that require special equipment and training; they often consist of rescues from building or trench collapses and confined spaces. “A lot of things that are really low-frequency calls, but very high-hazard calls,” Guggisberg said. “The training we do a lot of on the technical rescue team is the kind of thing that we hope we never have to do … but we have to be prepared to do it anyway.”

A passion for caring for one’s community has always been at Guggisberg’s core. Before he became a firefighter full-time, he was a volunteer firefighter, and he also served as a volunteer for the ambulance squad and dive rescue team. He eventually decided becoming a firefighter was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, and he came to Fargo when a position opened. While he came here for the job, he says he’s stayed for the community. “It feels like you’re in a small town … we all kind of care about each other and help each other out.”

Guggisberg became involved with the Fargo firefighters union when he arrived, which organizes most of the station’s charity work.

Their efforts range from ringing bells for Salvation Army, bringing gifts to kids in hospitals and raising money for kids through collaboration with the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The station also has a unique fund specifically dedicated to those in need, which is often utilized during emergency calls. For example, Guggisberg’s station once received

It could be easy to assume that the only responsibility of a fire department is to eliminate fires. Fargo Fire Department Captain Ron Guggisberg likes to set the record straight: “I always tell people what the fire department does is: when you go through the entire yellow pages and nobody else can help you, then call the fire department.”

a call for a kid who broke his femur. While caring for him, Guggisberg and his crew overheard that the boy liked the NDSU Bison.

The crew decided to use a portion of their charity fund to raise his spirits. They bought the boy a football and had the NDSU coaches sign the ball before it was given to the kid.

The members of the station believe in the value of this charity fund, and they support

“I always tell people what the fire department does is: when you go through the entire yellow pages and nobody else can help you, then call the fire department.”

- Ron Guggisberg it through their own paychecks. Guggisberg explains that each individual contributes whatever amount he or she chooses to give.

“You feel like, you know, this is your station, this is your neighborhood – you know, your community – and you want to help people.”

One of the biggest projects Guggisberg is working on with the Fargo Fire Department is called “Heart Save Fargo.” The goal of the project is to increase the survivability of individuals who experience a cardiac emergency.

The steps include inspecting and mapping defibrillators in businesses and public buildings, increasing the number of defibrillators in the community and providing more individuals in the community with CPR training. “The closer you get the defibrillators to the people in cardiac arrest, the higher the survivability,”

Guggisberg said, “so if we can identify where they are in the community, and try to get more of them out there, they’ll save more lives.”

What is especially innovative about this project is their move to utilize a new location-aware mobile application intended to notify users if someone in a public space is experiencing a cardiac emergency. If the emergency has been reported to 911, an alert is sent to the app which will notify users within a quarter-mile radius of the individual experiencing cardiac emergency, the location of the arrest and where the nearest defibrillator is located.

The captain’s community services are not confined to his role as a firefighter; he also serves as a North Dakota state legislator.

Guggisberg says the skills he has gained from his time as a firefighter have transferred easily to his work within the legislature. “It seems like, as firefighters, we do our best when we work together. It’s exactly the same in the legislature. If we can get everybody on the same page working together, I think we can probably come up with the best policies.”

Politics are considered a civic duty to Guggisberg. He believes it is everyone’s responsibility to get involved with the process somehow, even if the contributions are as simple as voting and volunteering. It is apparent he thinks the same for community service. Guggisberg is an active member of his community, and he appears to have no plans on becoming less involved in the near future – all the better for the members and the well-being of his community.

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local heroes

army national guard Army National Guard Sergeant Bryce DeMolee always knew that he wanted to join the Army — it was just a matter of when. After suffering an injury playing college baseball, DeMolee decided that he’d gone as far as he could with one passion and that it was time to move on to the next.

“Once I was finished with baseball,” he said, “I swooped right into the Army and I fell in love with it. The brotherhood and camaraderie is almost unexplainable, and you can’t find that anywhere else.”

the best and you go there.”

