Parkinson Café launches in East County

After successfully producing the Parkinson Café in New York in 2009, Lynn Schramek, a River Club resident, is bringing the positive energy to East County.

Schramek’s husband, Brad, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 10 years ago. When the couple was first learning about how to live with the condition, they started attending support groups — but didn’t like the overall feeling they had when they left the meetings, she said.

“At traditional support groups, people would come and vent, and we wanted something more positive,” Schramek said.

So instead, Schramek organized a group called Parkinson Café, which met once a month. The sessions would include guest speakers, dynamic activities and time to share practical advice about living with Parkinson’s. The couple moved to River Club in 2012, and Schramek decided this year to launch a new branch of her cafe group.

The first Café will be held Thursday, Oct. 1.

The monthly session, called First Thursday, is an engaging and interactive program that runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the River Club’s Caddyshak Sports Bar and Grill.

The session will include time for coffee and mingling, and will also have a guest speaker and a yoga session. The goal is to promote social, cultural and intellectual interaction. The October program features guest speaker Laurel Rund, an artist and writer, discussing how she is inspired to create art.

Schramek has partnered with the Neuro Challenge Foundation to produce the program. In future sessions, she plans on helping participants connect to community resources by bringing in local health services providers.

Participants can register by calling the Neuro Challenge Foundation at (941) 926-6413 or calling Lynn at (941) 351-6281, and can find more information about the programs at parkinsoncafe.org or by emailing Lynn at [email protected].