STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Team Margery was formidable enough—a team of 30 men and women who joined Walk MS in support of their friend Margery Friedlander.
Together they helped Friedlander raise $10,000 for MS research. And all told 70 walkers raised somewhere between $25,000 and $28,000 between the walk and a fundraiser at the Limelight Hotel to find better treatments and even a cure for the disease.
Take that, MS!
“I’m really flattered,” said Friedlander, a Hailey artist. “And every dollar counts when you consider there were no therapies to treat MS before 1993.”
Walk MS is a neurological disease in which the nerve fibers that enable the brain to communicate with the rest of the body are compromised. It can result in difficulty walking, and seeing. It can even contribute to problems with thinking and memory.
Walkers in Saturday’s walk turned up at St. Luke’s Wood River as temperatures hung in the 30s and fog hung in the folds of the mountain slopes lining the highway.
They—and the myriad of dogs they brought along--warmed up as the sun finally emerged and the cloud cover lifted, revealing dramatic snow-capped mountains to the north.
Kathleen Carr and her fellow Spud Muffins walked as gracefully as Miss America contestants so as not to swing the potatoes hanging from their necks too vigorously or lose the muffins perched on the tops of their heads.
“I’m walking in honor of Laura and four family members who have MS,” said Spud Muffin Susan Esp, pointing to Laura Fry O’Melia.
Bellevue resident Holly Gawlinski’s husband, parents and two young daughters turned out in support of her. And Hugh and Lacy West came from Salt Lake City with their two boys to take part on behalf of Lacy, who was diagnosed three years ago.
Women are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with MS than men.
“We came specifically for this but we love visiting this area. We love to fish here, things like that,” said Hugh West.
While the walk was all about finding a cure, walkers had a chance at plenty of prizes, including a ski pass from Sun Valley Resort, two eBike rentals from Sturtevants and a gift certificate from Silver Creek Outfitters, which went very appropriately to Woody Friedlander, a consummate fly fisherman.
“I love this walk,” said Judy Cahill, who has done it several times. “I love supporting Margery. I love seeing all the dogs. And I love walking on an early fall day.”
WHO MADE UP TEAM MARGERY?
Karen Saks, Carol Cline, Mary Ford, Marie Gallo, Benjamin Frank, Dede Huish, Jane Williams, Lisa Adams, Judy Cahill, Leslie Silva, Laurent Loubot, Joan Loubot, Candace Emsiek, Jan Phillipsborn, Woody Friedlander, Susan Blair, Carlyn Ring, Naomi Sloan, Jan Wasman, Elizabeth Bayer, Melody Lindquist, Joyce Friedman, Joyce Marcus, Connie Hoffman, Amanda Deaver, David Lister, Eileen Reiss, Judy Gordon, Lynne Gray and Bill Graft.