Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment, and project development real estate, you'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Rockin' Rhonda: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh, listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing, spinning tales in the hot podcast cave. So laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat.

Peter McCully: Welcome back to the Pulse Community Podcast. I'm Peter McCully. And with Canada Day upon us, here in the mid-Vancouver Island region, we're seeing flags waving and red and white everywhere you look as we display our pride.

Dave Graham: And I'm Dave Graham. I've been brushing up on my Canadian trivia for the occasion. Did you know that the maple leaf on our flag has 11 points?

Peter McCully: Well, I did know that, actually.

Dave Graham: Oh, I see. Is this becoming a competition? Okay, then, Mr. Smarty Pants. What's the exact color of the red in the Canadian flag? Eh? No? No. Apparently not. You don't know that. Well, I'll tell you. The shade of red on our flag is officially defined as Pantone 032. Hmm.

Peter McCully: Well, that's some good trivia there, Dave. Very trivial trivia. Okay, I've got one for you. What was the original name of Canada Day? The blank look on your face says you don't know that one. For over 100 years, it was known as Dominion Day.

Dave Graham: Dominion Day. That sounds like the name of a holiday where everybody has to wear a powdered wig and shout, "

Peter McCully: Huzzah!" Dominion Day became Canada Day in 1982. And while we're looking back, in 1967, which marked our centennial celebrations, Nanaimo saw its very first bathtub race.

Dave Graham: I'm not seeing the connection between celebrating our nation and racing bathtubs in open water. Unfortunately, the man who started it all, Frank Ney, who was mayor of Nanaimo at the time, he's no longer with us to explain. But I do know that the race was envisioned as a one-off, a publicity stunt, and it remains an annual event and one of Frank Ney's greatest gifts to the city.

Peter McCully: We've got a couple of guests this week who are exceptional in giving back to the community. Doug Picard of Parksville has spent more than 13 years as a coach, advocate, and drum circle leader helping people with Parkinson's fight back with exercise.

Doug Pickard: All these different programs, when we exercise, and especially when we play the drums and everything, they can cause real-time changes in the brain. All those neurons are firing. It's just a wonderful thing, and it helps to just kinda make you move quicker, if that makes sense. It, 'cause kinda combats some of that slowness that comes with Parkinson's.

Dave Graham: Real-time changes in the brain just from playing the drums. That's remarkable, and it's the kind of hopeful science you don't hear about nearly often enough when it comes to Parkinson's.

Peter McCully: Doug is a Davis Phinney Foundation ambassador, and he recently presented his findings at the Movement Fair in Las Vegas. We're glad to have him with us today.

Dave Graham: And our second guest is doing something just as meaningful. Virginia Wooster is the founder of the Hands & Hearts Food Program, delivering monthly food hampers to nearly 100 families across School District 69.

Virginia Worcester: People feel really good about donating because they know that every dollar they're donating goes to buy food, and I think that's the problem when we donate to so many different organizations is we wonder how much actually gets to the people that need it and how much is used up in administration costs. So I just think when you give me $100, you know that $100 is going directly to buy food for the kids in our community.

Peter McCully: That kind of giving is exactly what makes a program like that work, and it's exactly the kind of story we like bringing you.

Dave Graham: Looking ahead, we have a terrific lineup coming to the podcast, including Chris Humphreys. He's a prolific author, more than 30 novels to his name, and right now he has not one but two new books out. He'll be joining us soon for a chat.

Peter McCully: Blues singer-songwriter Harry Manx is touring Vancouver Island this summer, and he'll be coming up on a future podcast.

Dave Graham: And Major Sergii Kachanov from the Mount Arrowsmith Food Bank will be here to talk about how folks in District 69 can access the food bank and how the rest of us can help with donations during this very busy time.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: In just one week, summer officially arrives at Parksville Beach. Parksville Beach Festival opens Friday, July 10th, and the world-class sculptors are already here prepping their bases for the incredible Beauties and Beasts competition. The Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition runs July 9th through 12th, with the grand opening ribbon-cutting at 2:00 PM on July 10th. April Wine takes the stage July 11th for the VanRock Interiors opening weekend concert, one of Canada's most celebrated rock bands, with tickets on sale now. Sculpting lessons run July 11th and 12th. The Tim Horton's Free Summer Concert Series begins July 17th. A suggested $5 donation at the gate supports local community causes. Parksville Beach Festival starts July 10th. Visit parksvillebeachfest.ca.

Fireside Books: There's exciting news for book lovers. Fireside Books in Parksville now has a second location in Port Alberni, The BookWyrm. Used books are just $5 or less. The Book Wyrm, on the corner of Redford and Anderson, opens seven days a week from 10:00 to 5:00. Building your personal library for less. Fireside Books, at 464 Island Highway East in Parksville, is a book dragon's dream come true. Browse their extensive collection seven days a week. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New and used books and so much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Fireside Books and The Book Worm, two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.

Dave Graham: We have a summer of giveaways planned, so stay tuned to the podcast and our website and social pages to keep current with our contests. Head to our website or our Facebook page to enter for tickets to Beach Fest Rocks, along with a couple of folding camp chairs, a cooler, and a $100 Thrifty Foods Smile card to help fill that cooler. Now, that cooler's not gonna fill itself, Dave. Right you are, Peter. Head to our Facebook page to enter, or you can enter through our website, as I mentioned. While you're there, please sign up for our newsletter and be among the first to know of what's coming up at thepulsecommunity.ca. Let's get to our first guest. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Virginia Worster of Qualicum Beach is the founder of the Hands & Hearts Food Program, a fully volunteer-run initiative that now delivers monthly food hampers to nearly 100 families across School District 69.

