[BobbyB]

Reception to honor Ray, proclaim February as ALS month in county

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

PALO PINTO – Citizens are invited to attend a special session of the Palo Pinto Commissioner’s Court at 5:30 p.m. Monday declaring February as “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Month” in Palo Pinto County and honoring Precinct 1 Commissioner Ted Ray, who is living with ALS.

The meeting will include a presentation by the ALS Association’s North Texas Chapter Executive Director Reidel Post and Director of Development Kelly Vaughan.

At 6 p.m., after the meeting adjourns, the public is invited to a reception to help celebrate the proclamation and visit with Ray and his family. The meeting and reception will be in the county courtroom on the second floor of the Palo Pinto County Courthouse.

Also at Monday evening’s meeting, KTVT-TV CBS 11 will tape the meeting’s presentation and afterwards, news anchor Maria Arita will interview Ray for the program “Texans with Character.”

***

According to ALSA.org, the disease affects an individual’s upper and lower motor neurons. A painless weakness in a hand, foot, arm or leg is a common first symptom occurring in more than half of all cases. Other early symptoms include speech, swallowing or walking difficulty.

The disease was brought to the attention of many Americans in 1939, when New York Yankee’s Hall of Fame slugger Lou Gehrig abruptly retired from baseball after being diagnosed with ALS.

ALS also cut short the lives of other notable individuals, such as Hall of Fame pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter, actor David Niven, creator of Sesame Street Jon Stone, musician Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter and former U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace.

According to ALSA, technological and genetic advances in the last decade are helping researchers to understand more about ALS, which is attributed to a genetic mutation.

“As more scientists focus on this perplexing disease, the outlook for new understanding brightens each day,” states the ALSA Web site.

For more information on ALS, visit www.alsa.org or attend the Palo Pinto County Commissioner’s meeting and reception Monday evening.

http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/loc...035102255.html