Walking the walk

Mike Sciacca

Valerie Hardy and Rosanna Starr know the talk and walk the walk when

it comes to multiple sclerosis.

The two Huntington Beach residents joined thousands of others for

the 2004 MS Walk on Sunday.

The walk was staged by the Orange County chapter of the National

Multiple Sclerosis Society and was held at three sites.

Sunday’s walk was at Huntington State Beach, starting in the

parking lot at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street.

Participants walked either a 5k or a 10k along the beach path,

passing the pier, and then returning to the starting point, where a

rainbow of balloons formed two arches.

Rain fell on the participants during Saturday’s walks, but did

little to dampen walkers’ determination.

“The rain aside, it was a great event,” said Hardy a member of

“Joshie’s Chicken Monkeys,” a team named in honor of her 28-year-old

nephew, Josh, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years

ago. “The part of the walk that amazes me is just how upbeat it is.

You see everybody walking this, from the young and old, to those who

have different stages of the disease.

This is our second year walking and we do it for Josh and others

who are afflicted by this disease. Last year, we raised around

$3,000. This year, we are still calculating, but we perhaps will

raise a little more than $5,000. We’re really happy about that.”

Two other walks were held Saturday, one at Santiago Canyon College

in Orange, the other at Salt Creek Beach in Laguna Niguel.

The three events drew a total of 2,540 participants, with about

1,200 people in Surf City’s walk, said Jim Graves, communications

coordinator for the Orange County chapter of the National Multiple

Sclerosis Society.

“There was lots of enthusiasm and a lot of fun,” said Graves, who

attended the Huntington walk. “We at the society are thrilled with

the effort of all these terrific people who raised funds and came out

to walk.”

The events raised a total of $550,000, Graves estimated Tuesday.

“This walk just gets bigger and raises more money each year,” he

said. “This was our best walk ever.”

Multiple sclerosis, the most common neurological disease of young

adults, is a chronic, disabling disease that attacks the brain and

central nervous system. The progress, severity and specific symptoms,

which range from numbness to paralysis and blindness, can’t be

predicted.

More than 3,000 people in Orange County, and some 400,000

nationwide, have this disease for which there is no known cause, cure

or prevention, Graves said.

A team of 25 local walkers formed “Rosanna’s Racer,” named in

honor of Rosanna Starr, a resource teacher at Sts. Simon and Jude

Catholic Church in Huntington Beach.

The team captain of “Rosanna’s Racers” was 14-year-old Karafaye

Buffa, a fifth-grade student of Starr’s when she was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis.

“She is a great teacher and I just wanted to do something to

help,” said Karafaye.

Karafaye estimated that “Rosanna’s Racers” raised more than $1,600

from Sunday’s walk.

Starr, 50, pinpoints Nov. 1, 2001, as the day she was diagnosed

with multiple sclerosis.

“I’ll never forget the day,” she said. “I was pursuing my master’s

in administration. I graduated on Dec. 14, but was very ill by then.

I typed my thesis with two fingers.”

Sunday marked the third time Starr has participated in the MS

Walk. The first time, she couldn’t walk the event. Last year -- like

this year -- she walked with the use of a cane and rode the rest of

the walk in a red, wooden wagon bearing the American flag, a wagon

given to her by a family belonging to the Sts. Simon and Jude parish.

“I never want to be pitied because I have this disease,” said

Starr, who twice has been nominated as a Who’s Who Among America’s

Teachers. “It’s easy to want to give up, but I choose not to. It has

a lot to do with your spirit, your heart, your soul.

“The best medicine for me is my students. Every morning they make

my day by saying, ‘Hello, Mrs. Starr, how do you feel today?’ Nothing

can replace that.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.