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Virginia.

Virginia Worcester: Thank you for having me.

Peter McCully: The Hands & Heart Program has been around for some time. Folks may remember it as the All They Want for Christmas campaign, and then later on, the SD69 Backpack Program. Can you take us back to the beginning, how and when it all began, and what was the need at that time?

Virginia Worcester: It actually started way back in 1997, and I worked with The victim services at the police station and the SOS, and they would get ahold of me and let me know there was families that needed a hand up at Christmastime and didn't have anything for the Christmas holidays. Owning the salon, I was able to recruit clients and friends to help support families. So we started off supporting five to 10 families. As people found out I was doing it and the need grew, I started working with Arrington School and Springwood. They would let me know that families needed help at Christmas, and so it became a Christmas food hamper program. We ended up supporting up to 150 families every year at Christmastime, giving them a food hamper for Christmas. It evolved to a bigger program when we started realizing that there just was so much more need and realizing that the kids, the only food they were getting was at school, at the food programs. And so during the weekends when they weren't in school, they had no food. How did we support this? After our last fundraiser, 'cause we would do a dance and fundraiser every year in November, at the end of the year in 2019, we had $30,000 in the bank. And so I said, "Okay, I have $30,000 to change this into a program that feeds kids over the weekends," but we could only support 50 families to start with, 'cause that's all the money we had to start the program. In the beginning, we fed the families, not just children, so we always decided that we had to feed the whole entire family, not just the children. So we started with 50 families, and we fed them for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday till they got back to school Monday, knowing that they would be able to access the food programs at school during the week. That went on for a couple years, and then COVID came. We had to pivot during COVID to get the food to the families' homes because they weren't in school, and that's when I realized, oh my gosh, when there's no school, how do kids get food at all? That's when the program really pivoted and we started really fundraising and trying to create a bigger expansion of the program, and that's when we changed it to feeding the families all week long and all month long. We went from 50 families now to almost 100 families.

Peter McCully: Now, you mentioned you run Borealis Hair Bar and Champagne Boutique in Qualicum Beach. A lot of people would keep those two worlds separate. How did your business life and your community work end up being so connected?

Virginia Worcester: I think that they've always been connected. Luckily enough for me, having the salon and being in business since 1997, I know so many people and I'm connected so intertwined into the community that it was really easy for me to see the need and then be able to reach people that could help me make this happen. So I think it was just a really simple, easy connection. Being connected to the community, being connected to so many community members, I was able to get the message out and the need and get people to trust me with their donations and their money to make this program happen.

Peter McCully: I understand the partnership with the school district is pretty central to how all of this works. They identify the families, manage the trust account, issue the charitable receipts. How did that all start?

Virginia Worcester: I've always worked with the school board from the very beginning of time, worked with the schools and the school board very closely because that's exactly it. They could identify the families. We always wanted to keep it anonymous. I never wanted the families to have to see me or for us to see them, 'cause it's all about keeping their dignity, keeping the respect for the families. Having to reach out and ask for help is hard for anybody, but then to actually have to come face to face with that is something I didn't want for the families. So working with the school board allowed us to support the families that were in need but still let them remain anonymous and keep their dignity. And then I also needed to be able to give charity receipts when people were donating. Working with the school board allowed me to access their charity number. Using their trust account allowed transparency so people know exactly where the money's going and where the money's being used, and there's a bit of checks and balances so people knew that everything was completely transparent.

Peter McCully: How does the program work in terms of donations if I wanted to donate to the program, for instance?

Virginia Worcester: If you wanna donate to the program, you can do a whole bunch of different things. You can E-transfer through the school board office. You can phone in to the school board office and give them your credit card. You can drop by a check to myself at the boutique, or you can drop a check to the school board office.

Peter McCully: Virginia, you're saying that you purchase all the food from your donations?

Virginia Worcester: We do. We work with Quality Foods, and they help us with purchasing power, but we do purchase all the food that is given out to the families every month. When we do our Christmas campaign, which we still do every year, All They Want for Christmas, for the families, and the families are given a special food hamper at Christmas, along with every child in the family is allowed to ask for a special gift for Christmas, and they get a brand-new pair of pajamas. That also is purchased directly from the stores. We don't get the toys given to us. We don't get the jammies donated. We are purchasing everything for all these families. And at Easter and Thanksgiving and all the special holidays, the families get a special food hamper, which again is purchased. And so that's why every dollar really does matter because we have to have the funds to be purchasing everything.

Peter McCully: Now, you mentioned you've gone from supporting 50 families a month to somewhere around 100. Yeah. What does that growth tell you about what's happening in the community right now?

Virginia Worcester: It's really unfortunate, and it's sad to say that we're having to support that many families. We went from 75 families at the beginning of this year to 98 families right now, so we've already seen that much growth in a very small amount of time. As things get tougher this year, as we've already seen, I think the growth is going to just increase and increase, the problem being we don't have the funds to be able to allow us to let the program go because we are completely supported and driven by donations. People don't have the money to be donating like they used to, which is gonna make the program very challenging to be able to grow and support the need in the community.

