Last week on Veterans Day, I covered the West Springfield Veterans Day Parade along Kings Highway.   It was very sparsely attended.  Many of those turning out were veterans  who came to salute fellow veterans.   With the pace of life today, many who might have wanted to come out and salute our veterans might have found it difficult to get out and do so.

But the point is, in addition to Veterans Day we can  also say “thank you” to those who served on the 364 other days of the year.    I know a number of times, I have thanked those who are currently serving for what they’re doing to protect us.    It’s easy to offer a simple thank you at any time to any of our veterans.

Almost everyone has a family member who has served.  My father as a young 18 year old served in the Navy.  I think any of our young men and women who are in the military, really don’t know what course their lives will take while they are serving.   But they make the decision to serve, despite the uncertainty.  For that they deserve a thank you.

The foliage is colorful and the air is crisp. This Sunday, October 18th at Six Flags New England, 3,000 people will be taking part in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s “Walk to Cure Diabetes.”  This walk has been growing every year for the past 11 years,with more and more walkers.

Every year the walk raises thousands of dollars to help find a cure for diabetes.  JDRF’s focus is on finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, which affects both children and adults. I’ve been involved with JDRF and the Walk for a number of years now and what is so amazing is how much is raised by family teams, who have a child with diabetes. It really is a grassroots effort, with some of the teams raising thousands of dollars just among family and friends.

I’ll be emceeing the pre-walk events and we always have a great time. There’s music and dancing that gets everyone pumped up. This year’s Walk Co-Chairs are UMass Head Football Coach, Kevin Morris and his wife Rebecca Morris. Rebecca has Type 1 diabetes. And they like all the others taking part can’t wait for the day, there’s a cure. 

 Members of the UMass Football team will be on hand to sign autographs after the walk.  And members of the UMass Marching Band will also be taking part.

Another great thing about the Walk.  Anyone raising $50 or more will get free admission to Six Flags following the walk.  

The Walk to Cure Diabetes begins at 10:30  a.m.  Festivities betin at 8:45 a.m.

  To pre-register for the walk, go to walk.jdrf.org

See you there!