Walk A Thon

From: Richard P. Streett Jr., VMDChairmanAnimal Walk-A-ThonChurchvilleThe Harford Veterinary Medical Association, WXCY-FM and United Cerebral Palsy would like to thankeveryone who participated in our first annual Animal Walk-A-Thon forUCP on Sunday, April 21, at the Equestrian Center.Despite the weather, the event was a success and we look forward to having it againnext year.We would like to especially thank the following for their time and generosity -- Harford County Equestrian Center, Whiteford Port-A-Pot, 4 Footed Friends Shoppe, Tharpe and Green Mill, Prospect Mill, Bel Air Farm Supply, Churchville Saddlery, Southern States Bel Air, CIBA-GEIGY Animal Health, U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency, Harford County Animal Control, Harford County Sheriff's Department, and Harford County Council members Joanne Parrott, Theresa Pierno and Robert Wagner.

There will be plenty of treats, costumes, contests and free heart exams. And that's just for the pets. More than 5,000 people and their pets are expected to gather Sunday at Druid Hill Park for the 16th annual March for the Animals . The event, which starts with a 1.5-mile walk-a-thon and culminates with a festival, is the largest fundraiser for the Maryland SPCA. Last year's festivities raised $364,000. All money goes directly to fund animals housed in the adoption center, pet ownership education and care for homeless animals.

The March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon, which fled the city and its new event fees last spring after 22 highly successful years, is returning to Baltimore in April."

As Megan Blair jogged with other fourth-graders on a path at Manchester Elementary School, she proudly wore a sticker that read, "Helping to score a diabetes cure for Jack." Megan, 9, said she chose to run the one-mile run/walk in honor of Jack, her 5-year-old brother who has Type I diabetes. Meanwhile, other Manchester pupils donned stickers that bore Megan's name because she, too, has the disease. They also ran in honor of other classmates, teachers and relatives with the disease. The event was part of the school's annual effort to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association as well as awareness about the disease.

To some people, walking in the rain is romantic. To others, it's invigorating.To Tom Wargin, it's "yucko.""I looked out my window when I got up [yesterday] morning, and I saw all that rain and thought, 'Oh, yucko,' " said the 52-year-old Parkville resident.Of course, Mr. Wargin faced more than a brief stroll amid the raindrops. He was among some 3,000 people who trucked 15 miles through the muck and the yuck yesterday in the 22nd annual Baltimore March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon.Ranging from grade schoolers to gray-haired seniors, the walkers raised $362,200 in pledges for the organization's "Campaign for Healthier Babies," which provides community-based services for the prevention of birth defects and infant mortality.

As the organizer of a March of Dimes Walk-a-thon team from the Maryland State Lottery, Donna Williams outfitted her two children in a tarpaulin-covered carriage and braved the cold weather yesterday morning to walk 15 miles.But halfway though the charity challenge, her co-workers were nowhere to be found. And they weren't the only ones missing.Mist, early morning rain and raw cold put a damper on the annual event, apparently prompting nearly two-thirds of those who signed up to turn off their alarm clocks and go back to sleep.

Baltimore's March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon, once one of the biggest events of its kind in the nation, is moving to the suburbs because of new city fees that walk organizers say would gobble up much of the fund-raiser's expected profit.The decision by the March of Dimes to move the Walk-A-Thon out of Baltimore strips the city of an event that for the past 22 years brought together as many 30,000 people and was hailed as one of the most successful Walk-A-Thons in the country."We wanted to continue to have the march in Baltimore," said Cassandra S. Blakeslee, director of communications for the March of Dimes.

There will be plenty of treats, costumes, contests and free heart exams. And that's just for the pets. More than 5,000 people and their pets are expected to gather Sunday at Druid Hill Park for the 16th annual March for the Animals . The event, which starts with a 1.5-mile walk-a-thon and culminates with a festival, is the largest fundraiser for the Maryland SPCA. Last year's festivities raised $364,000. All money goes directly to fund animals housed in the adoption center, pet ownership education and care for homeless animals.

Neither cold nor damp. . . .Participants in the March of Dimes Walk-a-thon may have voiced their own version of the postman's credo yesterday as cold and damp weather dogged their every step.Nevertheless, Alveria Kellam, 62, and her spunky 5-year-old grandson, Michael, finished their first walk-a-thon."Too long," complained the kindergartner."Really cold," said the grandmother, after finishing the two-mile Senior Stroll, the route circling Lake Montebello."I'm going to get a ride home," she said.

