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A crowd of over 100 met downtown on a cool Saturday morning for this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The event opened with an invocation by Rev. Chris Humphries and the delivery of the National Anthem by Krystal Apke, with Suzi Bonifay and Ronnie Burke MCing the event.  Paula Grollman and Kim Mills with the YMCA also provided an interactive warm-up before the Walk. First Port City Bank sponsored the day’s opening ceremony, with FPCB employees also helping with the ceremony’s Promise Garden flowers.

According to Thea Burke, 133 participants registered to participate in the walk this year, and as of the writing of this article, $41,290 has been raised, with nearly $20,000 of that coming from the Edward Jones golf, tennis, and pickleball tournaments, as well as the raffle. Stone’s donated a Traeger Grill for the raffle this year. Burke added that donations can still be made up until December 31 of this year.

“Among the participants, many stories were shared about how Alzheimer’s and dementia have impacted their families, co-workers and friends,” Burke said. “Those stories and the impact of this terrible disease are the reason we Walk.”