Titletown Throwdown

By Matt Flumerfelt

The Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA — Once again, Ambling Companies is hosting the Cystic Fibrosis walk, which will be held on Saturday at Wild Adventures Theme Park. The theme is “CF Titletown Throwdown 2009.”

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. with the actual walk starting at 8:30 a.m.

While the event is open to the public, the park will be closed to the general public and rides will not be operating, said Gini Langdale, executive assistant with Ambling Companies. All participants will be able to view the animals and other sights during the two-mile walk and will receive a free one-day pass to Wild Adventures.

This is the seventh year Ambling Companies has sponsored the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation fund-raiser. Ambling Companies’ fund-raising efforts for the CF Foundation will surpass the $1 million mark for the first time this year, Langdale said.

Free food and beverages will be available and there will be free T-shirts for participants while supplies last, she said. There will be a drawing for a $3,000 Steel's Jewelry gift certificate at the end of the walk when the closing announcements are made. Raffle tickets are $5 and can be purchased up to the morning of the walk.

Individuals and teams who raised funds will receive plaques in recognition of their efforts. Toward the end of the program, the total amount of money raised will be announced and a check presented to Scott Rittenbaum, executive director of the Georgia chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, she said.

The mission of the CF Foundation is to assure the development of the means to cure and control CF and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease. Nearly 90 cents of every dollar raised is available for research, care and education.

For more information, call Ambling Companies at (229) 219-8017 or visit www.cff.org/great_strides.