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Honour Roll Raises awareness of ALS Heather’s an inspiration “No list would be complete without this remarkable young lady dto pull offat is her father while raising awareness of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease),” said Mayor Pearce, as she presented 19 year-old Heather Moore with a certificate of recognition last December, as part of the Mayor’s Honour Roll program. Heather was born and raised in the Port Perry area where her mother Aileen supply-taught, and her father Jack taught (Sunderland) until his retirement in 1998. The Moores were also active parishioners at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Port Perry. In short, Heather is that proverbial hometown girl who has done well. She attributes her place of birth and moving to Seagrave and Prince Albert while growing up for the fact that she knew so many different people by the time she finally hit Port Perry High School. But that didn’t prevent her from looking to greener pastures. “I wanted out of Port Perry so bad,” she says with a laugh. It was mere weeks after her acceptance at Carlton in Ottawa to study Anthropology and religion that her father was diag- nosed. “He still wanted me to go,” Heather explains. “After all, he studied Anthropology and History at my age.” “Between having a boyfriend here and watching someone I love sort of fade away, I realized this was home. It was where I wanted to be,” she says. Her father was a fighter; an advocate and as he became less able to fight the degenerative neuromuscular disease, Heather “wanted to do something.” Something different than a walk. So she planned a surprise, contacting participants from her Ottawa dorm room. “Let’s just see if I can pull this off,” she told herself, “see how it goes.” As a music student at Port Perry High, Heather was able to book Pea Pods Blues Review. Hot Flashes, a group of clog- gers, Heather’s uncle Ron Moore and a band from Niagara Falls. With the support of the ALS Society of Ontario through third party arrangements, Heather cultivated more con- tacts. The Port Perry Rotary Club not only pitched in to sell barbecued food at the June concert, but also sponsored Heather's week-long stay at RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Associa- tion Camp) this past May. Through ticket sales, the concession proceeds and loor prizes, Heather raised over $4,000. So this spring when Gord Gervin, the music teacher at the High School called offering Heather, Pea Pods and Eleven, two of the school’s bands, she jumped at the opportunity to organize another event. Even though she lost her father last October 17th, Heather wanted to continue to ise “awareness in the community.” Half of the proceeds of this new event will go towards research and development, to find a cure. The remainder is donated to the local ALS Chapter “to help people live with this dreadful disease,” explains Heather. On Father’s Day, June 18th, the two school bands joined by Prince Albert's VIBE, held a three-hour concert in Palmer Park, which matched last year’s fundraising effort. Pete Walker of KX96 and Rosanne Solotarow hosted the event. Heat was gratified and totally “shocked” by the unexpected recognition by Mayor Pearce. “{ didn’t get the letter in the mail and someone phoned the house to tell me to look in the paper,” she says. “My boyfriend and I had to track one down. Imagine, this all started with a surprise for my Dad!” Already Mayor Pearce’s words are ringing true, “Heather will continue to inspire and lead.” By Barbara Hunt CASH CONNEXION FINANCIAL PAYDAY LOANS + WESTERN UNION © Pre-paid Credit Cards 420 King St. W. Ask About Our New Cheque Cashing Service | 1-888-310-8275 © mia © Money Transters © Money Orders © Pre-paid Long Distance Port Perry 1881 Scugog St. Oshawa West & Pre-paid Wireless Whithy 840 Brock St. W. focus@observerpub.ca FOCUS -Avcusr 2006 13