Monday, May 30, 2011

Cabot Trail Relay Race 2011 - My Top 10 Finish for TEAM PEI




My Leg, Leg #2:


It was cloud and foggy and 12 degrees. The Cabot Trail Relay at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The second leg course on North River Bridge, Tarbot, Tarbotvale, Indian Brook and ending at Clucking Hen Cafe.

I wore a Anne of Green Gables hat for every my leg so did all members of Team PEI.

I finished in 1:14:16 and came in 8th out of 70 runners.

The Maine-Iacs won the relay and Team PEI came in 33rd out of 70 teams with a late runner and no penalties.


Alex & Erin Poirier (Lov4Gambia)
After Erin's Leg #1 run and before Alex's Leg #2 run.

Along Leg #2

Along Leg #2

The photo above of Alex approaching the finish line
is by On-Site Images


Finish Line!


TEAM PEI :
 33. 24:24:30 TEAM PEI                           (01:26:09)
================================================ Team# Leg
1 00:59:57 Mike Gaudet 56 11
2 01:05:17 Kimberley Bailey 56 3
3 01:06:23 Coralee MacPhee 56 7
4 01:14:16 Alex Bain 56 2
5 01:14:34 Dustin Gavin 56 10
6 01:15:39 Edna Miller 56 8
7 01:20:31 George Mutch 56 12
8 01:20:54 Kent Mill 56 1
9 01:27:33 Nicole Allen 56 16
10 01:31:12 Kim Bailey 56 13
11 01:33:17 Sara Deveau 56 6
12 01:36:44 Rhonda MacPhee 56 15 Late
13 01:36:46 Ken Taylor 56 4
14 01:38:18 Alan Peters 56 5
15 01:40:14 Darla MacPhee 56 17
16 01:43:52 Joanne McLaughlin 56 9
17 01:59:03 Kimberley Bailey 56 14

Saturday, May 21, 2011

A Sub-40 Minute 10K PB - The Rural Raiders Run

It was cloud, rain and windy and 5 degrees.

The Rural Raiders Run at Charlottetown Rural High School. The out and back course on University Ave, UPEI campus, Mount Edward Rd, Maple Ave, Oak Drive and Brackley Point Rd.

The course route was different from last year.

Brandon Higginbotham won the 5 Km race and Maureen Leard for the top female. Billy MacDonald won the 10Km race and Allie Keedwell for the top female. I finished in 38:41 and beat my 10km personal best and first sub 40 minutes, 1:22 faster than last month's Sporting Intentions and came in 6th out of 30 runners.

Next weekend I run the Leg #2 at Cabot Trail Relay on Team PEI in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

Official Result: 6th out of 30
10K in 38 minutes, 41 seconds


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Give an autistic an opportunity and....

Shannon, Alex, Conor, Em, Amy

Yesterday, Alex celebrated his 1 year anniversary working at The Great Canadian Soap Company. He loves his job. He has worked 5 hours/day, Monday to Friday, since May 17th 2010. He'll likely soon work more hours in a day because they are busy enough to need him and he does such good work, whatever the task at hand.

Alex landed this job with the help of Tremploy. In the spring and summer of 2009 we met with Tremploy's staff and watched a short video that explained the many services they provide both here at their facility and through their Employment Assistance Service. We liked the services they offered through their Employment Assistance Service and so got the ball rolling to assess Alex's work skills as well as his job preferences. Along with a job coach he went to work at 3 different jobs, for 3 days each. He working in a grocery store, did landscaping at a church and worked in a cafeteria kitchen. He enjoyed all 3 jobs, preferred working indoors to outdoors, and displayed strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, in each setting. From there they went to work looking for a job that would be a good match for him. While he waited he was able to take some courses at Tremploy, like "Employer Expectations", to help boost his skills. Nothing really came along in 2009 and in the spring of 2010 the job development officer took a drive out to our area to see just what opportunities might be available in our area, rather than Charlottetown.

As fate would have it, Em, the owner of The Great Canadian Soap Company, was out for a walk that morning thinking about how she wished she had an employee who would do a number of tasks that her growing business needed done. Some of the tasks she had in mind were boring & repetitive, others required great attention to detail, some involved using machinery, some involved computer work. When she returned from her walk and her wandering thoughts, there was Tremploy's job development officer on her doorstep asking if she might have a place in her business for Alex.

