Flora, MS. February 18, 2011—Keith Plunkett, Mississippi paddler and organizer of Lucy’s Revenge, will be launching the Spring/Summer Tour of Mississippi waterways this Saturday in Grenada, Mississippi. Plunkett, along with his wife Sharon, will be joined by fellow paddlers at The Bait Shop at 22106 Highway 8 in Grenada for breakfast and a pre-launch meeting at 7:00 am. The group of 13 paddlers will launch at the Grenada Lake Spillway at 9:30. The 52-mile trip down the Yalobusha River will take 3-days and 2-nights and end at the Fulton Street Bridge in downtown Greenwood at approximately 3:00 pm Monday afternoon.
The effort will continue in the Delta throughout February and March before moving into waterways in Southwest Mississippi in April. The full list of rivers and dates are available online HERE .
During the trips the Yazoo County native and Flora resident will meet with Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers in each region, and will highlight ongoing efforts by the Alzheimer’s Association and medical professionals to defeat the disease.
Plunkett will also speak with groups across the state to raise awareness and money to aid families affected by the disease with support services. He expects to complete 876 miles by the end of the project in early July. Stories, videos, and photos are posted regularly to the website, www.lucysrevenge.com .
The project is named in memory of Plunkett’s Grandmother, Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1993. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of her church and the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
WLBT: Kayaker raises money to fight Alzheimer's Disease
Plunkett began paddling across the state last July to help raise money for Alzheimer's Disease. He hopes to attract more paddlers and supporters for the next stretch of his paddling expedition which begins this weekend.
Plunkett says kayaking can be difficult at first, but it gets easier.
"When I started paddling in Mississippi I did 25-30 mile runs and thought I was going to die" said Plunkett. "A month later I did 45 miles from the start of the wolf river all the way down to Bay St. Louis."
For more information about the upcoming kayaking schedule, click here.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Mississippi Paddler Announces Remaining Dates in Alzheimer’s Awareness Tour
 |
| Keith Plunkett speaks to the media and an audience of 45-50 in attendance for a morning press conference at St. Dominic Centre on Wednesday morning, February 16. Plunkett will complete a year-long journey to paddle Mississippi waters in July of 2011, amassing 847 miles. |
Over the next five months of paddling, Plunkett expects to paddle an additional 539 miles. He will continue speaking with groups across the state to raise awareness, and securing donations for the Mississippi Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. If his plans hold, he will shatter his original goal of 600 miles by 276. Plunkett expects to tally around 876 miles by the time the project finale is held on the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
Plunkett was joined during the 10 am press conference at St. Dominic Centre by St. Dominic President Sister Mary Dorothea Sondgrath, Dr. George Patton, Director of St. Dominic’s St. Catherine’s Village, and Meva Butler Director of Campbell Cove. Campbell Cove is a wing of the facility that deals directly with elderly Alzheimer’s patients.
Plunkett also issued a challenge to political donors in this year of hotly contested campaigns.
“We have just recently seen the latest campaign finance reports from the Secretary of State’s office. If you take just the amount of money raised by the announced candidates for state-wide office alone, it is probably in excess of $8 million,” Plunkett said. “Give me one percent, just one percent, of that for the Alzheimer’s Association through Lucy’s Revenge, and we will begin the ball rolling towards creating a project that seriously helps Mississippi families in need. That is my challenge to those who have given political donations, whether they are companies or individuals.”
Dr. Patton believes with the addition of the Mind Center at University Medical Center, and continued efforts from people to raise money; Mississippi is well positioned to be a leader in Alzheimer’s research.
The new research organization: the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center has a campaign underway to raise $9 million for the center’s personnel and program costs through private donations.
“UMC also received $26 million in grants for that project,” said Patton. “Dr. Tom Mosley will be the head of that facility, and he is known around the world for his work in the field.”
The Medical Center and four collaborating academic medical centers received the grants from the National Institutes of Health to identify risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of cognitive decline in July of 2010.
