Heather Marriott says she will never forget where she was and, more notably, what she heard on July 22, 2020.

“The doctor said ‘Your mother has Alzheimer’s’,” recalls the Roseneath resident, adding “Those are four words that just ripped my heart out. It was devastating to say the least.”

“I work in a health care-related field, so I have some knowledge of Alzheimer’s and dementia. I tried to prepare as much I could, and tried to prepare my dad, my sister and brother, and especially my kids. The worst-case scenario was that it was Alzheimer’s, but it was all theory until you hear the words.”

What followed was something that thousands of families have done when a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s — the family rallied big time around its matriarch, Sheila Surerus.

VIDEO: Register for the 2022 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s

No better example of that can be found than its participation in the 2021 Walk For Alzheimer’s that saw Team Surerus raise about $14,000 for the work of the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton — the highest amount raised by any team that participated.

A year later, Team Surerus is back at it, fundraising for the 2022 walk at Trent University on Saturday, May 28th. Team members’ purple T-shirts, emblazoned with Forget-Me-Not flowers and the words Team Surerus, are ready to go.

After registering, teams will walk 10,740 steps around the Justin Chiu Stadium track — one step for each person currently living with dementia in the region.

According to event organizer Ryan Arnold, the local society’s donor relations coordinator, last year’s walk raised just under $100,000. In keeping with the 10,740 steps goal, it’s hoped $107,400 will be raised this time around with IG Wealth Management again on board as the title sponsor.

“I’m counting down the days,” says Arnold, noting 130 participants were registered as of May 5, most as members of 21 teams and the remainder as individuals. Last year at this time, 80 had signed up.

While the centre of the event universe will be at Trent University on May 28, Arnold notes participants can opt to get in their 10,740 steps over the course of several days — “Whatever fits their schedule and their physical abilities.”

All money raised, adds Arnold, goes directly to support the local society’s work, mostly to the provision of programs and services. The need, he adds, is clear.

“Our region has one of the highest percentages of dementia in Ontario,” he points out. “Anyone you talk to knows someone who has it, or has been affected by it. Everyone has some kind of story, some kind of connection, to Alzheimer’s.”

Marriott certainly knows that to be true when it comes to her mother.

“We kind of suspected something wasn’t right, probably at least two years before her actual diagnosis,” she says, describing the progression of the disease that is the most common type of dementia.

“She was always very generous and very involved in the community,” Marriott recalls. “She put everyone else’s needs before her own. She was very active. But her personality started to change. She was short with people. She was impatient. She was forgetting things.”

“She had gone through a lot of stress for a few years, so we kept explaining it away. It got to a point where it was like ‘Okay, this is not normal stress.’ Our gut instinct was there’s something wrong. Has she had a stroke? Is there a brain clot? There’s something going on that’s not normal for her.”

That was confirmed when Surerus was diagnosed at age 68 following a doctor’s referral to the Kawartha Centre, a Peterborough healthy aging-focused facility where her memory was assessed.

“You picture someone with Alzheimer’s and it’s someone that’s frail and elderly,” says Marriott. “If you meet my mom, she presents so well you would never know that she has Alzheimer’s.”

“The people that are living with her and seeing her day-to-day have seen the changes in her but, to this day, if you met my mom, she would carry on a perfectly normal conversation. You wouldn’t have any idea that there’s a problem with her memory.”

Describing the current level of her mom’s Alzheimer’s as “fairly mild to moderate,” Marriott acknowledges there’s a rough road ahead — particularly for her father.

“It’s been hard on him. This isn’t something you sign up for when you get married. It’s a learning experience for us all, but he’s really been a champ.”

“We try not to look too far ahead. We know that functioning-wise, it’s not going to get any better. We need to make the most of every day. Our family is very close. She has a huge support group. And she’s involved with the Kawartha Centre and involved in a research study, so she’s on an experimental drug. There’s a little bit of hope that taking part in that study may delay the inevitable.”

In the meantime, Marriott has made it her business to learn as much as she can about dementia as she can. The local society, she says, has been “amazing” in terms of education and support provided.

“I thought I knew a lot about dementia and Alzheimer’s but I had no idea. They do an online Minds In Motion webinar. It’s partly brain exercises and things that the person with Alzheimer’s and their caregiver can do together. Mom takes part and quite enjoys it.”

On May 28, Surerus’ family and friends will actually do two walks, first getting together in Roseneath at the fairground track “for those who can’t get up to Peterborough” before heading to Trent University for the main event.