Em Zember is to be commended for giving Alex the opportunity. She's certainly not sorry she did! But really, it is *opportunities* that we need more than anything. Autistics, when given opportunities, have proven themselves time after time. We can shine, brightly, given the chance!

Tremploy provided a job coach for Alex when he started work there. Billy was at Alex's side daily, quickly fading back and, within a few short weeks Billy had faded himself right back to Charlottetown and Alex was on his own. Billy drops out every month or so to see Alex (and the goats!) and see how everything is going and that will continue as long as Alex works there. If there were ever a problem or an issue that needed sorting, Billy/Tremploy would be there to facilitate.

Billy & Conor figuring out the new bottle filler - June 2010

I couldn't have invented a job as perfect as this one is for Alex. The work itself is as diverse as cutting soap, bottle feeding baby goats, computer data entry, packaging mail orders, labeling products, greeting customers and running the video presentation and on and on. His co-workers, especially Shannon & Conor who work closely with Alex on a daily basis, are wonderful and quickly learned to accommodate his communication issues and the rest of his autism. In fact, his autism is an obvious strength in this job - his attention to detail, appreciation of routine & repetition, focus on the task at hand, etc.



It's also just 5K from our doorstep. The odds of having a job that close, even having a business that close, where we live in rural Prince Edward Island isn't high. Most businesses in our area (and they aren't that close) are seasonal, based on tourism, fishing or farming. While the Great Canadian Soap Company does get a lot of tourist traffic at the Shop in Brackley Beach, they operate year round in the Shop and through the mail with a thriving mail order business.

Last summer I was dropping Alex off at work with my bike and he biked home. In February he started running home. This daily running is paying off now at his weekend passion - the PEI RoadRunner races. In the last few weeks he's set Personal Best times in his 5K, 10K and 5 Mile distances. This past Saturday he dropped 3:25 off his 5 Mile time, a time he set in 2008. The week before he ran a Personal Best 5K in 18:22. His 10K PB is now 40:03.

Em, his boss, is a runner too and he enjoys cheering her on at races. She's not the only runner in the family and recently her youngest 2 children ran their first 5K races at the Bunny Hop and the Proude's Shoes 5K.



Alex is still keen to get to work every morning. He takes great pride in all he does there, and loves watching his bank account climb as his running times fall. When Em showed her appreciation of Alex by hosting The Great Canadian Goat Run in November 2010 the icing truly was on the cake! As I said, I couldn't have invented, or even imagined (in my wildest dreams!) a better job for him.


I'm not going to plug their wonderful products here except to say - they hand make natural Goat's Milk Soap. If you want real soap, not the "Soap" (synthetic detergent) sold in stores today, or if you want or need 100% Natural soap & skin care products, with scents or unscented, check them out. While they do have products with "Fragrance Oils" they also have 100% Natural varieties (scented with "Essential Oils" or unscented) of everything they make. I never in my life expected I could be excited about soap but I am. I used their products (Alex gets a bar of soap with every pay cheque!) and was hooked. The more I learned about what's in mass marketed products and what's in the handmade products Alex and his co-workers are making, the more hooked I became.


Allow me to gently urge you to see what they're all about and show some support to a great employer. Here's how:


If you missed it, check out Alex's blog post about his "One Year Anniversary working at The Great Canadian Soap Company", including his "10 Great Things" about working there.

Alex has always been a ridiculously lucky kid and landing such a perfect dream job is really just in keeping with his life. Still, I want to send a shout out and thanks to the folks at Tremploy, especially Billy, and his boss and co-workers at The Great Canadian Soap Company - what a wonderful year Alex has just had. He's very much looking forward to this next one, and many more...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Islanders on the Run - Sunday in Toronto


Full Marathon
BRENDA BENSON SUMMERSIDE 3:41:40.5
CAROLYN ROWE- TURNER SUMMERSIDE 3:45:04.2


Half Marathon
LEO MC COSHAM CHARLOTTETOWN 1:24:42.3

Islanders on the Run - Sunday in Sugarloaf


Marathon

Elaine Burkholder WOMEN 50-54 53 F 3:54:55.4 205(Overall) 52(Gender Place)
Maureen Leard WOMEN 50-54 50 F 4:07:22.7 256(Overall) 80(Gender Place)
Dianne Watts Pye WOMEN 50-54 52 F 4:14:42.5 278(Overall) 92(Gender Place)

Full Marathon Results

15K

Elaine Chessman WOMEN 50-54 52 F 1:25:40.5 238(Overall) 120(Gender Place)


Congrats Ladies!

