Front page of today's Kennebec Journal, daily paper of Maine's capital, Augusta

[Camilla Flintermann <flintepc@xxxxxxxxxx>]

With Harold's permission I'm posting this excellent piece of public
relations on the lists:



>Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 09:29:08 -0400
>From: Harold Jones <harwin@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: Front page of today's Kennebec Journal,
> daily paper of Maine's capital, Augusta
>To: flintepc@xxxxxxxxxx
>Reply-to: harwin@xxxxxxx
>MIME-version: 1.0
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-priority: Normal
>Original-recipient: rfc822;flintepc@xxxxxxxxxx
>
>Camilla: I am no longer on list , but I wanted to share with you an article
>which highlights the Maine Parkinson Society efforts to build awareness of
>PD in our state by using the beautiful spring flowers of tulips for a
>symbol. Karen worked with Ann Rutherford to bring their successful ideas to
>Maine. MS and MD have such a higher awareness than PD. In the long run,
>success in Congress will be based on public awareness of the depth of PD
>incidence . We have found print media to be very helpul to us in the short
>life of our organization. We have formed an alliance with APDA so as to
>maximize our impact.
>
>Harold L. Jones
>
> Thursday, October 14, 1999
>
>                   Flower power
>                   Parkinson's tulips raise awareness
>
>                   By MECHELE COOPER, Staff Writer
>                   Copyright © 1999 Blethen Maine Newspapers
>                   Inc.
>                                                        E-mail this story
>to a friend
>
>                   AUGUSTA ? Michael J. Fox, Mohammed Ali and Janet Reno have
>   something in common with Karen Bardo.They all were diagnosed with
>Parkinson's disease.
>  Bardo, 46, a Cony High School graduate who lives in Alna, was diagnosed
>with the disease three      years ago.
>
>   In her search for more information on Parkinson's disease, Bardo,
>anadministrative secretary with the Wiscasset School Department, conducted
>a search on the  Internet. Stumbling upon an
> Internet support group called the Parkinson's Information Exchange, she
>found a way to
> cope with her affliction ? by helping others.
>
> In Canada, Dr. James Parkinson Colour Tulip Bulbs are sold by Parkinson's
>disease support
> groups as a way to raise awareness and funds for research.
>The red tulip with white edges  was named after Dr. James Parkinson, who
>first described the
> symptoms of Parkinson's disease in 1817. J.W.S. Vander Wereld, a
>Dutch horticulturist with Parkinson's disease, developed and registered
>the Dr. James Parkinson Tulip in 1981.
> Bardo, who last year founded the Maine Parkinson Society with Greg
>Leeman, a 39-year-old from Portland who has had the disease for 10 years,
>wanted to sell the tulips in Maine.
>
>                   "Newfoundland's support groups use the Dr. James
>Parkinson Tulip very successfully to raise awareness, and as a symbol of
>their hope for  a cure," Bardo said. "I really liked this idea, so I
>e-mailed Anne  Rutherford in Newfoundland and started asking her
>questions about selling the Parkinson tulip here in Maine. Anne's help
>has played a major role in the first year's success of MEPS' tulip
>project."
>In June, the organization took 8,400 orders for the tulips. Public
>"Gardens of Hope" will be planted in Augusta, Brunswick and Wiscasset. The
>Kennebec Savings Bank in Augusta purchased 500  tulip bulbs, and the city
>of Augusta received a donation of 200 from Bardo's father, Harold Jones,
>who lives in Augusta andis the group's  secretary.   "One of our main
>missions is to get more services in
>Maine," Bardo  said. "There are no movement disorder specialists here.
>I go to a neurologist in Bath, but people in the more advanced stages end
>up seeing specialists, and they have to leave the state. A lot of them go
>to   Boston, and a lot of them don't even go to neurologists;
>they see general practitioners."
>  Parkinson's is perceived as an older person's disease, Bardo said, but
>one-third of those diagnosed are younger than 50. People with
>Parkinson's disease stop producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that
>carries messages from one part of the brain to another. By the time the
>disease is diagnosed, 80 percent of the chemical has left the body.
> Carl Barker, a retired financial planner and stockbroker whose wife,
>Nancy, has Parkinson's disease, is president of the American   Parkinson
>Disease Association, State of Maine Chapter.  Barker, who sent Parkinson
>tulips to Michael J. Fox via his Boston   specialist, agrees with Bardo
>that there is a need for greater awareness    in the state and more
>funding for research programs.
>  "There are a good many people in Maine and around the nation who   have
>Parkinson's, and it receives the lowest level of funding," Barker said.
>"The National Institute of Health gave over $1,000*
>per patient  for AIDS, and Parkinson's in the area of $30*per patient." In
>Maine, there are five support groups under the American  Parkinson's
>Association. Bardo said the Maine Parkinson Society has been working with
>this group. In April, they cooperated on World Awareness Day, and in
>September the groups sponsored a Parkinson conference in Portland. She
>said they will join forces
>to start an  information referral center. Bardo's father, Harold Jones,
>retired senior vice
>president of Fleet  Bank, said he became involved with the Maine Parkinson
>Society as a way to support his daughter.  "For our first year, we were
>quite successful; there will be two fairly   large tulip gardens in
>Augusta," Jones said. "We feel it's important that   information is given
>to the public. Parkinson's is less known than any  other disease, and
>there are more people with
>Parkinson's than  multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig Disease and muscular
>dystrophy  combined. It's estimated that there are about 7,000 in
>Maine."
> Dave Gomeau, Augusta city arborist, chose Lithgow Public Library   for
>the 200 tulip bulbs donated by Jones. The bulbs were planted on  Wednesday
>as part of the continuation of the entrance
>gardens to the  library.  "After the tulips go, we'll plan our annuals for the
>summer, and in the   summer, mums," Gomeau said. "This is one of our 18
>garden sites that   the city maintains."
>
>                MAINE TODAY | Press Herald Online | WGME NewsChannel 13 |
>Maine
>
        *NOTE: I do believe the figures for funding are not accurate, froim
what I've seen lately.
        Camilla

Camilla Flintermann, CG for Peter 81/70/55
Oxford, Ohio

<flintepc@xxxxxxxxxx>

                        "Ask me about the CARE list for
                        Caregivers of Parkinsonians ! "