Hartland residents receive award at MS Snowmobile Tour

Hartland residents Mark Schmidt and Marty Iverson were presented with the MS Snowmobile Tour’s Garland Award in recognition of their dedication to a world free of multiple sclerosis (MS). The event was held January 24-26, in Cable, Wis.

The Garland Award is named in in honor of Ralph and Joyce Garland, Tour Trail-masters from 1989 to 2003. Garland Award recipients are individuals who have been an integral part of the planning process and an enthusiastic promoter of the MS Snowmobile Tour.

Schmidt and Iverson have both been riding in the Tour for more than 20 years. They are currently co-chairs of the MS Snowmobile Tour Volunteer Committee. To generate additional fundraising dollars, Schmidt and Iverson organized raffles for Packers- and Badgers-themed snowmobiles. With the help of other committee members, tickets were sold at Packers and Badgers football games, snowmobiling expos and other events throughout the state. The raffles generated $28,000 in proceeds that were donated to the Wisconsin Chapter.

Participants of the MS Snowmobile Tour raised more than $300,000 for research, programs and services for people affected by MS. The MS Snowmobile Tour was sponsored by Rockford Silk Screen Process and the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs.

About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide. More than 10,000 children, women and men have been diagnosed in Wisconsin, giving the state one of the higher prevalence rates in the country.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. The Society addresses the challenges of each person affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, collaborating
with MS organizations around the world, and providing programs and services designed to help
people with MS and their families move forward with their lives. In 2011 alone, through its - national office and 50-state network of chapters, the Society devoted $164 million to programs and services that assisted more than one million people. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested more than $40 million to support more than 350 new and ongoing research projects around the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. Join the movement by contacting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Wisconsin Chapter at wisMS.org or 262-369-4400 (toll-free 800-242-3358).

Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about your options by talking to your health care professional and contacting the National MS Society at nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-FIGHT-MS
(344-4867).