More than 300 people participated in Saturday’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s at Regner Park.
Participants carried brightly colored flowers with petals that caught the sun. Each color representing a family member who suffered Alzheimer’s.
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“My mother passed away with Alzheimer’s this year and I hope and pray I don’t get but I wish to give my heart to this walk and participate,” Michaelene Hackler of West Bend said.
Nels Madsen came in from Whitewater to participate. “I have a brother with the disease,” he said. “He’s my brother and I’ve kind of lost him and it’s a tough thing to talk about.”
Mandy Herriges was walking in honor of her grandma Audrey Herriges was battling Alzheimer’s. “This is very important to draw attention to the disease and I hope someday a cure can be found,” she said.
The West Bend High School marching band performed prior to the start of the walk. There was a little zumba to get warmed up and then brief speeches from Dr. Larry Sullivan and Pat Bohn from Bits n’ Pieces Floral.
Bohn had an inkling something was wrong before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s earlier this year. He talked about his situation and then praised those for helping spread the word about Alzheimer’s.
Wrapping up his brief speech and list of thank yous, Pat ended with his typical wry sense of humor. “If I forgot anybody – that’s natural for me now.”
Behind the scenes: I walked with Jerry and Nancy Mehring and when we got close to River Bend Senior apartments Jerry gave his stepmother Dorothy a call. She came out on her second-story porch in her robe. Jerry whistled and waived and Dorothy waived back. Then the entire crowd of walkers also waived to Dorothy. It was an overwhelming response for a little old lady that just stepped outside to look at all the walkers.