This year's walk had a very large turnout, even with the morning chill. We had a variety of participants including one who was 10-feet tall, some 4-legged, and one 60-legged (photos to follow).

Here I am at the promise garden where people can plant their flower for their connection to Alzheimer's. The flower colors represent someone:

Blue: who is living with Alzheimer's or dementia

Purple: who has lost a loved one to Alzheimer's or dementia

Yellow: who is caring for/supporting someone with Alzheimer's or dementia

Orange: who supports the cause and a vision of an Alzheimer's-Free world

My addition of Mom's flower to the promise garden.

I loved the new feature at this year's walk: the Tribute Wall, where people can hang a message or photo of their connection to Alzheimer's.

This photo of Mom & me was my contribution to the tribute wall.

This was the 10-foot tall participant, who looked very happy to be there.

Here are a couple of the 4-legged walkers.

And here is the 60-legged participant. I was proud to see my alma mater so well represented by Western New England University's 30-man ice hockey team.

While I never found out his name, this friendly bear was happy to pose for a photo with Meghan Lemay (Regional Manager, Western MA, Alzheimer's Association) and me.

The Promise Garden ceremony where everyone waves the colored flower that shows their connection to Alzheimer's.

The white flower represents the first survivor of Alzheimer's (to be in the future). We have hope for the day when we will see white flowers being waved during the Promise Garden ceremony. The fundraising from this annual walk funds research to get us closer to that future day of the first survivor of Alzheimer's.

The walk begins with a throng of people funneling through the starting gate.

The Palmer Marching Band played during the walk both to send off and welcome back walkers.

The halfway water stop complete with guitarist and singer to pick us up.

It's always a treat to see my local Tri-Town Team (E.Longmeadow, Hampden, Longmeadow) at the event. Here they are finishing the walk.