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New York State’s Alzheimer’s Association Chapters saw a 17-year fight come to an end yesterday when Gov. David Paterson signed the Family Health Care Decisions Act. This historic legislation allows family members to step in and make informed, humane decisions about their loved one’s care when no directives have been made.“I could not be more pleased to sign this bill into law today as it will help ensure patients receive medical care more quickly and will help avoid unnecessary suffering,” Governor Paterson said. “After nearly two decades of negotiations, New Yorkers now have the right to make health care decisions on behalf of family members who cannot direct their own care.”

This legislation is particularly important to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. As the disease destroys a person’s cognitive abilities, making informed decisions about care may not be possible. The FHCDA allows family members to make the decisions which respect the wishes of their loved one. It also encourages New Yorkers to make plans in advance, declaring a health care proxy and defining their wishes in writing.

The Coalition of New York State Alzheimer’s Associations, of which the Central New York Chapter is a member, was a longtime advocate of the act’s passage.

Read, listen and watch coverage of the bill signing:

• 17-year quest for end-of-life law yields reform (Albany Times Union)
• Gov. Paterson Signs New Health Overhaul Law (WRVO)
• Paterson signs law allowing medical decisions without proxies (Your News Now)

Yesterday was one of the biggest days of the year at the Chapter. Our annual Facts & Figures report garners media attention from throughout the 14 counties and is a catalyst in motivating people for our cause. Here’s a rundown of newspaper articles and television reports from yesterday:

• WSYR-TV (Syracuse), which focused on Clay caregiver Tami Schanbacher.
• Syracuse.com/Post-Standard (Syracuse), which featured the report in its news and health sections
• The Observer-Dispatch (Utica), which had a lengthy article feature an interview with Saquoit caregiver Patrick Inserra.
• WKTV-TV (Utica), which featured Janice Durant, a caregiver from Oneida Castle. WKTV is a member of the Alzheimer’s Early Detetction Alliance and reporter/anchor Megan Koskovich is a member of our event planning committees.
• WWNY-TV (Watertown), which featured Limerick caregiver Yvonne Thompson and her husband Cecil. WWNY is also an AEDA member and news anchors Brian Ashley and Anne Richter-Ashley are longtime friends of the Chapter.
• News10Now (CNY), which reported the statistics.
• WAER-FM (Syracuse) conducted an interview with Tully caregiver and Chapter volunteer Kris Terrillion.
• The Ithaca Journal and The Press Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton) ran articles summarizing the statistics and the disease impact on the Southern Tier community.

WRVO-FM also taped a lengthy feature with Chapter CEO Catherine James and a 54-year-old Syracuse woman living with Alzheimer’s that will run this week.

We also put the call out to GO PURPLE! on March 9 and are pleased to see as many people as we did wearing purple in support of the cause, as our friends at WKTV and WWNY did. We are also pleased to report that more than 75 people became our friends on Facebook yesterday, a trend we are looking to continue over the coming weeks. If you are on Facebook and haven’t done so already, become a fan of our page. Once you become our friend, make sure to invite your Facebook friends to become part of the cause.

In the time it takes to read this post, someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease. Every 70 seconds, another American joins the 5.3 million people living with this devastating illness.

Since 1982, the Alzheimer’s Association has led the fight to defeat this disease. We are the only organization in American providing support to families touched by Alzheimer’s and funding the research that will lead to a cure.

On March 9, we are asking you to Go Purple! to bring awareness to our cause. It’s easy to do:

• Wear a purple article of clothing.
• Change the color of your e-mail signature to purple for the day.
• Light a candle at our Virtual Rally.
• Register for Memory Walk.
• Become an advocate.
• Subscribe to alzmail
• Encourage your friends, and Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same.

You play an important role in heightening the community’s knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and our cause.

Thank you for all of your hard work!

So many of our friends joined us for our first benefit night at the Syracuse Crunch last spring that we wanted to repeat the occasion in 2010!

Make plans to join us on Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. as the Crunch take on the Amerks, their AHL rivals from Rochester. Tickets are $15 with special ticket packages available. A 10-ticket pack is $140 and includes scoreboard recognition, while 20 tickets are $260 and include scoreboard recognition and a game program insert. A portion of the ticket cost will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter.

We will also have a table on the concourse, where we will sell raffle tickets and distribute information. Let’s pack our section in 2010!

To be part of our section, you can’t just buy tickets at the window or online. You must contact the Syracuse Crunch at (315) 473-4444 x25 to place your order. Your tickets will be mailed directly to you. Remember to mention that you are part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s group!

Tuesday marked one of our most successful trips to Albany ever. The Central New York Chapter joined its sister chapters from throughout the state, forming a group of nearly 200 strong. Our team from Central New York started early, joining a bus carrying our friends from the Western New York Chapter.

