By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — More than 200 people participated in Saturday’s Southern Tier Walk to End Alzheimer’s — with start and finish lines at the Cattaraugus County Campus of Jamestown Community College.
Many of those who walked either had a close relative or friends who have Alzheimer’s or had died from the disease that causes memory loss, thinking problems and behavioral changes.
Others worked with Alzheimer’s patients in memory care units of nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Denise Zuver and Amanda Wallace, both of Belfast in Allegany County, were among the last to cross under the purple arch at the finish line just off North Union Street.
Both work at the Houghton Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and both were thinking of someone with Alzheimer’s as they walked.
Zuver said she was thinking about her mother-in-law, Dorothy Zuver, who died of the disease two years ago. Wallace said Dorothy Zuver “was like my second mother,” and she too was thinking of her during the almost two-mile walk.
Misty Schuman and Mike Conroy, both of Allegany and Allegany native Brian Hall, visiting from Richmond, Va., crossed the finish line with Conroy walking Moose, a golden retriever.
Schuman said she was walking in memory of her grandmother, Wilma Skinner, who lived in Westons Mills and died of Alzheimer’s.
Hall said he was visiting from Richmond when he learned of the Alzheimer’s Walk and decided to participate. His mother, Carol Hall, an English teacher at Allegany-Limestone Central School, died a year ago from the disease. Moose is a therapy dog at Allegany-Limestone.
Volunteers cheered and waved signs as participants crossed the finish line. Food and refreshments awaited people at the end of the walk. Those who raised $100 or more for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s received a T-shirt.
There was also a Promise Garden set up on the JCC campus. Each participant received a flower.
Blue flowers signified someone living with Alzheimer’s, the purple flower was in memory of someone lost to the disease, yellow flowers were for someone who is a support figure or someone caring for a person with Alzheimer’s and the orange flowers were for those supporting the cause of ending Alzheimer’s through research.
Kiernan Haywood, coordinator for the Southern Tier Walk to End Alzheimer’s, thanked the more than 200 participants for not only raising funds for Alzheimer’s research and operation, but raising the awareness of the community of the disease.
The Southern Tier Alzheimer’s group was 60% of the way toward its $80,000 fundraising goal for 2024, Haywood said. While pledges haven’t been tabulated yet, he said it’s likely the goal was surpassed with Saturday’s fundraiser.
To make a donation go online to:https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?idb=1328523880&df_id=56210&FR_ID=17823&mfc_pref=T&PROXY_ID=17823&56210.donation=form1&PROXY_TYPE=21.
