Brave and Hearty Support Alzheimer’s Research on Stormy Sunday

Top Right: Umbrellas, rain gear, and warm clothing are the order of the day for the participants in the walk. The weather on Sunday outside was positively frightful, yet 200 brave and hearty souls came to Carmel— in the vicinity of the Office for the Aging—dressed to protect themselves against the elements by participating in Putnam’s 8th annual Memory Walk to benefit the American Alzheimer’s Association.

Stuart Grief, program development specialist at the Putnam Point of Service Office of the Hudson Valley Alzheimer’s Association, who helps to coordinate the walk each year, was taken aback by the great turnout despite chilly temperatures and a steady rain: “Our walk has finally grown roots and limbs. Alzheimer’s and memory loss are being taken seriously in our community, where more than 1,200 men and women have been diagnosed. Multiply that by family members trying to cope with the debilitating illness, and just under 5,000 people are affected each and every day in our small county.”

Above: Fran Lomonaco of North Salem has her hands full with Bailey and Rory on a nasty and cold Sunday morning. Grief said despite progress in the field of medical research and drug development nothing exists today that can arrest the disease: “More than 5.2 million people in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer’s. If we can’t wrestle this disease down as Putnam residents are doing today by walking, by the year 2030, there will be at least 15 million people with Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. which is frightening, alarming and very, very scary.”
Below: Sheila Gayle of Lake Carmel serenades the participants by singing a beautiful medley of songs related to Alzheimer’s sufferers.