A new event on the Albert Lea calendar aims to raise funds for research and education related to Parkinson’s disease and to provide support for patients who have it.

But first, the Freeborn County Parkinson’s Support Group has changed its name. It is now the Southern Minnesota Parkinson’s Support Group.

The reorganized outfit is behind the inaugural Southern Minnesota Walk for Parkinson’s Disease. It is slated to take place 9 a.m. to noon May 19 at Northbridge Mall in Albert Lea.

Organizer Maureen Ruble said participants will form into teams — much like at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life �� and solicit funds for supporters of each team. The funds will go to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association and the National Parkinson’s Foundation Minnesota.

Ruble’s husband, Glenn, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1998, when he was 63. He is now 77.

“With the progressive nature of the disease, it brings physical limitations,” she said. “That makes it difficult to travel and has curtailed what we had looked forward to in retirement.”

Parkinson’s disease causes tremors, slowness, stiffness, poor balance and speech changes. Sufferers often have stooped posture and trouble walking. The disease neither shortens lives nor does it affect memory and thinking ability.

Some well-known Americans living with Parkinson’s are: actor Michael J. Fox, legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, TV evangelist Billy Graham, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, Texas A&M head men’s basketball coach Billy Kennedy, journalist Michael Kinsley and former Washington state Gov. Booth Gardner.

Some well-known names of people who had Parkinson’s when they died are: Pope John Paul II, Chinese dictator Mao Zedong, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, St. Louis Cardinals announcer Jack Buck, Oscar-winning director George Roy Hill (from Minnesota), U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy (from Minnesota), cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (from Minnesota), Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Alabama Gov. George Wallace, actress Mary Jackson (“The Waltons”) and U.S. war hero Richard Winters (chronicled in HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers”).

In Minnesota, Twins commentator and baseball legend Burt Blyleven is an oft-sighted face at Parkinson’s events because his father suffered from the disease.

Ruble said the Freeborn County Parkinson’s Support Group became the Southern Minnesota Parkinson’s Support Group to provide assistance for families and patients struggling with the disease in the Austin and Owatonna areas.

The Freeborn County Parkinson’s Support Group averages about 38 people at its monthly meetings, though the largest one had 70, Ruble said.

She said people at the Southern Minnesota Walk for Parkinson’s Disease will walk around the mall, with the former location of the Vanity women’s clothing store as the central gathering place. There will be prizes and entertainment, Ruble said.

She said anyone wanting to support the cause but can’t make it can send checks to: Southern Minnesota Parkinson’s Support Group, 72778 County Road 46, Albert Lea, MN.