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Hello Murray and all: i would like to fill in a few details about the fundraiser that was held for Lane Evans at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Springfield, IL. i was invited and given a table of ten to try to fill. tickets for this event were $500 apiece. i took as my guests: Chris (cinemaripper from the chatroom) and my photographer and friend Craig Kendell. we drove down to Springfield and there we met the rest of our guests: Dr.Jean Ahlberg (a woman who i met thru this forum) & her husband, Dennis, Dr.Craid Cady (a neuro-researcher at Bradley U who is doing remakable aqnd wonderful work with stem cells), his lovely wife, Mary and a friend of mine who is a drug rep for Bertek pharmaceuitals, David Conrad. When we reached the beautiful room for the Unity Dinner, Nick, who is Lane's Quad City campaign manager and runs Lanes home office met me with good and bad news. the bad news was that Lane would be unable to attend because the Republicans had called for a vote that evening and Lane considers it his privledge and responsability to vote on all bills. the good news was that Nick had asked his staff to pick out four people to speak about Lane Evans and to relate personal stories about him....and i was one of the four!! first, the speakers table was annouced: made up of area state Senators, state Represetatives and judges. talk about intimidated!! fortunately, i didn't have to sit up there!! when Barrack Obama was introduced-the place became unglued. no longer a rising star in the Democratic party, he is now a bona-fide, real, honest-to-goodness SUPERSTAR!! when he spoke it was of his deep care and gratitude for Lane...who was the first to edndorse Barrack Obama in his bid for the United State Senate. I remember being at the party in the Quad Cities when Lane first introduced the skinny kid with the big ears and the strange name and i remember being so taken with then-state Senator Obama that i said that this man would be our first Africian-American president. Barrak and his lovely wife, Michelle, have since become very close friends of mine and it did my heart good to hear him acknowledge the turning point in his career and pay homage to Lane for giving Barrack the downstate exposure and giving Lane the credit for his successes. during his speech, Barrack told a story about the late, great Senator from IL, Paul Simon. i had just cleaned out an old jewelry box and given my son all the rock and roll butttons that i had and i had uncovered four old political buttons: one was Paul Simon for US Senate, another that said "Out the door in 84-dump Reagan," still another said "Let them eat jellybeans," and finally an old Adlai Stevenson button which i put into my purse to be sure to give as a gift to Lane. but when i heard Barrack speak with such glowing memories about Paul Simon, i decieded to give that one to him. Chris and i scurried out to the foyer in time for a quick hug and a photo taken by Craig of Chris, Barrack and me (btw, he loved the Simon pin and was thrilled to have it)...then we returned for a wonderful dinner and were told stories by all of the folks at the speakers table. Nick came over and said "ok-honey, time for you to get up there." so David pushed my wheelchair up to the front. the master of ceremonies intoduced the first of four speakers to tell of their personal experiences with Lane. Nick came and told me that i would be the clean up batter-speaking last. i decieded right then and there that, no matter how nervous i was, i was going to hit a home run for my friend-Lane Evans. everyone was after-dessert full and none to lively when i got falteringly up to speak. first of all, i said that not all drug reps are jerks because a previous speaker had pretty much bashed drug companies for their large part in the buying and selling of America. i said that my friend, David Conrad was indeed concerned and caring and only trying to help the PD Community. I told them that he is working on getting his company to print off and distribute 1,000 copies of my video. there were some nervous coughs and snickers. off to a great start, i thought-NOT! then i introduced myself and told them that i have pd-just slightly longer than Lane. I told them that the dxes of PD is a life-altering experience and it makes one recognize the priorities in life-teaching the person patience, compassion and litterally a much better person. i said that lane has proven time and again that there is nothing wrong wiht his brain; that just because he speaks more slowly and moves without the usual DC swager, it does not impede his decison-making or ability to think a complex issue throught completely. i said that to a person, all the pwp's that i have met are overachievers. i said that i was outraged by the remarks of Andrea Lane Zigna and her unbelievable attacks on Lane's health. Her entire campaign is based on the fact that she thinks Lane is too sick to do his job and has said so many times during the campaign. this got me my first standing ovation. i then told of a letter that i had recieved from Zigna in which she stated that speed and mobility are a prerequisite in Washington; constantly running from appointment to meeting to session and she said that we were suffering because Lane couldn't keep up the pace. "Bullshit" i said, "When was the last time that anything happened in hurry in Washington???" this brought the crowd to their feet and and had them yellling and screaming. then i went onto the subject of stem cells. i said that i am a Catholic and i also consider myself to be very pro-life. i said that i didn't see how protecting an egg impregnated by artificail insemination in a test tube and then not used in the invitro fertilzation process could possibly be more pro-life than my friends whom i see daily going down-hill from this dreadful disease. i introduced Dr. Cady and spoke of his work with stem cells and how even this man, who believes in life insists that we need to use embryonic stem cells for research in spite of successes with adult stem cells. to those who say that there have yet to be any breakthroughs yet with embryonic stem cells, Dr. Cady says that they are impossibly expensive, the currant available lines are all contaminated by mouse cells and they have only been available to use in research for less than four years. i told the crowd that Dr.Cady undertood the need to lift the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cells as did Senator John Kerry, Senator John Edwards,Barrock Obama but most especially did Lane Evans!! This brought the house down.i said, in closing, that i did not use the term "parkinson's sufferers" or speak of us as victims because we are not victims-everyone has a cross to carry and this one is ours, in the words of my friend and double amputee/skydiver Dana Bowman, "it's not the disability...it's the ability" that counts. as i looked out at the wildly cheering crowd, i knew that God had provided me with that extra bowl of wheeties that i needed to get this one over the fence!! -- Joan E. Blessington Snyder 51/13 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