There were about 100 people at Sunday's Walk for Alzheimer's held at the Northern B.C. YMCA, presented by Investors' Group and the local branch of the Alzheimer's Society of B.C.
There were 30 volunteers in bright blue T-shirts ready to help participants register while others waiting for things to get started played games set up at the YMCA gym.
Games were senior and dementia-patient friendly like the classic bean bag toss and a stylized version of badminton that saw players use fly swatters to hit balloons to each other.
The Prince George honouree was Victoria Taylor, an 88-year-old woman with dementia, whose son Robert said a few words on the family's behalf. He gave a brief history on his mother's life, including her gentle nature, dedication to church and family and her love of cooking, especially a favourite baked good she is best known for, her delicious cinnamon rolls, which she had made with some help Saturday and offered participants at the walk.
As Robert spoke about his mom, best known as Vicky, there were many emotional moments as he talked about what it's like to have a loved one with dementia.
"Some days are better than others, some days I see my mom slipping away from us and other days she's her same old feisty self," Robert said with great emotion. "But mom's still here."
One of the many programs offered by the local Alzheimer's group is Minds in Motion which is held every Thursday and Robert said his mom is always in attendance. The group offers about 45 minutes of activity suitable for those with any form of dementia, like the bean bag toss and then the group socialize while enjoying coffee or tea and, if they're lucky, one of Vicky's cinnamon buns she loves to share.
During the opening ceremonies before participants went for the 1 km walk along the trail close to the YMCA, Mayor Lyn Hall said a few words to share about his family history that saw his father struggle with dementia before he died about 20 years ago and MLA Shirley Bond talked about how she grew up around Vicky and how important it is to rally in support of families with members who have dementia because it affects all of us.
Those who would like to donate to the Prince George Alzheimer's Walk, where all proceeds stay local, can visit http://www.alzgiving.ca.
