My travels in January 2010

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 12:23

Timmins, Ontario

On Jan 12,13& 14 I had the pleasure of traveling to the northern Ontario town of Timmins. The Alzheimer’s Society of Timmins organized three separate screenings of the film in their area. On the evening of January 12^th, we had a public screening at the Timmins Vocational High School, there were about twenty people who attended and the presentation went very well. On January 13^th the film screened at CARE 3, which was a full day conference featuring some great presentations. There were over 100 professionals, caregivers and people from the community. I was fortunate to present the film in the afternoon, which was great timing because all the morning presentations involved different kinds of information about Alzheimer’s and dementia. Screening the film in the afternoon was perfect for people to see a very personal story and a great example of the disease. I even got a standing ovation! The final presentation was again at the high school to over 100 students, which was great! It was the first time I had presented to a group of students and I think it’s very important to help educate the younger generation about Alzheimer’s. I just want to thank everyone who helped out with the screenings and to all the great people I met along the way! Thanks Kayla, Sandra and Steph and everyone else at Alzheimer’s Timmins!

After a short stop back at home, Kim and Nathan and I headed out on a road trip to Southern Ontario for four presentations in a row! We left on Monday, January 18 for the long drive. This would be Nathan’s first time in the car for this long, but he ended up being really good and slept most the way. On Monday night we made it to Oakville to stay with my brother and his family. Thanks to Nathan’s cousins, Polly and Emily, for all their help!

Kitchener, Ontario

On Tuesday January 19^th we were up early and off to Kitchener for the first of four presentations. I presented that evening at the Kitchener Public Library, which is an amazing facility and organization. Kim and Nathan had a lot of fun checking everything out while the film was playing. We had a great turn out of more than one hundred and thirty people. The question and answer period after the film was great and everyone seemed to want to find out more about the making of the film and the disease. Again, I’d like to thank everyone at the Kitchener chapter who did an amazing job of promoting the event. From newspapers and radio shows to community events listings, it seemed I got a new “Google Alert” almost everyday about the screening in Kitchener. Thanks again, Charlotte for all your hard work!!!!

Cambridge, Ontario

The next day, after a very comfortable night at the Hampton Inn, Kim and Nathan and I did a little shopping in Kitchener and a relaxing afternoon at the hotel, Nathan even had a nice long nap. That night, Wednesday January 20, we had a short drive down to Cambridge to do the next presentation. The screening was at the Cambridge City Hall, which is a beautiful building and two screens were ready to show the film. Again it was another great turn out, I believe just around one hundred people coming out to see the film. And again, there were many questions and some great discussions. For a lot of these presentations, instead of people asking questions, they just start telling me about their own situations and the problems they are having. In a way it’s almost like a big support group every night. Thank you, Jennifer for all your hard work and thanks to the Cambridge chapter of the Alzheimer’s Society for a successful presentation.

St.Catherine’s, Ontario

My third presentations was in the beautiful town of St. Catherine’s, again we were up early and on the road to try and make it there by noon. Kim had a meeting at Ridley College and before that we met a colleague of hers for lunch. While Kim was off to do her presentation, Nathan and I hung out at the Holiday Inn where we read a bunch of books. That night, Thursday January 21, the screening was held in the auditorium at the Linhaven Home for the Aged. For the third night on a row more then one hundred people showed up for the screening! I don’t usually watch as the film plays at these screenings, not because it’s emotional to watch, but because I have seen it so many times! But for this screening it was a bit hard for me, because Linhaven reminded me a lot of where my father lived before he died. It was a very nice place. After the film there was more great discussion and questions and even more people coming up to me to talk after the Q&A. Thanks to Teena and all the girls for the great dinner before the presentation and all their hard work in putting on the event.

Mississauga, Ontario

It was finally Friday and we were off to the final presentation. I think at this point Nathan was getting a little bit tired of his car seat, but he was still being great! We made it to Mississauga by noon and checked in to our room. This time we were not staying in a hotel, but the Alzheimer’s Society of Peel had reserved a room for us at Origin Evergreen Retirement Community, which is a beautiful place. Our room was a one bedroom suite with all our meals included. I would like to thank everyone at Origin for making us feel so welcome! As luck would have it the screening was also going to be held at the theatre just downstairs from our room. I was very happy not to have to drive to the event. The theatre was state of the art and the film sounded great! I always care about the sound of my productions! There were about 30 people at the screening, but again everyone was interested in watching my story and talking about it afterwards. Thanks to Katie, Donna and everyone else at Alzheimer’s Peel. And Nathan thanks you for Duncan the teddy bear!

Kingston, Ontario

So after another short weekend at home, On Tuesday Jan 26 I was off to Kingston, Ontario for another screening. The Alzheimer’s Society of Kingston had setup a screening at the Seniors Association. Kingston is such a great town, I’ve always liked visiting there. There were about thirty people who came out to the presentation and again it was well received. I believe that people can really relate to the film, especially those who are going through the same thing. I also believe people like the fact that the film tells the truth about what a family goes through. After the screening I had a nice walk around downtown Kingston and stopped into a small pub for a drink and something to eat. Thanks again to Sara and everyone at the Alzheimer’s Society for inviting me to Kingston.

Sharbot Lake, Ontario

About an hour north of Kingston up highway 38, there is the small community of Sharbot Lake, you will find it just before you hit highway 7. The screening was held at the local church, which is attached to the Alzheimer’s Society. This chapter of the society was only started in the spring of 2009, but there was an obvious need in this small community for help and I commend them on their hard work. The screening was on Wednesday afternoon and about fifteen people were there and almost all of them were caregivers and again could relate to the film. I would like to thanks Candace at the Alzheimer’s Society for inviting me to this great small town. I would also like everyone at the Inn for a great stay and a great diner!

The Reframe Film Festival -Peterborough, Ontario

My final stop in January was in Peterborough. This screening was a little bit different. It took place as a part of the Reframe Film Festival. The film has only played at about ten film festivals at this point and I really enjoy attending film festivals, especially if my film is playing at it. The film screened at 5pm on Friday at the Showplace theatre, to about forty people. As well it was great to have some of the Alzheimer’s Society of Peterborough on hand to talk with as well. I wish I could have stayed for the full festival, but after being away for four days, I really needed to get back to Kim and Nathan. Thank you Wanda!

Wow what a Month! It really means a lot to me to get out and do these presentations and I am so honoured to meet everyone along the way. Over a three week period I presented the film ten times at eight different towns, covering a large part of Ontario and had easily over seven hundred people in total come out to see the film. Again thanks to everyone who helped organize these screening and all the people who came out to the film and see me talk, I hope our paths will cross again soon.

In early March I will be doing presentations all over British Columbia!