The Poncho is the symbol of office of the ISPN Presidency and the original poncho was given to the Society by Dr Anthony Raimondi in 1979.

As each President’s name is inscribed on the Poncho, eventually a new poncho was required and an ad-hoc Poncho Committee was convened to decide how best to care for the original poncho.

 

This committee comprised:

  • Dr Tai-Tong Wong, ISPN President
  • Dr Saffet Mutluer, ISPN President-elect
  • Dr Rick Abbott, ISPN Immediate Past President
  • Dr Graciela Zuccaro, ISPN Secretary and representative of Buenos Aires
  • Dr Enrique Ventureya, ISPN past President and representative of Buenos Aires
  • Dr Tad Tomita, ISPN Education Chair and representative of Chicago.

 

The Committee recommended:

  1. That a duplicate of this original Poncho with its signatures be done in a manner that as closely copies it as possible. It is felt that since the original poncho comes from Buenos Aires that this would be the logical location to have this done. Therefore the original poncho will be given over to Dr Graciela Zuccaro and Dr Enrique Ventureya to accomplish this task. It is assumed that great care will be taken to protect the original poncho’s integrity during this time.
  2. After completion of the duplication process the original poncho will be moved to a permanent location where it will be placed on display in a protected state that will minimize the threat of fabric deterioration over time. The Society will require the presence of the original poncho from time to time at designated meetings or events so it will be kept with this in mind.
  3. the ISPN will obtain a formal agreement from the housing institution that they will:
    a. keep the Poncho in a protected environment
    b. notify the ISPN if
    i. any restoration of the original Poncho or its case is required
    ii. if storage of the original Poncho is compromised
    iii. if the housing institution can no longer be responsible for the Poncho.
  4. That an attorney be hired to represent the interests of the ISPN in the drawing up of an agreement between the ISPN and the housing institution.

Happily the Asociacion Argentina de Neurocirugia (AANC) agreed to house the original Poncho and the hand-over was presided over by Dr Zuccaro, Dr Marcelo Platas (President of AANC and Dr Mateo Baccanelli (Secretary of AANC).