02 July 27, 2002 - ObserverXtra

22 22 22 WOOLWICH OBSERVER • TOWN&COUNTRY • JULY 27, 2002
By By Joanne Joanne Peach
Peach
OBSERVER STAFF
On route to the
east coast, a
father and son
team rode into
Elmira July 14 to take time
out from their cross-
Canada diabetes tour and
to meet with local officials
from the Canadian
Diabetes Association.
Mark Winegarden and
his 13-year-old son Adam
began the diabetes DMC
tour 2002 from Victoria on
May 1 and plan to complete
the journey Sept. 14 in
Musgrove Harbour, Newfoundland
— the site
where insulin co-discoverer
Fredrick Banting died
in a plane crash.
The aim of the tour is to
raise awareness of the
seriousness of diabetes;
one of the leading causes
of death by disease in
Canada, said Winegarden,
founder of the Winegarden
Diabetes Foundation Inc.
“The DMC tour is the
largest public awareness
campaign for diabetes in
Canada’s history,” said
Winegarden.
Exemplifying the
importance of three basic
tenets: diagnosis, managing
and curing (DMC),
Winegarden plans to
demystify the disease during
TOWN&COUNTRY
Diabetes tour stops in Elmira
Father and son cycling across Canada to raise funds for diabetes research
JOANNE PEACH
RIDING HIGH Mark Winegarden and his son Adam take time out from their cross Canada bicycle tour for a bite to eat and
a visit with Lion Club supporter Bert Martin and John Prno, director of emergency medical services for the Waterloo Region.
his speaking engagements
throughout the tour.
“I hope to illustrate how
serious it is to friends and
family of people with
diabetes. That includes not
pushing that extra piece of
pie to people who are
trying to manage their
sugar levels,” he smiled.
Winegarden was forced
to make a lifestyle change
in 1998 after being diagnosed
with Type 2 diabetes.
“I was overweight and
did little exercise and I was
always thirsty.” As a paramedic,
it wasn’t very difficult
for Winegarden to diagnose
his problem. But
that’s not the case for
many people who can have
the disease for several
years before they are diag-
The landscape is changing
The dry weather is
not making life
happy for formers,
but had allowed
construction at the Trim
Masters plant to get well
underway. The facility on
Elmira’s South Field
Drive changes its
skeletal form daily.
The U.S.-based firm is
building a 194,000square-foot
plant in the
new industrial
subdivision.
A joint venture of
Johnson Controls, Araco
Corporation and Toyota
Tsusho America, Trim
Masters will employ 150
people building seating
and interior door panels
for Toyota’s Cambridge
plant. The components
will be used in the new
Lexus line there, the first
time the luxury cars will
be manufactured in
North America.
The company is
expected to invest US$28
million in the new
venture, with marks its
first foray into Canada.
Trim Masters employees
more than 3,500 in the US
and Mexico.
Trim Masters president
Kiyoshi Imaizumi said
the new Canadian
company will be known
as Trim Masters Limited
Partnership. The new
plant is expected to begin
production in the fall of
2003. The hiring process
could start as early as
October.
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nosed, warned
Winegarden.
Early diagnosis is really
important because it
prevents much more
serious symptoms which
may involve blindness, the
loss of limbs or even death,
he added.
Cycling an average of 120
kilometres a day,
Winegarden is getting
Since Since 1926 1926
1926
P.O. BOX 40, MOOREFIELD, ONT. N0G 2K0
more than enough exercise
right now, but he says it’s
easy to slip back into the
old lifestyle. “I’ve had
several relapses,” said
Winegarden. That’s why
it’s important that the
foundation promotes the
importance of maintaining
a healthy lifestyle.”
That includes taking
time out for a rest at Val
Clarke’s horse farm on
Reid Woods Drive in
Elmira. On July 14, the
team, local paramedics
and members of the local
Lions Club convened to
enjoy a barbecue courtesy
of Clarke, who is the
president of the Ontario
Diabetes Association and
Susan Taylor, regional
director of the Canadian
Diabetes Association.
Throughout the tour,
Winegarden is hoping to
raise $1 per Canadian. The
money will be raised from
various sponsors and
donations and will go
toward funding diabetes
research. The foundation
aims to offer financial
contributions and support
to the restoration of the
Banting Homestead in
Alliston Ontario, the
Banting Museum diabetes
education centre, John P.
Robarts Research Institute
and groundbreaking research
at the University of
Alberta.
Part of the monies will
go toward local diabetes
initiatives including
summer camps for
children with the disease.
Eight million Canadian
have diabetes. Seventy
thousand of those people
live in the Waterloo,
Wellington and Dufferin
area.
JOANNE PEACH