Peter McCully: Now, you mentioned you have volunteers. It's a 100% volunteer operation, no paid staff. Where do you find those people, and what keeps them coming back?

Virginia Worcester: So the volunteers are mostly all my clients and friends, which is, once again, great being community-driven. I can crawl them all to come and help do all the work. But I think once they walk into the room and see the amount of food that's there and the amount of It just fills your heart, and it makes you feel so good to do it that you wanna keep coming back every single month to do it. It's a really heartwarming experience. And I tell anybody, "Just come. See what we're doing. You'll wanna be a part of it 'cause it's such an amazing thing to be able to do."

Peter McCully: Now, every dollar raised goes directly to food, no administrative costs, as you mentioned. Yeah. How do you maintain that, and what does it mean to the donors that support the program?

Virginia Worcester: People feel really good about donating because they know that every dollar they're donating goes to buy food. And I think that's the problem when we donate to so many different organizations is we wonder how much actually gets to the people that need it and how much is used up in administration costs. So I just think when you give me $100, you know that $100 is going directly to buy food for the kids in our community. And really, that's what everybody needs to remember is this is our community. These are our kids. We only support District 69, so we feed kids from Bowser to Nanoose. And so the children that you're seeing out in the playground and the children you're seeing walking around town are the children that you're feeding.

Peter McCully: Food security isn't always visible in a community like Parksville-Qualicum Beach. Have you encountered folks who were surprised to learn how much need exists right here?

Virginia Worcester: I get that all the time. People sit in my chair and say, "Oh, Virginia, there can't possibly be that amount of need in our area." I just always say to people, "It's not written on their forehead. It's not something you can visually see." They could be sitting right beside you or standing in front of you at a grocery store. They're everywhere. Food insecurities hits for all different reasons, too. These families that we support are hardworking families that have just come upon some hard times. Maybe somebody got ill in their family. Maybe somebody got laid off. Something unexpected has happened. Their rent's gone up. There's so many different reasons why people become part of our program, and they don't always remain in the program either. Some people just need a little hand up for two or three months. Some people need to be part of the program year after year. But there's all different reasons why people partake in the program, and I just want people to know that people that become part of the program, they're hardworking families. And you have to think, the cost of living here, and if you're only making minimum wage, it doesn't go very far. And if you do the simple math, if you're making minimum wage, you're not making it.

Peter McCully: You've become very creative with your fundraising. You've got fashion shows connected to the business. You keep coming up with new ways to engage people and keep the program funded.

Virginia Worcester: We have to be super creative. I think fundraising changed. I hate to keep bringing up COVID, but COVID changed everything. Fundraising has become challenging for all of us since COVID. I'm always trying to think of a creative new idea and something different to entice people to wanna donate, and just challenge anybody. If anybody has any ideas or anything that they wanna try, I'm always open to it, 'cause the program can't run without the donations and the funds, and if the funds dry up, the program ends.

Peter McCully: If somebody listening to this podcast episode wants to get involved, whether as a volunteer or a donor or perhaps a local business who wants to help you fundraise, what's the most meaningful way they can help you right now?

Virginia Worcester: The most meaningful way anybody can help right now is actually just donating. We are definitely in need of funds to carry on for next year. We're always working a year ahead, but this year we had to dive into some of our money for next year because we had only budgeted for 75 families, and now have 98. We definitely are in need of funds to be able to keep the program running for next year and be able to take on any extra families that need the help.

Peter McCully: What does the future of Hands and Hearts look like to you, say, five years down the road?

Virginia Worcester: I hope we're still a grassroots organization. I hope that we're still the heart of the community and reaching out to the families that need the help. But like I say, I don't actually know how it looks in five years because the fundraising really is the number one challenge. I am only myself. I'm the one that does all the fundraising and keeps the program going. It's incredibly challenging to keep meeting the funds that we need to keep the program running.

Dave Graham: Virginia Worcester and the Hands and Hearts Food Program. Nearly 100 families a month. Every dollar going straight to food. No overhead. Oh, that is some powerful math right there. You'll find links to the program in our story notes.

Peter McCully: We always appreciate you taking the time to reach out to us, whether to react to something you've heard or to suggest something you'd like to hear more about. Speak to us. Head to our website, hit the contact link, and speak to us. Leave us a voice message or a text message if you prefer. You'll find us at thepulsecommunity.ca.

Dave Graham: Okay, Canada Day trivia time. The moose, a Canadian icon. Its name comes from the Algonquian name for the animal, the largest of the deer family, I should say, which means eater of twigs.

Peter McCully: Eater of twigs? Honestly, that's not far off from your lunch menu some days. We've added podcast links to our website. This'll help you explore other Vancouver Island podcasts from one central location. Plus, we have Vancouver Island webcam links at thepulsecommunity.ca.

Dave Graham: You can also find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, and YouTube. Plus, we're on Facebook and Instagram.

Thrifty Foods Parksville: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX, Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network, since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational investment, and project development real estate. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca.

Dave Graham: Okay, Peter, I've got another question for you about Canadian trivia. This one is about a structure that just celebrated 50 years since it opened its doors, both the doors at ground level and those at 447 meters up.

Peter McCully: Well, that's a pretty good clue there, Dave, and that makes me think that you must be talking about the CN Tower.

Dave Graham: You are correct. A half-century ago, the tower opened to international acclaim. And you know what? The Canadian Mint just produced a $2 coin honoring the occasion, and these coins, ooh, they're special. They're just like my Canada Day socks. They glow in the dark.

