A special heartfelt thank you to everyone that participated in our 4^th Annual Ted Kroll Memorial Parkinson’s Awareness Walk that was held on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006. Your participation was given in many forms – as a walker or rocker at the event, a volunteer worker or perhaps a sponsor or donor for the Central New York Parkinson’s Support Group team. With your help, we enjoyed another successful year. We have raised approximately $20,000 + as of 9/28/06 and are still counting, donations continue to arrive daily. We had an attendance of 300 people supporting People with Parkinson’s Disease. A great time was had by all!!!

Benny Mardones, our 2006 PAW Honoree, enjoyed his time with us so much that weekend that he is looking forward to coming back to the PHCNY the early part of December. The plans are in the making to tie in our Holiday event with his performance on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Turning Stone Casino.

We continue to raise money for PAW by having 2 raffles for items that were donated to us. The drawing will be held around October 13. Stop by the Presbyterian Home for CNY if you would like to purchase a ticket. One raffle is for a rocking chair and the other is for a beautiful harvest theme basket filled with a harvest wreath, cornucopia ceramic cookie jar with matching napkin rings and salt & pepper shakers, just to name a few items.

Did you know that we have a wellness center on campus that can promote your good health, keep you in shape, is a great place to meet old and new friends, and it just plain makes you feel good? We will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary in November and we would love for you to stop by and visit us. The Wellness Center is located in the back of the Presbyterian Residential Community (PRC) and is open 7 days a week. Seniors & Staff: 5 am-8:30 am, 3 pm – 12:30 am. Seniors only: 8:30 am – 3 pm. Membership is easy – just a written clearance from your doctor and $25.00 per month is all you need. A personal trainer is available as well as additional exercise and educational program classes. For information, call 315-724-9300.

Parkinson’s and Exercise: An exercise program can improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s. You should start exercising as soon after the diagnosis as possible. Remember your worst course of action is to do nothing. Exercise can help you anticipate, prevent and delay symptoms. Exercise can help with stiffness, tremors, difficulty in balance and walking as well as difficulty speaking. A well designed exercise program can address all these symptoms.

Your workouts should be done daily if possible or every other day if you choose another physical activity on alternate days. Remember to start slowly, always warm-up and cool-down, pace yourself and do not be hard on yourself. (Maurine Farruggia -Wellness Center Trainer).

Did you know that aquatic classes are offered at the Presbyterian Rehabilitation Center? Come join our 6 week program that meets 2 times a week in a 4’ deep therapeutic pool that offers exercise, strengthening, and therapy sessions. For more information, call Betty at 315-272-2288.

CNYPSG Website

Check it out!!

Editor’s Note-- Our thanks go out to Cathy Hardy for consenting to write articles for our newsletter that will keep us up-to-date on the programs at the Presbyterian Home. Cathy is the Director of Development/Community Relations/Marketing at the Presbyterian Home for Central New York, Inc. NOM

http://esf.uvm.edu/vtbox/parkinson.html

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