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Heart benefit walk honors memory of Patti Bills By Jonel Aleccia Hundreds of Rogue Valley walkers will stride through Medford streets Saturday morning as part of a new event aimed at touching hearts in more ways than one. It�s the First American Heart Walk in Memory of Patti Bills, a 3.1-mile trek from Vogel Park and back again. Expected to attract perhaps 2,000 participants, the event will raise money for the local branch of the American Heart Association and spark memories of Bills, a vivacious booster for the Medford community. Bills died in September 1999 after a long battle with lung cancer and two strokes. She was 62. But the enthusiasm of the woman who invented the Huggy Bear mascot and the slogan "We Hug Visitors in Medford" remains contagious, said her husband, Bob Bills. "People really fell into the fold when I asked them to serve and said it was going to be in memory of Patti," said Bob Bills, who chairs the local heart association board. "We�re using Patti because of the impact she had on so many people." Former director of Medford�s Visitors and Convention Bureau, Patti Bills also founded the Medford Jazz Jubilee, and Bob Bills had hoped to organize a walk in her memory to coincide with the citywide event this weekend. Proceeds would benefit a youth fund set up last year in Patti Bills� name. When heart association officials asked for help with a fund raiser, Bob Bills agreed. The event is expected to raise $150,000 for education and research, said Diana Williams, regional director for the organization. Some 1,200 walkers had registered as of a month ago; an additional 1,000 may show up for the 9 a.m. event, Bob Bills said. Last-minute participants can register at 8 a.m. at Vogel Park in downtown Medford. Several local streets will be closed or limited to accommodate the crowds. Several jazz bands will serenade the walkers on their way; food, drink, games and other activities will follow at Vogel Park. Primary sponsors of the event include Rogue Valley Medical Center, Providence Medford Medical Center and the Mail Tribune. As many as 90 employees of the Asante Health System plan to join the walk, said spokesman Dave Preszler. "The event fits very well with our efforts to promote good health in the community, so we are very excited to be a part of it," he said. Heart disease remains the No. 1 killer in the nation. American Heart Association figures show it is a factor in nearly 40 percent of deaths in Jackson County. Bob Bills said he hopes the walk will become an annual memorial to his wife. It�s touching and rewarding, he added, to know that a year after her death, Patti Bills can still draw a crowd. For information about the walk, call Diana Williams at 779-2709. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.