DeMolee, who works as an infantry fire team leader and an intelligence analyst, said that there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing at this point in his life.

“We get a lot of guys that come in with the wrong ideas and our job as leaders is to bring them up to speed,” he said. “You just have to make sure your head is in the

“My big passion is the Army right now,” he said. “There are just a lot of things that you can’t do in the regular world that you can do in the Army. The first time I jumped out of a plane was the most exhilarating, terrifying thing, and that was one of those moments that I just realized how unreal this experience was.”

Although DeMolee loves what he’s doing, he admits that just like any career, there are difficult aspects to being in the Army.

“Being away from family and friends is the hardest part, along with having to deal with operations that you have no control over,” he said. “There are a lot of things that you can’t do anything about, which can be frustrating.”

Whether they agree with a task or not, DeMolee said that soldiers fight to protect their state and their country.

“We as soldiers don’t have a say in where we go or why we go,” he said. “Soldiers can questions things all they want, but they’ll still complete the task. If we go somewhere, it isn’t my choice to go there.

I didn’t choose to start a war. You assume

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Bryce DeMolee

Stride • August 2014

He also said that he has met a few soldiers who weren’t prepared for the experiences they were about to face.

“... all of the soldiers I’ve talked to are proud of what they do, even when people aren’t necessarily behind us. People have their opinions and that’s okay. We fight for freedom. We all want to live free, and that’s why we do this.”

- Bryce DeMolee right place and know in your heart what the reasons are for joining. But no matter how someone comes in, we’re supposed to train them to be a quality soldier.”

This lack of preparation could be due to the overwhelming stereotypes surrounding solders. DeMolee said that he often meets people who think that National Guard soldiers are relatively untrained; however, he said that soldiers in the Guard are just as trained as other areas of the Army and have the same standards.

“We’re just as capable, and, in some cases, more capable when it comes to our area,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of good soldiers in active duty and a lot of good soldiers in the National Guard and there’s really no difference. We’re just as ready, well-trained and good as any other unit out there.”

DeMolee mentioned that the idea that Guard soldiers are less prepared is not the only misconception he’s noticed.

“A lot of people think that a lot of soldiers — especially infantry guys, for some reason — are uneducated, which troubles me because a lot of guys are really knowledgeable of geopolitics and strategies and such,” he said. “It upsets me when people see or know one soldier and they stereotype or generalize the entire Army.”

Despite misconceptions and stereotypes, DeMolee said that all of the soldiers he knows are proud to be doing what they are doing.

“It would be nice if more things were shown of the good, like the humanitarian efforts we complete,” he said. “There are all sorts of things we do after the rounds are fired. The media shows us the bad, and that’s where these stereotypes come from. But all of the soldiers I’ve talked to are proud of what they do, even when people aren’t necessarily behind us. People have their opinions and that’s okay. We fight for freedom. We all want to live free, and that’s why we do this.”

army national guard Bryce DeMolee

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local heroes

paramedic 26

Stride • August 2014

Greg Glood

paramedic Greg Glood

Greg Glood knew that he wanted to do something in the public service field since he was a child. He dreamed of becoming a firefighter and decided to go to paramedic school in order to increase his odds at achieving that dream.

However, once he became a paramedic, he realized that his dream wasn’t to be a firefighter after all.

“Once I started doing patient care, I realized that this is what I wanted to do,” he said.

“You see people on the worst day of their life and you’re able to help them out and provide some sort of care.”

and there’s nothing that can fix it, those are really tough. Some of the harder stuff is the stress. We wait around a lot and do paperwork, but people don’t realize that just the waiting around is stressful.”

Glood, who became a paramedic in 2009, said that he loves having the ability and opportunity to truly make a difference in someone’s life.

Glood said that, most of the time, he never finds out whether or not a patient survived in the long run.

“Bad things happen to people, and that’s why we’re here,” he said. “We’re not just ambulance drivers; we’re medics. We are like a mini ER. We can provide you with medicine and relief. Generally, people think that we just put you on the gurney and drive you to the hospital but really, we’re advanced medical technicians.”

