Wednesday, November 13, 2013 | MyConnection 7
Community Connection
Coweta walks to end Alzheimer’s By Clay Neely clay@newnan.com
Hundreds of walkers and volunteers came to Coweta County Fairgrounds recently for the third annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s event. Kel ly H i nes , d i rector of public relations for Piedmont Newnan Hospital helped with registration for the event. “It’s really growing. This is the third year we’ve had the Alzheimer’s walk exclusively for Coweta. We have 37 teams that were pre-registered and at least 300 walkers,” said Hines. Vendors stood at tables with items for a silent auction while participants gathered on the law n. Ly nette Smit h, from Team John’s Angels, worked alongside Julie Rushin and Katrina Lyle, general manager of Applebee’s. “It doesn’t matter to me what we sell,” said Smith. “I’ll do whatever it takes to raise awareness for the cause.” Robert Young from Young Taekwondo Academy assisted in a warm-up on the lawn in front of the stage. Cameron Pirouz from Homestead Hospice add ressed t he crowd prior to the walk. “We can do this and we will do this. None of us would be here today without the help of our sponsors and the donations they have made. Thank you for your dedication and commitment.” Pa r t icipa nt s were g iven an assortment of flower pinwheels, each color signifying their relationship with the disease. Jeffery Smith from B enton Hou se of New n a n explained the significance of the f lower pinwheels to the audience. “Orange f lowers signify you support the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association, while a purple flower means you have seen the effect that this disease has played in your own life. A yellow flower is for the caregivers who walk for the 5.4 million people affected by this disease, and the blue f lower represents those who are personally afflicted with Alzheimer’s. Becky Alexander spoke on behalf of the Alexander family. She witnessed the impact dementia had on her family’s life last summer when her mother-in-law, Eleanor, wandered away from home and was found four days later. “Today, I ask you to f ind your own Eleanor. Find a reason to keep searching for a cause and for a cure.”
Photos by Clay Neely
More than 300 people participated in the 2013 Walk to End Alzheimer’s at the Coweta County Fairgrounds.
Endicott wins national go-kart titles Local go-kart racer Ethan Endicott recently won a pair of national championships at the 2013 Maxxis Nationals in Neeses, S.C., held Oct. 11-13. Racers must be ranked in one of the top-five ranked series to qualify for the invitation-only nationals, which featured competitors from at least 14 states. Endicott won in the Junior Sportsman class for ages 8-12 year-olds and added third and 13th-place efforts in two other classes in races that included up to 35 competitors. Endicott also won the Junior I Heavy classification at the nationals for 8-10 year-olds. More recently, he returned from t he Sout heast Gra nd Nationals in Dexter, where Endicott won three classification races and clinched a series title in the ProKart Tour in both the Junior Sportsman Cham and Junior Pro Purple divisions. Teammate Brysen Duncan added a division championship in the Junior Purple Lite Classification.
Newnan
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