find dozens of musicians playing Woody Guthrie songs, handing out love beads, and really cranking up the vibe. Next stop is ice cream, courtesy of Miles Concannon, who’ s been scooping out Ben & Jerry’ s Cherry Garcia to walk participants for decades. Though not afflicted himself, Concannon is part of the HD family tier mentioned earlier.“ We’ ve lost family members to the disease, so for us, it’ s personal,” he says.“ God bless the Guthries for continuing to care. Our whole family comes out for the festivities every year. It’ s always a great time. We’ re especially looking forward to this year, as it’ s the 25th anniversary of the walk.”
Meet The Pickle Lady
You can’ t miss her. She’ s the woman in the booth dressed as a pickle, playing guitar and ukulele, and handing out free pickles to commemorate the snack Arlo got after being“ injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected” at his army induction center. The woman behind the costume is Loretta Murphy, who makes the
trip each year from Pennsylvania to play her songs and make the walk that much more enjoyable for Guthrie fans and pickle lovers alike. A nurse by training, Murphy became familiar with HD patients in the back wards of the hospitals she used to work at.“ The walk is a great event for an even greater cause,” she says.“ I got into this not knowing anybody but have made lifelong friends with the organizers and the Guthries over the years.” She’ s going on 12 years of doling out pickles.“ The first year, I couldn’ t find a pickle costume,” says Murphy,“ so I was dressed up as a jar of pickle relish.” The pickle suit she now wears helps make her booth a fun and memorable stop on the walk. From The Pickle Lady, it’ s on to the old Stockbridge Railroad Depot. Members of the Guthrie family cheerfully hand out water and swag before sending walkers on their way to what is the longest part of the walk: the trek up to the present day AmeriGas Propane Office in Housatonic, where there’ s even more swag and refreshments for the walkers, many of whom are a bit pooped at this point. It’ s a good resting place for
the weary before heading back down Van Deusenville Road and returning to the final stop on the tour— to The Guthrie Center, formerly the Old Trinity Church and once Alice’ s home. It is the epicenter of Alice’ s Restaurant Massacree and where the subsequent film was shot. Since 1991, it has been a location for interfaith worship, music and art, and a place to eat. There is sure to be live music at The Guthrie Center at the end of this year’ s HD Walk.“ There’ s a venerable group of speedwalkers who go for the bragging rights of finishing the walk the fastest,” Pollard explains.“ Others may straggle along. And the microbuses are always available to take anyone back to The Guthrie Center if they’ re too tired to hoof it there themselves.”
A quarter century of fundraising and fun
Along with all the fun, serious progress has been made, thanks in part to this annual fundraising event.“ They’ ve come a long way during the last 50 years,” says Arlo.“ They’ re closer to a cure, but not
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