Peter McCully: Our next guest has spent over a decade proving that exercise can push back against a disease that still has no cure. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: Doug Picard of Parksville has spent more than 13 years in the ring, not as a competitor, but as a coach, advocate, and drum circle leader helping people with Parkinson's fight back. A Rock Steady Boxing affiliate owner and Davis Phinney Foundation ambassador, Doug recently presented his findings at the Movement Fair in Las Vegas.

Dave Graham: Welcome to the podcast today, Doug. Let's just do a quick little recap here. You're born and raised on Vancouver Island. A lot of folks know you one way or another as a musician, a drummer, a personal trainer. you had Fluid Fitness, as your gym for quite some time. But for also for a number of years, you've been working with people with Parkinson's.there's a lot to talk about here, but let's begin with the germination of this program. Was there a person, an event, something that sparked this?

Doug Pickard: Yeah. It actually started many years ago with a single person. Her name is Donna Kimpton. I was working at the now extinct gym called Fitness Connections. I was working there, and I met this one lovely lady, and she said, "Would you be willing to work with me?" I was just starting off as a personal trainer. This was probably 16, 17 years ago now. I said, "Great. Yes, let's do it." And she said, "I have Parkinson's disease. Do you know much about Parkinson's?" I had to admit I did not. I was like most people. I was aware of Michael J. Fox. I knew that he was shaky, and he moved around a lot. I didn't really know why. I knew he had a disease called Parkinson's, and I said, "Let's give it a shot. I'll look into this." Famous last words. I started working with Donna. At that time, there wasn't really a lot of talk about exercise and Parkinson's, to be honest. People hadn't made the connection yet. We were still at that point thinking of people with Parkinson's as being somewhat fragile. They probably shouldn't be working out too heavily. But after a couple of months, things were going well, and she said, "Why don't you come and visit my support group? I'm part of a support group here in Parksville." And I must admit, I was nervous. I showed up, and the first thing I heard as I walked into St. Columba Church in French Creek was laughter. Even though all these people were really struggling in many different levels, and some had it for many years, they were all still happy to be there, and it was such a social, fun gathering. But I did notice that the two gentlemen who were running the show were, they were kinda getting on in years, and I could tell it was quite difficult for them. Donna asked me, "So why don't you create a exercise program for our support group?" 'Cause there wasn't anything like it. So I did. I named it Taming the Dragon, which was my first little Parkinson's exercise group, and I just pulled on research that I could find. Most of the people from the support group started showing up.15, 16 years later, I'm still the facilitator for the support group. So that's how it started, just making the connection with one wonderful gal and went from there.

Dave Graham: At what point and how does Rock Steady Boxing enter the picture?

Doug Pickard: I started off with Taming the Dragon, which was my own program that was based on some information I'd found. Anything new that came along, I just jumped on board. And then this thing called Rock Steady Boxing came along, and everybody was talking about it. And a local fellow with Parkinson's named Don Reed approached me, and he said, "Doug, I've been looking for someone to become a Rock Steady Boxing instructor to start an affiliate here." He says, "You're my man." And I started looking into it, looking at the research, and I realized really quickly that this is something that was really gonna be really great. I flew down to Indianapolis and took the program. There was magic in the air. It felt like the right fit.

Dave Graham: Yeah, I think we need to clear some things up, 'cause when I think of boxing, I'm thinking the ring, and crowds, and cheering, and people hitting each other. It's probably not like that though, is it?

Doug Pickard: Rock Steady Boxing is not a, contact sport. The whole theory behind Rock Steady Boxing is to train like a boxer. This is what makes it different. It's designed to counteract motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. So it's a research-based program that specifically everything that's done in the class, it all has a purpose, and the whole purpose is to slow down the progression of the disease. It works because it targets the symptoms. It really does. And it does that in specific ways. It uses large, purposeful movements. Parkinson's makes people slower, and their ability to, get to a full range of motion smaller. Like, so everything in the Rock Steady Boxing really focuses on large, purposeful movements. A lot of hand-eye coordination happens in the Rock Steady Boxing classes. Endurance and strength, which are important for everybody, but especially important for Parkinson's. And there's a lot of rhythm and repetition, making people just feel like they don't have Parkinson's as much as possible.

Dave Graham: You're no longer associated with Rock Steady Boxing, although I understand you're teaching essentially equivalent of that. I'm wondering how you came upon this combination.

Doug Pickard: There's motor symptoms and non-motor symptoms. Now, motor symptoms are the visual ones, the movement. So a lot of people with Parkinson's will have a tremor, for instance, what they call a resting tremor. So it's mostly noticeable when you're at rest. Non-motor symptoms are just as invasive, and they've been ignored over the years. All this great stuff started to happen that some of the non-motor symptoms like depression, anxiety, higher stress levels, the exercise in the boxing classes also help with that. If you know anybody with Parkinson's, you probably have noticed if you've known them over the years, their voice might be getting a little bit quieter. If you have Parkinson's, and you quite often think you're speaking at a normal volume, but your voice is not at that normal volume. So there's a disconnect there between what you think the volume of your voice is and what it actually is at. So by doing, even shouting out one, two, one, two, three, four, you're shouting out the punches.

Dave Graham: Just for general information purposes, what does a diagnosis of Parkinson's mean to a person in the big picture?

