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"It is for us...to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." Lincoln, Gettysburg Address As some of you may know, Michael Claeys is leaving his job as Manager - Research Programs for the Michael J. Fox Foundation on Feb 27th. He is coming back to a state he loves, California, to be with his fiance who has found a great position in the wine country. I don't know of any special awards planned for Mike, although I am sure the Fox folks will give him a great send-off. But Mike Claeys deserves a few words in his honor that can be read by the wider PD community, because we all owe him, a man who does not have PD, a debt of thanks for his tireless efforts on our behalf. He spent five years working for the Parkinson's Action Network and left there as Senior Policy Coordinator. In his five-year tenure with PAN, Claeys conducted grassroots advocacy and direct federal lobbying on behalf of the Parkinson's community. In those days many times Mike seemed like a one-man band. PAN didn't have the staff it has now, and so on any given day you could see him going from office to office, phone to phone, putting out fires here and lighting others under Senators and Congressmen there. The present grassroots advocacy program at PAN owes much to his vision and creativity. I can remember as a green volunteer for PAN several years ago making some "suggestions" for ways that things couldc be improved in the Santa Rosa office - what followed was what diplomats like to call an "open and forthright exchange of views." They could probably hear us in the next county. I hung up from that call with a new appreciation of how much Mike and Joan and the small staff in Santa Rosa had accomplished by sheer willpower. I did a lot more listening after that and I learned much. Mike has always been gracious with his time, and timely with his advice when asked fot it. The Parkinsons community will miss Michael Claeys. We owe him a debt of gratitude. Anyone wanting to wish Mike a bon voyage may do so at [log in to unmask] until end of business tomorow. Thanks, Mike, for your intelligence, vision and hard work on our behalf. Greg --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail