Buddy Walk set for Saturday

MOSES LAKE — This year’s Buddy Walk will be a little different, according to Down Syndrome Society of Grant County member Kerry Aronsohn, one of the event’s organizers. 

This year’s event will be held this Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Centennial Amphitheater at McCosh Park. 

The theme of this year’s Buddy Walk will be “Share your Gift,” inspired by artist Beth Anna Margolis, who was on exhibit at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center in May. Margolis, who has Down syndrome, held a little class while she was in town for some of the society’s members, Aronsohn said. 

“She was just so inspiring,” Aronsohn said. “Her message is that art is her gift, and that we need to find our gift and share it with others, share it with the world.” 

Five of Margolis’ paintings will be available at the Buddy Walk, three at a silent auction and two in a raffle. Local members will share their own gifts as well, Aronsohn said.
“We have a few people that are sharing their gifts on the stage,” she said. “We have one gal that she wrote a poem and she's going to share her poem, and we have another group that has been doing karate. These individuals all have Down syndrome, so they've found some things that they're good at, and they're going to share it with us.” 

The Moses Lake Scorpions Special Olympics cheer team will perform as well, Aronsohn said.  There’s some social time and a chance for the people with Down syndrome to do a little rocking out on the stage before the actual walk begins. The walk will follow a slightly shorter route this year, Aronsohn said, to avoid crossing paths with the UMANI festival taking place downtown the same day. 

Aronsohn’s son Gevin Aronsohn, who’s 15, looks forward to the Buddy Walk every year because it gives him a chance to connect with other people like him, she said. 

“It gives him a feeling like ‘I matter, I’m a special person that people want to get to know,’” she said. “He’s become a little bit more shy as he’s gotten older, but he knows that the buddy walk is a safe place where he’s going to find acceptance ... It’s just an all-around positive thing in his life.” 

The Buddy Walk and other Down syndrome events are also good for the participants’ families, said Melissa Kultgen, whose 4-year-old daughter Mikayla did the walk for the first time last year. It’s a chance for parents to support and learn from each other, she said. 

“There’s no actual blueprint about kids with Down syndrome,” Kultgen said. “They’re all different and they’re all on a different spectrum. So there’s no way to know, like ‘OK, your kid’s going to do X, Y and Z.’ … With Down syndrome (parents) don’t know what to expect and when to expect it, or even if it’s going to happen. So it gives you experts (who can tell you) when this happened, or what to expect, or how to deal with things that wouldn’t normally know.” 

“(Share your Gift) is a message, not just for individuals with disabilities, but it's a message for every person to find their gift and to share it,” Aronsohn said. “Beth Anna Margolis) said, ‘I hope people will respect me for my talents … that is true for me and for others with Down syndrome. I can be anything I want.’ That's power.” 

    Benita Ketola shows off her Princess Anna dress at last year’s Buddy Walk Saturday at McCosh Park. This year’s walk is themed “Share your Gift,” and will focus on the things that people with Down syndrome do well.
  

    Painter Beth Anna Margolis stands with one of her paintings at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center in May. Margolis, who has Down syndrome, inspired the theme “Share your Gifts” for this year’s Buddy Walk Saturday.