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Sunshine and smiles were the
orders of the day as thousands
of New Yorkers gathered in
Riverside Park on Sunday, October
26th to make the Chapter’s 20th
Annual Memory Walk one of the most
memorable in our history.
Despite the very tough economic
times, a combination of perfect weather
and enthusiastic walkers, supporters,
sponsors and volunteers helped raise
both public awareness and money
which will allow us to continue to
provide critically needed programs
and services to our NYC Alzheimer’s
community, and to support efforts to
eliminate Alzheimer’s through the advancement of research. Over the
past three years, Memory Walk has raised
a total of $2.6 million..
Moms, dads, brothers, sisters,
grandparents, grandchildren — even
family dogs — were all on hand for
the opening ceremony co-hosted
by our good friends WABC-TV
Channel 7’s Bill Ritter and Alice
Stockton-Rossini of 1010 WINS.
Also stopping by to lend their
support were Celebrity Champion
Natalie Morales of the “Today” show;
NYC Councilman David Weprin;
and the New York Mets’ Mr. Met.
Board Co-Chairs Jeffrey Tucker and Heath McLendon welcomed the
crowd to our annual fall event. Jeffrey
Asher, Board member and Memory
Walk 2008 Chair, thanked everyone
for helping to MOVE our cause
forward. He spoke eloquently about
his reason to walk — in memory of
his father-in-law — and paid tribute
to our walkers who joined us to honor
a loved one.
With a very special message from
Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Department
for the Aging Commissioner Edwin
Méndez-Santiago proudly declared
October 26th “Memory Walk Day” in
the City of New York.
 While the day was filled with hope,
Lou-Ellen Barkan, President & CEO
of the Chapter reminded the walkers
of the somber reality. She said, “Every
71 seconds an American develops
Alzheimer’s disease — and the
numbers are growing exponentially.
With your help today, we are sending a
message that the Alzheimer’s epidemic
must be kept on the front burner and
that finding a cure is crucial. Until
then, this community is united and
we will do all we can to ensure that
quality medicines, care and services
are available for every New Yorker in
the Alzheimer’s community. Thank
you for being our stalwart partners.”
Meghann McKale, Junior Committee
President, spoke to the crowd
about the importance of participating
in Chapter events, advocacy and fundraising
opportunities like Memory Walk.
We were proud to be selected to
host the C.A.R.E. Pharmacy Award
presentation. Sean Spears of Eisai Inc.
presented the award to Tracy Pierce
of Ohio, winner of the national
“nominate a pharmacist” campaign.
Providing musical inspiration for
the walkers were Ron Sunshine & Full
Swing, as well as the magnificent jazz
singer Louise Rogers who revved up
the crowd with a rousing rendition of “New York, New York.” World famous
pop artist Charles Fazzino
created the Official 20th Anniversary
Memory Walk Commemorative Poster as well as a stunning 3-D version of
the design which was won in a raffle
by Michael Sheehan from Team Eisai.
A gorgeous silk scarf of Mr. Fazzino’s
design was produced by Echo Design
and on display, along with our “Forget-
Me-Not” collection of Go Green
shopping totes, beach bags and beach
hats. Author Alix Kates Shulman
introduced her new book, To Love
What Is, available for sale at www. alznyc.org/store.
HBO sponsored a booth for
walkers and teams to receive free
framed souvenir photos and bandanas
highlighting their upcoming multimedia
event, The Alzheimer’s Project,
premiering in 2009. Our walkers
enjoyed a delicious breakfast sponsored
by Cosi, coffee by Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters and the freshest
apples in town donated by the New
York Apple Association. Water was
aplenty thanks to New York Spring
Water, Inc.
 Hundreds of walkers — young
and old — stopped by the “2008
Memory Wall,” sponsored by Fairfield
Greenwich Group and the “2008
Children’s Memory Wall,” sponsored
by Team Eisai, and posted mementos,
messages and photos of people in
their lives who have been touched
by Alzheimer’s. Almost 400 Memory
Walk teams fi lled Riverside Park
with banners, hats and t-shirts letting
everyone know why they walked!
Our Kidz Korner, sponsored by
Pryor Cashman LLP, was a hit for kids
of all ages, with face painting, balloon
sculpting, pumpkin painting, and so
much more! Thank you to Sal Polisi for his incredible wood sculptures.
Not to be overlooked, our 4-legged
walkers wagged their way over to the
Doggie Dugout, sponsored by Jewish
Home Lifecare, and were treated to a
Memory Walk 2008 bandana, biscuits
and lots of love!
Since raising awareness is
paramount in our mission to MOVE
this city and the nation to end
Alzheimer’s, we are very grateful to
our media partners for running public
service announcements on the air,
in print and on web sites — Alice
Stockton-Rossini and 1010 WINS radio, Bill Ritter and WABC-TV,
WLTW 106.7 FM, WFAN 660 AM,
ESPN 1050 AM, WCBS 880 AM,
People Magazine, People En Español,
Canarsie Courier, Queens Chronicle and
Thrive. Once again, we are so proud to
have the support of The Empire State
Building, Con Edison Building and
for the first time, Brooklyn Borough
Hall — all illuminating in purple
during our “Week to Remember,”
culminating on Memory Walk Day.
Many, many thanks to you — our
walkers, sponsors and donors. And
to our 250 fabulous volunteers — a
heartfelt thank you. We could not
have done it without you!
As the ribbon was cut, underneath
a giant balloon archway with giant
stilt walking jugglers at each side, a
beautiful sea of purple walked through
Riverside Park showing the world
that New York City is in this fight for
the long haul.
We hope you will join us next fall
for Memory Walk 2009!
View our extensive 2008 Memory Walk photo album.
— Colleen Roche &
Susan Sugarman
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