Plunkett said he is now looking ahead at ways to continue the project with annual events in one of each of five designated regions across the state.
“The idea is that we can build on the Memory Walk model the Alzheimer’s Association already has in place for annual events to keep the dollars rolling in,” said Plunkett. “I have already spoken with sponsors interested in being a part of that.”
Plunkett added that there is also an economic development and tourism benefit from the promotion of small river towns across the state.
“Some of the very places these events will be held are the ones that need a shot in the arm,” he said. “Not to mention some of these small towns and cities are the backbone of our state’s history.”
Plunkett’s grandmother was Lucy Plunkett. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.
“I see this project as a symbol of me taking back what Alzheimer’s and Dementia took from her.”
The remaining dates for the Lucy’s Revenge Tour are as follows:
Spring/Summer Dates
Saturday February 19-Monday February 21: 3-day, 2-night trip on the Yalobusha River from Grenada to Greenwood.
52 miles.
Sponsored by Lifehelp Region 6 Mental Health Center-Garden Park Adult Day Center.
Saturday February 26-Sunday February 27: Overnight trip on the Sunflower River in celebration of Sunflower River month from Eagles Nest to New Africa.
20 miles.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Sunflower River.
For more information contact Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi (662)627-4070
Saturday March 12: The second running of the Battle on the Bayou on Old Fort Bayou Ocean Springs. 9.5 miles.
For more information go to http://www.battleonthebayou.com/
Saturday March 19: Coldwater River.
Mileage TBD
Highlighting the conservation efforts of the Upper Coldwater River Watershed.
For more information go to http://www.coldwatertrail.org/
Saturday March 26-Sunday March 27: Overnight on the Mississippi River Muddy Waters Wilderness.
100 miles. Quapaw Landing to Warfield Point.
Sponsored by Quapaw Canoe Company
For more information contact Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi (662)627-4070
Saturday April 16-Sunday April 27: Overnight on Bogue Chitto River.
27 miles. McComb to Dillon Bridge
Saturday April 23-Sunday April 24: Overnight on Bayou Pierre
50 miles. Dentville to Port Gibson
Saturday April 30-Sunday May 1: Overnight on the Yazoo River
43 miles. Satartia to Steele Bayou.
Saturday May 7-Sunday May 8: Overnight on the Homochitto River
36 miles. Eddiceton to Rosetta
Friday May 13-Sunday May 15: Overnights on the Leaf River
64 miles. Taylorsville to Old River Road
Saturday May 21-Sunday May 22: Overnight on the Red Creek
45.5 miles. Perkinston to Vestry
Saturday June 4-Sunday June 5: Overnight on Bear Creek
23 miles. Golden to Hwy 30.
Saturday June 11: Day trip on Chunky River
10 miles. Stucky Bridge to Enterprise
Saturday June 18-Sunday June 19: Overnight on the Bowie River.
26.5 miles. Highway 589 to Leaf River at Hattiesburg
Saturday July 2: Day Trip on the Pearl River
20 miles. Lefleurs Bluff through Jackson to Byram at the Swinging Bridge
Saturday July 9: Finale at the Ross Barnett Reservoir
13 miles. Tommy’s Trading Post to Madison Landing
Total Mileage for Spring/Summer Dates: 539.5 miles
Total Mileage since July of 2010: 336.5 miles
Grand Total Goal: 876 miles
Monday, February 14, 2011
MISSISSIPPI PADDLER TO ANNOUNCE 2011 TRIP DATES FOR ALZHEIMER’S PROJECT AT ST. DOMINIC PRESS CONFERENCE
Flora, MS. February 14, 2011—Keith Plunkett, Mississippi paddler and organizer of Lucy’s Revenge, will be joined by sponsors, health officials, the staff of the Mississippi Alzheimer’s Association, and representatives from MS Tourism and the Department of Mental Health for a Press Conference on Wednesday February 16. The event will be held at the St. Dominic Centre Building at 3800 I-55 North in Jackson, Mississippi at 10:00 am.
