SJ Magazine - The Heart of South Jersey

Page Review
Our favorite stories from 2011

Another year, another list of our favorite interviews, photo essays and cover features! It’s hard to believe we are beginning our twelfth year of publishing, and each year brings bigger celebrities, better articles, and bonus contests and photos. We put together our favorite articles from 2011. We loved them – hope you did too!

ALL STAR SINGLES: DANNY BRIERE AND CLAUDE GIROUX
February
We feature sensational singles every February, but we couldn’t get much better than two of the most popular Philadelphia Flyers: Danny Briere and Claude Giroux. We found out just how popular they were when we had calls from all over the country from women requesting a copy of the issue. One cover was even sold on eBay!

THE LAST SURVIVORS

By Jayne Jacova Feld • February

Their powerful stories of survival through the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust inspired – and humbled – us. Most of the roughly 40 survivors who now live in SJ, were just children when they came face to face with the atrocities inflicted by the Nazi regime. Now, they’re volunteering their time through the Katz Jewish Community Center’s Goodwin Holocaust Museum and Education Center to share their memories with SJ students. Clearly, their stories have taught these youngsters – and our readers – that there’s still much to learn from the past.

JON BON JOVI: THE HEART OF CAMDEN
By Marianne Aleardi • November

We found out Jon Bon Jovi would be attending the Heart of Camden’s annual gala before the official announcement had been made, so we moved fast to secure an interview with the busy rock star. To top it off, we had a week before the November issue went to print. We bumped the planned cover and did everything needed to proudly print our second cover with the popular rock star. We then fielded daily calls from women looking for the issue – fans from as far away as Switzerland requested a copy!

TACKLING CANCER
By Marianne Aleardi • October
DeSean Jackson’s mom was passionate about her mission to help families faced with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. She wasn’t so passionate about getting her picture taken for the article, though, especially since we needed to shoot during football season, when she’s busy with her son’s career. But smile she did, and her great photo matched her awesome message.

DEAR DADS
September
We wanted to photograph dads from all walks of life with their kids, and capture the unique relationship. Every dad we invited to participate was quick to agree and willingly adjusted his schedule to make the shoot. We loved the photos, but getting quotes from the kids was even more fun. After lots of laughing, they all recounted what they loved most about their dad.

JON RUNYAN: FROM THE FIELD TO THE HILL

By Benjamin Harris • January

We’ve featured Jon Runyan on our cover before – but as a Philadelphia Eagle. So it was natural to speak with him again as he began his first term as a U.S. Congressman. The rookie politician was open about his grueling campaign and his hopes to bring change to Washington.

TEAM UTLEY
By Benjamin Harris • March
KEEPING IT SIMPLE: THE PITCHING AND PERSONALITY OF CLIFF LEE
By Benjamin Harris • October
Phillies players are always fun to work with – their passion for the game can easily be transported to the page. Chase Utley and his wife welcomed our photographer to their home in California during the off-season, and Cliff Lee met our SJ writer in the locker room before a playoff game. The season didn’t end as we all planned, but the beloved Phillies were favorites on the pages of SJ Magazine.

WENDY WILLIAMS: WILD AND WONDERFUL
By Terri Akman • June
It was the day after she’d been kicked off Dancing with the Stars when Wendy Williams spoke with SJ writer Terri Akman. Despite her exhaustion, the bigger-than-life celebrity was warm and open, talking candidly about her Jersey roots and how she made it to Hollywood.

FROM CONGRESS TO SJ: PATRICK KENNEDY

By Terri Akman

ONE COOL CAT
By Terri Akman • November
Legendary deejay Jerry Blavat can tell story after story about his fascinating life working with beloved musicians from long ago – like Sammy Davis Jr., who asked Blavat to be the best man at his wedding. The Geator shared his stories and gave us a glimpse of his many personal triumphs.

SJ’S TOP TEACHERS
June
Our first Top Teachers contest brought in submissions from all over SJ, with kids writing heartfelt letters telling us why they loved their teacher. They taught us a lesson we knew all along: teachers touch our kids’ lives, and they deserve to be in the spotlight.

CARLI LLOYD
By Terri Akman • August
The professional soccer player had just returned from the World Cup and was playing for the Atlanta Beat in Georgia when we interviewed her for the cover story. We relied on the team’s photographer to shoot our cover photo, having proofs texted to us for approval while the shoot was going on. And after working with the soccer star, we easily chose her as one of the first recipients of our "Personal Best of SJ” award.

THE JOURNEY BACK
By Maeve Kelly • September
Haddonfield’s Frank Schafer walked into our offices with an incredible story about his return visit to Vietnam in search of a lost love he had during the war. It was a story made for the movies – or SJ Magazine.

DR. OZ: ON A MISSION

By Terri Akman • December

When we found out Dr. Oz lived in New Jersey, we knew he’d be great to feature – and we were right. Dr. Oz is fully committed to helping people live healthy lives, so we were happy to help spread the word to our readers.

THE BATTLE AFTER THE WAR
By Jayne Jacova Feld • July
SJ writer Jayne Jacova Feld went all out to bring us an in-depth look at how veterans fare when they return from war. She found a lack of services, but committed workers who are trying to help a population with limited resources.

THE WOMEN’S ISSUE
May
It’s one of our favorite issues of the year. Our Women’s Issue gives us the chance to highlight the many talented and beautiful women in our communities. And this year, we went with a Wonder Woman theme for the cover, transforming photos of prominent SJ women into cartoon characters.

LOCKDOWN DRILLS
By Terri Akman • October
Our staff had a lot of discussions about how much information we should publish for this article on lockdown drills in our schools. We were concerned if we printed too much, we would jeopardize the safety of SJ students. We researched what had been printed already and published what we believe is an informative article for parents.

SEEING CLEARLY: DEANNA GRECO
By Terri Akman • August
Though she’s just 13 years old, Cherry Hill’s Deanna Greco’s sunny attitude and outlook on life taught us some grown-up lessons about what’s really important. Deanna is dealing and growing up with a very mature disease: Cone-Rod Dystrophy, a genetic disorder that’s slowly stealing her eyesight. While she doesn’t know if – or when – she’ll lose her sight, she reminded us to stay focused on the positive.

BEST OF SJ
July
It’s always one of our favorite issues because we get to find the best of everything in our local neighborhoods. This year, we chose the SJ members of the Philadelphia Boys Choir for the annual cover, and they later told us they were invited to record the opening song for FOX29’s morning show after the producers saw the cover.