Dean Troutman has seen many towns during his miles of walking over the years, but he feels Chenoa was the best town he has been through yet.
Calling Chenoa residents “remarkable,” the 90-year-old Princeville man feels everyone he meets along his route is nice. Troutman spent some time in Chenoa Wednesday evening and Thursday morning as he walks along Route 24 during his 3,500-mile quest to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
This may be Troutman’s longest trek so far but it is certainly not his first. He walked around Illinois back in 2014 to raise money for a park to honor his late wife, collecting $70,000 to install a playground for families to enjoy. A year later, he raised $10,000 by walking 500 miles from Princeville, Illinois to Memphis, Tennessee.
“This is my final walk,” Troutman told Chenoa News during a brief break along Route 24. “It is going to take me at least a year to make the circle. I’ll just go as long as my 90-year-old legs will carry me.”
Troutman’s travels on foot will take him east to North Carolina then south to spend Christmas in Florida before heading over to Texas in February to visit a sister and swing back up through Arkansas and Missouri.
“It’ll take a full year, that’s for sure – and maybe more,” Troutman admits.
Pledges can be made directly to St. Jude through Dean’s fundraising page at www.troutmantrek.com. Donations can also be mailed to St. Jude Challenge, Troutman Trek 4, Attention: Alex Fountain, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. Checks should be made out to St. Jude.
More information can be found on www.facebook.com/groups/TroutmanTrek2021.
Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the childhood cancer survival rate from 20 to 80 percent. The hospital freely shares discoveries it makes, which means more children being saved by doctors and scientists around the world.
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