Although he deals with a lot of nursing home transfers and alcohol-related calls, Glood said that he has experienced his own personal number of difficult calls.

“The hardest part of this job is the tragedy and dealing with situations where there’s nothing you can do,” he said. “You feel helpless. When something has happened

“You can really make a difference and that’s why everybody does this. We treat for the worst and hope for the best.”

- Greg Glood “A lot of times, we’re packing back up and going right to the next call,” he said. “Unless you go out of your way to find out about somebody, it’s really hard to find out. They disappear into the system. And if you followed up on every single person and put that much into every single patient, you wouldn’t last in this job.”

Glood has experienced a variety of calls, from those involving people hit by trains to those involving children. Anything pediatric, he said, is always dreadful. Glood has also experienced calls in which the patient doesn’t want help, such as potential suicide attempts.

“We can save people’s lives just by being there for them,” he said. “But sometimes people don’t want us there. Sometimes their friend called us and said that they wanted to harm themselves. But we go and try to convince them that it is in their best interest to let us in, because you don’t want to have to go back later.”

Glood said that the calls during which he really has the opportunity to save someone are few and far between, but he has been able to have those experiences as well.

“There was one guy who went into cardiac arrest and he was actually dead. But he recovered and made a full recovery because of the teamwork between the cops and the firefighters and us,” he said. “You can really make a difference and that’s why everybody does this. We treat for the worst and hope for the best.”

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local heroes

veteran Jeffrey Hurst, former Army Sergeant, joined the Army right out of high school. He said he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do after he graduated, so he decided to follow in the footsteps of family members.

On his first deployment in Afghanistan, Hurst turned 21. Years later, he still remembers the abysmal conditions facing his platoon at the time.

one day, we were walking on a patrol and a guy three feet in front of me stepped on an IED. A few of us got knocked out and hit with debris.”

“We didn’t have power or running water,” he said. “We didn’t shower for five months at a time. We didn’t eat for days and then we’d buy a goat from the locals and that’s all we’d eat for the next two days. The hardest thing is leaving the states and being away from everything you’ve known your whole life.”

Hurst was transported to a hospital, where he spent seven weeks in recovery.

Right away on that first deployment, Hurst experienced the darker side of the Army.

“We’d been there for five months and my team leader got killed. We had a couple other casualties in our platoon, too,” he said. “After that, you get kind of calloused, as bad as that sounds. It stops bothering you. You’re in charge of young soldiers, so you have to maintain because it’s all stuff they’ve never seen before.”

On a later tour in Afghanistan, Hurst was injured by an explosive device.

“Our platoon was put out in the middle of nowhere, and we’d just patrol every day,” he said. “We’d walk 20 miles in the mountains every day, get in a firefight, and then turn around and go back. That’s all we did for 10 months straight. Then,

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Jeffrey Hurst

Stride • August 2014

“After that,” he said, “we went back out and started patrolling again.”

“I tell everyone that it’s a life choice. You’re giving a large part of your life, but if it’s something that you want to do, then do it. You just have to be prepared for what you’re stepping into, because it’s a completely different world.”

- Jeffrey Hurst Years later, Hurst faced yet another challenging experience. In October of 2011, one of the younger soldiers in Hurst’s squad committed suicide in a guard tower.

“He was a new private and he’d been in the platoon for six weeks, straight out

of basics. He wasn’t very prepared or willing to prepare,” Hurst said. “When he committed suicide, the entire chain of command was taken out of the platoon.

A lot of people were charged with assault and maltreatment because the government was looking for someone to blame.

But there’s a huge suicide problem in the military, and it’s just getting worse.”

Hurst said that he often hears soldiers and veterans being falsely associated with PTSD and other mental illnesses without anyone taking the time to understand.

“People don’t understand what a lot of people have been through and, if a soldier or veteran has PTSD, it doesn’t make them crazy,” he said. “Some people went through some pretty nasty stuff as young adults. I was in the army for 10 years and that’s all I’ve known since I was 19 years old.”

