In 2024, George Kohlweiler lost his wife of almost 59 years to Alzheimer's disease. Not one to sit around and wait for someone else to act, George took his grief and turned it into a way to help others.

"When you step aside from the individual agony and look at the big picture, you realize that Alzheimer's is the No. 1 most expensive disease in the United States that has no cure," George said. "I decided last February, I could either stop, crawl into a hole, or I could keep going until God told me to stop. Well, He hasn't said anything yet."

George, who is 88 years old and lives at Masonic Villages, has participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Lancaster and, while he will be part of a team participating in this fall's event as well, he wanted to do even more for the cause.

"I have some grandkids in the area who play soccer in the E-town School District," he said. "Every year, they have a chicken barbecue to raise money for the soccer team, and I thought this would be something we could try. I wanted to do not a Masonic Villages chicken barbecue, but an Elizabethtown-area barbecue for everyone. With the support of the Villages and the community, we could do some good."

A chicken barbecue organized by Masonic Villages' Walk to End Alzheimer's team will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2. Pickup of meals will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the parking lot of DDMP Investment Advisors, 101 Masonic Drive, Elizabethtown. The meal will feature a half-chicken prepared by Peters' BBQ, a baked potato, applesauce, a roll, a sweet treat and a beverage.

When Angie, George's wife, was in memory care at Masonic Villages, George visited her daily.

He got to know the nurses and other staff members in the unit, and they formed a deep connection.

"George came to our neighborhood every day," said memory support nurse manager Dixie Colvin, referring to the memory care unit. "He had lunch with us every day."

She knew George would benefit from staying active and involved with others, so she encouraged the idea of George joining the Masonic Villages team, and she supports his idea for the chicken barbecue.

"When Angie passed, I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing him because he was a staple of our neighborhood, so I had to give him something else to do," she said with a laugh.

Residents of Masonic Villages have had a team in the Walk to End Alzheimer's for the past two years.

"Each year we have participated, our team member numbers have grown, and our donation amount at the end of the year has grown," Colvin said. "Last year, we were the No. 1 team for fundraising." The group raised more than $5,000.

Although it's a Masonic Villages team, it's open to anyone who is interested in joining along with residents of the retirement community.

"Last year, we had over 40 people on the team," Colvin said, noting that about 15 people participate in the actual walk. "You don't have to walk to participate with us. You can support us in other ways. The nice thing about our team is it includes employees, residents of retirement living, residents of personal care, family members of health care residents, family members of retirement living residents, so it's growing out into the community."

Resident Elaine Pfleger joined the team two years ago after her husband of more than 30 years, Rudy, passed away.

"My husband had just died, and I needed something to do," she said. "I started walking. One night, someone stopped me on a walk and said out of the blue, 'Are you going to do the Alzheimer's walk?' I hadn't heard anything about it, but I joined up."

The Walk to End Alzheimer's will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Greenfield, 1853 William Penn Way, Lancaster.

George, who is recovering from knee replacement, is looking forward to walking, and he's hoping the community will purchase chicken barbecue tickets.

"Wouldn't it be great to be able to say, 'We donated that $1 that found the cure'?" he said. "Not for us, but for our children and our grandchildren. Somebody's got to provide the funds to find a cure. It might as well be us."

Tickets will be available for the chicken barbecue through Saturday, July 19. They may be purchased from staff and resident Walk to End Alzheimer's team members; at Second Friday events in Elizabethtown; at Udder Bliss Creamery, 189 Ridgeview Road; Twisted Easel, 1 S. Market St.; and Designs Unlimited, 2750 N. Market St.

For more information or to join the fundraising efforts of the team, call George at 717-361-5381. To donate, visit https://bit.ly/43yG0KG, select "Find a Team" and search for "Masonic Villages."