Alzheimer’s Association staff, people with the disease and Alzheimer’s caregivers all made pleas to legislators from throughout New York State to preserve funding for our programs and advance a Silver Alert Bill–an Amber Alert-like system to assist the return of people with Alzheimer’s disease who wander from home.

If you were not able to join us but want to make your voice heard, register online to become an advocate. We provide all of the resources you need to make an impact. All you have to do is provide the voice.

The incentives to buy a ticket for A Night to Remember presented by Brookdale Senior Living continue to grow.

Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter staff and volunteers will sell tickets to the event February 11-13 at Sangertown Square. Every ticket purchased for the event — April 9, 2010, from 7-10 p.m., at Valentino’s Banquet Hall in New Hartford — at the mall earns a chance to win limousine transportation to and from the event, courtesy of Adonis-Avanti Transportation.

Tickets are $50 for general admission and $75 for a VIP ticket and can be purchased by phone at 315-617-4025 x117 or online at www.alzcny.org. General admission tickets only are for sale at Curves fitness centers in Herkimer, Little Falls, New Hartford and Utica. Guests who purchase a ticket at a Curves location will receive a free aqua massage from Body Solutions Salon & Spa in Whitesboro.

A Night to Remember is aimed at pampering local women, who sacrifice spending time on themselves as they juggle busy personal, family and professional lives. It features local therapists and aestheticians providing massages, manicures and other services. Businesses, including jewelers, artisans and clothing shops, will display their products to the more than 250 people expected to attend. A new VIP ticket level offers exclusive benefits, including one-hour of early access to exhibitors and activities, a special food and wine pairing and VIP gift. The event is presented by Brookdale Senior Living Clare Bridge Clinton and Villas Sherman Brook. Last year’s event attracted nearly 200 people.

The message behind the Bill DiCosimo Quartet’s new album “Threads” is a deeply personal one. The Syracuse-based jazz troupe blends Latin, vocal and instrumental jazz into 12 tracks on their second album, but the message is the backbone of each composition.

DiCosimo, who is also the chair of the music industry department at Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts, was the primary caregiver for his father during his journey with Alzheimer’s disease. With his father’s passing in 2007, DiCosimo put his group on hiatus. Three years later, the group reformed, recorded and released “Threads.” The album, released just after the New Year, is dedicated to DiCosimo’s father.

DiCosimo (pictured at right) highlighted three tracks from the album for us. The first song, “Gone From This World,” speaks some about his father, but more to the greater picture of looking into the mirror and helping your fellow man. The title track, and its Spanish version “Hilos,” are written specifically in his father’s memory. DiCosimo said the tracks were his way of expressing the anguish of watching his father’s descent and passing from Alzheimer’s.

Proceeds from the sale of Threads will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter. The album is currently available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com. CD’s or downloadable versions are available at CDBaby.com.

Right around Christmastime, we were cleaning out some old files when we ran across a virtual treasure trove of old photos and newspaper clippings. What we once thought was lost or undocumented brought to life more than 25 years of our past. Images of the renovation of our Syracuse Chapter Office and Day Program building in the mid-1980s, Memory Walks from throughout the region and our Carrier Dome concession stand opened a window to the past which for many of us here at the Chapter lived only in story form. At right is the former Syracuse Brace Company building, which now houses our Chapter office on West Kirkpatrick Street.

Take a look back with us online as we celebrate our past.

Each August, the Cowden family comes together and celebrates the life of their family patriarch with a golf tournament. Since its inception in 2004, the tournament — organized by brothers Michael and Jerry Cowden — has raised nearly $100,000 for research and local programs.

Just before Christmas,  the Cowden family announced that the tournament’s final tally for 2009 was $25,000. At right, Chapter CEO Cathy James accepts the proceeds from Jerry Cowden.

Learn more about the tournament, its namesake and ways to get involved at the tournament’s official website.

Tickets can be purchased now for A Night to Remember, presented by Brookdale Senior Living. The 2010 event is scheduled for April 9, 2010, from 7-10 p.m., at Valentino’s Banquet Hall in New Hartford.

Tickets are $50 for general admission and $75 for a VIP ticket and can be purchased by phone at 315-617-4025 x117 or online at our secure ticket center. General admission tickets only are for sale at Curves fitness centers in Herkimer, Little Falls, New Hartford and Utica. Guests who purchase a ticket at a Curves location will receive a free aqua massage from Body Solutions Salon & Spa in Whitesboro.

A Night to Remember is aimed at pampering local women, who sacrifice spending time on themselves as they juggle busy personal, family and professional lives. It features local therapists and aestheticians providing massages, manicures and other services. Businesses, including jewelers, artisans and clothing shops, will display their products to the more than 250 people expected to attend. A new VIP ticket level  offers exclusive benefits, including one-hour of early access to exhibitors and activities, a special food and wine pairing and VIP gift. The event is presented by Brookdale Senior Living Clare Bridge Clinton and Villas Sherman Brook. Last year’s event attracted nearly 200 people.