The state won't be able to light the Capitol dome purple this year in recognition of Alzheimer's disease and the Walk to End Alzheimer's.
So organizers of the annual event have scheduled another way to shine light on their efforts -- a walk around the Capitol.
The Walk to End Alzheimer's-Jefferson City is scheduled for Oct. 16. However this Sunday evening, Alzheimer's Association supporters and families of Alzheimer's disease patients plan to hold a ceremony in which they'll carry purple luminaries around the Capitol.
Participants are invited to gather about 5:30 p.m. Sunday near Carnahan Memorial Garden. All are welcome.
Alzheimer's Association volunteers will have 120 luminaries available to give to the first 120 people who arrive, according to Joe Pallikkathayil, senior walk manager for Mid-Missouri.
"We've been working with the state the last few years to light the Capitol dome. They weren't able to accommodate us this year," Pallikkathayil said. "What else could we do? If we can't light the dome purple, maybe we can do something to cast a light on this issue."
Efforts to reach the governor's office to ask why the dome couldn't be lit purple were unsuccessful.
The association uses color to represent connections to the disease -- orange for people supporting the fight, yellow for people caring for patients, blue for patients and purple for people who have died.
Although purple typically represents those lost, for this event, the luminaries represent the 120,000 Missourians living with the disease, Pallikkathayil said.
"(The disease) only ends one way right now," he said. "That's the symbology behind this."
The Walk to End Alzheimer's-Jefferson City is to occur at 2 p.m. Oct. 16 at Memorial Park, 111 Memorial Park Drive. Registration begins at noon and the opening ceremony is at 1:30 p.m.; organizers encourage participants to pre-register at https://www.alz.org/jcwalk.
Solid Rock Church will provide lunch.
More than 240 people had registered as of Wednesday. They had raised about $106,000 for Alzheimer's research, or about 87 percent of the goal of $121,000.
The walk's goal last year was $74,000, according to Pallikkathayil. But two generous donors provided large one-time gifts, pushing the total to $120,000. Organizers wanted to top last year's record fundraising by $1,000. Even without the large donations, the Alzheimer's Association is well on its way to matching revenue from 2021, Pallikkathayil said. He called the generosity a "testament to the amazing folks in the Jefferson City community who have a caring, giving nature."
"The walk committee thought about a fun theme for this year's event -- 'Scare Away Alzheimer's Disease,'" he said. "We are encouraging friends to wear friendly costumes."
Edward Jones will have staff along the walk route, giving away candy to walkers.
There is one more thing coming up: At 5:30 p.m. Oct. 13, Alzheimer's Association supporters will again try to get a group photo. But instead of taking the photo in the intersection and Madison and High streets, they want to capture the photo on the landing at Adrian's Island.
Pallikkathayil encourages all interested in being in the photo to wear purple.