Jumping rope and hula hoops never seemed so popular as they did on February 12, 2011 at Community Development Recreation on Bank Street. Hundreds of children and their parents came to have fun and learn about heart disease at the second Children's Healthy Heart Festival. Hostess Michaela Gagne Hetzler organized the event to bring awareness to the community of heart health, something that the winner of the 2006 Miss Massachusetts contest learned up-close and personal through her own experience with heart disease. The event featured activities such as jump rope and hula hoops designed to get children to engage in heart-healthy activity. Messages about heart health were also provided by a number of local agencies and programs throughout the three-hour event. Raffles throughout the event offered prizes for children and parents. Click here for the Fall River Spirit article about the event. Click here for photos of the first event held in 2009 at the Boys and Girls Club of Fall River. For more information, contact Michaela Gagne Hetzler at michaelajgagne@gmail.com.
 

(Top row, left) Michael Botelho of Swansea watches as his three-year-old daughter, Madeline, tries out a hula hoop. (Top row, center and right) Six-year-olds Makayla Silva and Jaylynn Furtado display their fur-lined crowns and faces painted by United Neighbors executive director Wendy Garf-Lipp, who is pictured holding six-year-old Justin Silva's head as she gets more paint for his face. (Middle row, left) Michaela Gagne-Hetzler's mom, Denise Gagne, describes a quilt created by members of the Parent Heart Watch. (Middle row, center) Tamila Cabral, 11, watches as her eight-year-old sister, Tassila, jumps rope. (Middle row, right) Six-year-olds Kaiden Santos and Shane DaSilva have fun swinging on the rope in the gym. (Bottom row, left) Five-year-old Alexia Roberto of Westport has her mother take her picture with Kelli McBee, Miss Bristol County. (Bottom row, center) Eight-year-old Logan St. Onge has his blood pressure checked by Mary Peterson-Goff, R.N., from Truesdale Cardiology. (Bottom row, right) Event organizer Michaela Gagne Hetzler presents Monica Tavares of the Boys and Girls Club of Fall River with a defibulator donated by the Fall River Police Department, represented by Sgt. Michael K. Hoar as Michaela's husband, Joshua Hetzler, looks on from behind.