She’s got his back

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Jan Bogner and Jerry Carpenter Sitting in a coffee shop across a table from her older brother last week, Jan Bogner choked back tears when asked why she’s hosting a fundraiser for him.

“I want to take care of my brother,” said Bogner, 53, wiping away tears. “I don’t like seeing him going through this.”

Bogner recalls that her brother, Jerry Carpenter, was a lively, talkative, intelligent man who was very active before being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005, six months after retiring as captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CAL FIRE.

She felt powerless to help him.

Then she researched the disease and organizations fighting it on the Internet and said she was impressed with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The foundation spends no money on advertising but gives to research what it raises and what others donate, she said.

“That’s a big thing,” she said.

Bogner realized she could help her brother. She signed up with the foundation to organize the first Team Fox two-mile walk in Camarillo last year and named it “Put the Fire Out For Parkinson’s” in honor of Carpenter. About 80 people raised $7,000 for the foundation through registration fees and sponsorships.

This year, the Team Fox walk will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sat., Nov. 7 at Camarillo Community Center. The route starts at the community center, then goes east on Ponderosa Drive to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Arneill Road and back.

Carpenter, sitting stiffly in a chair, told his sister he’s done nothing like this for her.

The teary-eyed Bogner reminded Carpenter that he used to give her insulin injections when she was a child. She was diagnosed with diabetes at age 4.

Carpenter was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after family members kept mentioning that he seemed inattentive and didn’t swing his arms when he walked. Some relatives suspected he’d had a stroke.

His doctor sent him to see a neurologist specializing in movement, who quickly recognized the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

“I didn’t know what to feel for sure,” Carpenter said of first hearing the diagnosis. “One consolation—you don’t die from it anymore.”

According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, about 1 million Americans suffer from the brain disease that occurs when nerve cells that produce dopamine die or become impaired.

Dopamine is a chemical messenger that sends information to the parts of the brain that control movement and coordination.

Tremors are a well-known sign of Parkinson’s disease, but the disorder also causes slowed or frozen movement, the nonprofit states on its website. Every year, some 60,000 American men and women, usually 65 and older, are diagnosed with the disease. No cure for the disease exists.

Bogner wants to raise $10,000 for Team Fox this year. No longer a novice at fundraising, she recruited sponsors to help pay for expenses so more of the money can go to the foundation.

She also enlisted Cronies Sports Grill in Camarillo to donate 15 percent of sales last Wednesday to the effort.

Bogner said that while growing up she and Carpenter, who’s nine years her senior, weren’t close. That changed when Bogner became a teenager and began visiting her brother, then married and living in Arizona.

Bogner later married and had two children. Carpenter’s job with CAL FIRE moved him, his wife and two sons around California and Arizona. And during that time brother and sister stayed in touch.

Carpenter would send her greeting cards over the years, writing “Gotcha” inside. Bogner returned the favor, writing, “Gotcha back.”

Last year, at least 15 family members participated in the walk, including Bogner’s son, a police officer in San Diego; and Bogner and Carpenter’s brother, Ventura County Chief Dep. Dennis Carpenter.

The public is welcome to participate in Team Fox’s “Put the Fire Out For Parkinson’s.”

For details, visit www .putthefireoutforparkinsons.com or write to P.O. Box 1719, Camarillo, CA 93011.