Friends,
Happy 250 years of independence, America!
We have the fourth of July at the end of this week. Let’s celebrate the freedom we have and reflect on how fortunate we are to be living in this country with all the opportunities we have. I’m thankful!
I hope you have a great 4th of July weekend!
We will be open Friday, July 3rd.
Golf Outing Last Friday, We are Blessed!
What an amazing day! We had great volunteers show up early to help set up the raffle and silent auction items that so many people worked so hard to gather, create baskets, organize, etc. There were more people besides the people in this picture. Thank you to ALL who helped prepare for this event and make it such a huge success.
We are so fortunate to have this golf outing put on for us…thanks to our friends at ePlatinumHealth. Please visit their website and if you have any insurance needs that fit what they do, I would highly recommend them.
I don’t know how they get all these sponsors for the golf outing but I’m thankful they do. A huge THANK YOU to all the sponsors. You’re amazing!
Katie, Jeff, Frank and their team at ePlatinumHealth did an amazing job at organizing it AGAIN this year and making it such a great experience for all the golfers and such a successful event in so many ways. Thank you, Katie, Jeff and Frank!
The silent auction and raffle items were REALLY nice again this year.
Thank you to all who donated raffle and silent auction items to us making this experience possible for our golfers and for this entire event!
Jeff and Frank got us started and everyone sure had fun golfing together. Thanks Jeff and Frank!
There was a LOT of fun out on the golf course. The weather was perfect. The wind was fairly calm; the spirits were high and we all had a lot of fun!
The golfers had fun riding our trikes as well 😊 These are some of the trikes that we ride with our friends with MS every Friday morning all spring, summer and fall…except for last Friday when we were at the golf outing with them, and if it’s raining. It’s fun giving the golfers an opportunity to enjoy them too.
After all the work that went into preparing for this golf outing and having fun at it. Thanks to our friends at ePlatinumHealth and all who sponsored, donated, volunteered, participated, etc. This event raised $45,000.00 for our MS-Just Keep Moving mission. AMAZING! We are Blessed and Grateful.
A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone who made this possible. THANK YOU, with much love and gratitude from me and all of our MS-Just Keep Moving family!
Bryant & Stratton Students and Leaders
Last Wednesday was the students and leaders last day with us until September 9th. We were so fortunate to have them with us again this spring.
The students shared a presentation of just a few of the people they had an opportunity to work with and the excitement they had with some of the results. The students did an excellent job working with our friends with MS again this session.
We videotaped the presentation. I highly encourage you to watch it if you would like to be inspired whether you live with MS or not. To me, the results are incredible! Here’s a link to the presentation: Bryant Stratton PTA students Well done students and leaders!
Thank you so much to the Bryant & Stratton College Physical Therapy Assistant Program Students and Leaders for making this experience part of their curriculum and engaging so well. This is win / win for all of us in so many ways. THANK YOU!
Jared Fenstermacher’s Story
Do you want to hear a story of resilience and determination despite getting hit by a truck on a bike and becoming partially paralyzed with a spinal cord injury? The past several years, Jared has come to Wisconsin to race his handcycle in the TOAD series. Unfortunately, this year, they did not have enough hand cyclists but Jared still came to Wisconsin to ride with some of his friends anyway.
Jared came to the gym last Wednesday with a slideshow put together and shared his story.
It’s incredible how he finished his ride across the United States on his handcycle and is currently pursuing his goal of hiking the Appalachian Mountains on his Grit chair. Now that’s a challenge! He’s fortunate to have friends help him on that journey.
Here’s a link to Jared’s presentation: June 25, 2026
Thanks, Jared for sharing your story with us. Very inspirational and somewhat off the charts. You’re certainly making the best of your challenges. I loved how you were encouraging our friends with MS to do this. If they do, you may have to join them 😊.
Thursday Walk and Friday Bike Ride this week
The heat is going to be a concern. For me personally through the years, I’ve learned the I can’t hurt MS as a disease by being out in the heat but it will certainly cause the symptoms to flare up. For me, those symptoms can be fatigue, lack of strength, burning, tingling and neurological pain. The remedy, cool off. I have learned that if I get out in the heat, my body somewhat adapts to the heat. So…what do we do about walking and bike riding in the heat this week?