As she reflects on the 2021 experience, that saw Team Surerus walk in Roseneath only as the regular event was held virtually only due to the pandemic, Marriott is buoyed by the memory of her mom’s happiness over simply being out and about with her family and friends.

“She was like a kid in a candy store. It was so great to see a permanent smile on her face all day. Getting pictures with everybody. Being herself.”

As for the 2022 walk, close to $27,000 — 24 per cent of the walk goal — had already been raised by the first week of May. Arnold says his focus now is on providing support to participants, adding teams and individuals can register right to up to walk day.

To register for the 2022 IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s, visit www.walklocal.ca, where donations to participating teams and individuals can also be made. Meanwhile, donations can be made directly to Team Surerus at www.alzgiving.ca/goto/Team-Surerus.

Whatever the outcome of the 2022 walk in terms of dollars raised, Arnold says the value of the heightened awareness piece can’t be underestimated.

“Not everyone knows we exist or what we do, so it’s really important to keep getting our name out there and let people know that we’re here,” he explains.

VIDEO: Who are you walking for?

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of an estimated 60 to 70 per cent of dementia diagnoses, with over 500,000 Canadians currently living with dementia.

The most common early symptom is short-term memory loss or remembering recent conversations, details, and events. As the disease progresses, symptoms can include problems with language, disorientation, mood swings, loss of motivation, self-neglect, and behavioural issues.

For more information about the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton and the services it provides, visit alzheimer.ca/pklnh.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton. If your business or organization is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

Peterborough police are asking for the public’s help in locating two missing youth.

10-year-old Odessa Broderick and 12-year-old Tayla Zwanepol were last seen around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday (May 15).

Police and family are concerned for their well being.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Peterborough Police Service at 705-876-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a tip online at stopcrimehere.ca.

If you’re going camping or heading to a cottage in Haliburton County this weekend, you won’t be able to have a campfire.

Due to a lack of rainfall and extremely dry conditions, the fire chiefs in the four townships of Haliburton County have jointly declared a total fire ban for the entire county.

The fire ban went into effect on Thursday (May 12) and remains in effect until further notice for all residents, visitors, and contractors in Dysart et al, Algonquin Highlands, Highlands East, and Minden Hills. No outdoor fires of any kind are permitted. This includes bonfires, campfires (even for cooking or warmth), or any other open-air fires.

No fireworks, flying lanterns, outdoor candles and lanterns, tiki torches, chimineas, or charcoal barbeques are permitted (propane barbeques for cooking are permitted). Burning of leaves and brush is prohibited, and all daytime burning permits and firework permits are suspended until further notice.

Although the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has identified much of the northern Kawarthas region — including Haliburton, northern Kawartha Lakes, northern Peterborough County, and Hastings County — at an “extreme” forest fire danger rating, a fire ban is currently only in place for Haliburton County.

However, North Kawartha Township in Peterborough County has a new fireworks by-law in effect that only allows consumer fireworks to be set off on set dates and times, including between 7 and 11 p.m. on the Victoria Day long weekend (including Victoria Day). The by-law prohibits the use of flying lanterns at any time.

An 87-year-old woman is dead following a collision in Selwyn Township between Peterborough and Lakefield on Thursday evening (May 12).

At around 7 p.m., two vehicles collided on Lakefield Road at Buckhorn Road.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene and two other people were transported to hospital with minor injuries.

Police have identified the deceased person as Dorothy Unrau, 87, of Selwyn Township.

Lakefield Road at Buckhorn Road was closed for four hours, with detours in place, while police documented the scene.

Police continue to investigate the cause of the collision. Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or has dash cam footage and has not yet spoken with police is asked to contact the Peterborough County OPP Detachment at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122.

The second round of Peterborough-Kawartha candidates squaring off to demonstrate why they should become the region’s next MPP began on Thursday night (May 12) at Trent University — with one notable no-show.

Incumbent Dave Smith (Progressive Conservative), who was planning to attend, dropped out of the debate at the last minute because of a “family emergency.”

All parties with seats in the legislature were invited to participate and Jen Deck (NDP), Greg Dempsey (Liberal), and Robert Gibson (Green Party) turned up prepared to answered five questions they received in advance as well as never-before-seen questions submitted by community members.

