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Felt the need to put my two cents in. Even though the tulip is an international symbol of PD, it is not recognized as such in the US. A tulip doesn't send a message about PD as effectively as an hourglass with its accompanying slogan, "Time is running out". Therefore, as nice as it would be to adopt an international symbol, I vote for the hourglass. Regarding ribbons: Yellow, purple, silver, puce....it really doesn't matter. Every group has its ribbon nowadays. If we really want to stand out, we should do something different, for example, we could tie a balloon (imprinted with an houglass and slogan) on walkers, wheelchairs, canes, antennas of cars, doorknobs, mailboxes, etc. I keep bringing up this idea, but no one ever replies to my suggestion. However, I'll trot it out once more because I think it would work. 1. Pick a day in September when all the congressmen will be back from vacation. Proclaim it PD Awareness Day. 2. On that day we make a great effort to see that every PWP and caretaker sends a nominal donation (could be as little as $1) to their favorite PD organization. 3. Then we each send a letter (and a balloon?) to our senators and congressman and to our local newspaper saying that time is running out and we're tired of waiting for Congress to appropriate the money promised to us and the NIH to stop playing games. Therefore, we have sent in our own donations to keep research going until Congress stops procrastinating. Send a photo of yourself or a group of Parkies and caregivers holding balloons. Include a fact sheet about Parkinson's and the inequality of funding. 4. Try to get additional spots on radio, TV, etc. Hand out balloons to all your friends and family. Ask them to display them on that day. Support groups could hand out balloons and literature at local malls. There are lots of things we could do. The thing is to do it on one designated day and be sure that the press, radio and TV are informed. Any comments? Mary Sheehan