Doug Pickard: That's a very heavy question. It can be devastating Sometimes it can be a relief. Most people with Parkinson's have been dealing with symptoms for years and years. There's lots of things that could be going on, and it can manifest itself in so many different ways. I know people who have had a sore shoulder, and they thought they've hurt themself in the gym or something, and it, and turns out that's caused by rigidity that's all connected to the Parkinson's. Michael J. Fox was out having a bender one night after filming Doc Hollywood, the movie, and he noticed that his little finger was twitching. And so he started pounding on it, and he thought, "Ah, come on, stop." And it just got worse into his hand, so that's how his started. So for some people, it's very true, there's lots of worse things to get than Parkinson's, such as ALS, for instance, right? Sometimes having a diagnosis of Parkinson's, at least it gives you an answer to all these different weird symptoms that have been going on. So I think most people Are probably not very happy about having that diagnosis, but at the same time, at least it gives them an answer. And then once you're diagnosed, then you can start the process of fighting back, which means getting the proper medication. And we're still using the same levodopa medication that was being used in the '50s. There's been some changes. There's been some different methods of taking it and whatnot, and we've developed some things like pumps, for instance, for people who have to take so many pills a day, it just becomes too much. So they have made some improvements. Also, DBS, deep brain stimulation operations, are now quite common for people that are considered eligible for them, and that can really help with the amount of medication that needs to be taken and also their daily symptoms. So just, I guess in a nutshell, it's different for everybody, but I think a lot of people might feel a little bit of relief to know that they have Parkinson's. And they, it's, it doesn't mean that you know, you've got a couple years left to live, that you have many good years to live. And my job is to help people live those years the best they can. It's not a death sentence. It just means that your life is gonna change, and you need to find ways to deal with that going forward.

Dave Graham: You presented at the Movement Fair in Las Vegas, and I'm curious as to what you talked about, what the conversation was like among the Parkinson's community there.

Doug Pickard: Yeah, I was invited to Las Vegas, which is funny 'cause I'm not a gambler, by a friend of mine who's a fellow ambassador in the Davis Phinney Foundation based out of Colorado. He called me up one day and said, "How'd you like to be a keynote speaker down in Las Vegas?" I said, "Sure." I was invited to the Lou Ruvo Center, which is in the Cleveland Clinic, and just a fabulous building. So I was invited to talk about exercise and Parkinson's, but specifically about how I use rhythm with Parkinson's, and it was really wonderful to get up there. There's about 170 people, and I just gave my little talk, and I had them do some actual movement. We put on some music. We put on, of course, the theme from Rocky and had them doing some boxing movements and stuff, and showing them how to move with the rhythm and whatnot, and had a lot of wonderful people come up afterwards and talk to me. It was really great. But what was really telling is that the people that I met there were exactly like the people that I've met here. Everybody's hoping for good news. There's a sense of frustration that is everywhere in the world of Parkinson's because look at all the millions of dollars that have gone into finding a cure, and it's still not quite there. What they had in Las Vegas, they had a care partner panel after me, and they had care partners come up and talk about what it's like to live with someone with Parkinson's, and sometimes that is just as difficult, right? Parkinson's, like many, like cancer, it's a family disease. Everyone's involved because all of the changes that happen. But there were some tears on the stage, but at the end of the day, there was still that same hopefulness. So at least you're doing something, right? If you sit at home on your couch with all these horrible symptoms that you don't really Studies have shown that your longevity gets a lot shorter if you don't go out and communicate, be part of a and socialize with other people. So I saw the same kind of frustration and the same kind of hope that we have here, and I'm sure it's the same worldwide in Las Vegas, yes.

Dave Graham: So you wanna talk a little bit about with the origin of the Rock Steady Boxing program, the name of the program. What's that?

Doug Pickard: Yeah, this is a great story. There was a district attorney in Indianapolis by the name of Scott Newman, and he had Parkinson's, and he was really angry about it. He wasn't a happy guy. He was not impressed that he had Parkinson's. And he had a buddy who, was a boxer. One night they were sitting around and he says, "Scott, why don't you come down to the gym? Let's do some boxing training." And Scott says, "I don't wanna do any boxing. I don't know anything about boxing." They started doing this program and just hitting some gloves, some strike mitts, and hitting the bag and this kind of thing. And after, maybe after a month or so of doing this, Scott was hitting away, and they finished. They went out for a drink after. And he looked down at his hand, and he goes, "Oh, look at that. My hand, it's not shaking." Because he had a pretty bad tremor. He goes, "My hand, it's rock steady." So that's where the name came from for Rock Steady Boxing because he just noticed that his tremor was something was happening because of the punching. That's how the whole program developed, and he had the vision. He said, "Let's get a boxing program for people with Parkinson's." And it all started like that.

Dave Graham: You've been a drummer for a long time, more than 40 years, and I'm wondering, was it always apparent that you could incorporate that into the program, or did it dawn on you suddenly? How did that work?