One Year Anniversary working at The Great Canadian Soap Company

Today it my one year anniversary working at The Great Canadian Soap Company.

The cake made of double layer, oreo cookies and white frosting to celebrate.

I love working there! See 10 great things below.

The banner of table cloth decorated by co-workers and kids.

Conor is on her way to Miami for the hand crafted soap maker guilt conference.
Her one year anniversary on May 30.

Above: The cake! ~*~ Below: The tablecloth :)

Katie's sketches of Alex at work and running home

10 GREAT Things About

Working at The Great Canadian Soap Company


Staff photo taken after The Great Canadian Goat Run
November 2010

Shannon, Alex, Conor, Em, Amy

Twitter
Our Facebook Page
Our YouTube Channel
Great Canadian Soap Company Website
Goat Soap Gazette Newsletter

Monday, May 16, 2011

MacDonald sets new female course record


Kelly MacDonald approaches the finish line en route to  establishing a new female course record in the Clark’s Toyota Five-Mile  Run in Linkletter on Saturday morning. Jason Simmonds/Journal Pioneer

Kelly MacDonald approaches the finish line en route to establishing a new female course record in the Clark’s Toyota Five-Mile Run in Linkletter on Saturday morning.

Published on May 15, 2011
Jason Simmonds

LINKLETTER – Kelly MacDonald’s record-setting performance in the Clark’s Toyota Five-Mile Run in Linkletter on Saturday morning almost didn’t happen.

The 22-year-old from Montague arrived just in time to register before the start of the race, and then proceeded to establish a new female course record in convincing fashion. MacDonald’s time of 31 minutes seven seconds (31:07) was seven seconds faster than the previous standard of 31:48, which was set by Roya MacDonald in 2008.

“I looked online at the race and I just saw that it was Clark’s Toyota, so we assumed that’s where the start was,” explained MacDonald, who is an education student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. “I guess my dad (Paul) and I should have looked into it more as we were going around Summerside asking everyone we could on the street how to get here.

“We got here just in time. I think we pulled in close to 25 minutes after nine.”

“I looked online at the race and I just saw that it was Clark’s Toyota, so we assumed that’s where the start was. I guess my dad (Paul) and I should have looked into it more as we were going around Summerside asking everyone we could on the street how to get here. We got here just in time. I think we pulled in close to 25 minutes after nine.” - Kelly MacDonald

The race began at 9:30 a.m., at organizer Scott Clark’s home in Linkletter.

“It (run) felt really good,” said MacDonald, who finished seventh overall. “I liked that the course is nice and flat.”

Jennifer Pizio-Perry (33:20) and Allison Trenholm (33:47) were the second and third females to cross the finish line, 13th and 14th overall, behind MacDonald, who led the female field throughout the race.

MacDonald also competes in cross-country and track and field at St. F.X. She does 5K in cross-country and runs the 1,500 and 3,000 metres in track and field.

Overall, 78 runners took part in the race. All proceeds will be donated to the P.E.I. Children’s Wish Foundation.

jpsports@journalpioner.com

Sunday, May 15, 2011

YMCA Prince Edward Island 5K Family Fun Run/Walk

It was cloud and rain and 9 degrees.

The YMCA Prince Edward Island 5km Family Fun Run/Walk at Emerald. The out and back course on Confederation Trail.

The first 3.5km I lead then Scott Clark join with me. He coached me to run fast and finish sprint.

I won the race by a second and Scott's daughter Kennedy Clark for the top female. I finished in 19:19 and came in 1st out of 24 runners.

I am glad Arnie is back running!

Official Result: 1st out of 24
5K in 19 minutes, 19 seconds



Top 3 Male & Female Runners
Left-Right: Heather Rogers (3rd), Adrien Sherry (2nd), Kennedy Clark (1st)
Scott Clark (2nd), Paul Wright (3rd), Alex Bain (1st)


Arnie's Back!!
Arnie's first run since The Great Canadian Goat Run!

Fabulous Food!
BBQ'd 5K Hamburgers - Lean ground beef
Emerald Grilled Veggies - With Garlic & Balsamic infusion

More Photos


Running For Autism
Not Against It
acceptance, inclusion, awareness

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Runner completes 100-plus kilometer fundraiser

















http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2011-05-14/article-2506588/Runner-completes-100plus-kilometer-fundraiser/1

Runner completes 100-plus kilometer fundraiser
Lieut. ( Navy) Joel MacDonald who ran from East Point to Charlottetown on Friday to raise money for KidSport.

