'Holly-Graham' delivers fitness, wellness information at Fort Sill

By Monica Wood, Fort Sill FMWR MarketingNovember 20, 2014

Holly Graham
Col. Richard Behr, Reynolds Army Community Hospital health services deputy commander, scans a quick-response code on Holly-Graham about the Operation Live Well campaign. The high-tech gadget provides another way to inform Soldiers, civilians and thei... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Nov. 20, 2014) -- Holly-Graham is taking a whole new approach to educating people about nutrition and health.

As the new Healthy Base Initiative exhibit in Rinehart Fitness Center and other locations on post, Holly-Graham, a hologram of a woman who relays health information, will be traveling to multiple locations on Fort Sill throughout the coming year.

"Holly-Graham brings a new way to teach people ways to live a healthy lifestyle," said Michele Flanagan, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation marketing director. "Rinehart Fitness Center was the ideal first place for Holly-Graham since all the patrons coming to use the facility are working toward their individual fitness goals."

Holly-Graham will be rotated through different facilities to spread her message. She will move to Honeycutt and Goldner fitness centers, Main Exchange, Reynolds Army Community Hospital, all child care centers, Graham Resiliency Training Support Campus, commissary, post housing offices, Nye Library, Welcome Center and shoppettes.

Appearing in black pants and a purple sweater, Holly-Graham addresses three topics at the fitness centers: quick, effective workouts; fueling your body; and performance enhancement. At the commissary her messages include knowing how many calories you eat, knowing your fats, sugar consumption and reading food labels.

She explains that consuming protein is important for repairing and rebuilding muscles. In addition, she said it costs more than double the amount of money to obtain protein through supplements than through food.

At post child care facilities her messages include making sure children eat enough fruit and vegetables and that they don't watch TV or play on the computer for more than two hours. The hologram reminds parents not serve their children empty calories in sugar-sweetened drinks, but recommended children get at least an hour of physical activity every day. She also tells parents about children and second-hand smoke.

Holly-Graham consolidates this information into the phrase "Remember, food first."

"When you hear the voice, it's almost as if a real person is having a conversation with you," said Flanagan. "I think it's great that Fort Sill is one of the first installations to experience Holly-Graham."

As she eagerly waits for visitors to stop by and interact with her, Holly-Graham blinks and wiggles her fingers. She tries to draw attention by saying, "Hey you it's me! It's really me, talking to you!"

Along with speaking on a variety of health issues, Holly-Graham offers interactive ways, such as quick response (QR) codes, that visitors can scan to learn more information. For instance, she provides the QR code for QuitStart, an app that helps users quit smoking.

"Patrons can scan QR codes to retain the information on their phones and have a resource too," Flanagan said. "It is definitely something that will catch your attention and draw your interest to hear about the various topics discussed by Holly-Graham."