“We have put together a very good list of trips of some of Mississippi’s best waterways,” said Plunkett. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to share this with the public and give others the opportunity to join me and many of Mississippi’s outdoorsmen in the coming months to show what wonderful things our state has to offer.”
Plunkett began the project in July of 2010 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and has paddled areas all over the state to amass 336 miles on Mississippi waters while raising money and awareness to help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
The project is named in memory of Plunkett’s Grandmother, Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1993. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of her church and the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.
WHO: Keith Plunkett
Ian McDonald (Development Director-MS Alzheimer’s Association)
Representatives from St. Dominic Health Services
Representatives from Mississippi Tourism Department
Representative from MS Department of Mental Health
Project Sponsor Representatives
Mississippi Alzheimer’s Health Care Facility Directors
WHAT: Announcement of upcoming fundraisers and paddling trips for February through July 2011.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
10:00 AM
WHERE: St. Dominic Centre Building
3800 I-55 North
Jackson, Mississippi 39216
“We have put together a very good list of trips of some of Mississippi’s best waterways,” said Plunkett. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to share this with the public and give others the opportunity to join me and many of Mississippi’s outdoorsmen in the coming months to show what wonderful things our state has to offer.”
Plunkett began the project in July of 2010 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and has paddled areas all over the state to amass 336 miles on Mississippi waters while raising money and awareness to help fight Alzheimer’s disease.
The project is named in memory of Plunkett’s Grandmother, Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1993. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of her church and the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.
WHO: Keith Plunkett
Ian McDonald (Development Director-MS Alzheimer’s Association)
Representatives from St. Dominic Health Services
Representatives from Mississippi Tourism Department
Representative from MS Department of Mental Health
Project Sponsor Representatives
Mississippi Alzheimer’s Health Care Facility Directors
WHAT: Announcement of upcoming fundraisers and paddling trips for February through July 2011.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
10:00 AM
WHERE: St. Dominic Centre Building
3800 I-55 North
Jackson, Mississippi 39216
Friday, February 4, 2011
Second Member in Alzheimer's Toxic Duo Identified
Like two unruly boys who need to be split up in class, a pair of protein molecules work together to speed up the toxic events of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio February 4 announced the discovery of the second molecule and said its identification could lead to drugs that disrupt the interaction, and thereby block or slow Alzheimer's onset or progression.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Yalobusha River: A quick look
Yalobusha from Grenada Lake to Greenwood will be one of our Delta Region trips. Plans are for sometime in February. We're shooting for President's Day Weekend. The Yalobusha joins the Tallahatchie at Greenwood to form the Yazoo. The trip will be 52 miles.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Trip Log: Lost and Found on Pelahatchie Creek
BY B. Keith Plunkett
A friend and coworker has spent the last year and a half listening to me tell tales of paddling all over Mississippi. He finally had enough of it and purchased himself and his wife a couple of Wilderness Pamlico 120’s in December. We scheduled a rendezvous at Pelahatchie Creek. The creek enters Pelahatchie Bay from Rankin County to the East, which in turn feeds into the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
It was a close central meeting point for us, he coming from Brandon, and I from Flora. I had yet to paddle Pelahatchie and had been hearing good things about it being a great afternoon in and out spot. He was anxious to get his new boats wet.
Weather forecasts had been warning for almost a week of an impending ice and snow storm that would shut down everything. Anxious to get in some time on the water prior to the doom of the Snowpocalypse, Sharon and I bundled up and prepared for a cold January paddle. His wife joined us, too.
We launched from the boat ramp behind the Pelahatchie Trading Post at around 2:00 that afternoon. The GPS showed the trip to be one longer than we could complete in the short daylight hours we had left. So, we decided to make it a leisurely trip, get as far as we would, and then turnaround and come back.
Paddling East under Highway 471 we passed by a few fisherman hunkering down in the well protected areas at the mouth of the Creek. The wind in open areas wasn’t terrible, especially with the sunshine, but the fishermen we spotted appeared less concerned with a catch than with just being there. For the first three or four bends we rounded in the creek we spotted fishermen, all said they had caught nothing.