Although he doesn’t regret his decision, Hurst encourages young people to understand what they’re getting themselves into.

“I tell everyone that it’s a life choice,” he said. “You’re giving a large part of your life, but if it’s something that you want to do, then do it. You just have to be prepared for what you’re stepping into, because it’s a completely different world.”

veteran

Jeffrey Hurst

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the Survivor

A STORY OF ADDICTION, LOSS AND, ABOVE ALL, HOPE

By Meagan Pittelko Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography

T

odd Boggis was 8 years old when he first realized that he could take pills to ease the pain caused by his abusive father. He was 10 years old when a man raped him in a Burbank, CA park. He was 12 years old when he discovered other drugs, like the marijuana growing in his mother’s garden and the cocaine that was plentiful around the California studios his family worked at.

Now, at 49 years old, Boggis has been sober for nearly a year and a half -- the longest he’s been sober, he said, since he was a child.

ALL THE WRONG PEOPLE Todd Boggis has, he said, always trusted the wrong people. Even as a child, he felt ostracized and betrayed by everyone who was supposed to care about him.

“I was physically abused by my father,” he said. “So, anytime my sisters did something wrong, I would say that I did it so I didn’t have to see them being abused. I thought I was so tough.

But when I was 10 years old, I was raped and my parents … My parents covered it up instead of doing anything about it. I felt

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Stride • August 2014

like my parents weren’t there to protect me. Neither my mother or my father could take care of us kids.”

At 16, Boggis ran away to Colorado, where he eventually found himself living in a cabin outside of Pueblo, CO with a group of fugitives.

“I got myself into a really bad situation. They were very wanted men and we were shooting squirrels and such because winter was coming in hard and it was impossible for someone to get food to us,” he said. “So, eventually, I moved into Pueblo and lived with a friend.”

One day, when he was out walking, Boggis recalls finding a “little, teeny puppy” and falling in love with it. Meanwhile, the people he was currently living with had stolen money from him and were not about to pay it back; instead, they used Boggis’s newfound love against him.

“They cut off its head. They cut off my puppy’s head and hung it on the fire escape in the back,” he said. “And that was it. I left.

Anything I seemed to get close with was taken away from me.”

Boggis returned to California, where he began working on studio movies with his mother. At 17 years old, he was making incredible money and was surrounded by more drugs than imaginable.

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the Survivor

“It was all acceptable there. Everybody was high on something,” he said. “The years I was there, I just got worse and worse and I had to go into the hospital several times. Drugs aren’t the right way to cope with things, but I did use them to cope. I didn’t want to feel the way I was feeling. I wanted to do anything to not feel that way.”

CONSTANT HEARTBREAK Boggis met his first wife and was working on a Steven Spielberg movie when his life began to unravel again. His wife got pregnant and left Boggis for her ex-husband; within weeks, Boggis was served with divorce papers.

“

I had been so far gone but I had managed to come back.

All the doctors kept saying that it was a miracle.”

being wheeled into brain surgery.”

“That broke my heart. She broke my heart,” he said. “I just couldn’t handle things. I couldn’t handle the failure — of walking out on work, of my wife walking out on me. I went from being on top — or, what I thought of as on top — to living underneath a bridge. I didn’t want to live. I was trusting all the wrong people again and I went to score some drugs. But the next thing I knew, I was

Boggis had been set up and hit with blunt force trauma to both sides of his brain. Now, he said, big events in his life can cause his memory to reset and erase everything from the surrounding two or three days.

“That didn’t stop me from using once I got out of the hospital,” he admitted. “After that, I met my second wife and we had two little girls, but she couldn’t stand the drugs. I was smoking crack cocaine and, looking back on it now, I wasn’t a good father. I deserve what happened, in a way. I haven’t seen my girls in seven years.”

After multiple failed suicide attempts, Boggis moved to North Dakota and met his third and current wife, Carol. And, after several stints in jail for minor charges like public intoxication, Boggis realized that something needed to change.