We need to listen to our bodies and stay hydrated. We will still walk and ride bike but we may not go as far away from our starting point so we can stop back frequently to rest a bit and rehydrate. If someone has had enough, they can be done earlier than usual. It’s important to listen to our bodies.
We start early to beat the heat but it will still be hot and humid. Let’s make good choices.
Thursday Morning Walk
Vacations are reducing the number of people walking with us lately. That’s ok, I want our friends with MS to be healthy and active enough to go enjoy vacations. That makes me happy when they can do that. We still have a fun group to walk with. These are some of the shorter distance walkers, the long-distance walkers were out on the trail when we took this picture.
The long walkers will be starting at 6:30 am. The rest of us will be starting at 9:00am. We will be starting from St. Anthony’s parking lot.
St Anthony’s Church
W280N2101 Prospect Avenue
Pewaukee, WI 53072
Come a few minutes early so we can start walking as close to the starting time you choose as possible. It’s going to be warm by the time we are done so bring water and dress accordingly.
For those who wish they could walk but can’t, we are walking for you and have you on our minds and in our hearts.
Friday Morning Bike Ride
Looking at the weather for this Friday, it looks like it will be a great morning for a ride and we should be able to beat the heat and the thunderstorms. Let’s hope that’s true.
We’ll be meeting Friday morning at 7:00am at Nettesheim Park in Pewaukee. It’s on the SE corner of Hwy SS and Oak Street. The GPS address is: N26W27495 Prospect Ave, Pewaukee, WI 53072.
Come a little early so you can get your bike out of your car and be ready to ride as close to 7:00am as possible. We’ll ride until about 8:45. Let’s ride and have some fun!
For those who wish you could join us but can’t; please know we have you in our hearts on these rides. We’re riding with you and for you. I hope you too can join us someday.
Bluemound Road Closed
Just like living with MS, many times, the paths we’re on get changed. That doesn’t stop us and just because the road to the gym is closed, we can’t let that stop us from coming to the gym. We just need to take an alternate route.
Construction work on Bluemound Road is set to begin June 8, 2026, and continue through August 28, 2026. https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/news/posts/highway-construction/
There is an alternative entrance to the industrial park located off of Springdale Rd. across from Majestic Theater. The name of the road is Northmound Rd. If you are traveling from the West on 94 you will get off at Hwy F down to Moreland, and if East Brookfield Hwy 18. Bluemound is still open between Springdale and Westmound if you like to drive alongside of barrels.
The address to that theater is: 770 Springdale Rd. Waukesha, WI 53186 – it may be helpful to put this landmark in your GPS when traveling here.
Educational Videos
More of our speakers and educational presentations are being uploaded on our YouTube channel. Here’s a link, check them out.
https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UClvyB43uSl1wJSoGBJkSeCw
Christina’s social & leisure activity program is re-starting!
Christina has kindly offered to continue offering her program the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 12:15 – 1:30pm in the breakroom. This program will re-launch on July 8th. If you are interested in hosting a group-based activity like games, gardening, painting, or something else, please reach out directly to Christina at behre176@gmail.com
Let’s get together – Open Gym plus programs!
We’ll be getting together from 7:00am – noon on Monday through Friday mornings at the gym. Plus, Monday and Wednesday evenings from 4:30pm – 6:30pm and Tuesday afternoons for the aquatics program. I hope you’ll join us!
Where:
Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
Email Dr Kate Kern at kborn1234@gmail.com with any questions.
Exercise class schedule Feedback welcome to make this as best as it can be!
Nutrition Program.
This week, Janine and friends talked about tasting olives and the benefits of olives.
If you are not engaging in our nutrition program, I would highly encourage you to at least read the handouts that Janine prepares for us each week and apply the information into your lifestyle.
