200 support Memory Walk

The Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk, which has been held annually for the last 12 years in 500 different communities nationwide, was held for the first time in Bloomington at Bryan Park Sunday. Spirits were high as over 200 supporters came together to walk in honor of loved ones who have suffered from the disease.\n"We are thrilled that Bloomington has decided to take part in the walk," said Mary Ellen Wells, director of the south central Indiana chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.\nSince the Memory Walk began 12 years ago, it has collected over $120 million for local programs and services offered to individuals with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia among older people, according to the Alzheimer's Association Web site. It affects 30 percent of people over the age of 75 in the United States, including 47 percent over the age of 85.\n"It is amazing what people can accomplish when they get together for a cause," Wells said. "Alzheimer's is such a devastating disease, and when we come together, we fight for a cure."\nBloomington's first Memory Walk has a goal to raise $25,000. The number may seem high, but Wells said it is not unrealistic.\n"If you don't set your goals high, then you will never reach them," Wells said.\nAs of Sunday, the Memory Walk raised $18,000, and more donations are expected to come over the next week. \nParticipants entered the walk in teams or as individual walkers. Junior Lacey Mueller, whose father, Jack Mueller passed away last spring, was wearing a forest green T-shirt which read, "Team Jack, memory walk '03," along with 20 other members of her team.\n"Today is an emotional day," Mueller said. "But at the same time, it is uplifting. Seeing all of these people out here today is really special." \nParticipants seemed eager at the starting line to begin the 2.75 mile walk. \nBloomington resident Chris Ashcraft, who was walking in memory of late husband Jim Ashcraft, said she was happy to see a good turnout. \n"It is touching to see how many people care about this devastating disease," Ashcraft said.\nActivities other than the walk were offered Sunday, including a "cookie walk" for children. After the Memory Walk was completed, participants gathered together for a cookout which was provided by Beverly Healthcare, a health care facility in Bloomington specializing in long-term, short-term, inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation. Beverly Healthcare has a special Alzheimer's unit, which had a team of over 30 people at the walk.\n"We are all walking in memory or in honor of people who have touched our lives who suffered from Alzheimer's," said Tressa Arionus, a team member from Beverly Healthcare.\nAt the cookout, plaques were awarded to the teams and individuals who raised the most money. The first place team, Walkers for Wilma, raised $5,837. The first place individual, raising $1,400, was Virginia Pitman on the Walkers for Wilma team.\nAmy Thomas, a Walkers for Wilma team member, was thrilled with the team's awards. \n"I am amazed with how much we raised," Thomas said. "The community came through, and we surpassed anything I could have ever imagined."\nBev Johnson, the adult family services manager for Bloomington Parks and Recreation, said she was extremely pleased with the turnout and success of the walk. \n"We have been working on this walk since the end of January," Johnson said. "It is nice to see the product of such hard work." \nWells and the walk participants said they have high hopes for the walk becoming an annual event in coming years.\n"People care about the cause," Wells said. "People have said all day that they are in this for years to come. I am sure that next year we will surpass this year's goal. As long as Alzheimer's is infecting people's loved ones, there will be a cause for awareness."\n-- Contact staff reporter Monica Dix at mcdix@indiana.edu.