Kevin Nortz / The Herald (click to enlarge)
Edie Evans chats with a customer at Safeway on Broadway in Everett in April. Evans was forced to retire after being stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease.


Honored by the AquaSox

On April 30, I wrote about Edie Evans, a grocery checker at the Safeway on Broadway in Everett. At 62, after more than 30 years on the job, Evans was forced to retire because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The incurable disease has hampered her speech. In later stages, it impairs movement and breathing.

Evans did just fine Sunday when she was honored by the Everett AquaSox. Before the team's home opener against the Boise Hawks, Evans walked out in front of the crowd and threw a ceremonial pitch.

"It was fun. I had my three sons and one daughter and their families," said Evans, who recently returned home to Lake Stevens from a family reunion in Arkansas.

Teresa Sarsted, director of accounting and player housing for the AquaSox, said the VIP pitch was part of a Strike Out ALS night at the ballpark. A booth offered information about Lou Gehrig's disease, and Sarsted said it was fitting that someone from the community be represented at the game.

Evans' pitch? "She did well," Sarsted said. Underhand or overhand?

"Overhand," Evans said. A veteran of adult sports leagues in Snohomish and Lake Stevens, she added "I used to play left field."

http://www.heraldnet.com:80/article/...WS01/827485975