“I’d gone to jail and lost two wives and countless jobs,” he said.

“But Carol stuck by me, and the last time I went to jail, I wanted it to be the last time.”

However, the two were separated for over a month when Bog-

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Stride • August 2014

gis overdosed on a mixture of alcohol and pills. He spent two weeks in a coma and another three weeks in the hospital after waking up, during which time Carol was unable to locate him in the system.

“I was in the hospital for so long, with no phone number for her to call or anything, that it was up to me to find her,” Boggis said.

“I had been so far gone but I had managed to come back. All the doctors kept saying that it was a miracle.”

After being released from the hospital, Boggis spent a couple of months with his father, who he has forgiven for how he treated Boggis during his childhood.

“I’m grateful that I got to spend that time with him,” he said.

“I told him that my place was with my wife, though, and I just remember his eyes. He looked so alone, like a puppy dog. And yet this was the man that had treated me so badly.”

Boggis’s father passed away soon after that, in October of 2012, at which time Boggis decided that he needed to check himself into rehab.

“I went in with just about the clothes on my back,” he said.

“At the very end of my heavy using, I was shooting up crystal meth. I had so many spots that I couldn’t hide all the spots that I was shooting.”

Although he checked himself into rehab and now sees a therapist, Boggis said that there are some things he’ll never truly be able to move past.

“I don’t trust men,” he said. “I was raped by a man. I’ve seen my sisters raped by men. I am a man. I will never let anybody touch me, even though at one point I was selling my body.

Yeah, I was selling my body, right off of Ventura Boulevard.

And that’s one thing I’ve never talked about.”

FINDING ACCEPTANCE “I screwed up a lot. I’ve had my kids taken away from me. I don’t really talk to my mom or four out of my five siblings,” Boggis said. “I had to use in order to cope with all the crap that is inside of me and it’s really, really hard sometimes. I have days where I wish I could use, but I know that I can’t. I know that I can’t because it would be just a matter of time until I’m dead. It was around me so prominently as a child, and I had all of these feelings that I just wanted to not feel.”

Boggis, who once shot himself point blank in the chest with a rifle, said that he has all the scars and surgeries to prove what he’s been through. Now, he said, it’s just a matter of making it day-to-day.

the Survivor

“I don’t want to be in jail ever again. I don’t want to be mean to my wife ever again,” he said. “Every day is terribly difficult, but I’m fighting.”

Megan Busch, local licensed addiction counselor, is someone who Boggis credits with his current recovery success.

“In 20 days or so, I’ll be getting my year and a half medallion,” he said. “But Megan has really helped change my life and she doesn’t realize that she’s the one that deserves that. She showed me ways that I could go on without using.”

“

I’ve done a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve gotten through it all. I’m grateful to God and I hope that he still needs me to do stuff, because I’d like to help now. I’d like to do whatever I can.”

According to Busch, addiction is a prevalent issue that is often put on the back burners by communities.

“Addiction is a disease that is genetic and fatal, if not treated,” she said. “But, the thing is, it’s 100 percent treatable.

People either don’t know or overlook the genetics of it; they don’t choose it. When they take their first drink or use their first drug experimentally, it affects them differently.”

Jessica Karjalainen, who is also a local licensed addiction counselor, said that it’s important for the community to remember that being an addict is not a moral failing.

“It’s a disease,” she stressed. “This is not somebody choosing to live life with this. Recovery is possible. You can recover and there is life beyond addiction.”

Boggis is happy to be on the other side of addiction for the first time in his life.

“I have morals. I think that doing drugs is bad and I’ve been on the wrong side of that for so long,” he said. “But after living for 49 years dealing with this, you can kind of get a rope around it.

Recovery is so paramount. It’s hard, though, because there are still days that I want to use. But I’m not going to.”

A SECOND CHANCE Today, Boggis is still facing a long road to recovery, both physi-

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Stride • August 2014

cally and emotionally. He currently speaks at hospitals and is going through the process of getting an entirely new set of teeth.