Golfers were out playing the adjacent course of Bay Pointe that abuts the creek for about a half mile. Mississippi’s winter 2010-2011 has been tougher than in most years. This day was hardly good for golfing, but folks accustomed to being outside can only take so long before cabin fever begins to set in. There was no look of seriousness to any of the play, but you could tell people were happy to have a day of sunshine.
It is easy to see this is a favorite paddle spot for day-trippers. Downed trees that could have likely caused problems were eaten away in spots from some previous visitor’s chainsaws. The creek is loaded with logjams, but they are obviously cleared with great regularity. And, it’s a good thing. There are no sandbars, at least in the short 3 and a half mile run upstream we did. So had we run into an impassable jam, the choice in most places was to turn around and call it a day.
At around the 3-quarter mile mark the open golf course to our right disappeared and we were swallowed up by the surrounding trees. As we meandered upstream, I prepared for a quick couple of shots with the camera. I allowed the others in my party to paddle ahead, as I still have a hard time talking to a camera with others around me. A few shots here and a few there and I began paddling to catch up with my crew.
The only opening I would see again in the heavily forested creek would be immediately surrounding Highway 25. But as quickly as I descended from the woods, once crossing underneath the bridge there and I was just as quickly back into the thick of it.
At this point, I should have caught up with the other three paddlers. But, I had not. I thought to myself that maybe during my few months of not paddling as frequently I was not in as good shape, but surely I hadn’t lost that much. Even though I’ve been in a couple of kayak races, I’m a touring kayaker, not a true racer. Still I could easily sustain speeds in excess of 5 miles per hour and, unless my GPS was really bad off, I had hit 6 miles per hour on a few bursts. How could they have gotten that far away so quickly?
I rounded bend after bend, nobody. Just me, the woods, the water and an increasing number of deer and squirrels.
As I was trying to decide whether they had turned off the main route, or whether I was just crazy. I began to see wildlife, lots of it. How could I be spotting deer and squirrel that undisturbed had my cohorts already been through here? How could they have turned off so easily? The creek is fairly easy to track.
At that moment, a big splash jolted me out of my deep thought. River Otters! I had seen them before on the Chickasawhay, but these guys were close, two of them. They were much more playful and curious too. I scrambled for my camera once again forgetting about my paddling companions.
After playing with the Otters, my thoughts began to focus again on finding my wife and friends. It seemed obvious that they must have made a wrong turn. I had noticed several cuts that crisscrossed the creek. But they weren’t big enough to mistake for the main creek. Were they?
I sat silent.
I paddled ahead a short distance.
I paddled back a short distance.
I began to worry.
My wife is going to being ticked off!
And then, there they were. The signs had all been there. The animal’s I was seeing was an indication they hadn’t been this way, and they hadn’t. They had made a wrong turn. Sure, it was easy for me to keep on the creek, I had the GPS. And they, well they didn’t. I took my wife’s not so subtle irritation like a man.
Yes dear.
I do get lost in my thoughts out here. But, that’s part of the allure.
We paddled a little farther upstream, before turning back. We loaded the kayaks just as the sun and the temps were dropping fast. We’ll be back to do the whole thing, and next time I’ll try to keep up with my crew.
A friend and coworker has spent the last year and a half listening to me tell tales of paddling all over Mississippi. He finally had enough of it and purchased himself and his wife a couple of Wilderness Pamlico 120’s in December. We scheduled a rendezvous at Pelahatchie Creek. The creek enters Pelahatchie Bay from Rankin County to the East, which in turn feeds into the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
It was a close central meeting point for us, he coming from Brandon, and I from Flora. I had yet to paddle Pelahatchie and had been hearing good things about it being a great afternoon in and out spot. He was anxious to get his new boats wet.
