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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.

Last year, we packed ballrooms in Utica and Johnson City for our first A Night to Remember events. It seemed that everyone who attended stopped to tell us that they would be back next year. Today’s the day to get your calendars ready and make plans to join us for 2010.

A Night to Remember returns for the new year in new locations. Join us in the Mohawk Valley on April 9, from 7-10 p.m., at Valentino’s Banquet Hall in New Hartford. In the Southern Tier, join us from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on April 29 at The Binghamton Regency.

This is the second annual event in both areas. 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, which are outlined at our website. In the Mohawk Valley, the event is presented by Brookdale Senior Living Clare Bridge Clinton and Villas Sherman Brook. Susquehanna Nursing and Rehabilitation Center presents the Southern Tier edition.

General admission tickets for both events are $50 and VIP tickets are $75. A Night to Remember tickets can be purchased online or over the phone. Call (315) 617-4025 x117 in the Mohawk Valley or (607) 785-7852 x106 in the Southern Tier.

It’s been a couple of weeks since we checked in last with our Memory Walk totals. We are pleased to report that we have topped the $328,000 mark as of Tuesday. This is the best Memory Walk season the Central New York Chapter has ever had and the third consecutive year that we’ve broken our own fundraising record. Each individual walk smashed its own records

Mohawk Valley: $43,500
St. Lawrence: $33,300
Jefferson-Lewis: $57,300
Southern Tier: $72,750
Greater Syracuse: $121,500

The hard work of our committees and walkers continues to pay off. We plan to close our online fundraising sites on October 30 at 3 p.m., so get any last minute funds posted so that they will be counted!

Just because walk is over does not mean the money stops coming in. Between matching gifts, mail-in donations and visitors to our website, we continue to raise funds for each and every walk.

Through Noon on Saturday, here is where we stand for each walk:

• Mohawk Valley: $42,940
• St. Lawrence: $33,117
• Jeff-Lewis: $54,512
• Southern Tier: $69,82
• Greater Syracuse: $117,330

All said and done, the Central New York Chapter had its most successful Memory Walk season ever — $317,720.

We will keep updating you over the next couple of weeks on how we stand. Remember, donations dated through October 31 will count towards this year’s walks!

On behalf of the Central New York Chapter staff, we thank each and every one of you for time and support.

United Methodist Homes’ record-breaking performance set the pace for today’s Southern Tier Memory Walk. UMH, which was also the presenting sponsor, became the first Memory Walk team in CNY Chapter history to raise more than $25,000 by amassing a team total of $28,440. Overall, the walk raised $68,359 with more than 510 walkers at Otsiningo Park.

Pictured are two of our most devoted Memory Walk participants. Brianna Hulbert, left) and Bert White have taken part in Memory Walk for more years than any of us at the chapter can remember. Brianna is a student at Newfield Central School and annually wins the top youth fundraiser award. Bert, who lives in Candor, is a past Memory Makers award winner, and has won the top adult fundraising title on a number of occasions.

Today’s award winners included:

• Top youth fundraiser: Brianna Hulbert, The Memory Bank, $380.
• Top adult fundraiser: Bert White, $1,760.
• Top adult fundraiser, runner-up: Shannon Delker, $1,501.
• Top friends and family team: Team Bert White, $2,175.
• Top corporate team: Levene, Gouldin & Thompson, $1,300.

The walkers from United Methodist Homes will hold a fish fry on September 25 to support their Memory Walk efforts. Doug’s Fish Fry will be selling takeout dinners and sandwiches from UMH’s Elizabeth Church Manor location at 863 Front St. in Binghamton. People can stop by between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to pick up a dinner and support the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Pirates of the Susquehanna’s Island Beach Party on August 15 brought together the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter with the Southern Tier chapter of the the official Jimmy Buffet fan club. The event raised $600 to support the Pirates’ Memory Walk team.

At right, Jane Hudreck, the Alzheimer’s Association, Central New York Chapter’s Southern Tier Regional Director accepts a check for the proceeds of the party from Don Winfield, the Pirates’ vice president of community service.

There’s plenty of time to register for the Southern Tier Memory Walk on September 20. Visit our Memory Walk online headquaters to learn more!

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.

More locations to look for Memory Walk stickers, this time in the Southern Tier:

Bud’s Place and Fritzy’s in Apalachin, Joe’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in Endicott, Mario’s in Owego, MichaelAngelo’s in Binghamton, the four Nirchi’s locations in Binghamton and Endicott, Papa John’s stores in Binghamton and Owego and the Dugout Sports Bar and Pizzeria. In addition, RealtyUSA and Levene, Gouldin and Thompson are distributing the stickers with their billing and correspondence.

Saturday’s Island Beach Party at Johnson City’s Blind Tiger Pub was a smash. Thanks to the Pirates of the Susquehanna, the Southern Tier chapter of Parrotheads in Paradise, for putting the party on. The Parrotheads are the official national fan club of Jimmy Buffet and a national team sponsor for Memory Walk (Buffet’s father died in 2003 from Alzheimer’s).

The party featured a Jimmy Buffet tribute band, raffles and prizes and a Memory Walk enrollment area. Check out our pictures from the party by clicking the link below.

Parrothead Party-Binghamton