THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

As most people know, I write about Fragile X a lot. Two of my children are diagnosed with it,but my whole family deals with the affects it has on our lives. We live a life now, that we just would not be living if it weren't for Fragile X. I remained silent about Fragile X for many years, didn't participate in events, didn't try to explain. Then one day our world fell apart, when we lost access to a study medication that was helping MANY children in the Fragile X Community, and I decided to "not go quietly into that dark night".
My biggest surprise (and I'm still embarrassed that it surprised me) was the absolute outpouring of support in our local community. I was born and raised in this town and had never once thought to ask for support collectively from my community, NEVER. But, when we finally did they showed up. Thanks to one kid (Drake Ewing) and his family (Wendy, Jim, Karen, Maggie, Macy & Mary), deciding that KC was too far for High School kids to attend a walk to support Rhein & Rhett, a Walk was formed in Holton, a team for Rhein & Rhett. Rhein & Rhett's Runners (Team Holton) held it's 5th Annual Event this past weekend, and it was a huge success.
I have pretty great kids, great friends and a pretty great family. What I am so humbled by EVERY year, is my amazing community.

This year we made our event bigger than it has ever been, thanks in HUGE part to people behind the scenes. We had a registration, we walked our mile, we had a Fragile X T-Rex make an appearance (and walk the whole mile), We had a raffle with an Amazon Echo and An Amazon Echo Dot as the prizes, We had 10 silent auction items/baskets each retail value of at least $70. We had food, all beef hot dogs, chips and home-aid cookies, and we finished off with a very successful Washers Tournament.

All of this, the entire event was made possible by the hard work of several individuals and the donations of auction items, prizes and money to purchase raffle items.
I am going to try to make this GIANT thank you note exciting. But really all of these people need a Thank You bigger than I can ever give.
The Holton High School Stu-Co, signed on to help very early on. They came early, handled the entire registration and Raffle ticket table. Not only that, they showed up to walk! You can see by the large group of blue stu-co shirts, they were an important presence!
Duane and Kathi Kimmi, from Kimmi Xpress Printing, donated color copies of our flyer to hang at local businesses, and local businesses let us hang them!

The raffle items were purchased from donations made by, The Onaga Pharmacy and DL Smith Electric.
Silent Auction Items were donated by individuals and businesses. Dena Swisher, Candy McManigal, Candy & Rachel, LLC., Kellie Hundley, Mandee Carson, Casey Kathrens, Jayger Carson, Jaycee Wells, The Murphy Family, Shandi Hilliard, Sandy Bottom (Lee's Flower Shop), The Gossip, Hot Spot, Fifth Street Sandwich Shop, Jhett's Pizza, Off the Square Bar & Grill, Lasting Impressions, Heart to Home, and Sonic.
The Washers Tournament was won by Jack Martin and Shawn Stephenson (they won a cash prize), Second place was attained by James Schlodder and Johnathan Schlodder (they won a lesser cash prize). Becky Martin and Mandee Carson Stephenson won the third place prize (footballs, donated by Napa Auto Parts).

"Showing up is not all of life, but it counts for a lot." - Anonymous

Really no event would ever be a sucess without people showing up. Year after year, they do. I am thankful for everyone who takes time out of their day to share a part of it with us, and to everyone who makes donations to our cause.
This year we accrued expenses higher than usual for the food items, etc. After covering our expenses, I am happy to report that Rhein and Rhett's Runners (Team Holton) was able to raise $1242 to donate to The Kansas Fragile X Group. It is the largest donation our team has made to date. And, would not be possible without the support of all of you!
Thank you, and we hope to see you next year......