Art Rosenblum, David Getzoff, Jim France, Sandy Grant, Kathy Osbun, Gloria Stubbs, Dana May Casperson, Ann Walker and Barbara France.
Board Members Absent:
Suzanne deKozan, George Irizary, Arlene Irizary, Davis Brown, Karen Lovvorn and Phyllis Sands. Also absent alternate Board Member, Marc Alexander.
Guests Attending:
Ron and Colleen Trouse
Call to Order:
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order at 10:05 a.m. by Chair/ President Kathy Osbun.
Approval of Minutes:
The minutes were approved with the following corrections: In two sections, Program and Efforts to find specialist care for PD patients, PSGSC is incorrectly identified as PGSC.
Under clinical Trials: David Getzoff suggested that “loss of ability to smell” should replace “loss of sense of smell” as an early symptom of Parkinson’s Disease.
Treasurer’s Report:
In addition to the income and expenses cited in the Treasurer’s Report, additional income and expenses for August include: Income of $308.30 from August meeting donation jar and $11.92 from tulip pins. Expenses of .54 sales tax and $11.96 Library expenses.
Fundraising:
Mary’s Pizza: October 9, 2013 will be the fundraising event at Mary’s Pizza on Summerfield Road. Since there will be no meeting in September, Kathy will have fliers at the October meeting as well as announcing it to the whole group.
Reminders will be included in the email announcing the October Meeting, and a separate email will be sent out the Monday (October 7) before the event on October 9 as a further reminder.
Tulip Pins: We have sold 151 of the original 300. Kathy thanked Dana May who brought the idea of the Tulip Pins before the Board. They have been quite popular with the group and new members seem particularly interested in them.
Data Base Update:
The original New Member Packets came from the Patient Support Group from the Sunnyvale Institute. We have received conflicting messages about whether or not they are going to continue to provide these and it has finally been determined that they will not be supplying anything that is useful to our purposes. Therefore, we will create our own. Gloria has started a collection of various materials that will be specific to our area.
There were 70 people at the August Meeting, including 9 new members.
Programs:
August speaker: Although we learned about the background of LSVT LOUD, it was unfortunate that the August speaker from the Swain Center did not have LSVT LOUD training and was unable to answer a few basic question asked about the program. Kathy Osbun had personal experience with her husband’s participation in the program and was able to give examples of how the program is run. Kathy was able to find out answers to specific questions asked by members attending. The cost is $85/hr and while some insurance complies cover the cost, Medicare does not. The Swain Center does offer a 15% discount to members of groups where they have made presentations.
Christmas Party: In Arlene’s absence, Kathy asked about the Fijian choir for the Christmas Party. Both Gloria and Dana May Casperson have contacts for them and they will contact them. The Christmas Party will be the 2nd Saturday in December and there is a $200 stipend for the group.
September Meeting: There will be no general meeting in September, but the Board will meet September 18.
October Meeting: Dr. Melanie Brandabur from the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale will speak about Living Well With Parkinson’s.
November Meeting: Susan Weigman, a Physical Therapist from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital will speak on issues of balance. Dr. Zhang: Kathy presented Dr. Zhang’s offer to schedule and see patients from our area at his clinic at the August meeting. Sandy suggested that this same information be sent out in an email to the whole group so that those unable to attend the August meeting would have the information.
Clinical Trials:
There will be a Parkinson’s conference at UCLA in October which Marc Alexander will attend. He has been asked to provide some input to that group about the areas of most interest to patients. Anyone with suggestions should contact Marc.
Resignation:
Kathy announced that she had received a letter of resignation from Jim France. Sandy made the motion to accept Jim’s resignation and Gloria seconded the motion. A voice vote accepted the resignation. Kathy expressed regret that Jim was leaving the Board and thanked him for his time. Jim’s place on the Board will be filled by Marc Alexander, presently an alternate Board Member. Sandy moved that Marc Alexander be elected to the Board, Gloria seconded the motion. A voice vote approved the motion.
Other Business:
Attending PSGSC member, Ron Trouse suggested that the facilitator of the groups should present a topic for discussion in the break out groups. Kathy suggested that the facilitators might have a topic in mind only if there is difficulty in furthering discussion by the participants. The patient break out groups are roughly divided between the newly diagnosed and those who have been coping for a longer time. This often leads to one group being significantly larger than the second. The facilitator has the job of keeping the conversation moving along, and making sure that all group members who wish to contribute or ask questions are able to do so.
The Men’s Breakfast Group which meets on the 1st and 3rd Fridays has been slowly dwindling down to a very few. Kathy thought this could be mentioned at the break out sessions.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m. by Kathy Osbun. The next Board meeting will be September 18, 2013, at the Brush Creek Senior Living.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara France, Recording Secretary