Two events are planned for Saturday April 26th that bear Alma’s name.

The Alma Lynch Annual Poetry Reading will be from 10 am until 2 pm at the William B. Ogden Free Library on Gardiner Place in Walton. The event was given its name based on Alma’s love of poetry and her dedication to the art form.

Your next opportunity to help out with Alma Fund will be a Spring Fling Craft Fair at Robinson’s Auction Barn on West Street in the village from 9:30 am until 3 pm. There will be many vendors, door prizes, and the book “Cat Whiskers,” illustrated by Delhi’s own Mary Jane Henderson and Aubrynn Nealis, will be available to purchase for $15 with ALL proceeds going to The Alma Fund.

Not too long ago I set out to write a few words on The Alma Fund and spark some interest in one of Alma Lynch’s “pet peeves:” the stray cat problem in the village of Walton. Since I wrote that story I found out that Alma was always caring for some sort of stray, and while she was battling recurring cancer a group of kittens showed up under her porch. When Alma tried to adopt out these kittens she became aware that most of her friends and neighbors where also taking care of back porch strays.

Alma’s daughter, Cathy Allyn, stated: “that was when she decided preventing these unwanted feline births would be her next project.”

While the kittens under her porch were being cared for by a neighbor, Alma went to Boston to undergo more chemotherapy. While there she suffered a stroke. Alma never returned to Walton. But during her Celebration of Life last April,  a group vowed to carry out Alma's unfinished project, stating that all the cats of Walton were Alma’s Kittens.

A committee was formed comprised of Cathy Allyn (Alma’s daughter), Elise Evans (Alma’s daughter-in-law), Joanne Engelhardt, Andrea Paternoster, and Debra Pesout to carry out this mission. To date 51 Walton cats have been spayed or neutered with another clinic to be held in the fall.

The Alma Fund is a branch of the Walton Citizen’s Task Force and as such it shares their 501( c )3 status along with eligibility for grants along with tax-deductible donations.

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