We did it! The Avon walk was an amazing experience and Willow Glen was well represented with Team Willow Glen members and a whole bunch of local residents who weren’t on the team.
The first day started out with some moving tributes and the announcement that we had raised over 7.5 million dollars for the Avon Foundation. This year is a new record for the San Francisco walk!

See all the pictures so far. We’d love to have more. Email yours and I’ll add them.

I’m not going to go into a long emotional post here (that would be SO easy to do). Let’s just say that the entire experience was emotionally uplifting, exhausting, amazing and wonderful. CJ and I walked together with Elva almost the entire walk, and it was a lot of fun to see all of the people who came up to her to say hi and cheer on our local celebrity. One of her biggest fan clubs is (of course) the San Jose volunteer cops who had a huge impact on the walk itself. These gals and guys were on their bikes traveling back and forth the entire route and making sure everybody was safe, having fun and encouraging us to keep moving forward. They really gave San Jose a good name ,and more than once helped us shlog up yet another hill with their cheering and teasing. I’m guessing that each of them did more than 50 miles/day on those bikes.

I can’t count the number of times I heard people say how great the support of the cops, the motorcycle support crew, the volunteers and just plain people on the sidewalks were. As we walked down the streets people put out banners and balloons, waved from their windows, honked their horns, handed out water or snacks and generally supported in any way they could.

It was pretty amazing how many people we ran into. With so many walkers we thought we’d never see the rest of the team, but we did walk with Cheryll for most of the first day until our blisters held us back and Cheryll and Elva left us in the dust! We also ran into Corina and Merry just after we crossed the bridge, and walked with then for a bit before we got separated by the crowds. Getting on that bus at the 15 mile mark was a huge relief, and we decided finishing the next day was our goal rather than to kill ourselves on the first day and not finish. When we got the the Wellness camp, there was Charlotte, just off the bus ahead of us.

Day 2 started a little late for us, but we picked up near the end of the line and did our best to overcome the aches and pains from the previous day. It seems like the route on the second day was created with a sadistic twist. We climbed a LOT of hills, just in case people forgot we we in San Francisco. Potrero Hill was probably the worst, but the reward was to come down the hill and be greeted by some of the recipients of funds from the walk, ranging from the Avon Breast Care Center to smaller support organizations like the Charlotte Maxwell Complementary Clinic (Oakland and San Francisco, CA) where seventy-five percent of patients served are women of color; 40% speak little or no English; and all are below the poverty level.

We walked through a lot of my favorite neighborhoods of San Francisco, got a lot of encouragement from the support teams and people who lived in the neighborhood and finally dragged ourselves across the finish line in Golden Gate Park about 3 PM. Yes, the walk was long, but we kept reminding ourselves that it’s nothing compared to what men and women who are going through radiation, chemo, surgery and recovery are going through every hour of every day. One of the things that really moved me as we walked was listening to snippets of the stories of those around us. People walking for lost loved ones, telling their stories of diagnosis or caring for their cherished friend or family as they went through treatment. It really hits home that almost no-one has not been touched by this disease in some way, and it was clear as we walked through the neighborhoods that people on the street supported us in the name of someone they knew as well.

Merry, Corina, Cheryll, Charlotte, CJ and I (Janet) did at least 30 miles, but Elva is the team hero. She did the whole 40 miles!

I can’t express how much we appreciated the support of each and every donor who supported us financially and by helping us raise funds for this walk. I’ll be posting the beneficiary list on the site soon so you can see where your money is going.

Want to know the official news? Download the press release from the foundation.

Zometa, a bone density improvement drug made by Novartis , may be helpful in preventing recurrence of breast cancer. A recent study shows that the drug may make the bones less hospitable to cancer. It was discovered because many of the drugs used in chemotherapy weaken the bones and testing was being done with bone strengthening drugs to try to reverse that process.

“Hugely important is whether this has to do with the fact that it just makes the bone hostile, somehow, to metastasis or if there is a more global anti-metastasis effect,” said the oncology group’s president, Dr. Nancy Davidson of the Johns Hopkins University.

The Avon Foundation supports research in these areas, and many others, and this is where the money we have raised is going, as well as to help men and women who have already been diagnosed get the treatment they need! Team Willow Glen has raised over $17,000 for the foundation so far. Keep up the good work!

Spend an afternoon at Chef Yung Le’s  Fusion , dining on an eclectic menu paired with some truly fine wines. 6 courses and 6 wines will be served and the wines poured will be available for sale after the dinner.   As each wine is poured we’ll talk about how the wine and food go together and about the wineries as well. 50% of the proceeds to go to the Avon Foundation on the behalf of Team Willow Glen.
Chef Yung Le is a talented chef, and this promises to be a wonderful event.  Please join us for this wonderful event.

Here’s the basic information, and if it is possible for you to help us distribute flyers for the event, we’d appreciate it. Here’s a link to a downloadable PDF of the flyer for the event. Please print a copy and help spread the news for this event!

Event Details:
Date: May 18, 2008
Time: 1-3 PM
$60 Per Person
Location: 1317 Winchester Blvd. San Jose, CA
For reservations call (408) 379-5095

Reservations limited to 50 people, get yours today.

