Wolfe Center names new

development director

The Wolfe Center has appointed Julia DeNatale as director of fund development and marketing. DeNatale, who joins the Wolfe Center with nine years experience in marketing and public relations, will create a fundraising plan, including; soliciting state and federal government grants, creating and coordinating local fundraisers, building local and regional support for the organization and developing new sources of funding. She also will work with the Wolfe Center management staff to extend community outreach efforts and increase awareness of the Wolfe Center in the community.

Prior to joining the Wolfe Center, DeNatale worked in the promotion and marketing departments of several Bay Area TV and radio stations, doing fundraising, marketing, events, copywriting, Web site development and media relations. DeNatale is a recent graduate of Leadership Napa Valley and currently serves on the Leadership Napa Valley Board of Directors.

DeNatale is a native of Napa and graduated from Vintage High School in 1996 and received her bachelor's degree in Communications from University of San Francisco in 1999. She lives in Napa with her husband, Christopher, a Marketing Director for KFRC Radio in San Francisco, and their two young children.

The Wolfe Center is the first-ever Napa County program devoted exclusively to treating teens with substance abuse problems.

Redwood Credit Union's

week-long celebration

Redwood Credit Union, the largest Credit Union in the North Bay, celebrating International Credit Union Week Oct. 15 through Oct. 20, with a coloring contest for children, raffle prizes, giveaways and more. The credit union will also host free financial education seminars, open to members and to the general public.

"International Credit Union Week enables us to thank our members for their business," said Redwood President and CEO Brett Martinez. "It also provides an opportunity to raise awareness that as members more fully participate in the credit union by bringing all or most of their financial relationship to us, the more value our financial cooperative can return to each and every member."

Since 1948, International Credit Union Day has been celebrated annually on the third Thursday of October.

Founded in 1950, Redwood Credit Union is a full-service financial institution with branch locations throughout the North Bay. Redwood Credit Union serves more than 137,000 members and has surpassed $1.6 billion in assets. Membership is available to anyone living or working in the eight North Bay counties of Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Mendocino, Lake, Napa, Contra Costa and Solano. For more information, please call (800) 479-7928 or visit redwoodcu.org.

New treatment from

Dr. Armstrong

John Armstrong, M.D., a local gynecologist with more than 27 years here, is the first gynecologist in Napa to perform a new, in-office, minimally invasive therapy to provide relief to women suffering from menorrhagia (excessive menstrual bleeding).

As many as one in five women suffer from menorrhagia, a condition that can cause anemia, limit activities, impair quality of life and strain marital and family relationships. Many women with menorrhagia eventually undergo a hysterectomy, accounting for as many as 650,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. each year. For suitable candidates, this new choice means women truly don't have to live with these problems if they prefer to not have surgery.

The new therapy employs the Her Option Cryoablation Therapy System, a cryosurgical device recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"The Her Option therapy offers a safe, effective, and far less invasive alternative to hysterectomy for women who have completed childbearing," said Armstrong. "The therapy is performed in the office, with a local anesthetic in approximately 15-20 minutes, and women may resume normal activities the same day."

Standard treatments like hormone therapy work with some women, but must be taken for years and are not well-tolerated by others. Hysterectomy is a major surgery with a three-to five-week recovery period,

Armstrong received his training at Texas Tech University and UCSF, Valley Medical Center. He continues to perform many advanced procedures and has been instrumental in early detection of breast and pelvic disease through the years.