Lieut. ( Navy) Joel MacDonald who ran from
East Point to Charlottetown on Friday to raise money for KidSport.
Published on May 14, 2011

A run from East Point to Charlottetown on Friday, May 13 has raised $2,300 for the KidSport program.

"I arrived at Confederation Landing Park at 8:45 p.m., 15 hours after I began at East Point Lighthouse (5:45 a.m.)," said Lieut. ( Navy) Joel MacDonald. "I had an awesome run - lots of support - friends, family and KidSport supporters."

All proceeds raised from the run will go towardsKidSport, a SportPEI-administered charity that allows children from families with financial barriers to engage in healthy activity and to participate in organizing sporting activities.

MacDonald is a native of Belfast, P.E.I. now living in Halifax.

"I would like to thank everyone who supported me and Kidsport," said MacDonald in an email sent to The Guardian in the early hours Saturday. "I would like also like to reiterate that the kids definitely are the winners."

KidSport will continue to accept dontations in the name of the run, MacDonald said.

"I met some residents from Souris and St. Peter's who thanked me for running because they knew kids in their area who benefited from KidSport." he said.


Another PB - Clark's Toyota 5 Miler

It was cloud and 6 degrees.

The Clark's Toyota 5 Miler at Scott Clark's House. The loop course on Linkletter Rd, Confederation Trail and Kinsman Rd.

Connor McGuire won the race and Kelly MacDonald for the top female.

I finished in 30:45, beat my 5 mile PB time by 3:25 faster than 2008 Clark's 5 Miler and came in 6th out of 77 runners.

Tomorrow I run in Emerald in the YMCA Run. It is first time back on the trail in Emerald since my 2006 Tip to Tip run.

Official Result: 6th out of 77
5 Miles in 30 minutes, 45 seconds




Photos from the Clark's Toyota 5 Miler (2005-2011)



http://www.journalpioneer.com/Sports/2011-05-14/article-2506260/New-female-course-record-set-at-Clark%26rsquo%3Bs-Toyota-Five-Mile-Run/1

New female course record set at Clark’s Toyota Five-Mile Run

LINKLETTER – Kelly MacDonald of Montague set a new female course record in the seventh annual Clark’s Toyota Five-Mile Run here Saturday morning.

The 22-year-old education student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., stopped the clock in 31 minutes seven seconds (31:07), seven seconds faster than the previous standard of 31:48. Roya MacDonald set that record in 2008.

The race’s overall winner was 19-year-old Connor McGuire of Summerside in 26:46. That was nine seconds off last year’s course record by Mike MacKinnon.

Overall, 78 runners took part in race. All proceeds will be donated to the P.E.I. Children’s Wish Foundation.

See complete story in Monday’s Journal Pioneer.



Running For Autism
Not Against It
acceptance, inclusion, awareness

Friday, May 13, 2011

Man plans 100 K run to help KidSport


Man plans 100 K run to help KidSport

Lieut. (Navy) Joel MacDonald, a native of Belfast, hopes to run
Lieut. (Navy) Joel MacDonald, a native of Belfast,
hopes to run 100 kilometres Friday on
Prince Edward Island to raise money for
KidSport and to complete a personal challenge.


Published on May 12, 2011
Jim Day

Lieut. (Navy) Joel MacDonald isn’t one to just inch forward in his passion for running.

The native of Belfast has been aiming for an increasingly more distant finish line since he ran three half marathons in 2006.

MacDonald, 26, who lives in Halifax with his wife Kelsey, went on to run his first full marathon in May 2009. He completed two more after that.

Traditional marathons like the three MacDonald have under his belt measure a little over 42 kilometres each.

He since pounded out 55 kilometres in February in his longest run to date.

Now he is planning a punishing 100-kilometre attempt on Prince Edward Island Friday in a run from the East Point lighthouse to Confederation Landing Park in Charlottetown.

“It is quite a leap,’’ MacDonald said of his ambitious goal of what equates to running roughly two-and-a-half marathons. “If I did it in 15-16 hours, I would be happy. Then again it could take 18 hours.’’

