6-hour walking event benefits charities

By Sean Barron

Some of last year’s funds went toward helping Joseph Kaluza and his family, a team leader said.

YOUNGSTOWN — If Saturday travels took you down a portion of South Avenue, and bright yellow seemed to surround you, your eyes weren’t being deceptive.

A half-mile stretch of the corridor through the city’s South Side was the setting for hundreds of people lining or walking along sidewalks wearing sharp yellow T-shirts.

Their strolls up and down both sides of the street were anything but idle, however. They were part of Saturday’s eighth annual South Avenue Shuffle charity walk.

An estimated 450 participants paid $20 each to be in the six-hour event, which saw them walking to and visiting 10 South Avenue business establishments.

The fee included the shirts as well as buffets at each location. Also available were 50/50 raffles.

The 10 were The Evergreen Tavern, East Side Civics & Athletic Club, Irish Bob’s Pub, Pastime Tavern, The Coconut Grove, Teenie’s Tavern and Sport Shop, Dragon Palace Restaurant & Lounge, Dee & R’s Place, Piggy’s C&D and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 93.

The shuffle was similar to a poker run, where walkers collected one enlarged game card in an envelope per stop, for a total of 10 cards. Each team began at the establishment at which it had registered, then rotated to and spent 30 minutes at each of the other businesses.

“The money goes to a good cause,” said Lisa Arigoni of Struthers, who was part of the 30-member VFW group.

Teams varied in size from 13 to roughly 140, she noted.

Arigoni explained that the group with the best five-card hand at the end of the walk would get to choose the charity or organization to benefit from the proceeds raised.

During last year’s event, the South Avenue Shuffle Organization, which formed about eight years ago and raises money for various causes, brought in just over $4,500.

The agency selected as recipient of part of those funds was the Second Harvest Food Bank of Mahoning Valley.

Also on the receiving end was Joseph Kaluza, the former KFC manager who was shot and paralyzed March 24, 2008, while being robbed of a $300 deposit.

Also happy to help a good cause was Bob Dutton, another Post 93 team member.

“I’m [also] happy with the turnout. Every little bit helps,” said Dutton, adding that before the event, his team had decorated and placed flags at the gravesites of veterans buried at Calvary Cemetery, on Youngstown’s West Side.

Arigoni praised Sue Cappetti, who runs Teenie’s Sport Shop, for making the T-shirts and helping to coordinate the fundraiser. Lori Greenwalt, of East Side Civics, also organized the event.

The Youngstown Police Department increased patrols of the area during the six-hour charity walk.