MEXICO — With the weather growing warmer and tick season starting up, residents will have an opportunity to learn more about one of tick season’s biggest problems: Lyme disease.

Diane Farnum of Roxbury and Rhonda Buker of Newry will host the second annual Lyme Disease Awareness Conference from 9:30 a.m to 2 p.m. May 4 at Mountain Valley Middle School.

Farnum, who along with Buker suffers from chronic Lyme disease, said the inspiration for a conference came after a friend from New Hampshire organized a conference to make people more aware of the severity of Lyme disease.

“We have a friend we connect with on the Internet who invited us to her conference in New Hampshire,” Farnum said, “and after it was finished, me and Rhonda looked at each other and said, ‘We’re definitely doing this next year.’”

A year later, Farnum and Buker had organized the first Lyme Disease Awareness Conference, which featured several panelists and more than 100 people, according to Farnum.

“Lyme disease is a ridiculously huge problem in this area,” Farnum said. “A majority of the people who show up either have Lyme disease or have family members who have it.”

Farnum said she and Buker have listened to feedback from those who attended last year and have made some adjustments to this year’s conference.

“A couple things we saw repeated on our evaluation sheets was that last year’s conference was too long,” Farnum said. “Last year, we held the conference from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The problem with the long day is that a lot of the people who attend the conference have Lyme disease, which makes it uncomfortable to sit in one place for a long time.

“We decided to include more breaks so the day wouldn’t seem so long,” Farnum said. “We also will not be hosting a full lunch like we did last year, due to the shorter schedule.”

This year’s conference will feature several new panelists, including Elaine Katz, a microbiologist at the University of Maine at Augusta, Thaiadora Katsos-Dorow, author of “What’s the Big Deal About Lyme?” and Cindy Touchette, who will teach those with Lyme disease how to organize and prepare for the illness.

There will also be a workshop titled “Laughter, Lyme and Yoga,” led by Amy Gillis and Charly Weir, Farnum said.

“Amy and Charly do this workshop at cancer units and have gotten great feedback,” Farnum said. “Lyme disease is such an awful thing, so a lot of our workshops are focused on being a little more light-hearted and fun.”

Farnum added that she knows “not everyone is in the mood to laugh,” which is why there are a variety of workshops to visit.

“If somebody would have told me when I first was diagnosed that there was something to laugh at about Lyme disease, I would’ve punched them in the head,” Farnum joked. “This way, there’s something for everybody.”

One myth that Farnum and Buker said they hope to break is that once the official tick season ends near the fall, people are no longer in danger of being bitten by a tick.

“A lot of people don’t realize that ticks are active all year long and that they can attach to you at any time,” Farnum said. “People don’t think about them in the fall or winter. We want to try to get more involved in the community year round, and keep people thinking about it.”

For more information, call Farnum at 357-1926, Buker at 826-3076 or email [email protected].

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* Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by a tick bite.

* Symptoms in the early stages may include stiff neck, chills, fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, fatigue, muscle aches and joint pain. A large, expanding skin rash may appear around the area of the bite.

* In more advanced stages of Lyme disease, people may experience nerve problems and arthritis, especially in the knees.

* Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose due to the fact that it shares many symptoms with other disorders. The easiest way to diagnose Lyme disease is by looking for a bull’s-eye-shaped rash near the area of the bite. If there is no rash visible, a blood test can be administered.

* Lyme disease, in its early stages, can be treated with antibiotics for two to four weeks. For more serious cases, intravenous antibiotics may be necessary.

* Following treatment, many people may still experience fatigue and achiness, which can take months to disappear.