A group of feisty folks from The Villages Twirlers and Drum Corps. started a ball rolling last week — demonstrating their commitment to the current ALS ice bucket craze sweeping the country — by emptying icy cold water on their heads on the veranda of La Hacienda Recreation Center.
They then issued a challenge to the other cheerleading groups in The Villages — the Village Cheerleaders, the Chatham Chicks and the Polo Cheerleaders — to do the same.
So on Saturday afternoon, in the Laurel Manor Regional Recreation Center parking lot, at least one other group took on the challenge. A group from The Village Cheerleaders doused themselves with icy liquid brightly colored buckets and donated $100 to the cause. While the cool water can be refreshing on hot Florida summer afternoons, the participants’ intent is quite serious.
The challenge was especially meaningful to veteran Village Cheerleader Sylvia Wagner, of Freedom Pointe, shown on the far right of the photograph, as  Sylvia’s mother suffered from ALS. Major strides have been made in treating this neurologic malady, but more research is needed.
ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig disease, is a progressive, neuro-degenerative illness that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons reach out from the brain to the spinal cord, and from the spinal cord to muscle groups throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of these motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to the death of these neurons. When this happens, the brain’s ability to initiate and control muscle movement is lost.
‘A’ means absence of; ‘myo’ means muscle, and ‘trophic’ means ‘wasting away.’ ‘Lateral’ refers to the crosswise positioning of the nerves affected by this disease and ‘sclerosis’ means ‘scarring or hardening.’ When certain neurons originating in the central nervous system (CNS) atrophy and harden, they produce system-wide symptoms of muscle weakness, especially in the arms and legs; interfere with speech and breathing, and can eventually lead to paralysis.
The ALS Association has received an outpouring of support from people around the world who are participating in the ice bucket challenge, and collecting donations for the fight against this disease.
