The Board of Directors of the Michigan Parkinson Foundation held its annual meeting, electing the following Officers:

Ronald Sollish, JD, Chairman
Dr. Peter A. LeWitt, President
William Suminski, Vice Chairman
Lawrence Millman, CPA, Treasurer
Robert Berlow, JD, Secretary

New Officer, William Suminski, Vice Chairman
Mr. Suminski is a Vice President, Procurement, at Comerica. In his capacity on the MPF Board, he has been active as chairman of the Volunteer Committee and participates actively in fund raising and other efforts. Mr. Suminski lives in Clinton Township.

We wish to thank Dr. Paul Cullis for holding this office for the last several years.

Michigan Parkinson Foundation is pleased to announce the election of the following new Board Members:

Maxine Meach		Maxine Meach founded the Grand Traverse Area Parkinson’s Education and Support Program over twenty years ago. Her husband, Charles, had PD and she was quick to recognize the needs of people affected by PD and their families for support and education. She has been the stalwart champion in the Grand Traverse region, fostering services, education and support, including the Summer Forum which attracts over 200 people from around the state the first Thursday of June. She lives in Traverse City.
Tyrone Baharozian, JD		Tyrone Baharozian is an attorney, graduating from University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School. His focus is general law, initially serving as an Assistant City Attorney and Assistant Prosecutor. Mr. Baharozian, whose mother had Parkinson’s, has been very actively involved in MPF walk-a-thons He and his family live in Berkeley.

Thank you to William Putney and Fred Elias for serving a term on the Board of Directors.

New Support Group Facilitators

Support Groups are represented by Regional Liaisons to the Board. The following individuals were elected for a 2-year term:

Northern and Upper Michigan Region - Suzanne Holguin		Suzanne Holguin is a registered nurse, living in Petoskey and hailing originally from St. Ignace, having taken her nursig degrees at Lake Superior State University. She currently heads the Petoskey Parkinson’s Support Group (as well as other groups) at the Friendship Center where she is the Assessment Nurse and is an adjunct instructor in medical surgical nursing at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey.
Mid Michigan Region - Carolyn Weaver		As a person with young onset Parkinson’s Disease, Carolyn Weaver has been making an impact with her volunteer work as co-facilitator of the Bay City Young Onset Support Group and with Parkinson Disease Foundation’s Clinical Research Learning Institute. She lives in Freeland with her husband and travels extensively with her job in marketing for a physicians’ group.
Southeast Michigan Region - Anne Hansen reelected to 1 year term		Anne Hansen, who lives in Royal Oak, is a social worker at Clarkston Specialty Health Care. She has been actively involved on the Board of Directors in helping to educate support groups and the public about Parkinson’s disease. She also has a background in public relations.

We would like to thank Joan Jackson of the Tri-City Saginaw Support Group and Kara LaMarre of the Alpena Support Group for the terrific work they did in their role as Facilitator Liaisons to the Board for the past three year.

Other Board Members who were re-elected are:

• Dr. Paul A. Cullis, who also sits on MPF Professional Advisory Board
  Chief of Neurology, St. John Hospital, Associate clinical Professor of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine. (offices in Roseville and Detroit, lives in Bloomfield)
  
• Robyn Gorell, Vice President, Marx and Layne (lives in W. Bloomfield)
  
• Nanette Michaels, Chief Operating Officer, OptimEyes (lives in Chesterfield)
  
• Lawrence Millman, CPA, Principal of Grant, Millman, Johnson P.C. in Novi (lives in Commerce Township)
  
• Ronald Sollish, JD, Attorney, Maddin Hauser Wartell Roth & Heller, PC, who also holds the position of Chairman, MPF (Lives in Huntington Woods)

New Groups Affiliating with MPF

Please note that we now have an overall listing of support group meeting dates on our website calendar as well as on the Support Group link. Use these pages to find a support group in your area.

We are pleased to announce the affiliation of the following support groups with the Michigan Parkinson Foundation:

Hillsdale: To begin Thursday, January 7, 2009
Meetings will be held the first Thursday of each month at 3:30 pm
Location: Hillsdale Senior Center, Lower Level
320 W. Bacon, Hillsdale, MI 49242
Contact: Kathryn Thomas: (800)479-3348 or (517)437-2422

Frenchtown (Monroe): Meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 1:00 pm
Location: Frenchtown Senior Center
2786 Vivian Road, Monroe MI 48162
Facilitator: Jenny Asmar, MSW
For information, call: (734) 243-6210

Escanaba: Meets 2nd Tuesday of each month at 3:00 pm
Location: Bay de Noc Community College, M-Tec Center, Rm. 220
Escanaba MI 49729
Contact: Michael Oxford (989)428-2549

West Bloomfield: Meets the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm
Location: Jewish Family Service, Administration Entrance
6555 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield MI 48322
Contact: Erella Reichman, MSW (248) 592-2657

New Location for Downriver Support Group: (meets the 4th Tuesday at 7:00 pm)
The Downriver Support Group is moving to: Westfield Activity Center
2700 Westfield, Trenton MI 48183
Contact: Morley Juby (734)671-0020

We also wish to thank Kara LaMarre for her years as Facilitator of the Alpena Parkinson’s Support Group. Donna Precord and Georgene Anderson will be interim leaders along with others.

2009 Night of Thousand Stars Fundraiser Event

The spectacular Steinway Piano Gallery of Detroit in Commerce, MI was a perfect setting for Michigan Parkinson Foundation’s Night of A Thousand Stars benefit on Saturday, November 7, 2009. This evening celebrated the progress made toward achieving the dreams and hopes of the Michigan Parkinson Foundation and the Michigan Parkinson community. Read more and view pictures from the Gala event.