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The Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter is the newest beneficiary of the Syracuse Auto Dealers Association’s Charity Preview. This annual event is one of the area’s most exclusive events, raising thousands of dollars for local non-profit organizations. The preview brings together fine food and great music with a sneak peak of the Syracuse Auto Expo.

The 2010 Charity Preview takes place from 6:30-1o p.m. on February 10, 2009 at the OnCenter Complex in Syracuse.

Tickets are on sale NOW! You can purchase individual tickets or corporate ticket packages from the Chapter.The easiest way is to download the special order form and submit it directly to SADA (Remember to select the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter as the benefiting charity!). If you would like the form mailed or faxed to you, contact Toni Ann Daley, chief development officer, at our Chapter Office. She can be reached by phone (315-472-4201 or 800-272-3900 x109) or e-mail.

AND, make sure to visit our special Charity Preview page at alzcny.org!

We’ve tried to keep you in the loop from each walk site on our Twitter account. Today, that just wasn’t possible. We needed every available hand to work with the more than 800 walkers that packed the Inner Harbor at this year’s walk — our 19th annual event in Syracuse.

The walk set a new fundraising record in ‘09, topping last year’s total. With funds still coming in online, we currently stand at $117,320.

Today’s walk was dedicated in memory of Bob Davidson. Bob passed away on September 2. He was a caregiver for his wife Helen, who died from Alzheimer’s in March. Bob was also the team captain for The Gang, a group of support group members from our bi-weekly meeting at The Hearth at James. The Gang was the top fundraising family and friends team, amassing $9,675.

Other award winners included:

• Top fundraising youth: Emily Salenger, Team Salenger, $540.
• Top fundraising adult: Betty Sutliff, $2,510.
• Top fundraising adult, runner-up: Penny Mulligan, $2,420.
• Top fundraising team, health-related: Loretto, $5,088.
• Top fundraising team, corporate: Lockheed Martin: $5,325.

Walkers in St. Lawrence County turned out in full force today, raising $31,800. This total bests last year’s tally by more than $4,000. There were more than 175 participants at today’s event in Canton.

Award winners included:

Top fundraising youth: Jonathan Hamilton of Bates Eight Plus, $1,825.

Top fundraising adult: Dale Grant of United Journeys, $2,100.
Top fundraising adult, runner up: Christy Browne, $1,500.

Top fundraising team, friends and family division: Bates Eight Plus,$5,000. Team captain Malcolm “Mac” Bates is pictured with (from left to right) Jennifer Grant, St. Lawrence Memory Walk committee chair; Tricia Bannister, Northern Regional Director for the Alzheimer’s Associatio, Central New York Chapter; and Cathy James, Central New York Chapter CEO.

Top fundraising team, healthcare division: United Journeys, $2,644.

Top fundraising team, corporate division: Community Bank, $1,186.

More than 340 people turned out to the Masonic Care Community today for Memory Walk 2009, raising $42,800 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Not only did we beat the rain, but we topped last year’s total in the Mohawk Valley by more than $10,000! We hope you followed us on Twitter for updates live from Utica. We’ll continue that at each walk this fall!

Pictured at right is the embodiment of Memory Walk. Team Jessie, led by Letha Palcynski, is represented by SIX generations of family members. Among the many feel good moments at today’s Mohawk Valley walk was meeting the team’s namesake, who is Letha’s sister. Jessie, who has Alzheimer’s, walked with her family today.

Award winners were:

Top Youth Fundraiser: Ashley Taylor, Sito’s Angels, $1,000.

Top Adult Fundraiser: Letha Palcynski, Team Jessie, $5,358.
Top Adult Fundraiser, runner-up: Brian Despins, Sito’s Angels, $4,240.

Top Fundraising Team — Family and Friends: Sito’s Angels, $10,212.
Top Fundraising Team — Healthcare-Related: Brookdale Clare Bridge of Clinton, $1,748.
Top Fundraising Team — Corporate: ACS, $2,222.