Weather forecasts had been warning for almost a week of an impending ice and snow storm that would shut down everything. Anxious to get in some time on the water prior to the doom of the Snowpocalypse, Sharon and I bundled up and prepared for a cold January paddle. His wife joined us, too.
 |
| Launching from Pelahatchie Trading Post we paddled 3.5 miles before the setting sun forced us to turn back. |
We launched from the boat ramp behind the Pelahatchie Trading Post at around 2:00 that afternoon. The GPS showed the trip to be one longer than we could complete in the short daylight hours we had left. So, we decided to make it a leisurely trip, get as far as we would, and then turnaround and come back.
Paddling East under Highway 471 we passed by a few fisherman hunkering down in the well protected areas at the mouth of the Creek. The wind in open areas wasn’t terrible, especially with the sunshine, but the fishermen we spotted appeared less concerned with a catch than with just being there. For the first three or four bends we rounded in the creek we spotted fishermen, all said they had caught nothing.
Golfers were out playing the adjacent course of Bay Pointe that abuts the creek for about a half mile. Mississippi’s winter 2010-2011 has been tougher than in most years. This day was hardly good for golfing, but folks accustomed to being outside can only take so long before cabin fever begins to set in. There was no look of seriousness to any of the play, but you could tell people were happy to have a day of sunshine.
It is easy to see this is a favorite paddle spot for day-trippers. Downed trees that could have likely caused problems were eaten away in spots from some previous visitor’s chainsaws. The creek is loaded with logjams, but they are obviously cleared with great regularity. And, it’s a good thing. There are no sandbars, at least in the short 3 and a half mile run upstream we did. So had we run into an impassable jam, the choice in most places was to turn around and call it a day.
At around the 3-quarter mile mark the open golf course to our right disappeared and we were swallowed up by the surrounding trees. As we meandered upstream, I prepared for a quick couple of shots with the camera. I allowed the others in my party to paddle ahead, as I still have a hard time talking to a camera with others around me. A few shots here and a few there and I began paddling to catch up with my crew.
The only opening I would see again in the heavily forested creek would be immediately surrounding Highway 25. But as quickly as I descended from the woods, once crossing underneath the bridge there and I was just as quickly back into the thick of it.
At this point, I should have caught up with the other three paddlers. But, I had not. I thought to myself that maybe during my few months of not paddling as frequently I was not in as good shape, but surely I hadn’t lost that much. Even though I’ve been in a couple of kayak races, I’m a touring kayaker, not a true racer. Still I could easily sustain speeds in excess of 5 miles per hour and, unless my GPS was really bad off, I had hit 6 miles per hour on a few bursts. How could they have gotten that far away so quickly?
I rounded bend after bend, nobody. Just me, the woods, the water and an increasing number of deer and squirrels.
As I was trying to decide whether they had turned off the main route, or whether I was just crazy. I began to see wildlife, lots of it. How could I be spotting deer and squirrel that undisturbed had my cohorts already been through here? How could they have turned off so easily? The creek is fairly easy to track.
At that moment, a big splash jolted me out of my deep thought. River Otters! I had seen them before on the Chickasawhay, but these guys were close, two of them. They were much more playful and curious too. I scrambled for my camera once again forgetting about my paddling companions.
After playing with the Otters, my thoughts began to focus again on finding my wife and friends. It seemed obvious that they must have made a wrong turn. I had noticed several cuts that crisscrossed the creek. But they weren’t big enough to mistake for the main creek. Were they?
I sat silent.
I paddled ahead a short distance.
I paddled back a short distance.
I began to worry.
My wife is going to being ticked off!
And then, there they were. The signs had all been there. The animal’s I was seeing was an indication they hadn’t been this way, and they hadn’t. They had made a wrong turn. Sure, it was easy for me to keep on the creek, I had the GPS. And they, well they didn’t. I took my wife’s not so subtle irritation like a man.
Yes dear.
I do get lost in my thoughts out here. But, that’s part of the allure.
We paddled a little farther upstream, before turning back. We loaded the kayaks just as the sun and the temps were dropping fast. We’ll be back to do the whole thing, and next time I’ll try to keep up with my crew.
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