A new era for the Light of Day in Asbury Park

Chris Jordan    December 27, 2016

Vocalist Sally James sings for So Watt during the Light of Day Cover Me show, Sunday, January 10, 2016, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.  (Photo: Jason Towlen)

Video: http://on.app.com/1P1dCRG

It’s a new chapter for the Light of Day Foundation.

The annual Light of Day Winterfest  in Asbury Park, which begins Sunday, Jan. 8, has raised nearly $4 million dollars in the fight against Parkinson’s and related diseases. So far, that money has been disbursed to groups searching for a cure. Now, a portion of the funds will be allocated to help alleviate the suffering of those afflicted here in New Jersey.

“We hope to be able to fund, starting in January, Boxing for Bob,” said Light of Day executive director Tony Pallagrosi. “It’s modeled after the Rock Steady (Boxing) program, which was founded in Indiana (in 2006, according to the program’s web site) and it seems to be great therapy for Parkinson’s patients and also PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy) patients to a certain extent.”

It’s called Boxing for Bob as Bob Benjamin, the founder of the Light of Day and a Parkinson’s sufferer, is taking the boxing therapy at Rock Steady Boxing Central Jersey in Garwood.

Right now, there are no such programs at the Jersey Shore.

“I’m pretty stiff now but they really work you,” said Benjamin of the program last year to the Asbury Park Press. “They make you do pushups, they work you to the point of exhaustion. The movements have a lot of rhythm to it and it helps with the Parkinson’s.”

Pallagrosi would also like to initiate speech therapy program for Jersey Parkinson’s sufferers and a establish a Light of Day storefront location.

“We would use it as a resource center,” said Pallagrosi of the storefront. “A place to host seminars, boxing, lectures, films -- all having to do with Parkinson’s and PSP. I hope to have programs for caregivers, too, because they’re the unsung heroes. In their own way, they suffered a great deal.”

Parkinson’s is a chronic and progressive neurological condition that affects movement and muscle control, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation website, www.pdf.org. Doctors are not sure of the cause, and for now, there is no cure for  the estimated 1.5 million to 2 million Americans who have Parkinson’s.

Bob Benjamin and Bruce Springsteen at the 2015 Light of Day in Asbury Park. (Photo: Mark R. Sullivan)

Bruce Springsteen is associated with the Light of Day as he’s played in 11 of the previous 16 festivals, all unannounced, since it began in 1998 in Red Bank as a birthday party for Benjamin. Recently, Springsteen revealed in his “Born to Run” autobiography that his father, Douglas Springsteen of Freehold, suffered from Parkinson’s.

Springsteen has never remarked about his father’s battle with Parkinson’s from the LOD stage during his previous 11 appearances.

“We know many people come (to the Light of Day) for the music and more, but we want people to understand why they’re coming in the first place,” said Pallagrosi, a former member of the Asbury Jukes. “My mother died of the effects of PSP and I saw up close what a horrible death that was.”

A headliner for the Main Event at the Paramount should be announced about a week before the show, Pallagrosi said. Recent additions to this year’s lineup include guitar legend Albert Lee on Friday, Jan 13 at McLoone’s Supper Club; Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon on Saturday, Jan 14 at McLoone’s; and Danny Clinch and the Tangiers Blues Band at the Clinch “Transparent” photo exhibit  inside the Asbury Hotel on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan 14.

So far, more than 150 acts on stages in Jersey, New York and Philadelphia have been announced. This comes after a Light of Day European tour. The Asbury Park Press is a title sponsor of the festival.

“We are now walking into a new realm and era for the Light of Day,” Pallagrosi said.

Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com 

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/12/27/new-era-light-day-asbury-park/95894968/