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Walk to End Alzheimer’s

WILLIAMSTOWN — The annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s drew hundreds of people to Tomlinson Park in Williamstown on Saturday morning to raise money to fight the disease.

Audrianna Wellspring, event chair, said the annual walk is a way to come together locally to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research and also create advocacy and awareness involving the disease.

In addition to the walk, Saturday’s activities at Tomlinson Park included a country store, face painting for children, vendors, sponsors and exhibitors, a silent auction and others.

Following the opening ceremony at the park, the walkers left the park onto Highland Avenue and walked across the Williamstown Bridge to Don Drumm Stadium in Marietta before returning to the park in Williamstown.

Participants received symbolic flowers denoting their relationship with Alzheimer’s Disease. Blue flowers represented someone with Alzheimer’s and purple represented someone who has lost someone to the disease. Yellow flowers were for caregivers and orange was for supporters. A white flower represented an Alzheimer’s survivor, but no one carried that flower Saturday since there is yet no cure for the disease, organizers said.

Wellspring said many participants have personal connections involving Alzheimer’s, dementia and similar conditions. In her case, it was her great-grandmother who had dementia for the last year of her life.

Her mother told her “don’t remember what’s going on right now, remember Grandma the way she was a year ago, the fun-loving goofy grandma. Don’t let this get you down emotionally and change your perspective of her,” she said.

Wellspring became involved in the Alzheimer’s Association of the Mid-Ohio Valley in 2017 and participated in her first walk last September. She was the event chair for Saturday’s event, her second walk.

“I’m excited to see the progress and to see more people learn about the disease and advocate for it,” she said, adding about 700 people participated in the event.

Wellspring said the Alzheimer’s Association offers a variety of resources, including a library, classes for families and caregivers and others.

“I want that to be the main thing we do here, teach people about Alzheimer’s and then, of course, raise money to end the disease,” she said.

Carlee Kernodle, a freshman at Marietta College, became involved in Saturday’s walk through pledging Sigma Kappa at MC, which is involved in Alzheimer’s through the sorority’s philanthropy efforts. She attended the event with her mother, Kim Kernodle, of Oak Park, Ill.

“It’s really cool to see how many people are here,” Carlee said, adding she plans to return each year while attending MC.

Kim said the family has not dealt with Alzheimer’s specifically in the past, but has had family members who dealt with dementia.

“I’m very proud of my daughter and her organization for the work that they do,” she said.

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