BETHEL — Two women from Roxbury and Newry will host a Lyme Disease Support and Education Group from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the Telstar Regional High School library.
Diane Farnum of Roxbury and Rhonda Buker of Newry both suffer from chronic Lyme disease and have spent the last three years attempting to spread awareness about the severity of the disease. For the past two years, Farnum and Buker have hosted the annual Lyme Disease Awareness Conference in May at Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico.
Buker said Monday that she and Farnum came up with the idea to organize a support and education group in their respective towns after receiving feedback from residents at the most recent Lyme Disease Awareness Conference.
“At the end of each conference, we give out evaluation forms and questionnaires,” Buker said. “One of the things that people expressed most is that they would be interested in local support groups for those suffering from Lyme disease or those who know someone with Lyme disease.”
The first support and education group meeting took place Wednesday at the Beacon House Peer Center in Rumford, which was led by Farnum.
“These meetings are for anyone who’s impaired by Lyme disease, or anyone who knows someone who is impaired,” Buker said. “The idea is that part of the time will be spent on Lyme disease education, and the other part of the time will be spent on providing support.
“We also want to make sure people realize that this isn’t my group or Diane’s group,” Buker said. “This is the group’s group. It’s about helping them.”
Buker said she and Farnum are planning for the third annual Lyme Disease Awareness Conference to be held in September 2014.
“The latest conference that we had didn’t go as well as our first year, since we were competing with the Lumberjack Festival,” Buker said. “By moving it to September, we’re talking to people during one of the more dangerous times for ticks. We figure it’d be a good time to raise awareness.”
For more information, call Buker at 824-3076 or Farnum at 357-1926.
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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