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At 07:13 28/02/98, E. Jack Savely wrote: > I don't remember what the Parkinson's pin resembles. In > Canada they were using the tulip. Check with Judith > Richards at Judith Richards <[log in to unmask]> Tulip lapel pins are available through The Parkinson Foundation office in Toronto. The following information was taken from The Parkinson Foundation of Canada web site: http://www.parkinson.ca/parp973.html The Tulip In 1981, Mr. J.W.S. Van der Wereld, the renowned Dutch horticulturalist, himself a Parkinsonian, registered his prize cultivar, "The Dr. James Parkinson Tulip", to honour Dr. James Parkinson, the British physician who first described the symptoms of this disabling condition in 1817. In 1984 the red and white tulip was introduced into Canada to promote Parkinson Awareness Week. The simplicity of the tulip ideally depicts the way in which a Parkinsonian's movements diminish as the illness progresses. This beautiful hybrid also represents the soul of the movement to find the cure for Parkinsons. =========================================== From the Newfoundland Chapter web site, which I believe is maintained by Anne Rutherford: Why tulips? In Canada tulips are sold to raise funds for Parkinson research and they have become a symbol of our hope for a cure. Every year we plant Parkinson tulip bulbs in our home gardens and we ask our friends and neighbours to do the same. When the winter snows melt, the dry brown bulb we planted grows into a beautiful flower, and the fresh beauty of these tulips gives us renewed hope that someday soon a cure will be found. The story of the Parkinson tulip began in 1981 in the Netherlands when a Dutch horticulturist, who had Parkinsons, gave the name 'Dr. James Parkinson' to the prize winning red and white tulip he had developed. This name was chosen to honour Dr James Parkinson, the English doctor who described the condition in his 1817 'Essay on the Shaking Palsy'. A few years later in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, the Parkinson's Society of Ottawa-Carleton heard about the Dr. James Parkinson tulip and arranged to import some bulbs. The Parkinson tulip bulbs were so popular in Ottawa that the Parkinson Foundation of Canada began to distribute Dr. James Parkinson tulip bulbs through its national network of chapters. In 1988, when Newfoundland's first Parkinson support group was formed, the 12 member group sold 6,000 Parkinson tulip bulbs. Since then, close to 15,000 bulbs have been sold every year enabling Newfoundland to make a significant annual contribution to Parkinson research. Judith Richards [log in to unmask]