“I’m not out here to say I’m better, because I’m not,” he said. “But the thing is, when you take drugs away from a drug addict, you have to have something else to fill that void. It’s really important to fill that hole with something, whether it’s God or something else. I don’t know how I got through it.”

He said that one of the hardest parts of recovery is finding the will to forgive.

“I’ve been able to get past a lot of things,” Boggis said. “I forgave that man in the park a long time ago, but the hard part was forgiving my parents for sweeping it all under the carpet. A lot of things happen and you have to learn to weather it. I’ve had so many major crises happen, so much major crap. I feel fortunate to even be alive.”

Boggis said that it’s important to know the signs of addiction and recognize when you need to get help. Although he stressed the importance of catching the problem early, he believes that recovery is impossible unless you’re ready for it.

“I had to lose everything before I started recovering,” he said. “I started over with just the clothes on my back. I can only hope that people can get help sooner rather than later and start the recovery process, because they still have more living to do. But it’s just like quitting smoking — sometimes it takes people five or six times, sometimes it doesn’t. I know recovery can be done, though, because I’ve done it. My biggest thing is just that you have to be honest with yourself.”

Todd Boggis was 8 years old when he first realized he could take pills to ease the pain. Now, 41 years later, he said he is focused on getting through each day.

“You have to get through right now. Don’t worry about tomorrow.

Don’t even put tomorrow into your mind, because it’s that much harder to think of another day than to just get through today,” he said. “This is the longest I’ve been clean since I was 12 years old, and that feels like a miracle. I know there’s alcohol in my house, but I’m through with it. After seeing all the stuff that I’ve seen and going through all that I’ve gone through, I know that there has to be something else, something a whole lot better, out there.

I’ve done a lot of stuff in my life and I’ve gotten through it all.

I’m grateful to God and I hope that he still needs me to do stuff, because I’d like to help now. I’d like to do whatever I can.”

More Information If you’d like to learn more about addiction and recovery, attend the FM Treatment Providers’ Coalition’s upcoming event on September 12th. The event, which is free to the public, includes a recovery walk, a band, free food, door prizes and outdoor games, in addition to the attendance of US Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

“It’s a celebration of recovery.

Let’s remember those that we’ve lost, those that are still suffering. It’s all inclusive,” said addiction counselor Karjalainen.

For more information, contact Megan or Jessica at Avail Psychological and Addiction Services (701-566-5272).

community

THE

STREETS ARE ALIVE

By Meagan Pittelko | Photos courtesy of Dakota Medical Foundation

The streets of Fargo-Moorhead have come alive this summer as Fargoans encourage each other to live healthier lifestyles. According to CassClayAlive!

Program Director Rory Beil, Alive! events are geared at allowing the community to find more active means of transportation.

According to CassClayAlive! Program Director Rory Beil, StreetsAlive! is an event known around the US with roots in Latin America.

“In Colombia, they decided they’d create an event where people could safely use the roadways,” Beil said. “We heard about these events and decided to bring something like it to Fargo-

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Stride • August 2014

Moorhead. It’s taking to the streets for movement and is part of a larger healthy-living initiative.”

The first StreetsAlive! event of the summer was held July 13 and the second event will be held August 24. Both events promote active transportation by encouraging individuals, groups and families to use

roadways without being in a motor vehicle. Some people, Beil said, run, walk or dance, while others choose to rollerblade or ride bicycles.

At the July 13 event, activities were scheduled and placed at certain intervals along the 3-mile roadway route, from Zumba classes to pole vaulters to gymnastics. Beil said that

Streets Alive! is a community event led by Dakota Medical Foundation’s CassClayAlive! and Clay County Public Health’s Partnership 4 Health and is supported by many organizations throughout the FM area.

For more information on the next StreetsAlive! event, which will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on August 24, visit fmstreetsalive.org or search StreetsAlive! - Fargo, ND on Facebook.

the August event will be similar but may have differences in programming.

The events are aimed at creating an overall healthy community in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

“We hope that communities that build toward active transportation are very attractive to young professionals who are looking for someplace to plant their roots and start a family,” Beil said.