Doug Pickard: I just became so focused on the exercise. I just realized that there's a rhythm to the boxing. So I started playing around with it. I had a big conga drum in my gym, so I just started tapping on the drum. And they started going in time with the drum. And then I put on Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line, and that became our song, where they would walk in a big circle. Every time Johnny Cash hummed, they have to turn around and walk the other way, right? So it just helped a lot. And I also noticed when people would freeze, I'd just start clapping, and I'd start stepping, and they'd start stepping because it's infectious, so they would start, and off they'd go. I thought, "What about a drum circle for people with Parkinson's?" I showed them some basic rhythms, and we would do a call and response. And Ada told me after, she goes, "I feel like Parkinson's keeps taking things away from me. This is something new that I've learned." So she was excited about that. And I decided to take it to the next level and developed a program called Dopa Beats. And Parkinson's is basically caused when your brain cells stop producing dopamine, which your body really needs dopamine. As I looked into it, I started finding these benefits that occur when you drum, such as improvement in walking gait, reduced freezing, improved coordination and dual tasking or multitasking. They've taken drums into the hospitals and had the cancer patients play the drums in drum circles, and they found that it reduced their anxiety, which is really great, and they found that it actually helped with going into remission quicker because they were reducing the cortisol levels in their bodies and whatnot. And the brain, the brain goes nuts when you play the drums, and that's very helpful too.

Dave Graham: When you hand somebody a drum, what's the general reaction, if that could be even classified?

Doug Pickard: So I work with a lot of folks with Alzheimer's and dementia as well, and some people are, "Let's go for it." Other think they have no musical talent, so they're embarrassed. But I think for the most part, once people try it, they enjoy it. Yeah. But everybody's different. Some people get the rhythms, and some people, they really struggle to get those rhythms. It's amazing.

Dave Graham: I can speak from experience to it, the one time I was in a drum circle. It was the launch of a weekend sort of spiritual getaway for men only. And before a word was spoken, we sat in a circle, and we were given some percussion instrument, and the leader began a beat, and everybody fell into not a word was spoken. And at the end of it, we're all just energized and together, and it was an amazingly, surprisingly powerful experience. I don't know necessarily it's equivalent to what you're doing, but it's the power of percussion.

Doug Pickard: When we play the drums, we do release chemicals in our brains. When you don't produce the dopamine, you don't get those little rewards that we get. Anything you can do to help to replace that, to get those chemicals flowing is great.

Dave Graham: Do you wanna talk a little bit about being a Parkinson's Society BC support group facilitator, as well as a Davis Phinney Foundation ambassador?

Doug Pickard: Because of the work that I do with Parkinson people, I was approached by the Davis Phinney Foundation out of Colorado. I was in contact with them, and I applied to become an ambassador with them, and I was accepted, and it's been great because I was one of the first Canadian ambassadors. So many things, unfortunately, in the United States aren't available here. A lot of, like, the big pharma companies that they do a lot of work developing these, like, agonist drugs and whatnot that just aren't quite available here. So I'm always keeping an eye out. Most years I get to go down once a year for a conference down there. It's great, and we'll all come together. Last year it was in Golden, the year before it was in Minneapolis. I'll just find out what's happening in the States. Some of it trickles over, some of it does not, so it's just good to be aware of that. And my role as an ambassador is just to be available to anybody who has any questions about Parkinson's, especially about Parkinson's and exercise. So I get contacted from time to time from people from all over North America and sometimes even from Europe, and just if I can help them in any way. Everyone with Parkinson's needs to have a neurologist, and they're the ones that are gonna put them on medication and help them out. But neurologists are extremely busy, so there needs to be people that you can talk to that have learned a lot about Parkinson's. So I consider that kind of my role as a volunteer ambassador, just to help people to maybe answer some questions. And the Davis Phinney Foundation produces a wonderful manual called Every Victory Counts. A few years back, they started making a Canadian version as well, so that's a free resource available to anybody with Parkinson's. They just have to, order it online. It comes to, directly to their house. That's how I first heard about the Davis Phinney Foundation. And Davis was a, professional cyclist. He won a few, stages in the Tour de France, and he was an American cyclist in the Olympics, and he contracted Parkinson's. And what does a guy like Davis Phinney do? Well, instead of feeling sorry for himself, he does what Michael J. Fox did. He starts a foundation and helps countless people. And I've had the opportunity to meet Davis and shake his hands, and it was one of those, "I'm not worthy" kind of moments 'cause I've always been a big fan of cycling, and Davis was one of the best. He had a couple nicknames. He was called Thor, and he was called The Cash Register because he was with the American 7-Eleven team. They were the first guys to go over to Europe

Dave Graham: You presented your Dopa Beats work at the Davis Phinney Foundation conference in Minneapolis a few years ago, and I was wondering what that experience was like.

Doug Pickard: It was nerve-wracking because I only had one drum. Nobody had any drums, so I thought, "How the heck am I gonna try to get across what I do in Dopa Beats? How are we gonna do this?" So I took a bunch of egg shakers. Yeah. So we used that for percussion. Everybody had a table. Guess what? A table becomes a drum. So we went through what a Dopa Beats class looks like. I had them do the call and response where they would play back to me, and I had them separate, the men on this side, women on this side, and we did kinda back and forth things, working on the rhythm, getting their feet going and trying different clapping, using their body as percussion, and we did a lot of that kinda thing. My point was to try to just show how effective rhythm can be for people with Parkinson's, just to try to get that walking gait more powerful and faster, and just showing how all these wonderful benefits that you can get from drumming. Just wanted to illustrate that for them, and we had a good time. We used our voices. We shouted out. And I could see by the end of it was only about 45 minutes, but I could see that they were getting it. There were a lot of smiles and a lot of excitement in the room, and got a lot of high fives after. It was great. So I try to get people excited. I want it to be infectious and have people kinda just be happy for that time when we're doing those type of activities, and I think it was successful. Yeah.

