2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

GARDEN VARIETY
g a r d e n s
CAN YOU DIG IT?
Hands-on gardening workshop
teaches about flowers.
2017 by Nenad Bach, a musician who’s
performed with the likes of Luciano
Pavarotti and Bruce Springsteen, and
who himself suffers from Parkinson’s.
When a friend invited Bach to a game of
table tennis, he discovered that playing
improved both his mood and his motorskill
symptoms—a find he deemed worth
sharing. The first PingPongParkinson
site opened in 2017 in Pleasantville, New
York. Soon after, Bach’s friend Elizabeth
Kera, a neuropsychologist at Hackensack
Medical Center, suggested he bring
the organization to New Jersey, and in
early 2020, PingPongParkinson opened
at a facility in Westwood. The pandemic
shuttered the charity and the facility, the
latter permanently, so in March, Ping-
PongParkinson reopened in its current
location in River Edge. Other United
States locations can be found at pingpod.
com and wearespin.com.
Ping-Pong isn’t the only activity that
ameliorates the symptoms of Parkinson’s,
which can include tremor,
rigidity, slowed movement, impaired
posture and balance, and changes in
speech and writing. “Any physical activity
that’s challenging, nuanced, and
pushes a patient to work on something
that doesn’t come naturally helps
prolong the life span of dopamine-producing
cells in the brain,” says Elena
Clar, a movement-disorders neurologist
at the New Jersey Brain and Spine
Center and, like Kera, a member of
PingPongParkinson’s advisory board.
Parkinson’s attacks those cells, which
RALLYING
Elizabeth
Kera, left, and
Elena Clar.
help regulate heart rate, attention,
movement and mood.
What makes Ping-Pong so beneficial
for people with Parkinson’s, Kera
explains, is that, in addition to drawing
on a wide range of motor skills, like
hand-eye coordination and reaction
time, it also exercises cognitive abilities
that can be affected by the disease.
“Pongers”—the organization’s term
for players with Parkinson’s—“are
working on visual scanning, visual tension
and problem-solving,” she says.
“There’s a lot of strategy involved: You
might spin the ball or hit it on the side.”
It’s also social—a boon to a population
that may feel increasingly isolated as
the disease progresses.
Like many people with Parkinson’s,
Cresskill resident David Falk attends
physical therapy, but finds it “regimented,”
whereas Ping-Pong is pleasurable
and social in nature. As we speak,
the paddle in his hand shakes slightly.
But “my hands aren’t as shaky when I’m
playing, and I’m more focused,” he says.
For Andy Lieb, a ponger from Paramus,
focus is key. “If my mind isn’t on myself
but on a task,” he says, “I move much
more freely.” Both Falk and Lieb are
PingPongParkinson regulars, two of the
20 to 30 pongers who usually show up
on Tuesday nights. “Parkinson’s makes
you small,” Falk explains. “This,” he
says, gesturing at the spirited games
going on around him, “makes you a little
bit bigger.”
—Leslie Garisto Pfaff
jardin de buis, a world-class, formalgarden
estate in Hunterdon County,
will host a three-day, intensive Sustainable
Flowers Project workshop that
takes green thumbers from soil to vase.
The September 18–21 affair will be
facilitated by Sustainable Floristry
Network ambassadors Becky Feasby
and TJ McGrath.
“We will create pure magic with
locally sourced, seasonal blooms as
we discuss the importance of soil
health, regenerative growing practices,
sustainable design mechanics and
the healing power of flowers,” says
McGrath, a Plainfield resident. Other
leading floral designers and authors
will also explore groundbreaking
techniques and inspire blossoming
relationships among growers, designers
and flower sellers.
The hands-on program will happen
in Califon on the 35-acre grounds
of Jardin de Buis, an 18th-century
dairy farm transformed into a private
residence, where landscape designers
and soil experts Andrea Filippone
and Eric Fleisher have established and
maintain vast, sustainable gardens.
The fee for three days of study with
industry masters is $2,800. Tuition
includes catered, on-site breakfasts,
lunches and a sit-down dinner, as well
as all flowers and materials necessary
for the zero-waste workshop. For more
registration information, visit tjmcgrathdesign.com.
—Susan Brierly Bush
PHOTOGRAPHS: (KERA AND CLAR) JOHN EMERSON; (FLOWERS) COURTESY OF TJ MCGRATH DESIGNS
16 SEPTEMBER 2022 NJMONTHLY.COM