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Community Corner

Public Invited to Parkinson's Support Group & Exercise Class

On Thursday, September 12, The Watermark at 3030 Park will host its monthly Parkinson’s Support Group meeting, as well as kick off the start of a weekly exercise program for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The support group will be held at 10:00 a.m., and the exercise class at 1:00 p.m. at the retirement community located at 3030 Park Avenue on the Bridgeport-Fairfield town line.

 

September’s guest speaker for the support group will be Mary Ellen Thibodeau, Executive Director of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA). For her presentation, Thibodeau will discuss APDA and the programs and initiatives it has planned for Connecticut. Guests will have the opportunity to ask her questions about the association or Parkinson’s disease in general.

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“It is important that people who are affected by Parkinson’s disease have a place to turn to for help,” said Marlane Argianas, Resident Services Coordinator at The Watermark at 3030 Park. “In addition to our monthly support group, we hope our new, weekly exercise class will become an additional resource for people suffering the effects of Parkinson’s disease.”

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Designed specifically for those who have Parkinson’s disease, the new, weekly fitness class will consist of a warm-up, balance and strengthening exercises, and a cool down/stretch period. The class will be led by Cindy McGuire, Fitness Director at The Watermark and will be held every Thursday at 1:00 p.m. McGuire is a certified group exercise instructor with over 25 years of experience working with seniors.

 

“We were inspired to create this class because when it comes to exercise, there are limited resources for people suffering from Parkinson’s,” said McGuire. “In order to learn more, we even went up to the Nayden Rehabilitation Clinic at UConn to observe the types of exercises they use when teaching and helping Parkinson’s patients.”

 

The Parkinson’s Support Group is free of charge and open to the public. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Marlane Argianas at 203-373-6288. 

 

There is a small fee associated with The Parkinson’s Exercise Class for participants. There are a limited number of spots available for each class. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Cindy McGuire at 203-373-6108.

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