It was a gorgeous day, sunny but not too hot, for approximately 150 walkers that took part in Milford’s 1st Annual Fall Walkathon on October 20th.  Walkers - including adults, children and dogs - enjoyed the beautiful 10K walk that started in the center of town, went down to Milford Beach, along the Delaware River, and in and out of the charming alleyways of Milford.  Everyone had a great time and the energy level was inspiring.

            The Walkathon  was a huge success, raising over $19,000 to be split among three worthy causes - Susan G. Komen for the Cure, NEPA Affiliate (breast cancer); amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Milford’s Musical Legacy (Good Shepherd’s pipe organ fund).

            At the closing ceremonies, Fr. Bill McGinty announced that this week, the Pike County Commissioners commended the Church of the Good Shepherd for its remarkable efforts, and approved a Resolution declaring the 3rd Saturday in October as Milford’s Annual Walkathon Day!!

           Linda Troise , Co-Chair of this event said she was very pleased with how the day went.  “Everything went very, very well, and we are already looking ahead to next year and to how we can make this event even better!  We would love to hear from anyone who would like to volunteer to help plan next year’s event OR has suggestions on how to improve it .  Just call the Good Shepherd Church office – 570-296-8123.”   

            Many thanks to Milford Borough Council, Dingmans Township Council, and the National Park Service who worked with us in the very beginning planning stages.  We’re also extremely grateful for the help of the Milford Borough Police, who were extremely helpful and responsive, NPS Park Rangers, the press who helped us promote the event, Channel 13 News who helped us get the word out before the event and covered our story the day of the event, and everyone else who helped make this day a wonderful success.

            Prizes were given to the top 4 individual fundraisers.  Bertrand Delanney, 1st prize winner,  won a 2 hour, in home massage from The Heartful Touch; Janine Vernon, 2nd prize winner, won a 3 position cordless drill/screwdriver; Frank Bonello, 3rd prize winner won a $30 Perkin’s Gift Certificate; and Michael Elf, in 4th place, won a $20 Perkin’s Gift Certificate.  An Altec Lansing IPOD Docking station was raffled and won by Diane Alexander.  Dean and the Dancing Divas were the 1st place team raising $1330 – congratulations and many thanks to them and all the other teams that participated!!!!

            Other sponsors not mentioned above are:  Luhrs who donated all the water and soda for the event; Slatehill Orchards who donated the apples; Joseph & Ronnie Biondo, Grand Union, Price Chopper, Walmart, Prime Time Meats who donated gift cards and money that covered almost 100% of our expenses; Bill Cohen of Via Media who made it affordable to advertise on the Weather Crawl; Milford Magazine who gave us a free ad; and lastly, Jim Lovelace of Perkins who not only  provided the Gift Certificates for two of our prizes, but also supplied all the muffins and donuts, and formed a Perkins team.

            It’s not too late if you forgot or didn’t have time to make a donation.  Just make the check payable to Milford Walkathon and mail the check to the Church of Good Shepherd, 110 W. Catharine St., Milford, PA 18337.  We’ll be accepting additional monetary contributions to the Walkathon through November 20, 2007.

            So for next year, save the date – October 18, 2008 – Milford’s 2nd Annual Fall Walkathon!

amfAR and Susan G. Komen for the Cure give thanks.

Click here to learn more about these three organizations.