Mississippi Paddler asks East Mississippi health care officials and residents for help.
Flora, MS. October 19, 2010—Keith Plunkett, Mississippi paddler and organizer of Lucy’s Revenge, has paddled over 300 miles in the yearlong effort to raise money for and awareness of Alzheimer’s Disease on Mississippi waterways. Joining a group of eight other kayakers on October 16, Plunkett launched from Bell Fontaine Point in Ocean Springs in route across the Mississippi Sound to Horn Island. Plunkett says he was driven to paddle a few extra miles while out on the island in order to be sure he met the 300-mile mark by the time the group may landfall to end the trip.
“South Coast Paddling Company and Mississippi Gulf Coast residents have been a huge help to the project on the coast and I wanted to be sure and hit this milestone there,” said Plunkett. “The Horn Island trip was a South Coast Paddling sponsored trip, so they did all the planning. I hadn’t mapped it before hand, and I wanted to be sure I got the mileage in.”
With that worry in mind, Plunkett awoke on the west end of Horn Island on Sunday morning and decided to put in a few extra miles before joining back up with the group. Paddling south of the island to Buoy 1 at Dog Keys Pass, he added an extra 6.6 miles, and had some unexpected but welcome company on the way back to the island.
“The first buoy is a little over 3 miles south of the island out into the open Gulf,” said Plunkett. “It was a little nerve wracking to look back and see Horn Island as a little speck behind me. I felt pretty small and vulnerable out there. But on the way back I got an escort from about 8 to 10 bottlenose dolphin, and that helped calm my nerves. They are beautiful animals.”
When Plunkett landed again at Bell Fontaine Point on Sunday afternoon he had logged another 29.5 miles bringing his totals for the project to 305.8.
The Flora resident began kayaking just over a year ago and says he wasn’t around the water much as a child, but is growing more confident in his paddling ability every day.
“In mid-July I thought I had reached the far reaches of my distance for a weekend paddling trip when Sharon and I floated a 45 mile trip on the Wolf River. Less than two months later we kayaked over 86 miles from Shubuta to Leaksville on the Chickasawhay River. About a week ago, I paddled in the Ninth Annual Phatwater Challenge on the Mississippi River. On that trip I managed to paddle nearly the same mileage that had taken me a full three days only three months earlier, and I did it in less than 6 hours. My ability and confidence has grown by leaps and bounds.”
Plunkett kicked off a yearlong effort to paddle over 600 miles of Mississippi waterways in July on the Gulf Coast. A goal he says he now expects to exceed by the projects end date in June 2011. He began focusing on waterways in the East Mississippi Region in September, but due to drought conditions and interest from other parts of the state he’s not done as much in the area as hoped.
“East Mississippi has many of the jewels of our state’s paddling waterways,” he said. “I really need some more help from East Mississippi, and some sponsors to step forward. This disease knows no boundaries. I know there are people and caregivers there that need the support, and I want to be there.”
So far, Plunkett has been on the coastal waterways of Old Fort Bayou, Davis Bayou, Wolf River, Escatawpa River and the Pascagoula River. He has paddled sections of the Pearl River, Strong River and Mississippi River. He and wife Sharon also completed an 86-mile trip on the Chickasawhay River in East Mississippi on Labor Day Weekend. Plunkett has raised $8,600 for the Mississippi Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association since July while paddling through 14 Mississippi counties.
Stories, videos, and photos are posted to the website, www.lucysrevenge.com . General Donations and Sponsorship Opportunities links on the website connect donors directly to the Alzheimer’s Association website.
The project is named in memory of Plunkett’s Grandmother, Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1993. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of her church and the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.
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