Dave Graham: It sounds like it might have taken a step closer to your big goal of helping people with Parkinson's learn the power of drumming. Talking worldwide here, what does that path look like from where you're standing now?

Doug Pickard: The one positive that came out of the COVID pandemic, if you can believe anything positive came out of it, was people learned how to use this thing called Zoom. Love it or hate it's there to stay. What Zoom allows us to do, though, is to reach out to anybody around the world. So I have to admit, ideally, a Dopa Beats class would be best in person. You get that instant energy right away and everything, and everybody gets to play together. So considering that it's been brought out to this online Zoom platform, it's done incredibly well considering. And the people that like it, they keep coming back. I'm not currently doing it at the moment. I'm taking a small break from it because I'm working on another project right now, but the Dopa Beats has been wonderful, and the people that like it really like it. And I've had people from, mostly from the southern states reach out to me, and they've been excited about it, and they've taken the stuff that I've shown them in the Dopa Beats classes. They've taken some of that into their own support groups and taken drums into those groups and started doing it as well. And that's another example of how I'd like to see this grow, is have drum instructors from around the world start taking this Dopa Beats program and taking it to different areas.

Dave Graham: Pedaling for Parkinson's. Do tell?

Doug Pickard: I am so excited about this program because it is based on using a stationary bicycle to exercise on. Now, that sounds pretty basic, but what the studies have shown, in order to really reap the benefits of exercise, of endurance activity, you need to get your heart rate up and need to sustain it for at least 30, 35 minutes. So all the studies that have been done, mostly led by a fellow named Jay Alberts out of the States, he's a neuroscientist who has done a lot of work with people with cycling and Parkinson's. He did a lot of studies using tandem bicycles. He was riding the RAGBRAI, which is a ride across Iowa. I think it lasts about a week, and they get up early in the morning, they ride for about 50 miles, and then everybody stops in the same little town. They have a big party. They do it again the next day. They do this for a whole week. They ride across the state of Iowa. It was the first day, and there was a husband and wife, husband without Parkinson's, his wife with Parkinson's on the back of the bike. They did the first 50 miles, and she said, "That was the worst experience of my life. I'm never riding with you ever again. I wanna go home." Because I guess he just pushed her, and it wasn't a very good situation. So Jay Alberts stepped up and said, "Tell you what. You ride with me the rest of the way. You go on the back of my bike." So Jay went at a pretty good speed. She had to work harder than what she was used to, right? When they got off the bike, it was a birthday party for one of the guys, and then she signed a birthday card with big flowing letters. As she's writing this, she's going, "Holy smokes, I haven't been able to write like this for a while." And then she looked at her hand, "Hey, there's no tremor." So he monitored her the whole way across the state of Iowa. Every time she was cycling, when she'd get off the bike, she'd have a few hours of no tremors. So he decided you wanna push people hard with Parkinson's. You wanna get them on a stationary bike and make them work hard. Jay did his own study, did his own thing. So it's been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is how you really help to slow the progression of Parkinson's, by really pushing yourself. There's other doctors that have come on board that have seconded that. So Pedaling for Parkinson's was developed right around that whole premise, that this is a cycling program where you're gonna warm up slowly, you're gonna push hard in the middle of the program, and then you're gonna cool down. And the wonderful thing is all these people are getting on their bikes. I've got local people that are in my program. Now, I'm doing this online. Again, Zoom. Got people from Texas, Virginia, all over. One lady from Paraguay. They come on twice a week with me. It's the safest way for someone with Parkinson's to avoid balance issues or falls kind of thing. You get on that bike. You can't go out and run or run on a treadmill, and if you get on an exercise bike on your own for 60 minutes, it can be drudgery. Well, I got like 20, 25 people that come out every time, so they're getting at least with me twice a week, but it's now being offered five times a week. And so I think every single person with Parkinson's should do it. If you have Parkinson's, you need to exercise. And I always tell every person that comes on that Zoom channel with me, "You're an athlete. If you're on that bike, guess what? You're an athlete." I'm really excited about the Pedaling for Parkinson's.

Dave Graham: It sounds like it's working for them, and what do they tell you about their experience and how this is working for them?

Doug Pickard: Their motor symptoms and their non-motor symptoms have improved. Their confidence goes up, and with increased confidence comes reduced anxiety. It's the same with Rock Steady Boxing as well. And the one thing that's common to both of those programs is the sense of community and socialization. So a lot of people don't want to come together, but those that do, it becomes a family. It becomes almost like the best drug in the world, right? So sure, you can take the levodopa, but it's a chemical you're putting in your body. Why not produce your own chemicals? So that's the common factor between all these different programs. And none of the programs on their own are perfect, okay? we need to be clear about that. Rock Steady Boxing is great. Pedaling for Parkinson's is great. Dopa Beats, all these different programs, Power Moves, but none of them are complete on their own, in my opinion. I think if you can do a combination, and lots of folks do, particularly with the Rock Steady Boxing and the Pedaling for Parkinson's, if you can try to get to those most days of the week, you're gonna be doing really well. The bottom line is you've gotta get your heart rate up, and you have to sustain that heart rate up to a certain zone. So all these different programs, when we exercise, and especially when we play the drums and everything, they can cause real-time changes in the brain. All those neurons are firing. It's just a wonderful thing, and it helps to just kinda make you move quicker, if that makes sense. It... 'Cause it kinda combats some of that slowness that comes with Parkinson's.

