HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-05-12, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016. PAGE 7.
Waechter family raises thousands for MS walk
A heartful donation
Jacquie Waechter embraces her son Tim at this year's MS
Walk in Kincardine after he spoke about his mother's MS
from his point of view. He said she's strong and determined
in the face of adversity. He then presented her with a
cheque for $200 towards the cause. (HeatherBoettingerphoto)
Orchard honoured
by CAMA, County
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Huron County Chief
Administrative Officer Brenda
Orchard was honoured by the
Canadian Association of
Municipal Administrators
(CAMA) at Huron County
Council's May 4 meeting.
Huron County Warden Paul
Gowing presented Orchard
with a 15 -year pin from the
association in recognition of
her time of public service.
Gowing surprised Orchard
with the award at the meeting
and the county also presented
her with a bouquet of flowers
to help mark the occasion.
In addition to the
presentation of the award,
Gowing said that it has been
Orchard's leadership and
excellent service that has
aided Huron County in the
last three years.
He said he hoped for many
more years of partnership
between Orchard and Huron
County in the years to come.
***
In presenting his three
committee reports to council
as chair of the Huron County
Board of Health, Bluewater
Mayor Tyler Hessel informed
councillors that the body
was being audited.
He told councillors that
process should commence in
the middle of May.
* * *
Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan wants to continue
moving towards
amalgamation between the
Huron and Perth Emergency
Medical Services (EMS)
departments.
Despite a report that advised
against a merger last year,
MacLellan used a purchase of
new defibrillators to further
his point about a potential
merger in the future.
He said the two departments
should purchase the same
equipment, including items
like defibrillators and
software, to make a future
merger easier.
While Jeff Horseman of the
Huron EMS advised
MacLellan that Huron and
Perth are on "polar opposite"
sides of the defibrillator
debate and firmly planted in
their brand of defibrillator, he
said future purchases may be
able to be matched.
Council passed a motion to
further investigate potentially
purchasing similar equipment
as Perth County EMS going
forward.
A Brussels family has again made
a great impact on the Kincardine
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Walk,
raising over $2,600 for the event this
year.
Jacquie Waechter, her son Tim and
the rest of their family, have been
participating in the event for a
number of years and, over that time,
Jacquie figures the family has raised
just over $30,000 for the cause.
The Waechters and their extended
family first participated in the walk
in 2006, the year after Jacquie was
diagnosed with MS, and have been
dedicated participants year after year
ever since.
Jacquie was recently recognized
for her dedication to the walk, and as
one of its top fundraisers, but this
year it was Tim who took centre
stage — literally.
Ahead of this year's walk, Tim
volunteered to be its guest speaker,
asking to discuss what an MS
diagnosis means for family members
such as himself.
"I decided to speak about MS
from my perspective and talk about
all my mom has gone through and
all she's had to overcome," Tim said.
He said it was important to him to
communicate those intimate
moments to the people at the walk,
because not everyone who
participates has a personal
connection to MS.
"I've seen my mom go through so
much," Tim said. "Not everyone
who goes to the walk has a close
family members with MS."
He said that the view of the
disease for a child of someone with
MS is a lot different from many of
the stories that have been told over
the years, so he wanted to tell it from
his perspective.
But to him, it wasn't just about
communicating the struggle — it was
also about highlighting the strength
of his mother.
"Not everyone sees the struggles
and how sick [those with MS] can
be," Tim said. "My mom is a really
strong person and she never gets
down on herself."
He says that seeing what Jacquie
can accomplish and what she fights
through on a daily basis is really
inspiring for him.
As he spoke to the crowd of over
200 in Kincardine, he could see that
Jacquie was in tears during his
speech. He wasn't done there,
however, as he concluded by
presenting his mother with a $200
cheque for her fundraising efforts.
Jacquie says she was "overcome
with emotion" watching her son
speak and hearing all he had to say
about her struggles. She said she was
speechless when he presented her
with the cheque, knowing that $200
is a lot of money for a teenager.
"I thought that was pretty
impressive," she said, adding that
she was pretty proud that Tim
volunteered to speak at all, knowing
how hard it can be since she's
already done it herself in past years.
One of the topics Tim also
discussed in his speech was his
tattoo, which features the MS Walk
bootprint and a tribute to his mother.
He was proud to show it off as part
of his speech.
Jacquie says she was
overwhelmed by that tribute, which
Tim said he had been wanting to
commit to his body for some time.
Since 2006, when the Waechters
first began participating in the walk,
Jacquie says they have consistently
accounted for approximately 10 per
cent of the event's total money
raised. This year, the Kincardine MS
Walk raised $15,367 and over $2.9
million was raised across the
province.
For more information about the
MS Walk, visit its website at
www.mswalks.ca.
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