We will post additional pictures soon and have updates tomorrow from the St. Lawrence Memory Walk in Canton!

We’re about 42 hours away from the kickoff of our first Memory Walk and the excitement is running through the Chapter office. Boxes are packed, prizes have been delivered and the last details are being checked. Stay tuned to this website and our Twitter feed for regular updates from the walk site. We’ll unveil the final total on the blog and Twitter and keep you posted on the details of the day.

And, there’s still time to get involved in any of our Memory Walks. Head to Memory Walk Central and find the walk nearest you!

Research says that you may be able to reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by keeping your brain active. This means being social and challenging your mind with puzzles and other tasks. Together with Time Inc. Entertainment Publishing, the Alzheimer’s Association is pleased to present The Big Brain Puzzle Book. Proceeds of its sale will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. The book includes 200 puzzles, such as:

• Frame Games: Find an every day phrase hidden inside words or drawings of rebus puzzles.
• Spatial Visual: Answer questions while looking at 3-dimensional objects on a 2 dimensional page.
• Squeezers: Fill in the blanks with letters in the middle of two words creating two 2-syllable words.
• Word Search: Find words within blocks of letters going horizontally, diagonally or vertically.
• Trivia: Answer questions to seemingly obvious questions and learn something new in the process.
• Trickledowns: In five steps, changing one letter at a time, come up with a whole new word.

The book can be ordered from Amazon.com and is available at all Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

In today’s mail was this picture and a note from Southern Tier Regional Council member Karla Rizzuto of Binghamton.

Karla’s kids, Luka and Maxwell, and their friends, Peter, Gavin and Parker, pulled together their gently-used books and Pokemon cards for a sale, raising nearly $60 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Not bad for an afternoon of work! Karla’s note said that everyone who bought something got a free cup of lemonade.

In this photo, from left to right, are: Peter Kondrup, 11;  Maxwell Rizzuto, 6; Gavin Kondrup, 10; Luka Rizzuto, 8; and Parker Kondrup, 9.

The day program staff is cleaning, sanitizing and moving furniture as we write this post. So we’ll do some last-minute cleaning up of our reports on the renovation.

Our staff worked with the kitchen and bath department at Home Depot Store 1257 in Camillus, which contracted Stairs Home Improvement to complete the renovation. All told, the crew installed a new sink, faucet and garbage disposal (the dishwashers were fairly new and came over from the previous kitchen), 19.5 feet of laminate countertops,  nine wall-hung, six floor cabinets and a 24×84-inch pantry, a 33-inch Maytag refrigerator/freezer, 30-inch Maytag convection range and Maytag microwave and the natural gas line to power the stove and oven. They also demolished and removed the previous cabinetry, counters and appliances. The only thing we are waiting on is a new coffee brewer, which will be connected directly to the kitchen’s plumbing.

The ceilings in the kitchen, dining room and hallways were installed by Duger Enterprise. This job included nine new troffer light fixtures and a new drop ceiling.

An online photo album below has pictures from each step of the renovation.

Kitchen Renovation

The construction crews wrapped up just past 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Members of our staff took a few hours on Sunday to restock the kitchen.

Here’s the before…

And, here is the after:

Here’s the scene at the Kirkpatrick Day Program as of 11:45 a.m. today. Let’s call it our before picture.

The program closes today at 3 p.m. and construction crews move in at 4 p.m. today. On tap for this afternoon are ceiling updates and lighting enhancements to the kitchen, dining room, hallways and lobby. The lighting will changes will make common areas brighter and better serve the needs of our participants.

In the mean time, staff from the chapter office and day program will be moving chairs, packing cooking utensils, cookware, plates and silverware to make room for the contractors.

Ceiling repairs continue through Friday afternoon. The natural gas line is installed on Friday morning. Work on the kitchen begins during the day Friday and continues through Saturday evening. On Monday, staff will restock the kitchen, and clean and sanitize all areas.

We’ll be documenting the entire renovation and posting updates periodically each day.