We’ve gotten quite a few items from team members as well as people in the neighborhood who generously donated goods for the yard sale this week. Help spread the word, and pass this on to naybody you think will be interested. We’ve got:  Computers and Electronics  Collectibles and antiquesToys, games and booksCookbooksVideos and DVDsTball stand with bucket of baseballs and glove  Kitchen and household items  Clothing and decorative pillows  Golf Bag, suitcases3 in 1game table (Pool, Air Hockey and table tennis) All proceeds go to the Avon Foundation which provides funding to men and women with breast cancer and breast cancer research and treatment centers.  DETAILS: 1985 Coastland Ave, San Jose, 95125  Saturday May 3 from 8 to  No early salesDonations gladly accepted.

If you or a loved one has breast cancer, you probably know about Mamm magazine. It gives the latest info on research as well as personal stories that keep us all encouraged. This month there is an article about women who blog about their breast cancer, and I thought you all might find some more inspiration for walking in the Avon Walk to help support research and supply much needed services to those who can’t afford it on their own. Here are two that may interest you.
Jacki Donaldson
Jeannette Vagnozzi

I’d also like to point you towards Susan Reynolds,who has decided not to undergo Chemo and Radiation because of her existing health issues and is blogging about her experience living with Breast Cancer, and how people rallied to support her with the Frozen Pea Fund

Listen to her interview on BlogTalk Radio about Social Media and using it to raise funds for good causes like the Frozen Pea fund, but also a good discussion opn fundraising online.

Since we’re Team Willow Glen we thought it made sense for some of us “newbies” to learn more about our neighborhood.

CJ put together a n 8 mile hike/tour of homes in Willow Glen that are of historical and architectural interest. Details are gleaned from the book “Touring Historical Willow Glen” (Available at Willow Glen books. and written by the Historical committee of the WGNA). We’ll also take a look at a couple of homes for sale that just happen to be holding open houses this weekend…

The walk starts and ends at Elva’s at 11 AM on Saturday April 12. Depending on how much we linger to look, the walk will likely take 2.5 to 3 hrs. Don’t forget to bring some water!
For more details, view the PDF here.

Well the Pinnacles hike was just plain fantastic. Charlotte, Cathy, CJ and Janet got to the park about 9 and we hiked for just over 5 hours.

We all agreed that we had run out of superlatives for the hike, the view, the wildflowers. All together amazing. We hiked just about 8 miles with an elevation change of about 1500 feet. We hiked the high peaks trail and then added the caves and Moss Creek trail just for fun.
It turned out to be a perfect day for it too. Overcast so it didn’t get hot. It can be brutal hiking here in the summer. We didn’t see any condors, but we passed the ranger who was watching the nesting area, and had we brought binoculars we could have sen more than “that little white speck on the cliff”.
We did see hawks, vultures and lots of flowers, and we took lots of pictures! You can see them in the thumbnails to the right. The next hike is the Willow Glen House tour on the 13th. Gt ready!

Everybody at the first meeting was excited about this hike to see the Pinnacles. It’s a beautiful area and a great hike at about 7.0 miles round trip.
We’ll start out at Bear Gulch and take the HIGH PEAKS trail all the way up and around back down to Bear Gulch Trail.

Meeting:
We’ll meet at Elvas Coffee Stop at 7:30 and plan to be on the road by 8 AM so we can get down there and hike in the cool part of the day. Carpooling is recommended, email Janet or the email list to arrange a ride.

Getting there:
We’ll be driving down 101 toward Gilroy - take the Hollister exit and then on 146 to the East Park Entrance.

Vitals:

• This hike will probably start out a bit chilly and then warm up, so dress in layers.
• Pack a lunch and plenty of water.
• The trail is rustic so hiking shoes recommended.
• See the park website for details about the area.
• It’s beautiful there, bring your camera!
• There will be a $5 per vehicle fee.

The map is below maps and here’s a link to the park website

Our first training walk will be on March 15 at 10 AM. We’ll meet at Elva’s Coffee Stop on Lincoln Ave, get fortified and then walk to Oakridge mall over bike paths and surface streets. We’ll take a break for lunch and then walk back to Elva’s .

Distance: Approx 6.5 miles. We expect to walk fairly slowly on the first walk, get to know each other and take it easy, so plan on spending about 3-4 hours start to finish. Bring water to drink, comfy shoes and please wear your Avon Walk t-shirt so we can take a few team pictures!

We organized this team so we could train together and support each other in our efforts to raise money for the Avon Foundation’s walk in San Francisco July 12 and 13. We’ll walk almost 40 miles over two days. It will be tough but we think it’s worth the effort to support the effort to stop cancer in it’s tracks. Join Team Willow Glen.
We are scheduling training walks right up to the last week before the event. Feel free to join us on our training walks and see how much fun this will be!

We have a few fundrasing events coming up as well and we’ll keep the site updated as soon as we have venuse secured. If you have an idea or want to offer our team some support, email the team captain, Janet Fouts
. Training walks and meetings will be held at Elva’s Coffee Stop, 2206 Lincoln Ave. Elva has graciously donated a place to connect ans well as her time (and her legs) to Team Willow Glen.

Learn more about the team on the about us page with links to donate to each of our wonderful team members.