Here’s a link to the full handout:
Nutrition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nz2Wh_qAIAKHLooCAI3nQHGyjBOJPK05/view?usp=drive_link
Janine puts a lot into these presentations. It’s wonderful for her to share these presentations with those who can’t be here. It’s even more impactful for people who can be here in person to get the information first hand and be able to get questions answered and learn from others living with MS.
I would highly encourage you to engage in our nutrition program Monday mornings @ 9:00am so you can benefit at a high level. All are encouraged to come; people with MS, loved ones, care takers, volunteers, etc.
Thank you, Janine!
Prayer Group We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday from 11:00am – noon.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly. It’s truly amazing!
Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us. Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks, and pray however God leads us.
MS-Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am. The next one will be this Friday, July 3rd, 2026. If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one. This has been very helpful for many. Thanks to all who participate!
Member Spotlight – The Golf Outing Committee
I can’t thank this group enough. Year after year, they step up to make sure the golf outing is a success for all of us at the gym. Their goal is to make sure everything goes smoothly from ePlatinum Health’s perspective, the golfers perspective, the donors perspective, the volunteers perspective, the financial perspective, etc.
We all are blessed and fortunate to have these people working so diligently together for all of us. I can say I am there for moral support, the rest of them did the work. THANK YOU, team!
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
Adam and Ed weren’t able to do a podcast last week so you can listen to last week’s podcast again.
Adam and Ed talked were just talking on this podcast. You know how that goes 😊
Here’s the link:
Just Talking by Positive Vibes Living with MS
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
Educational Sessions
Wednesday, July 1st 9:00-10:00am: Joy Cochran, DPT, will review her demo of “how to fall” safely and effectively. We all fall, so let’s practice how to do it well!
Wednesday July 15th 9:00- 10:00am – bi annual volunteer meeting
Friday, July 17th 11:00 – 12:00pm: bi-annual volunteer meeting
Wednesday, July 22nd 9-10am: Join Andrew Morris, OTD, OTR/L, an occupational therapist with extensive neurological rehabilitation experience, to learn how the Bioness L300 Go and Thigh Plus systems work and whether they are right for you.
Friday, July 26th 11:00- 12:00pm: join us for a day of endurance kickoff event! Learn about the event, set your goals, and let’s get training in gear for this year’s event on August 29th.
Wednesday, September 9th 9:00 – 10:00am: Independence First is a resource organization for people with disabilities located in Milwaukee. They will share information related to their services and their assistive technology program https://www.independencefirst.org/
Future topics could include: emotional health, nutrition, yoga, tai chi, wellness topics, safe use of gym equipment for your body, best exercise for you and more. What topics would you like to see? Please let Dr Kate, Joan, Traci, Ricky or Dan know.
Day of Endurance Training
Event is Saturday, August 29,2026 – Training is now
What: Do what you can
- Consistent Daily Exercise
- One long day per week – increase each week – no more than 10% per week
- Buddy up and exercise together
- Enjoy the journey 😊
Shoe Donations
Do you have any shoes you can donate? Becky Thomas is collecting old or new shoes supporting Soles for Jesus. These shoes will be distributed to people in need of shoes in Africa. Becky dropped off a box for us to drop them in. Please bring in shoes if you have any extras.
Coughs, colds, flus, etc. – Let’s not share
There are a lot of bugs going around. If you are experiencing any symptoms, please stay home and recover from them instead of sharing with the rest of us at the gym. We look forward to you getting over it and having you back quickly.
Hand-Cycling Opportunity – Give it a try!
WASA is collaborating with Cycle Forward, a program funded and facilitated through the Marquette Neuro Clinic for this event. They have access to three handcycles, and WASA will be providing an additional three, for a total of six.
If an athlete has their own handcycle, they are highly encouraged to register and bring their own equipment. If not, please register anyway. They will be notified if they have a reserved spot or if they have been placed on the waitlist due to the limited number of handcycles available.
As for volunteering, staff from the Marquette Neuro Clinic will be in attendance and can assist with transfers as needed. If you know of anyone who would be interested in volunteering for this event, please reach out to the contact on the flyer.
Research Needs us!
