200 join for Orleans County Walk to End Alzheimer’s

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Walkers start out from State Street Park on the annual Walk for Alzheimer’s Saturday morning. An estimated 200 participated.

MEDINA – The annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s took place Saturday morning in State Street Park, with an estimated 200 participants.

Volunteers arrived early to get ready for the 9.m. registration, set up the basket raffle and provide refreshments for the walkers.

 Medina Mayor Marguerite opened the morning’s activity, saying it was a great day.

“We are all touched by Alzheimer’s, me included,” Sherman said, sharing that her mother Doris Fuller died of the disease.

A group of walkers from Park Avenue Therapy posed for a picture in the Promise Garden. They also had a booth at the Walk for Alzheimer’s on Saturday.

Retired disc jockey from WKBW, Randy Bushover, was master of ceremonies for the event for the 13th year, he said.

“I get to use my old communication skills,” Bushover said.

Walk manager was Lynn Hughes from the Alzheimer’s Association, who greeted volunteers and oversaw their duties.

UB Neurology had a table with information on screening, assessment and other services for patients and their families dealing with Alzheimer’s.

Beth Schmidt of Albion plants a flower in the Promise Garden in memory of her mother Joanne Welch, who died of Alzheimer’s six years ago.

At one tent, manned by Carolyn Walker, flowers could be purchased in a variety of colors, to be “planted” in the Promise Garden. Each color signified different stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Blue meant you have the disease; yellow meant you are a caregiver; purple signifies you have lost someone from the disease; orange indicates you support the vision of a world without Alzheimer’s; and white is the Hope for a Cure – the hope there will some day be a survivor of Alzheimer’s.

Mollie Radzinski was chosen to set the pace for walk, and led the estimated 200 on their way, over the Horan Road bridge, along the canal to the lift bridge and back by the Canal Basin to State Street Park.

Radzinski said when she learned they were looking for volunteers, it would be a great thing to do.

The annual walk is the biggest fundraiser locally for the Alzheimer’s Association.

(Left) Mollie Radzinski and Beth Schmidt of Albion pose with Orly the Ox on his first visit to an Alzheimer’s Walk, Saturday morning in State Street Park. Orly is the Orleans County mascot for this year’s bicentennial celebration. (Right) Randy Bushover, right, retired disc jockey from WBEN, holds the microphone for Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman, as she speaks during opening ceremonies of the annual Walk for Alzheimer’s in Medina.

Orly the Ox poses with four ladies holding a different colored flower. Each color symbolizes a different aspect of Alzheimer’s. From left, after Orly, are Kailea Lalka, Pamela Allen, Martha Meyers and Carolyn Wagner.

Nicole Tuohey, left, her mother Mary Lou Tuohey and Mary Lou’s sister Amy Murray have actively supported Alzheimer’s for years, as both Mary Lou’s and Amy’s grandparents died from the disease.