Parkinson's: A Parkinson's Puzzle Hunt

 

A Journey Into Parkinson's with Nancy Mellon
Coordinated by Ducks, Corrine Bayraktaroglu

A Parkinson's Puzzle Hunt

The Games afoot!  Excitement is brewing! Holly Underwood and I had  our first meeting with Caroline Mullin, Executive Director and Corinne Pelzl Program Assistant,  of the YS Senior Center, to discuss the Parkinson's Puzzle Hunt event. Holly came up with that snazzy title. Holly and I had gone back and forth about what to call this event. Is it a treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt? Turns out there are also Puzzle Hunts! Who da thunk?

“A puzzle hunt is an event where people, solve a series of puzzles. The puzzles result in an answer, which is generally a word, short phrase, or name.”

“Then there are the  Meta puzzles which are bigger puzzles.  To solve the Meta puzzle, you have to solve most or all of the normal puzzles, and then use the answers you’ve gotten to solve the meta puzzle.”

We are not sure if that is the form that this hunt will take  We know we want participants to go out and about downtown Yellow Springs looking for clues. The hunt may be a hybrid of Treasure Hunt, Scavenger Hunt and Puzzle Hunt.  It is still a mystery to be solved.  (Ah, our first puzzle:-) No matter what, it will be a splendid adventure for a great cause! 

It was an energy raising conversation with a lot of ideas being tossed around. Holly is our puzzle expert.  She loves puzzles!  And Caroline brings so much enthusiasm and creative ideas to planning a community event that it is awe inspiring! 

So far we have a tentative date for a Saturday, in the middle of July.  Caroline is going to check on the other non profits in town, to make sure we don't have event conflicts.

We are very chuffed to say The Parkinson's Puzzle Hunt is a fundraiser for the Parkinson's Foundation.

On their web site, Parkinson's Org, they say: “We have everything you need to live better with Parkinson's. Support our mission to improve care and advance research toward a cure. “

The first thing I did when I found out I had Parkinson's was call their helpline. IT WAS WONDERFUL. I have called twice and both times, I got a warm, friendly person who listened to my questions and then gave me great advice..

 “Call the Parkinson's Foundation Helpline 1-800-4PD-INFO (1-800-473-4636) for answers to your Parkinson’s disease (PD) questions. Staffed by nurses, social workers and health educators, the Parkinson's Foundation Helpline is here to support you in any possible way, including:

                Current disease information

                Medical issues including symptoms and treatments

                Health and social care

                Referrals to health professionals and community resources for local support.

                The Parkinson's Foundation Helpline is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET. We can assist you in either English or Spanish. “

I have also attended their online classes and their workshops and Talks by Experts and downloaded loads of information. And I asked for and got their Aware in Care Bag. It was all free.  They are a marvelous source of help for people with Parkinson's.

e HELPLINE: 1-800-4PDINFO (473-4636)

,OK, back to the planning for the hunt.  Participants can join as a single person or a team of up to 4 members.  (You get to name your team- I hope that I can get my guys to go as the Marx Brothers team and wear Groucho Marx glasses as they figure out the puzzles.)  We all went 'WOW!” when Caroline suggested that for people with mobility issues, or if they can't be present for any reason,  (maybe they are from another state or country?) they can still participate remotely on their phone or computer by a Senior Center zoom link.  It could be with team mates of their own choosing OR  Holly suggested with a puzzle hunt team leader.  

The event will begin at the Senior Center to pick up your puzzle stuff (more on that later in another post) and end at the Senior Center, where the prizes will be given out!

 AND Holly and I have a date for traipsing around downtown Yellow Springs to locate places for the puzzles to happen. 

We are on our way!

That's all for now folks.

Nancy & the Snark

Footnotes From Corrine
I am so excited that you are doing this and with such a GREAT team. It fits so many boxes: Art, Community, Fun and a Fundraiser. 

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