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Dinner, auction to benefit Alzheimer’s Association

Watching a loved one progress through Alzheimer’s is hard on their family. Tammie Johnson and Pat Hedrick are a mother/daughter duo who are trying to ease the burden of Alzheimer’s on local residents.

On Saturday, the two members of the STOP Alzheimer’s Team are holding their first dinner and auction at the Marietta Shrine Club to raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is a voluntary health organization focused on Alzheimer’s care, support and research.

The event starts at 5 p.m. and will feature dinner and both a silent and live auction for the admission price of $30 per ticket, or $50 for couples.

“We’re having the best chicken dinner of all the fundraisers,” Johnson said of Lorinda Lang’s catered dinner.

Smaller items like gift certificates will be included in the silent auction. Larger items like a gas grill and painting from Marietta High School alumni Bari Pugh Favre will be in the live auction. All the items up for bid will be in the window of Peoples Bank on Second Street until Friday morning for interested bidders to view, Johnson said.

“We’re hoping to raise around $5,000,” Johnson said. “I know times are tough for people right now, but I think it is a realistic goal.”

Both women have a personal tie to the disease which they are fighting. In 2014 Johnson lost her father, Hedrick’s husband, to Alzheimer’s.

“Saturday, the day of the dinner, would have been his 84th birthday,” she said.

Johnson said she had to use the services provided by the Alzheimer’s Association while her father, Stephen Hedrick, was ill with the disease and wants to give back.

“I had donated before and used their services,” she said. “But after he passed I decided to get more active in the cause.”

So along with her mother and a handful of volunteers, they formed what they hope will become an annual tradition, she said.

Area businesses like American Flags & Poles, Smitty’s Pizza, Mahone Tires and East of Chicago Pizza have heard Johnson’s call and donated to her cause.

Charlie Clay, owner of Dad’s Primitive Workbench, said he wanted to give more than he usually does to this event. Instead of a smaller item, he donated a sign with a quote about families staying together through hard times.

“We usually just do a gift certificate,” he said. “But we wanted to give them a higher cost item to help their cause even more.”

With concerned business owners and citizens helping, Johnson said she was confident about the fight against Alzheimer’s.

“I’m sure it will be cured in my lifetime,” she said.

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets call Tammie Johnson at 740-516-0422, or Pat Hedrick at 740-373-0140. They can also be reached by email at stopalzheimers@outlook.com.

If you go:

•What: The STOP Alzheimer’s Team dinner/auction fundraiser.

•When: Saturday, doors open at 5 p.m.

•Where: Marietta Shrine Club, 249 Pennsylvania Ave.

•Tickets: $30 per person, $50 for couples.

•Contributing businesses: American Flags & Poles, Smitty’s Pizza, Mahone Tire, East of Chicago Pizza, Dad’s Primitive Workbench.

•For information or to purchase tickets: Call 740-516-0422 or 740-373-0140; email at stopalzheimers@outlook.com

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