Dave Graham: The word that you mentioned earlier in our conversation, and that's hope. It's pouring out of you, the spreading of this good news that something can be done, and you're doing it.

Doug Pickard: What everybody wants is a cure. What everybody wants is to stop the progression of the symptoms. We're not there yet, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope. That doesn't mean that there aren't things that people can do right now. There is a lot of things that we can do right now to slow the progression to the point where sometimes they even start to feel better because maybe they weren't exercising before they got Parkinson's, but now they are. I'm an upbeat person. I think that's one thing that has made this a successful venture for me because I think that my optimism rubs off on other people. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up because if I give up, they're gonna give up. And I don't want that. I want these people to know that there are things they can do, and what feels better than fighting back against something? And there's a power that comes from that kind of just gives you this incredible energy. That's what I saw in that gym in Indianapolis when I went there. We got to work with real live people with Parkinson's, right? That it wasn't just being taught by this one coach. The first day we just kinda learned about the program, and then we went into a couple of the actual classes that were happening in this gym. And these were special classes that were designed for newbies like me to work with them. And so it was almost like a teaching hospital, right? They were so thankful that we were all taking this on. Because if you don't learn about the disease, if you don't learn about Parkinson's, you can't be as effective as possible. You have to learn how to be empathetic and understand what they're going through. If you don't have Parkinson's, you can't truly understand. But I've been around people with Parkinson's for over 15, 16 years now. I've seen the ups and I've seen the downs, and bottom line is we always strive to be happy, always strive to find A silver lining in there somewhere, right? And that silver lining is community and friendship that develop out of this. Lots of these folks never would've met each other if they didn't have Parkinson's, and I've heard that many times, and they're grateful. And we get together for socials. You're with all these other people. You're not fighting this on your own. Yeah, you just kinda keep moving forward. But I think it'd be irresponsible for someone without Parkinson's to think they really understand. You can't say you ever fully understand, but you can be there, and you can be a shoulder to cry on. You can be a knowledgeable base for people to learn from, and I've dedicated so much of my career to learning about Parkinson's, and this was all thanks to that one lady all those years ago. And the only reason I'm doing it is because I was empowered by these people that I met, and they just amaze me, and I'm thinking, the stuff they're going through, but they keep showing up, and they're smiling. They're making jokes. It makes my life seem pretty darn easy, right? I don't have to deal with taking medication, like, five or six times a day or all the other wonderful things that come with Parkinson's. I just take my hat off to them, and they're, they're truly my heroes. They really are. They make my life more enriched. I feel like I've gotten just as much back from these people as they've given me over the years. And so as I approach semi-retirement, I'm always gonna be involved. I'm always gonna be a support group leader. I'm always gonna keep these classes going as long as I can. It's just been just a wonderful experience.

Peter McCully: Doug Picard, 13 years in the ring helping people fight back against Parkinson's through boxing and drumming, of all things. The science behind it is genuinely promising, and Doug's energy for the work comes through in every word. You'll find links to his program in our story notes.

Dave Graham: And you will find stories at thepulsecommunity.ca, that is Stories for the Young Ones. We call them Skookum Kids Stories, and they now come with coloring pages to accompany each new episode. Check out The Mellow Submarine with Captain Dave and his first mate, Larry the Lobster, and Peter and Gracie the Eskimo Dog.

Peter McCully: In this week's new story, Peter and Gracie attend the Canada Day parade and learn why we celebrate Canada Day.

Dave Graham: Why Canada Day? Oh, are you asking me? Is this another trivia question? Well, I'll tell you. On July 1, 1867, the British North American Act joined the colonies known as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with the province of Canada, which became Ontario and Quebec, into a single country known as the Dominion of Canada. Final answer. It's okay, Dave. This isn't a contest. I think that answer was worth a prize of some kind. My high school history teacher would be proud. Oh, speaking of history, our Radio Archaeology classic radio series features historical broadcasts, original episodes of Dragnet featuring Sergeant Joe Friday, and Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke.

Peter McCully: As part of our Pulse Community podcast, join Cindy Thompson of Parksville for A Resilience Project. This week, Pam Botterill shares what she calls a good news story of adoption, reconnecting with her indigenous roots, meeting her biological family for the first time, and discovering the deep meaning of community and belonging through her journey with cancer.

Dave Graham: It's a remarkable story and exactly the kind of honest, hopeful conversation that the Resilience Project does so well. You'll find these podcasts and more at thepulsecommunity.ca. Hey, Peter, how about a last bit of trivia before we go? Can anyone here tell me what Canada's official motto is?

Peter McCully: It's just us here, Dave, and I couldn't say what our motto is.

Dave Graham: You ready? Okay, here it is. A mari usque ad mare, which means from sea to sea. That's our official motto.

Peter McCully: Are you suggesting there's an unofficial motto?

Dave Graham: Well, there is sort of an unofficial motto, and it is peace, order, and good government.

Peter McCully: Well, that sounds terribly sensible, if not exactly exciting.

Dave Graham: And isn't that just so perfectly Canadian? Sensible, if not exciting. That's us. Oh, and polite. Can't forget polite.

Rockin' Rhonda & The Uptown Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves, no missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave, so to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere - what a treat. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. All right, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.