September 21 is World Alzheimer's Day. The day is set aside to raise further awareness. It also falls on the birthday of the German psychologist and neurologist credited with identifying the first public case of dementia. Mary O'Connor, a client services coordinator with the Alzheimer Society for Kenora-Rainy River Districts, says it is an important day. "I think it's really important that we recognize just how prevalent dementia is. And when we recognize World Alzheimer's Day, the idea is to, not only spread awareness, but to recognize that there are things that we can do to help people in our community who have dementia. That's really one of the big things that we are promoting during this day," says O'Connor. Among the events planned will be three virtual sessions around dementia. One will focus on how to communicate effectively with somebody who has dementia. The second, called Finding Your Way, will speak about wandering and how to keep people with dementia safe. The third session is Dementia 101, which will provide an overview of dementia. "All of these virtual sessions we have going on are all free. I will be doing the 7 p.m. one, and my coworkers, one in Kenora and one in Dryden, will be doing the other ones," says O'Connor. Links to the sessions are found at the bottom of this story. O'Connor has other events planned during the day. She will be at Rainy Lake Square in Fort Frances from 10 a.m. to noon to hand out blue ribbons and chat. The Talk on the Street Eatery will have its food truck on site, donating $1.00 for every gourmet 'Handberger' sold to the Alzheimer Society. Another information session will take place at the Fort France Public Library and Technology Centre from 4-6 p.m. Here are the links for the virtual sessions taking place Thursday; 10:00 a.m. - Communication (Heidi from Dryden) Join Zoom Meeting https://alzheimersociety.zoom.us/j/95152393992?pwd=VGVUM2I3NTZmZGtCOUhsN0lITzc3QT09 Meeting ID: 951 5239 3992 Passcode: 093528 2:00 p.m. - Finding Your Way (Rylee from Kenora) Join Zoom Meeting https://alzheimersociety.zoom.us/j/94334563581?pwd=WExaT0VxeDJCcUpXdG0xTy84cFBhdz09 Meeting ID: 943 3456 3581 Passcode: 046107 Dementia 101 - 7:00 pm (Mary from Fort Frances) Join Zoom Meeting https://alzheimersociety.zoom.us/j/92761864265?pwd=MmFkQjJCQ0NwdmVoRi9GaitlZTFzQT09 Meeting ID: 927 6186 4265 Passcode: 490644 ---- with files from Randy Thoms