The Chronicles of Richard (Dick)Wolnik
Dick has been on the move. The Chronicles start with opening day at Gillette Stadium to watch the Patriots.
As a lot of you know, Boston is all about the sports. Not long after the Patriots game, Dick and crew went to Fenway to watch the Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox have been a big supporter of ALS over the years. They host the annual ALS Boston College game and helped promote Pete Frates mission to raise money for research, they also host an annual Lou Gehrig Day (Lou Gehrig was a famous Yankee player diagnosed with ALS). The first game was rained out, so Dick, Mark and family made to two trips to Fenway.
Mr & Mrs Frates who are the parents of Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with ALS and founder of Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS. Pete was a former Captain of Boston College Baseball Team and later signed a contract with the Red Sox.
Not long after the Red Sox game, Dick’s son, Luke graduated high school.
Luke looking into the camera on graduation day – making for a proud dad and is now going to college in Boston.
Not long after attending graduation, “The Boys” headed South on a road trip. For those of you that don’t know, “The Boys” refers to lifelong friends that grew up in the same neighborhood and they have remained best friends for decades.
“The Boys” hanging out with Honest Abe
First stop South was Gettysburg, PA to brush up on some American History. After they continued their journey to Chattanooga, Tennessee where Ed currently lives, (another one of “the boys”) they relaxed a bit (or so they claimed) then did some sightseeing. They visited an old battleground in Chickamauga, Georgia and ironically discovered Dick’s Brigade.
What a view: Hanging pool side at Ed’s house
Somewhere along the way they learned of a drunken townsman with a squirrel gun, wanted to join the Civil War and fight alongside the union. He was captured by the Confederates but because he wasn’t a ‘real solider’ and he was drunk they brought him back to town and released him.
Somewhere around this time, “The Boys” found and climbed a castle. As the story goes, there were A LOT of steps and and it was VERY high.
May is National ALS Awareness Month and as such “The Boys” spend a couple of days in Washington D.C. They stopped by the Capitol and went to Reflection Pond on their way back to New England.
After Dick got home from his trip with “The Boys” he went on vacation with his three kids.♥♥♥
After making the trek back to New Hampshire, Dick got busy making the necessary modifications to his house and has his friends over every Sunday to watch football games.
Mark is back to work and continuing to carry the message regarding ALS awareness. Because ALS is rare, it does not get the publicity it needs for research and ultimately a cure.
To that point, there was an article published in 2017, from another UMASS alumni and current researcher Susan Woskie. The research was a case-control study that looked at the contribution of genetics, occupational and environmental exposures to the risk of ALS among military veterans. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5388189/
Most research is based around extending the lives of those affected with ALS and while that is important, finding what causes ALS and its cure is really the crux of the problem. We applaud Dr. Woskie’s research.
EDC is committed to raising awareness and Richard Wolnik’s mission to find a cure. We will keep you updated on the Dick chronicles and bringing you the latest research, as we learn more about ALS. Also please keep circling back because we have a big announcement to make very soon!