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Hi, Some of us in the SF Bay area are jumping on the bandwagon to do something about awareness for April statewide, like Maine and New Jersey. But when is National PD Awareness Day? And are there any PD organizations involved? Please respond ASAP, as we need to move fast our here to get something together. Thanks! Ann Stan or Joan Snyder wrote: > > Hello all: I 'd just like to take the time to ask for your prayers and > support for what we here in Chillicothe, Ill. have planned for National > PD awareness day. There is an artist from Chillicothe; her name is Jane > Scott. Her father was a teacher at the local high school for many years > until Parkinson's came into his life & changed things completely for his > family. Jane & a friend, Marc Esser began to chronicle the battle that > Claude Scott waged with PD. Marc's work was objective-he photographed > Claude, while Jane's work was completely subjective. Together they > produced an exhibit that is powerful, heartbreaking and breathtaking in > its sheer tour de force. The exhibit, titled: "The Letting Go: A > Parkinson's Story" was shown at Bradley University for a time 1995-1996. > After some recognition by a national PD organization, it started to tour > the country, only to be pulled before it's tour was completed. It has > since been gathering dust in a building at Caterpiller. Well, I met this > remarkable woman recently & we became fast friends. Her father had died > in the meantime and while it has been painful for her to take another > look at this work, she has agreed that it must be used to help promote > awareness and hope in finding a cure. To this end, we have been working. > Here is a brief look at what we have been doing-We have scheduled the > work to be shown at Shore Acres Park in their beautiful, Tara-like > building overlooking the Illinois River, on the 10th & 11th of April.We > have been in touch with Susan Reuse (National Coordinator APDA Young PD > Information & Referal Center) who has already helped us out with a large > banner and a promise of materials to be used as handouts and other > information that we may need. Yesterday, joined by my friends, Sandy > Norris & Carter Stewart (fellow PWP's), we were interviewed by a TV > reporter from our local station, who has also ssaid that she would be > our spokesperson. She gathered enough info to do a series of stories on: > 1) the internet connection-the cyber support that we have found in our > pd chatroom which eventually brought the three of us together. We had > not met face-to-face before. 2) We talked about my upcoming collegen > injections for which i will undergo harvesting of skin cells on March > 19th. After 8-10 wks. to grow the collegen, it will be injected into my > vocal chords to help me speak again. As far as we know, this will be the > first time that this procedure will have been done in the Midwest. 3) > The actual plans for our PD Awareness Day. As plans unfold, there will > be more interviews. > My friend & co-hort, Tom Kelly (another PWP) is in charge of > contacting the > national organizations and seeing what kind of interest we can generate > there. The mayor of Chillicothe (whose uncle had PD) & the newly-elected > alderman (whose father & father-in-law both have PD) have both pledged > their support. The local newspaper interviewed us after the TV station > did. We have people working on t-shirts, refreshments, and finally > corporate sponsorship-to put this powerful work back on the road where > it can educate the public & raise, I hope awareness & money & help us to > find a cure! Sincerely, > > -- > Joan E. Snyder (47-8-10) <[log in to unmask]> > "In the depths of winter I finally learned there > was in me an invincible summer" Albert Camus > http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/snyder/page1.htm