The challenging run is meant to fill the void of an ultra marathon MacDonald had hoped to run but due to logistics (he will soon be posted in Yellowknife) left him unable to commit to a race.

So instead MacDonald is setting up his own ultra marathon. He will be the lone competitor in the run but he is expecting some friends to join him for portions of his pavement pounding. Some will bring him supplies along the route but MacDonald will also carry water in a light backpack.

MacDonald, who participated in two of the HMCS Charlottetown Run for Wishes charity events, is also using his personal challenge as a fundraiser.

All proceeds raised from his run will go towards KidSport - a Sport P.E.I.-administered charity that allows children from families with financial barriers to engage in healthy activity and to participate in organizing sporting activities.

“The fact that anybody is going to run 100 kilometres is pretty impressive,’’ said Gemma Koughan, executive director of Sport P.E.I.

“We couldn’t be happier that he contacted us and said that he wanted to raise money for KidSport. We are pretty pleased with Joel and his efforts.’’

Donations in support of MacDonald’s quest can be made at Sport P.E.I. by calling 368-4110 or by going online to www.sportpei.pe.ca and clicking on the KidSport link.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

A walk to remember


A walk to remember

Faye Gillis, widow of the late Linus Gillis of Miscouche, Linus’  brother John Gillis and walking friend Bill McFadden remember the avid  Island walker as the one-year anniversary of his death approaches. Faye  will be wearing the backpack that Linus wore on the Appalachian Trail  and the Camino in Spain on the first day of an 11-day memorial walk for  him. GUARDIAN PHOTO BY MARY MACKAY
Faye Gillis, widow of the late Linus Gillis of Miscouche, Linus’ brother John Gillis and walking friend Bill McFadden remember the avid Island walker as the one-year anniversary of his death approaches. Faye will be wearing the backpack that Linus wore on the Appalachian Trail and the Camino in Spain on the first day of an 11-day memorial walk for him.

Published on May 6, 2011
Mary MacKay
For Linus GIllis, the Camino trail in Spain was to be another monumental walk to remember.

After completing a multi-day hike of the Confederation Trail in 2003 and a six-month trek of the Appalachian Trail in 2008, this Miscouche man was looking forward to his next challenge in the spring of 2010 — the 780-plus kilometre Camino de Santiago path which stretches across the whole of Spain.

No one doubted he could do it.

“Linus was the type of person that if he took something in his mind, no matter what it was, there was no stopping him. It was a 110 per cent commitment,” says his brother, John Gillis of Miscouche.

Tragically, the only thing that could stop him did — a heart attack midway through the Camino that abruptly ended his life’s journey.

Now, one year later, a tip-to-tip walk of the Confederation Trail is being organized for May 14 through to May 24 as a memorial to this well-known walker and P.E.I. businessman.

“It’s a great memorial for him. I think it’s wonderful,” says Linus’ widow, Faye Gillis.

“It’s what he loved doing.”

Walking wasn’t always what Linus loved doing. In fact, at one point he was overweight and unfit.

“(A few months) before he made the Island walk in 2003, Linus said to me, ‘I can’t even walk to the end of the driveway.’ And he was complaining that he had no wind and stuff . . . . And he decided to do something about it,” John remembers.

Linus started walking with his wife, but her practiced pace proved a bit to quick for him at first.

“I took him one night for a walk with me around the block and, of course, I walked too fast and he said, ‘I’m not going with you again,’” she smiles.

“And I looked out the window one night and here he was going out the driveway and I never said a word. This was in January . . . . Each night he’d go up the road a little farther and that’s how he started.”

They and fellow walking friend Alan MacKenzie started a weekly Saturday walking club that met in Summerside and headed out to walking destinations across the Island.

The idea to walk across the Island soon popped up.

“The next thing Linus and Alan were sleeping down in the woods in tents on March 10 or something like that to get ready for this walk,” John remembers.

They and a number of other walkers completed the Confederation Trail in 2003.

Then came the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 2008.

“He really thought about it a lot for a long time, made a lot of decisions and preparations and, of course, he had to know that he had my support, too,” Faye remembers.

“I said, ‘If it’s something you want to do, you do it,’ because this was after my son died and I just said, ‘We don’t even know if we have tomorrow, so you just go do what you need to do and I’ll be here.’”

MacKenzie walked with Linus for a portion of the 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) journey.

“We ended up not walking together that much during the day,” MacKenzie remembers.