For the first time, the Baltimore chapter of the March of Dimes Foundation is holding a second walk-a-thon in the same year to raise money.According to James Donovan, the director of the Greater Baltimore Chapter, the organization has found it necessary to initiate a WalkAgain on Oct. 20 to make up for the low turnout in poor weather for the April 14.Donovan said rain and temperatures in the mid-50s caused the April event to draw only 7,000 of the 12,000...

THUS IT WAS on a rainy, foggy, slippery morning after Thanksgiving that Saraunda Loughlin found herself sitting at a table inside the lobby of Polytechnic Institute. In our more jesting moods, City College graduates would call the school "Polywreckit Institution for the Cognitively Challenged and Criminally Insane." But when we return to reality, we know students at our esteemed rival known as Poly have the highest SAT scores in the city, higher even than the state average. Loughlin, an English teacher at Poly, said that some 77 percent of students who take the advanced placement American government test score above the national average, as do 80 percent who take the advanced placement English exam.

The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation is sponsoring walk-a-thons this weekend to raise money for research seeking a cure for diabetes and its complications. The walks are scheduled Saturday at Centennial Park off Route 108 in Howard County and Sunday at the Baltimore Zoo. Check-in for both walks is 8 a.m. and starting time is 9 a.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided free to participants. Admission to the zoo is free to participants on Sunday. More than a quarter of a million children and adults in Maryland have diabetes, a disease that annually costs the state $2.7 billion in medical care, premature deaths and lost productivity.

THE CROWD OF nearly 300 cheered and clapped raucously as two men hoisted the giant check into the air. They presented it to Dr. Joyce Payne. The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund was some $5,000 richer.The crowd had good reason to cheer. They had raised the money, saving it from their jobs that pay them only 90 cents to $1.30 an hour. These fund-raisers, you see, were all inmates at Patuxent Institution in Jessup.Payne started the scholarship fund 11 years ago. Recipients get four-year merit scholarships to one of about 40 historically black colleges or universities.

College classes have not met at Patuxent Institution for years, but for the past 10 years inmates there have raised money to send students to historically black public colleges and universities.This year, nearly 300 inmates, who earn no more than $1.30 a day each while in prison, raised about $1,900 for the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, according to organizers.A year of fund raising culminated yesterday in a walk-a-thon, sporting events, prize drawings for contributors and performances by two inmate bands.

Members of a local community service organization, The Links Inc., raised $8,700 to help feed homeless and hungry people in the Baltimore area during a walk-a-thon at Milford Mill High School yesterday.The walk-a-thon was sponsored by the Baltimore, Harbor City and Patapsco River chapters of the organization, which seeks to improve the quality of life for the African-American community. About 250 people participated in the walk.Pub Date: 9/22/96

Fans of Freetown Elementary School will be walking to cool off the school tomorrow.The Parent Teacher Association hopes its walk-a-thon and family fun day will raise $1,150 to buy 25 fans. The school does not have air-conditioning."I am excited about this, real excited," said Chelly Roberts, vice president of the school's PTA. "I've been here five years. They've had fund-raisers, but this is really different."Students have spent three weeks collecting pledges of $1 or more from their neighbors.

Baltimore's March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon, once one of the biggest events of its kind in the nation, is moving to the suburbs.Organizers say new city fees would gobble up much of the fund-raiser's expected profit if it were to remain in the city.The decision by the March of Dimes to move the Walk-A-Thon to Baltimore County strips the city of an event that for the past 22 years brought together as many as 30,000 people and was hailed as one of the most successful Walk-A-Thons in the country."We wanted to continue to have the march in Baltimore," says Cassandra S. Blakeslee, director of communications for the March of Dimes.

Spring may not be in the air, but you know it's just around the corner when you hear that plans are being made for the March of Dimes (MOD) walk-a-thon. I stopped by a leadership breakfast at Harbor Court Hotel Tuesday morning for the official kickoff of local efforts for the April 30 WalkAmerica, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.The biggest sponsor of the walk is CIGNA HealthCare, whose president and general manager, Tracy Bahl, did the emceeing honors. He welcomed us and introduced Jim Speros, owner and president of Baltimore's CFL football team.

Put on those walking shoes and prepare to be a part of the 1994 Central Maryland March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon for Healthier Babies.In Carroll County, the walk-a-thon will take place Sunday, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. at the Carroll County Farm Museum.The museum will serve as the start and finish point for the five-mile journey through the Westminster area.Susan White-Bowden, honorary chair of this year's walk-a-thon in Carroll, is encouraging all ages to get involved."It is very important for those of us who can walk to help those who cannot walk," Ms. White-Bowden said.