Suicide walk combines with Moon Pie project for soldiers
Mitchell Shields, Robert Seibert and Phil Cantley congratulate Luke Weigold, center, on winning the Moon Pie eating contest.
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About 60 people gathered at the Clay County Recreation Center on Saturday to bring awareness to suicide among not only veterans, but also first responders.
The 2.2 mile walk followed the sidewalk from the recreation center, through the Quanassee path to the downtown sidewalk and back around to the recreation center. The 2.2 walk represented the 22 veterans a day that commit suicide.
Organized by American Legion member Michelle Stegner, this is the second year the walk has been held to bring awareness. “The hope is we can get the message out that there,” said Stegner. There is a national hotline for anyone thinking about suicide. If you are having thoughts about suicide, call 988 and find support. Following the walk, T.J. Major, an officer of the Clay County Sheriff’s office, spoke about how suicide of fellow soldiers he has served with has affected his life; he put names to the number.
Following the walk, Post 532 held a Moon Pie eating contest. Contestants had 5 minutes to eat as many Moon Pies as they could. With only five people willing to give it a try, Luke Weigold was declared the winner, eating five full size chocolate Moon Pies in five minutes.
Many people thought more pies would have been eaten since the world record is 72 full sized in 10 minutes. Post Commander, Robert Seibert, was surprised more people didn’t compete. He was also surprised that he could only eat two himself during the five minutes. “It seemed like the more I chewed a bite, the bigger it got. It was as though the marshmallow was expanding with each chew.”
Post 532 has been raising money to send Moon Pies to active-duty soldiers at Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg. Thanks to the generosity of the community, the post has raised more than $6,000 for this project. The post will be picking up the pies in Chattanooga at the bakery this June and transporting them to the two bases.