“We would meet in the evening. And then our walking styles and our social styles were slightly different. I preferred life on the trail all the time. I was kind of an extremist that way, camping every night. And he liked the opportunity to get into town and have a good meal and a night in accommodations. So we just agreed to disagree on that,” he laughs.

Six months after Linus began, the formerly super-charged Summerside building contractor, who earned the nickname “Serene” on the trail, climbed to the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine on Sept. 30.

“That was quite an experience for him. He said, ‘You’ve got nothing to do but walk and think. You do a lot of soul searching,’” Faye says of his Appalachian Trail journey.

“It changed his life. It really did. He just was a different person when he came home. Much more serene and he just took life a little easier. He didn’t get so rattled up over things like he used to.”

By 2010, Linus was ready to tackle the Camino with a hiker he’d met on the Appalachian Trail. But whether it was going to a foreign country or that he wouldn’t be able to speak the language, things were quite a bit different from his departure for the Appalachian Trail two years before.

“Even when he was going in through customs, of course the tears were coming, and he looked at me and he said, ‘It’s OK. It won’t be long. It’s only two months this time.’ He came back three times to give me a hug because I was sitting there (crying). It was almost like we knew,” Faye remembers, tears welling that that memory.

Despite the fact that the Camino is fairly level compared to the mountainous Appalachian Trail, Linus was surprised that he was having difficulty.

“And he said, ‘I seem to have a lot of anxiety.’ And I just kind of talked him through: ‘Are you anxious because you’re in a foreign place, you don’t know the language? Or is it that you’re just not feeling up to par?’ And he just couldn’t pinpoint it,” Faye remembers.

On Linus’ final day, May 17, 2010, he wrote in his hiking journal: “We hiked 28.6 (kilometres) into Terradillos (de los Templarios). It was the longest hike yet and even though it was flat most of the way I found it hard and I was beat when I got in. It was sunny and hot today and the trail had long stretches with nothing but fields. Hope I find tomorrow a better day.”

Tragically, tomorrow never came. Linus died that night of a heart attack at the age of 61. Faye received the shattering news by phone from his walking friend the next morning.

“(It) was completely out of left field. I had just turned the computer on to check the blog. If I’d had time to read it I would have seen that he wasn’t feeling well that day because he made the comment that he was nauseous, but he still did his 28 kilometres, which was Linus. Determination big-time or stubbornness, I don’t know which,” she smiles at the memory of her beloved husband.

He was returned home and is buried in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Wellington.

As the one-year anniversary of his death neared, another of Linus’ walking friends, Bill McFadden, broached the idea of a memorial walk.

With the family’s blessing, plans were put in place for an 11-day walk that starts on May 14 at North Cape and ends at East Point on May 24, with a special gathering in Miscouche on the May 17 anniversary of his death.

“There’s something very mesmerizing about walking for long periods of time. It’s all you really have to be doing. You’re just there. You don’t have all those other worries or cares,” McFadden says.

“You also get a chance to review your life and think about what’s important without any of that outside (distraction) going on. It can be very addictive to walk.”

A passage from Linus’ Appalachian Trail journal describes how he and others feel about their walking passion.

“We live it. We love it. We do it . . . . ,” he wrote.

“Remember it’s the journey to be enjoyed not the destination until it’s reached.”

FAST FACTS

Here is the Linus Gillis Memorial Walk schedule:

Leave North Cape May 14 at 9 a.m., stay in Alma area that night and end in the O’Leary area, May 15.

In Ellerslie, May 16.

Miscouche, May 17.

Emerald, May 18.

Hunter River, May 19.

Brackley, May 20.

Mount Stewart, May 21.

St. Peters, May 22.

New Zealand, May 23.

May 24, finishing at East Point in the afternoon.

The group members are going to visit Linus’ gravesite as they pass through Wellington. An event is planned in the Miscouche area on May 17, which is the anniversary of his death.

The walk is purely a memorial one for Linus. However, if people wish to, they can contribute to the International Children’s Memorial Place (www.icmplace.com) at Scales Pond in Freetown in memory of Linus, where Faye Gillis has memorials in place for her late husband and her son.

People are welcome to join the memorial walk for any or all of the trip. Feel free to cheer the walkers on with a friendly smile, a drink of water or whatever else along their way.

For more information about the walk, email billmcfadden@excite.com or call him at 218-5657.

~*~

Past posts about Linus Gillis and his hikes