Capably moderated by Trent University students Malaika Collette, Gabriel Trozzo Stamou, and Mary Ellen Abberger, the night began with a question about the biggest challenges and opportunities related to the climate crisis each candidate sees in the riding.

Deck started by touting the NDP’s green new democratic deal, “the boldest, most effective and achievable plan Ontario’s ever had.”

Gibson began by saying past governments have failed to curtail sprawl “resulting in the loss of natural spaces, [which] also locks the region into fossil fuel and coal dependency.”

Dempsey answered, “The biggest challenge to climate action in Peterborough-Kawartha is the Doug Ford conservative government. They’ve ripped up climate contracts, they put stickers on gas pumps, [and] they pretended the climate emergency doesn’t exist.”

In Smith’s absence, each candidate spent much of the night lambasting the Ford Government for the following:

• Promising to build the 413 that, if built, would run 59 kilometres from Vaughn to Brampton through the Greenbelt.
• The cancellation of Liberal-initiated green energy projects.
• “Trying to carve up the Greenbelt three times.”
• Going all in on gas-fired power plants thus increasing Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions.
• Firing the Ontario environmental commissioner.
• Abuse of Minister’s zoning prders (which are only meant to be used in extraordinary circumstances) to override local planning authorities and allow for development on protected lands.

Closely matched on policy, Deck, Dempsey, and Gibson never meaningfully clashed. Instead, each took their time highlighting their respective party’s environmental philosophy, occasionally pausing for a respectful rebuttal or clarification.

Of special note was the thoughtful way in which each candidate centred Indigenous rights, knowledge, and ways of being in their remarks. At one point Dempsey said the Liberals would “meaningfully engage with Indigenous people.”

Gibson said the Green Party would “work towards decolonizing the environmental movement.”

Deck suggested the NDP, “is committed to implementing the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and apply it to provincial laws.”

What else can Peterborough-Kawartha voters expect from each party on the environmental file if elected?

Gibson said the Green Party would push to cut Ontario’s pollution in half by 2030 and go to net zero by 2045. The Greens would do this by adopting a zero-carbon law that sets a “fair share carbon budget” for the rest of the century. They would also retrofit homes and businesses, electrify transit, de-carbonize electricity, and protect the natural environment.

Dempsey said the Liberal plan would reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. They will also make all transit fares across the province $1, and the Liberals would protect 30 percent of greenspace by 2030, which would include the creation of five new provincial parks.

According to Deck, the NDP would mandate all newly built public, residential, and commercial buildings to be net zero emissions by 2030. They would establish a retrofit program the NDP claims will produce $15 billion of annual economic activity and create 100,000 new jobs.

Deck said the NDP would also initiate a “zero emission vehicle strategy” aiming for 100 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2035, and would electrify all transit by 2040. Finally, Deck said, her party will “restore integrity to the land use planning process by revoking ministerial zoning orders.”

Organized by youth environmental activists, GreenUP, the Kawartha World Issues Centre, For Our Grandchildren, the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Association, the 70-minute debate was livestreamed on YouTube.

Peterborough-Kawartha candidates who were not invited to participate in the debate were Tom Marazzo (Ontario Party), Rebecca Quinnell (New Blue Party), and Dylan Smith (None Of The Above Party).

A month after releasing new video, photos, and details about the 2020 murder of 18-year-old Alex Tobin in Omemee, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has charged a 26-year-old Ajax man in connection with the murder.

On Friday (May 13), the OPP announced that, following information provided to the investigation team, police have charged Jeremy Brown, 26, of Ajax with second-degree murder and two counts of failing to comply with the condition of a release order.

Brown is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay on May 19. Police say the case is subject to a court-ordered publication ban.

Police are seeking at least two additional suspects in connection with the murder of Tobin, who was shot in his girlfriend’s apartment at 36 King Street East in Omemee on February 18, 2020 and later died in hospital

On April 14, the OPP held a virtual media conference where they provided previously unreleased details of the murder, along with video and photos of two suspects fleeing the apartment building at the time of the murder as well as three suspects at a Scarborough park believed to be discarding evidence connected to the murder.

At that media conference, police also revealed they had recovered the firearm, during an unrelated investigation, believed to have been used to kill Tobin.

VIDEO: Suspects in February 18, 2020 murder of Alex Tobin

A $50,000 reward continues to be offered for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Tobin’s murder.

The OPP is urging anyone who may have information that would assist with the homicide investigation to call the OPP’s dedicated tip line at 1-844-677-5020.

Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit tips online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip.