Feeling the Freeze - ALS Ice Bucket challenge at Bubba's/The Junction

Sep 03, 2014

It was an all-ages event as staff from Bubba's Restaurant and The Junction clothing store in Sharbot Lake decided that Labour Day was as good a day as any to do a good thing. Together they challenged other members of the larger community to get cold and wet while raising some money for the ALS Association through their popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a disease that was first discovered in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. It is a neurodegenerative disease affecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and causing the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, which affects the ability of the brain to initiate voluntary muscle movement in the body and eventually leads to total paralysis. The famous baseball great Lou Gehrig brought world attention to the disease in 1939.

A total of 10 brave souls, most of them staff at Bubba's and The Junction plus a few of their brave relatives received the chilly dousing just outside of Bubba's restaurant on September 1, where Bubba’s employee Sidney Teal happily unloaded bucket loads of ice cold water onto the heads of fellow staff and their relatives as they answered the call, which was put out by Anne Marie Schonauer, the Junction employee who was nominated to hold the event.

Teal, while doling out the dousings, proved she was as willing as the others to take the challenge and invited guests to empty the remaining ice water in the giant aluminum bowl over her own head. Nine of those who took the challenge were women, including the youngest, Alley Teal.

Anne Marie Schonauer’s husband helped set up the event and thought he was going to walk away high and dry but that was not the case. As the only male present, he agreed on the spot to accept the challenge and happily stepped forward to take the final dumping of the day.

The event was an entertaining and refreshing hour to say the least. Thank you from Anne Marie to Bob Basra and Sharon DesRoche, who donated the ice for the event. Hats to the staff at Bubba's and The Junction and their brave family members and friends: Sidney and Alley Teal, Karen Steele, Anne Marie and Phil Schonauer, Sharon Ruckstuhl, Erin McConnell, Sherry Gorr, Chrissy Watson and Mona Perry. By the end of the day $140.50 was raised for the ALS Association.