The Citizen, 2016-04-07, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016. PAGE 27.
Howie's Girls to be face of Clinton Alzheimer Walk
Walking for the cause
Joan Bernard, bottom right, and her daughters have been selected as this year's honorary
family for the Clinton Walk for Alzheimer's which will take place early next month. The family
has proven to be a great example of complete teamwork and family support in the face of
dementia -related adversity, Jenn Burns of the Alzheimer Society of Huron says. Clockwise
from top left: Cindy Kikkert, Dianne Diehl, Gwen Doherty, Joan Bernard (holding great-
granddaughter two -month-old Delilah Illman) and MaryAnn Thompson. (Shawn Loughlin Photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
A Brussels -area family has been
named the honorary family for the
Clinton Walk for Alzheimer's, which
is set for May 7 at the Betty Cardno
Memorial Centre.
Joan Bernard of Brussels and her
daughters MaryAnn Thompson,
Gwen Doherty, Cindy Kikkert and
Dianne Diehl have been
participating in the walk since 2012
after Howard, Joan's husband and
the girls' father, was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's Disease in 2011. Over
the years a number of Howard's
grandchildren and extended family
members have also made the time to
participate.
The family figures their teams
have raised over $5,000 by
participating in the walk over the
past four years. This will be their
fifth year participating and their first
as the event's honorary family.
The team, named Howie's Girls,
although there have been male
members over the years, has been
one of the event's most consistent
participants since 2012.
In an interview with The Citizen,
members of the team say they were
honoured and felt a real sense of
pride when they heard they'd been
named the honorary family for the
2016 walk in Clinton.
Walks are being held in Huron at
Clinton, Wingham and Exeter
locations, each with their own
honorary family.
This year the team will don black
uniforms with special green
lettering, the exact colour
representing the fuel business
Howard owned for over 20 years.
Howard was a volunteer firefighter
in Brussels for over 30 years, over 10
of which he served as the
department's chief.
North Huron Publishing named
Howard its Citizen of the Year in
1993 for the Brussels community.
By all accounts, Howard was a
respected member of the community
who remained active for a number of
years.
He is now a resident of Huronlea
Home for the Aged in Brussels.
Joan remembers back to when she
and Howard received the news that
Howard has Alzheimer's. She said it
was an absolute shock when the
doctors took Howard's driver's
Howie's legacy
Howard Bernard, left, seen here with his wife Joan, has
been many things over the course of his life: fire chief, fuel
distributor, volunteer and Citizen of the Year. Now, he has
inspired a team of his family members to support the
Alzheimer Society of Huron year after year. (Photo submitted)
license on the spot.
Diehl said her father told her it
was like losing his right arm after
driving a fuel truck and a fire truck
for the majority of his life.
He was also crushed that he could
no longer drive himself to a property
the family owned in the country — a
property he loved to maintain and
spend time at with his children and
grandchildren.
At that time, Kikkert said, a real
depression set in and it was difficult
for Howard to get on with his life.
The family soon contacted the
Alzheimer Society of Huron County
and found all of the support they
were looking for.
There were a number of programs
to help Howard in a variety of ways,
Doherty said, but what the family
found different about the society is
how many programs are in place for
family members as well.
There are meetings and support
groups and resources, Doherty said,
that all helped to make family
members' lives easier.
The members of the team say that
while Howard is still alive and a
resident of Huronlea, in many ways
they feel as though they've lost him.
On April 25, Joan says, the pair
will be celebrating 57 years of
marriage.
Members of the family encourage
anyone experiencing potential early
signs of Alzheimer's to seek help
with the society. There are plenty of
ways the organization can help those
suffering from dementia and the
earlier someone recognizes those
signs the better, Doherty says.
Jenn Burns, support services co-
ordinator for the Alzheimer Society
of Huron County, says the Bernard
family has always shown a great
amount of support for Howard and
they're exactly the kind of people the
society hopes to highlight.
The three Huron County walks
will take place on Saturday, May 7, a
date which has been moved this year.
The walk has historically been
held in January indoors at numerous
locations throughout Huron County,
mostly high schools. This year,
however, Burns says the date was
changed to allow the walk to move
outdoors and become more of a
community event.
The Clinton walk will be held at
the Betty Cardno Memorial Centre,
the Wingham walk will be held at
the Lion's Pavilion at Riverside Park
and the Exeter walk will be held at
McNaughton Park. Registration for
all three events begins at 9:30 a.m.
and the walks will run from 10 a.m.
to noon.
To donate to the Howie's Girls
team, or to find a specific
participant, visit
walkforalzheimers.ca, or for more
information on the team, call Joan
Bernard at 519-887-6377.
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