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Our “World’s Largest Polio Walk”
journey began many months ago with a call to action from our Rotary District 6440 Governor, Rick Reigner.
He tells an enchanting story about how the idea came about and how one conversation grew into a national movement stretching from Canada to Texas. I was intrigued! I have been involved in polio prevention for 29 years. My grandmother had polio as a child. I remember the fear we children of the 1950s experienced—even bathwater and swimming pools frightening us. Students lined up to receive the vaccines developed by Jonas Salk and, later, Albert Sabin. The oral vaccine spared us the dreaded shot. My first encounter with it was on a sugar cube. What was yours?
After hearing the governor’s story, I committed us to participate without first considering that I needed the approval of the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn’s board. Fortunately, the board members were not upset. Instead, they came alongside me, and a committee was formed.
As you will see in the photo array, (most now to be found on the club Facebook Site) many people worked to bring this polio awareness campaign together and participated in the walk. The Villa Park club and the Rotaract Club of Glenbard West joined us. They made their own handmade signs, adding flair and color to the walk. The CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members were our guardian angels and stood with them at every turn.
The Village of Glen Ellyn, Village Manager Mark Franz, presented representatives of the club a "Rotary International World Polio Day Proclamation". Proudly we have four members of the Rotary Club of Glen Ellyn represented on the village board or as counsel to the board.
A special friend of mine and his wife joined us to testify to the ravages of polio. His name is Raffet (his last name is too hard for me to spell—ha-ha), and his wife is Shukran. They are immigrants from Iraq, and Raffet is a polio survivor. I interviewed him about his experience. At times, it seemed that he had not suffered much, but he is a very proud man who does not dwell on the negative aspects of life. He downplayed his lifelong experiences of pain and ridicule. He is the kindest man you will ever know and does not want to inflict his pain on anyone else. He and his wife, together with our Ring Master and assistant grandmaster, Deb Thomas, led the walk to Lake Ellyn.
Along the way, the committee—Ed Jacobs, Deb Thomas, Erika Krehbiel, and Erica Nelson—worked under the watchful eye of President Patrick Brosnan. Permits were secured, routes were planned, materials were ordered, and participants were recruited.
I want to give special thanks to Jeff Waters, a person who always works behind the scenes and supports the club. He hauled a large inflatable Rotary sign and refreshments from one end of the walk to the other. I watched him try, to no avail, to inflate the sign without electricity—but he tried. He also carried the refreshments from his car, which seemed to me to be half a mile away. Thank you, Jeff.
