Promise Garden

Friday, October 4, 2013
Dawn Cribbs/McCook Gazette

Alzheimer's not only affect the person with the disease, but the lives of entire families are altered with a diagnosis. Each person connected to someone with Alzheimer's has his or her own personal reasons for walking to end Alzheimer's. This is the reason behind the Alzheimer's Association's new hands-on mission which calls for participants to come together, making a commitment to fulfill their promise to remember, to honor, to care and to fight Alzheimer's disease. Through color, these Promise Flowers represent the diverse reasons participants have gathered. Participants will have an opportunity to write a personal message on their promise flower to further strengthen their dedication. Together, the Promise Flowers create a dynamic, colorful and meaningful garden that walkers will enter at the end of their walk. Participants are then welcome to stroll through the garden, read one another's stories and take their Promise Flower home as remembrance of the Walk experience and the promises made. The color of the flower helps tell each story with blue indicating: "I have Alzheimer's; yellow - I am supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer's; purple - I have lost someone to Alzheimer's; or orange - I support the cause and a vision of a world without Alzheimer's." Organizers of the 2013 Memory Walk will also use forget-me-nots to remember those lost to Alzheimer's and will be displaying the memorials Saturday at Norris Park during the walk. Forget-me-not memorials are $1. Registration is at 10:30 a.m.; the walk begins at 11 a.m. In addition to the traditional door prizes, provided by generous area businesses and individuals, organizers have also put together eight raffle packages (tickets are, 1 for $1; 6 for $5; or a length of tickets spanning your arm, fingertip to fingertip, for $20). Door prize and raffle drawings will take place at the end of the walk. Refreshments, provided by area businesses, also will be served.

Dawn Cribbs/McCook Gazette
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