Osprey Lodge assisted-living facility produces video 'The Faces of Parkinson's'

 

TAVARES — A sobering poem written by a man reflecting on his Parkinson's diagnosis is at the heart of a new music video entered in a world-wide competition about the progressive disease.

 

"The Faces of Parkinson's," shot at Osprey Lodge, an assisted-living facility in Tavares, was sent earlier this month to the Parkinson's World Congress for judging in its annual video competition promoting awareness about the disease. Winners will be announced next month.

 

"It was incredible about how it all happened and how quickly it came about," said Susan Cameron, owner of Wild Zebra Media, a local video-production company, which created the 3 1/2-minute video. "From learning about the competition to actually planning the video took less than a week."

 

The video will have its premiere from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the facility at 1761 Nightingale Lane and it is open to the public. The event also will include a guest speaker, refreshments, entertainment, behind-the-scenes stories and a chance to meet the cast, performers and musicians.

 

Boasting an original music score composed by local rabbi Karen Allen, the video features both residents and staff of Osprey Lodge, including former college professor Dick Tinapp, who lives there and penned the poem titled "It Isn't Easy to Watch Yourself Decay," Cameron said.

 

"We asked Dick if he could write something about how he felt when he found out he had Parkinson's," she said. "And he came up with this incredible poem."

 

The video meshes the story of three lives affected by Parkinson's, a debilitating disease of the nervous system affecting about 1 million men and women in the U.S. and Canada, with the song performed by Osprey nurse-care manager Dori Hanna, who has a graduate degree in opera Performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston.

 

Allen deftly incorporated some of 78-year-old Tinapp's poem into the song's lyrics.

 

Hanna, who received a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Stetson University in Deland, said it was quite an experience.

"It was very fulfilling," Hanna said. "To be able to intertwine my love of nursing and music for the video was the ultimate."

Allen, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in Leesburg and a Princeton University Ph.D. graduate in music studies, accompanied Hanna on the piano along with noted violinist Zoriy Zinger, a soloist with the Russian Symphony Orchestra and frequent guest performer at venues across the U.S.

 

Two others, Sasha Butler, a member of the kitchen staff, and resident John O'Leary also appear in the video. O'Leary cites words from a poem he wrote following his wife's death while Butler plays the part of someone discovering the life changing world of Parkinson's.

 

The idea for the video's creation came after Cameron did an Internet search on the disease after meeting Tinapp and his wife at a poetry reading following a request by Osprey owner Tom Hofmeister to incorporate both staff nurses and residents into promotional videos she regularly does for the facility.

 

"I didn't know anything about Parkinson's," Cameron said. "So I Googled it and immediately saw the contest information and thought it would be a wonderful thing to do and Tom agreed."