Marquette University, UW Milwaukee, University of Illinois, and Carroll University have research opportunities they would like us to engage in. We have flyers and more information about these opportunities at the gym. Please engage in these opportunities if you qualify. You could make improvements yourself and you could be helping so many other people with MS as they face their challenges. We really need to get this MS thing figured out and you can help by engaging in these research opportunities.
Dr Alex Ng from Marquette University reached out to me this week with this message. I would highly encourage you to participate in this research if you’re able to.
HI Dan,
I want to resend our study recruitment notice for our “singing study”. We actually have two studies going and we can sort eligible participants into the best one for them. Note that our age range has expanded to 20 to 80 yr. Still not completely inclusive but a step in the right direction. Any help you could give us to help get the word out would be appreciated! Thanks for what you created for the MS community.
Take care,
Alex
Alexander Ng, PhD, FACSM
Professor Emeritus
Program in Exercise Science
Department of Physical Therapy
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
414-288-6209 (ph)
414-288-6079 (fax)
Here’s a research opportunity that Marquette University is doing for all of living with MS. I would highly encourage you to engage in this if you qualify.
Health and Wellness Massage Opportunity – Carroll University
Our Facebook page is private. That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress. We’re now at 697 members. That’s awesome! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709
Our Facebook page is active and fun. Lots of people are doing more and sharing their journey on Facebook. Feel free to join, post and share your experiences and comments.
There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week. Thank you to all who are sharing!
Metals for MS
Thank you to all who brought in aluminum cans, gutters, copper, brass, etc. Please keep bringing them in…you are helping us. We took some more in last week and received another $136.40. Our total up to $2,437.19 so far. That’s really good…thank you!
Parking
If you are able-bodied and willing to park across the street in the Acuity Foam lot so people with mobility challenges can park in our lot, please do so. We want to make it easy for people with mobility challenges to park and get into our building safely. Thank you for doing that!
Gym Open and Close Procedure
If you’re the first to come or the last to leave the gym, please use this procedure for opening and shutting down.
Thai Massage with Ricky and Nyani
Ricky will be here on Wednesdays doing Thai Massage.
Nyani will be here on Fridays doing Thai Massage
Our goal is to serve as many people who come to the gym consistently as we can with these Thai Massage services. Going forward we will be doing a rotational schedule to accommodate as many people as we can who need and want a massage.
There are some guidelines written up at the gym. Please respect the guidelines so we can serve as many people as we can. Please sign up according to the guidelines.
Here’s a link to the guidelines: Thai Massage at MS-Just Keep Moving
Reiki on Fridays
Reiki is available at the gym, for FREE on Fridays with Linda C, 9:30am until noon. Sessions typically last 20-30 minutes. Sign up for a session on the white board.
Reiki (ray-kee) relaxes the body so that healing can occur! The “magic” of Reiki has helped some of our members with pain, insomnia, constipation, and so much more! Try it the next time you are at the gym!
Here’s a Link to information about Reiki: Reiki at MS-Just Keep Moving
Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday. Adam is a gift to all of us. Thanks to all who joined us today!
Please join us if you can.
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone: 1-312-626-6799
Let’s reach out
I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone. Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing. We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.
MS is tough. Let’s have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices and take action.
Let’s keep moving, smiling, and loving 😊 It helps in many ways!
In God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
Our Website: http://msjustkeepmoving.org/
Phone: (262) 232-8552
P.S. I thought I would check in on the Great Blue Herons by the Rookery in Pewaukee. It’s by the boardwalk in Simmons Woods Park.
The baby Great Blue Herons are getting big. There are three or four of them in each nest
I went there really early one morning and this spider web caught my eye
So did this dew on this leaf
The sandhill cranes have been fun to watch this week
This is mommy feeding her baby a little snack
The colors in nature are worth getting out to appreciate right now
This caught my eye
If you stand in one place long enough, you’ll find some life out there
I always love seeing babies in nature
This big guy visited our backyard again this week. I hope he keeps shining around and doesn’t get hit by a car.
For those who cannot get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you. You are with me every time I am out there. I enjoy being able to share with you. I know how hard it is not to be able to get out and enjoy nature. Let’s enjoy nature and God’s beauty together this way.