“Many downtowns are trying to create environments where people just want to gather, where people just want to talk and socialize.”

In addition to getting the community active together, StreetsAlive! events are designed to inspire individuals and families to become more active in their everyday lives.

“One of our dreams for the event is that somebody will come to an event and get so excited that they might decide to walk or bike to work or to school,” Beil said. “They might find an activity that their family really enjoys doing together. We’re hoping that people will get their daily activity in by walking to and from destinations each day.”

41

Workout

Ashley’s

by Ashley Sornsin

A

strong core is fundamental to a strong body. The core is composed of the abdominal muscles, which are referred to as “abs.” They play a role in virtually everything we do, from sitting, standing, walking and running to hiking, biking, lifting and everything in between.

All too often we neglect our abs and don’t give them the attention and training they need. We rush through crunches to

choices and habits play an important role in this success as well. core, a healthy diet with the proper macronutrients (protein, complex carbohydrates and fats) is essential. Don’t forget water, the most abundant part of the body. Hydration is key in keeping water retention at bay.

20 Minute Tabata Workout Tabata workouts consist of high intensity intervals for a period of 4 minutes. There are 8 rounds of :20 seconds at 100% effort with :10 seconds rest/recovery. By the end of the 4 minutes, you should not be able to do one more round. Tabata style workouts are one of my favorites because they are intense drills, but hands down worth every drop of sweat.

Ashley's Tips

3

Train your core times a week (see my ab routine)

1

plank jacks (4 minutes – 8 rounds) :20 seconds – Hold plank on forearms, shoulders above elbows. Jump feet out and

30

Get at least min of exercise daily – anything, just get moving!

5-6

small meals a Eat day (see my meal plan) Drink plenty of water.

Work your way up to gallon/day (128oz)

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Stride • August 2014

1

1a

1b

2

plank twists

Right Side

3 plank twists

(4 minutes – 8 rounds) :20 seconds – Hold plank on right side, left arm extended into air, body in a straight line. Move-

left Side

(4 minutes – 8 rounds) :20 seconds – same as #2, but on opposite side :10 seconds – same as #2

with left arm in air, moving under body.

2b/3b

2a/3a

4 jack knife (4 minutes – 8 rounds) :20 seconds - Laying on back, stretch arms up above head and keep legs straight. At the same time, bring arms up and legs up, hands reaching for your toes. :10 seconds – Rest/Recover, body stretched out

5

crossovers (4 minutes – 8 rounds) :20 seconds – Laying on back, arms stretched above head and legs at a 90 degree angle. Bring right arm up and reach across body, pressing left leg out and away, Repeat other side, alternating. :10 seconds – Rest/Recover, arms stretched

4a 5a

4b

5b

43

Workout meal plan breakfast

Aim for 5-6 small meals/day to keep your metabolism revved. The following three meals that are part of my diet are simple, delicious, healthy and great for summer.

lunch

dinner [Use your grill!]

Clean Omelet

Tuna Salad Wrap

(Combine eggs/whites in pan, top with veggies,

1 La Tortilla wrap 1 can tuna 1 Tbsp mustard + 1 Tbsp Greek yogurt (combined) Handful of lettuce Handful of broccoli slaw

1 egg 3 egg whites Handful of spinach, mushrooms and peppers

Blueberry Oatmeal 1/3 cup dry oatmeal, cook with water ¼ cup blueberries Top with oatmeal

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Stride • August 2014

Veggies & Dip ½ each: carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery ½ avocado + 1 Tbsp Greek yogurt + Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning (mash and combine)

Grilled Chicken 4-6 oz grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast (drizzle with Frank’s BBQ Sauce)

Asparagus 7 grilled asparagus spears (use a tray on a grill or place in foil – spray foil and asparagus with olive oil spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper)

Sweet Potatoes 1 small/medium sized sweet potato cut into wedges (use grill tray or foil packet – prepare same as asparagus)

Please drink responsibly.