JUNE 13 ST. ANTHONY’S FEAST DAY.
 LADAHINA

        
(Click on Thumbnails to enlarge)

The 13th of June marked another year of Global celebrations on St Anthony’s feast day!! Our Fifty Five Plus Goan Association held a “ Ladahina” at the Malta Band Club on this special day! Our loyal members turned out in support of this event with a “pot-luck” contribution – A delightful feast for all.!!

Credit for putting it all together goes out to our Social Secretary Juliet Rebello and her organizing committee and our Treasurer Francis Fernandes and wife Lucy.

Francis did an outstanding job in reciting the Litany in our “ mother tongue” (Konkani) and sang the hymns in Latin……..and as “ties were loosened and vocal chords adjusted,” all pitched in and sang praises to our Saint!!- it intensified our longtime tradition of carrying out what our forefathers started!

Our Social Secretary and her “Crew” had a ‘Surprise’ to beat all surprises – The surprise was two-fold – A scrumptious Cake in honor of Francis & Lucy’s Wedding Anniversary ! – How many years??? – and our General Secretary’s birthday (???)
We were misty –eyed with delight!!

The Malta Band Club, better known as MBC, no less than any other Club, is a “second home” to many of our members and we hope our Club will always be a “little piece of Goa”, as tradition will have it an Aura of Goa will always pervade the Club’s name. Therefore, we need more members to come out in support of future events held at this club. We have an energetic and enthusiastic executive committee, headed by our Social Secretary with the avid support of our Treasurer ,Francis. hence we need to “keep the Flame burning” by attending these monthly events whereby one can “meet & greet” in the evenings, or play whist, or line dance, - a host of other in-door sport activities, or simply “read the paper”, thereby breaking the monotony of “office work” or “house-work”!!

Please note: Entrance fee to the club is a mere $2.00 per person, which covers, one dollar to the building and one dollar for Coffee and tea unlimited.
For those who want to quench their thirst, the bar facilities are available, prices very reasonable.

The evening ended with a few rounds of BINGO – the lucky winners took home Prizes worth $5.00 - $ 10 and full house $20.00 – Not bad for a days work!!
All in all, a good time was had by all and we trust you will join us in our upcoming Tuesdays as advertised on the website.

Muriel Lucas
General Secretary
Fifty-Five Plus Goan Association –West GTA.
15 June 2006.

Dr. Quincy Almeida to head Parkinson's research/rehabilitation centre
at Wilfrid Laurier University

Excerpt from http://www.wlu.ca/news_detail.php?grp_id=0&nws_id=2273

WATERLOO - In a Waterloo community-based clinic, a Laurier professor is fighting a disease that affects 100,000 Canadians, and local patients are reaping the benefits.

Dr. Quincy Almeida, an assistant professor and researcher at Wilfrid Laurier University, is establishing the Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre (MDRC), the first and only facility in Canada designed to focus on treatment strategies for Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders.

"With the establishment of the MDRC, Laurier will become the first university in Canada to integrate a community-based approach with a thorough scientific evaluation of rehabilitation for movement disorder populations," says Almeida, director, MDRC.

The MDRC evaluates the latest strategies to treat Parkinson's disease in an effort to identify the most effective rehabilitation treatments. What sets the MDRC apart from other centres is that it integrates research with rehabilitation, a hands-on approach that benefits patients immediately. While the focus of the centre is research-based, patients are not merely research subjects; they receive actual treatment, often through state-of-the-art tools not yet available to the general public.

Tim Thaler is one of these patients. Like actor Michael J. Fox, Thaler is one of the thousands of Canadians diagnosed with early-onset  Parkinson's disease. "My goal is to make people aware of Parkinson's disease, and help those with the disease to lead a better life, which is exactly what Dr. Almeida and the MDRC are doing. This region is so fortunate to have Dr. Almeida, and we need to do whatever we can to make sure that the research can continue," says Thaler, a patient of the MDRC.

The Waterloo-Wellington Mechanical Contractors Association, of which Thaler is a member, has become an ally in his battle with Parkinson's. All of the proceeds from the association's annual picnic and golf tournament, to be held June 13 at the Foxwood Golf Club in Baden, Ontario, will go to support the MDRC.

Almeida has won several awards for his research, including the Franklin Henry Young Scientist Award and the Petro-Canada Innovators Award. He was recently honoured with the Parkinson's Society of Canada.

New Investigator Award, worth more than $90,000. These funds will be used to deliver new rehabilitation programs for Parkinson's in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Oakville YMCAs, with the goal of implementing these programs in YMCAs across Canada.

"Laurier is fortunate to have Dr. Almeida on board. He's an exceptionally energetic and enthusiastic young researcher with a promising career in science ahead of him," said Arthur Szabo, Laurier's dean of science.

ODD NEWS: Mumbai is the world's rudest city!
This was rated by the Readers Digest, which tested whether anyone would help when papers were dropped in a busy street, whether shop assistants said 'thank you', and counting how often someone held a door open. (GT)