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It was all treats without any tricks at the Sunday, October 27th fundraiser put on by renowned artist and area jazz great Preston Jackson, along with a bit of help from his friends: Joy Kessler, Joan Snyder and Holly Angus. "A Ghost in the Gallery" was great fun by anyone's standard and turned out to be a financial success for the Parkinson Alliance-they get a check for over $2,000.00. The mood was set as the party-goers entered the building which houses, among other Businesses: Moondancer's, The Rhythm Kitchen and the Contemporary Art Center. Once inside, they could be stamped for age by longtime friends of PD -Char Otto and Sue Schupp, enjoy a welcome table with books of photos from other events or even talk with a representative from the Mental Health Association of Central Illinois. (Did you realize that almost 74% of all Parkinson's patients develop some form of depression caused by the chemical imbalance in the brain?) The concept of the party was carried out by decorations throughout the 3 floors but was evident when guests got out of the elevator on the 2nd floor to be met by a giant, inflatable, purple 8 foot witch. The food was enough to tempt even the most die-hard dieter-day old pastries provided by Apple's Northside Bakery, Shrimp-Cuban style-by Rosario Guardado, even creepy, gelatin hands made by Lorie Klasseugger and kept pretty and edible by Cindy Eilers and Gina Morss. And the bartenders, Lynn Wygzgowski and Jeanie Ruhland were kept busy keeping the crowd in spirits: pouring bottled water donated by Five Star Vending, soda, beer and wine (donated by the folks at the CAC), and warmed through with cups of hot apple cider (donated Apple Blossom Farms) spiked with Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps (donated by Unclaimed Freight Service). Gina Morss, from channel 25-WEEK-TV was helped by Allison Snyder and Genna Hawkins pick and pass out door prizes to the winners. Then there was the music to talk about-what a stellar group of musicians were on hand to provide tunes and jams for the afternoon. The list reads as a veritable who's who in the Peoria area music scene: guitarists Preston Jackson, Steve Degenford, Bob "the Whale" Miller and Jerry "Muttonhead" Erickson, bassists "Big" John Miller, Doug Block and Bill Sutton, horns David Parkinson and Steve Thomas, percussionists Bill Duncan, CJ Thomas and Dan Diefenforf and vocalist Beverly Barnes (with the voice of an angel). They played a vast range of standards and classics from the lovely "It's a Wonderful Life" (which brought Joan out of her wheelchair and onto the dance floor with husband Stan-not a dry eye in the house) and Limbo Rock to which Rosario started a conga line pushing Joan in her wheelchair and lots of people joined in. For the finale, we were treated to the amazing sounds of Governor Forman, a man who left the audience gasping "Who was that guy?" All this and more?? You bet!! For up on the third floor was the silent auction offering everything for a shopper's heart: a mink teddy bear, an autographed script from the "Frasier" TV show (donated by Charlie Black), handmade items (jewelry (made by Holly Angus and Diann Pilafian, shirts and sweatshirts (made by Carol Post and Debbie Dietrich) to a hand painted rural mailbox (by Maggie Drillon) and Riverman Hockey tickets (donated by CEFCU). There were matted photographs sent in from Texan Terry Bowers and $2.50 gold coin donated by Steve and Linda Gabrielle. There were goodies from Dan & Kim Phillips of the Illinois Antique Center and gift certificates for food (Kelleher's, Carlos O'Kelly's, The Fish House, Basta Mangiare, The Spotted Cow and Dominic's) plus for overnight packages from the Hotel Pere Marquette and the AmericInn. The Hickory Stick donated a set of 7 beautiful nesting boxes. Carpet Weavers provided a lovely area rug, Hoppler's Jewelry-4 gold bracelets, Underwoods- an autumn floral arrangement, Floral Expressions-a collectable dog and a huge stuffed basset hound from Moondancer's. And there was a year family membership from Lakeview and an adoptive child's Hallmark Album from Low Cost in Lacon. The silent auction was presided over and run by Jean Razo and Dee Ahlstrom Craig Kendall once again did a fabulous job of capturing the entire event on film, and we were honored to host the remarkable Russell Ahlstrom from Mankato, MN who has had PD for over 38 years (dxed at 21) and was the winner of the very first Sidney Dorros Award for Parkinson's activism. WalMart donated $25 worth of paper products and decorations. Jim & Donna Newton and Diann Pilafian donated CD's that were used as door prizes along with 40 boxes of notecards from Low Cost Pharmacy in Lacon . And the most amazing thing??...was when the party was over, partygoers turned into magic cleaning elves and had the whole thing back to rights within a half hour. So how was your Halloween?? -- Joan E. Blessington Snyder 50/11 http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm <[log in to unmask]> "Hang tough...........no way through it but to do it." Chris-in-the-Morning (Northern Exposure) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn